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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 capture of Delhi by Ahmad Shah Abdali.
(c) The defeat of Shah Alam.
(d) The influence of Ram Mohan Roy.

2. What is Mizra Nasirul Mulk's relationship to Bahadur Shah?
(a) He is Bahadur Shah's great-grandson.
(b) He is Bahadur Shah's nephew.
(c) He is Bahadur Shah's Lord Governor's son.
(d) He is Bahadur Shah's son.

3. Bundoo's mother tells Asghar that she feels it hardly necessary to observe "purdah" with him. In this context, what does "purdah" refer to?
(a) The rules surrounding the seclusion of women from men.
(b) The customs of welcoming and hospitality.
(c) The rules separating one caste from another.
(d) The customary deference of younger people to their elders.

4. In Part I, Chapter 3, what does the narrator point out there are "ever so many" of, "young ones and old ones" (14)?
(a) Muezzins.
(b) Beggars.
(c) Vendors.
(d) Imams.

5. What rumor has Mir Nihal heard about Nisar Ahmad?
(a) He has a Farangi girlfriend.
(b) He has rare dappled pigeons for sale.
(c) He sells impure ghee in his business.
(d) He uses powerful charms to acquire customers.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Bari tell Mushtari Bai she should do for him and Asghar?

2. What creature does Mir Nihal kill in Part I, Chapter 1?

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

4. During the discussion of alchemy, what does Kambal Shah say would happen if everyone had equal wealth?

5. When Begam Nihal tells her husband that he can buy more pigeons to replace those that have died, how does he react?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Ghadar of 1857?

2. What is Begam Jamal's motive for promoting the marriage of Asghar and Bilqeece?

3. Explain the trick Mir Nihal plays on his neighbor with his pigeons.

4. Describe Mir Nihal's Afghan friend, Kambal Shah.

5. Who is Hameed, and what light does Asghar think Hameed's situation throws on his own?

6. What does Begam Nihal tease her husband about when she calls him in to talk with him about Asghar and Bilqeece?

7. What does Khwaja Ashraf Ali notice about Mir Nihal on Thursday, and why does he react the way he reacts when he learns the cause, on Friday?

8. What do Khwaja Ashraf Ali, Mir Nihal, and Hakim Bashir argue about, and what story does Khwaja Ashraf Ali tell to end the argument?

9. When Mir Nihal is at the procession for the Coronation, in Chapter 8, what contrast does he see between the crowd at Jama Masjid in 1857 and the one around him at the procession?

10. Why did Ahmed Ali write Twilight in Delhi in English?

(see the answer keys)

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