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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What word do the older people like Begam Nihal use to refer to the place where they live?
(a) Nabhivarsha.
(b) Hindustan.
(c) Aryavarta.
(d) Bharat.

2. To what does the narrator compare the streets and alleys of Delhi?
(a) The Minotaur's maze.
(b) A game of chess.
(c) The Sphinx's riddle.
(d) An algebraic equation.

3. What does Ali say caused the British paranoia about Muslim scholars that resulted in their violent suppression of the "Wahabi" conspiracy (xii)?
(a) The activism of Shah Waliullah.
(b) The defeat of Shah Alam.
(c) The influence of Ram Mohan Roy.
(d) The capture of Delhi by Ahmad Shah Abdali.

4. Who are the Mughals?
(a) An Afghan dynasty who ruled parts of India for about 16 years during the 1500's.
(b) A Turco-Mongolian dynasty who ruled India from the late 1500's to the early 1700's.
(c) A dynasty originating in Northern India that ruled for the first half of the 1800's.
(d) A dynasty originating in Southern India that ruled from the 1400's to the early 1600's.

5. While Asghar and Begam Waheed are talking about their childhood, what can Asghar hear in the background?
(a) Pigeons cooing.
(b) Street vendors shouting.
(c) Qawwals singing.
(d) His aunts arguing.

6. What does Mir Nihal think of when he is at the procession and sees the Red Fort?
(a) That the English are desecrating it.
(b) That Shah Jahan was a glorious ruler.
(c) That in a sense, the Mughals were also occupiers.
(d) That Delhi was at its greatest during the time of the Delhi Sultanate.

7. What principle does Saeed Hasan say a man should put first when he is looking for a wife?
(a) Moderation.
(b) Suitability.
(c) Reciprocity.
(d) Faithfulness.

8. What does Mir Sangi claim his cousin accidentally succeeded in making silver from?
(a) Tin.
(b) Sand.
(c) Water.
(d) Iron.

9. To what animal does the narrator compare the city of Delhi in the story's opening pages?
(a) A beaten dog.
(b) An elderly bull.
(c) A starving tiger.
(d) An overburdened donkey.

10. What does the introduction's title indicate the purpose of the introduction is?
(a) To offer insight into the historical circumstances that led to British rule in India.
(b) To make a claim for the essentially Muslim nature of Delhi.
(c) To expose the barbarism with which the British ruled India.
(d) To explain why the author wrote Twilight in Delhi.

11. In Part I, Chapter 4, who asks Asghar, "When are we going to hear the good news of your marriage?" (20)?
(a) Bilqeece.
(b) Bundoo.
(c) Mir Nihal.
(d) His sister-in-law.

12. What is ironic about Asghar's characterization of their days in Bhopal as "happy" (35)?
(a) The reader is aware that Asghar is not really capable of happiness.
(b) He has repeatedly told Bundoo how unhappy he was in Bhopal.
(c) The two stories he recalls from that time are not really happy ones.
(d) Begam Waheed argued against him being sent to live with her.

13. What is the "prescription written on the southern gate of the Jama Masjid" a recipe for (88)?
(a) Gold.
(b) A powerful charm.
(c) An antidote to poison.
(d) A "universal elixir."

14. What is significant about the year that Begam Nihal compares the summer's heat to?
(a) It is the year of the Mughal overthrow of the Delhi Sultinate.
(b) It is the year of the Indian Mutiny.
(c) It is the year of the first meeting of the Indian National Congress.
(d) It is the year in which the East India Company established its first trading station.

15. Why does Mir Nihal go to the Chowk on Friday evening?
(a) To buy pigeons.
(b) To pray with his neighbors.
(c) To see Babban Jan.
(d) To speak with Nisar Ahmad.

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes Mir Nihal to be so depressed that he does not fly his pigeons one afternoon in Chapter 2?

2. What does the Part II, Chapter 5 description of Red Beard stress?

3. Why does Asghar go to see Mushtari Bai in Chapter 11?

4. In what city does the man who wants to marry the Nihals' daughter live?

5. In Part II, Chapter 5, what do the friends agree is the missing ingredient in the Jama Masjid prescription?

(see the answer keys)

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