India Quiz
The Taj Mahal, Diwali, Bollywood and 22 languages: 15 questions on the states, cities and culture of India.
The Taj Mahal, the white marble mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, stands in which city?
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Agra
The Taj Mahal was built in Agra on the banks of the Yamuna River between about 1632 and 1653. Agra was the Mughal capital for much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and its red sandstone fort is also a World Heritage Site.
The marble changes colour through the day, pinkish at dawn, white at noon and golden under moonlight, and it has been cleaned with a clay face pack to remove pollution stains.
What is the currency of India?
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Rupee
India uses the rupee, a name that goes back to the silver rupiya coin issued by Sher Shah Suri in the sixteenth century. Its symbol, a stylised Devanagari letter with two horizontal bars, was adopted in 2010.
In November 2016 the government withdrew all 500 and 1,000 rupee notes overnight, removing about 86 percent of the cash in circulation.
Which Hindu festival, known as the festival of lights, is celebrated with oil lamps, fireworks and sweets in the autumn?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Diwali
Diwali celebrates the victory of light over darkness and, in many traditions, the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Homes are decorated with clay lamps called diyas and colourful rangoli patterns, and families exchange sweets and gifts.
Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists, and it is a public holiday in countries from Fiji and Malaysia to Trinidad and Tobago.
Which Indian city, called Bombay until 1995, is the home of the Bollywood film industry?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Mumbai
Mumbai is India's financial capital and the home of Hindi cinema, nicknamed Bollywood from a blend of Bombay and Hollywood. Its landmarks include the Gateway of India arch and the Victorian Gothic Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus.
Mumbai's dabbawalas deliver around 200,000 home cooked lunches to office workers every day using a coding system studied by business schools worldwide.
In which year did India gain independence from British rule?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1947
India became independent at midnight on 15 August 1947, with Jawaharlal Nehru delivering his famous Tryst with Destiny speech. The same act of parliament partitioned the subcontinent and created Pakistan.
India remained a dominion with the British monarch as head of state until 26 January 1950, when its new constitution made it a republic, now celebrated as Republic Day.
Who led the 1930 Salt March, a 240 mile walk to the sea in protest at the British salt tax?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi set out from his ashram near Ahmedabad on 12 March 1930 with 78 followers and walked about 385 kilometres (240 miles) to the coastal village of Dandi, where he picked up a handful of salt in defiance of the law. The protest drew worldwide attention.
Gandhi was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize despite five nominations, and the committee later publicly expressed regret at the omission.
Which Indian state is the largest by area?
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Rajasthan
Rajasthan covers about 342,000 square kilometres (132,000 square miles) in the northwest, roughly the size of Germany. Much of it is taken up by the Thar Desert, and it is famous for its forts, palaces and the cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur.
Rajasthan means land of kings, a reference to the Rajput rulers whose princely states were merged into the new state after independence.
Which Indian city is nicknamed the Pink City because of the colour of its old town buildings?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Jaipur
Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, was painted pink in 1876 to welcome the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, and the old city has kept the colour ever since. Its sights include the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, with 953 small windows.
Jodhpur is the Blue City, Udaipur the White City and Jaisalmer the Golden City, so Rajasthan has a full palette of coloured towns.
Which city, the capital of Karnataka, is known as the Silicon Valley of India for its technology industry?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Bengaluru
Bengaluru, formerly Bangalore, is home to the headquarters of Infosys and Wipro and the Indian offices of most global tech companies. Its pleasant climate at about 900 metres (3,000 feet) above sea level earned it the older nickname of Garden City.
The city officially changed its name from Bangalore to Bengaluru in 2014, the Kannada form of its name.
Which state in the far southwest of India is famous for its palm fringed backwaters and the port city of Kochi?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Kerala
Kerala stretches along the Malabar Coast, and its backwaters are a network of lagoons, lakes and canals explored by converted rice barges called kettuvallam. The state has India's highest literacy rate and a long history of spice trading through Kochi.
Kerala is the home of Ayurveda medicine and of the Kathakali dance drama, performed in elaborate make up and costume.
Who served as the first prime minister of independent India?
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Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru became prime minister at independence in 1947 and held office until his death in 1964, the longest tenure of any Indian prime minister. He championed secularism, non alignment and large state led industrial projects.
Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi and grandson Rajiv Gandhi both later served as prime minister, making the Nehru-Gandhi family India's most powerful political dynasty.
The Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of Sikhism, is in which city?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Amritsar
The Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, stands in the middle of a sacred pool in Amritsar, Punjab. Founded in the sixteenth century, it was covered in gold leaf in the early nineteenth century by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and is open to people of all faiths.
The temple's community kitchen, the langar, serves free vegetarian meals to as many as 100,000 visitors a day.
How many languages are recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian constitution?
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22
The Eighth Schedule lists 22 scheduled languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu and Sanskrit. The original 1950 list had 14 languages, and the 92nd Amendment of 2003 added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali to bring it to 22.
Hindi and English are the official languages of the central government, but the constitution gives no language the status of national language.
Which mountain, on the border between Sikkim and Nepal, is the highest in India?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga rises 8,586 metres (28,169 feet), making it the third highest mountain in the world after Everest and K2 and the highest in India. Its name is usually translated as the five treasures of the high snow, after its five summits.
Climbers traditionally stop a few steps short of the true summit out of respect for the people of Sikkim, who regard the mountain as sacred.
Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, two of the wettest places on Earth, are in which Indian state?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Meghalaya
Both villages sit on the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, where monsoon clouds from the Bay of Bengal are forced upward and dump their rain. Mawsynram averages around 11,870 millimetres (467 inches) a year, more than ten times the rainfall of London.
The Khasi people of Meghalaya grow living root bridges by training the roots of rubber fig trees across streams, some of them centuries old.
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All Geography quizzes →About the India Quiz
India is a country of superlatives. It has 28 states and 8 union territories, 22 scheduled languages, the wettest inhabited places on Earth and the third highest mountain in the world on its border with Nepal. The Taj Mahal alone draws millions of visitors a year, and the Bollywood studios of Mumbai turn out more films than Hollywood.
These 15 questions start with the landmarks and festivals most people know, then travel from the Pink City of Jaipur to the backwaters of Kerala, the Golden Temple of Amritsar and the rain soaked hills of Meghalaya, with a few questions on the independence struggle along the way. It suits students, travellers and anyone with a curry house loyalty card who wants to know the country better.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
How many states does India have?
India has 28 states and 8 union territories. Rajasthan is the largest state by area and Uttar Pradesh has the most people, with more than 200 million residents.
What is the highest mountain in India?
Kangchenjunga, at 8,586 metres (28,169 feet) the third highest mountain in the world. It stands on the border between the Indian state of Sikkim and Nepal.
What are the official languages of India?
Hindi and English are the official languages of the central government, and the constitution's Eighth Schedule recognises 22 scheduled languages, including Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Urdu.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- The Taj Mahal, the white marble mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, stands in which city?
Agra The Taj Mahal was built in Agra on the banks of the Yamuna River between about 1632 and 1653. Agra was the Mughal capital for much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and its red sandstone fort is also a World Heritage Site. The marble changes colour through the day, pinkish at dawn, white at noon and golden under moonlight, and it has been cleaned with a clay face pack to remove pollution stains. - What is the currency of India?
Rupee India uses the rupee, a name that goes back to the silver rupiya coin issued by Sher Shah Suri in the sixteenth century. Its symbol, a stylised Devanagari letter with two horizontal bars, was adopted in 2010. In November 2016 the government withdrew all 500 and 1,000 rupee notes overnight, removing about 86 percent of the cash in circulation. - Which Hindu festival, known as the festival of lights, is celebrated with oil lamps, fireworks and sweets in the autumn?
Diwali Diwali celebrates the victory of light over darkness and, in many traditions, the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Homes are decorated with clay lamps called diyas and colourful rangoli patterns, and families exchange sweets and gifts. Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists, and it is a public holiday in countries from Fiji and Malaysia to Trinidad and Tobago. - Which Indian city, called Bombay until 1995, is the home of the Bollywood film industry?
Mumbai Mumbai is India's financial capital and the home of Hindi cinema, nicknamed Bollywood from a blend of Bombay and Hollywood. Its landmarks include the Gateway of India arch and the Victorian Gothic Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus. Mumbai's dabbawalas deliver around 200,000 home cooked lunches to office workers every day using a coding system studied by business schools worldwide. - In which year did India gain independence from British rule?
1947 India became independent at midnight on 15 August 1947, with Jawaharlal Nehru delivering his famous Tryst with Destiny speech. The same act of parliament partitioned the subcontinent and created Pakistan. India remained a dominion with the British monarch as head of state until 26 January 1950, when its new constitution made it a republic, now celebrated as Republic Day. - Who led the 1930 Salt March, a 240 mile walk to the sea in protest at the British salt tax?
Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi set out from his ashram near Ahmedabad on 12 March 1930 with 78 followers and walked about 385 kilometres (240 miles) to the coastal village of Dandi, where he picked up a handful of salt in defiance of the law. The protest drew worldwide attention. Gandhi was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize despite five nominations, and the committee later publicly expressed regret at the omission. - Which Indian state is the largest by area?
Rajasthan Rajasthan covers about 342,000 square kilometres (132,000 square miles) in the northwest, roughly the size of Germany. Much of it is taken up by the Thar Desert, and it is famous for its forts, palaces and the cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur. Rajasthan means land of kings, a reference to the Rajput rulers whose princely states were merged into the new state after independence. - Which Indian city is nicknamed the Pink City because of the colour of its old town buildings?
Jaipur Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, was painted pink in 1876 to welcome the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, and the old city has kept the colour ever since. Its sights include the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, with 953 small windows. Jodhpur is the Blue City, Udaipur the White City and Jaisalmer the Golden City, so Rajasthan has a full palette of coloured towns. - Which city, the capital of Karnataka, is known as the Silicon Valley of India for its technology industry?
Bengaluru Bengaluru, formerly Bangalore, is home to the headquarters of Infosys and Wipro and the Indian offices of most global tech companies. Its pleasant climate at about 900 metres (3,000 feet) above sea level earned it the older nickname of Garden City. The city officially changed its name from Bangalore to Bengaluru in 2014, the Kannada form of its name. - Which state in the far southwest of India is famous for its palm fringed backwaters and the port city of Kochi?
Kerala Kerala stretches along the Malabar Coast, and its backwaters are a network of lagoons, lakes and canals explored by converted rice barges called kettuvallam. The state has India's highest literacy rate and a long history of spice trading through Kochi. Kerala is the home of Ayurveda medicine and of the Kathakali dance drama, performed in elaborate make up and costume. - Who served as the first prime minister of independent India?
Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru became prime minister at independence in 1947 and held office until his death in 1964, the longest tenure of any Indian prime minister. He championed secularism, non alignment and large state led industrial projects. Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi and grandson Rajiv Gandhi both later served as prime minister, making the Nehru-Gandhi family India's most powerful political dynasty. - The Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of Sikhism, is in which city?
Amritsar The Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, stands in the middle of a sacred pool in Amritsar, Punjab. Founded in the sixteenth century, it was covered in gold leaf in the early nineteenth century by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and is open to people of all faiths. The temple's community kitchen, the langar, serves free vegetarian meals to as many as 100,000 visitors a day. - How many languages are recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian constitution?
22 The Eighth Schedule lists 22 scheduled languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu and Sanskrit. The original 1950 list had 14 languages, and the 92nd Amendment of 2003 added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali to bring it to 22. Hindi and English are the official languages of the central government, but the constitution gives no language the status of national language. - Which mountain, on the border between Sikkim and Nepal, is the highest in India?
Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga rises 8,586 metres (28,169 feet), making it the third highest mountain in the world after Everest and K2 and the highest in India. Its name is usually translated as the five treasures of the high snow, after its five summits. Climbers traditionally stop a few steps short of the true summit out of respect for the people of Sikkim, who regard the mountain as sacred. - Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, two of the wettest places on Earth, are in which Indian state?
Meghalaya Both villages sit on the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, where monsoon clouds from the Bay of Bengal are forced upward and dump their rain. Mawsynram averages around 11,870 millimetres (467 inches) a year, more than ten times the rainfall of London. The Khasi people of Meghalaya grow living root bridges by training the roots of rubber fig trees across streams, some of them centuries old.
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