BHIC 133 key facts: June 2026
- Course code: BHIC 133 (printed BHIC-133)
- Subject: History of India from c. 1206 to 1707
- Programmes: Bachelor of Arts (General), BAG, and Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary), BAM
- Credits: 6 (core course)
- Course structure: 4 themes, 18 units
- Maximum marks: 100 (term-end exam 70 per cent, assignments 30 per cent)
- Duration: 3 hours
- Questions in the June 2026 paper: 8 printed questions, 14 answerable items (6 essays and 8 short-note options); attempt any 5, at least 2 from each section
- Expected length: about 400 words per essay, 200 words per short note
- Paper language: bilingual, English and Hindi in one booklet
- Samples shown on this page: 2 (Q3 and Q7); all 14 answers in the paid file
BHIC 133 Solved Question Paper June 2026 gives you the real IGNOU term-end paper of History of India from c. 1206 to 1707 with complete, exam-length answers written by our history team. Two of those answers are open on this page so you can judge the quality first. The full file, with all 14 answers, comes to you on WhatsApp.
1. What the June 2026 Solved Paper Covers
BHIC 133 is a six-credit core history course in IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (General) and Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary) programmes, running from the founding of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 to Aurangzeb's death in 1707.
The June 2026 paper carries eight printed questions in two sections. Six are 20-mark essays and two are short-note sets with four options each, so our file answers 14 items in all: the six essays and every one of the eight short-note options.
That matters because students pick different short notes. If you choose escheat over insha, or Raziya Sultan over Tughluq architecture, your answer is still in the file. No option has been skipped.
The paper leans on institutions this time. Iqtas, Sultanate land revenue, Mughal central administration, escheat and Mughal agrarian relations make up five of the 14 items, so a student who understands how rulers paid officers and taxed peasants is already well placed.
2. Two Answers Solved in Full, Twelve Held Back
Questions 3 (iqtas) and 7 (Sufism) appear below exactly as printed in the June 2026 paper, each with its complete answer from our file.
We picked one essay from each section. Read them the way an examiner would: count the facts, check the dates, and ask whether the structure would hold up for 20 marks.
The iqta system under the Delhi Sultans
Question 3: What were iqtas? Discuss the main features of the iqta system under the Delhi Sultans. (20)
Introduction. An iqta was an assignment of the land revenue of a territory, not of the land itself, granted by the Sultan to an officer in place of a cash salary. The holder, called the muqti or wali, collected the revenue, paid himself and his troops from it, and served the Sultan with those troops. Nizam-ul-Mulk Tusi, the eleventh-century Seljuq wazir, described the iqta in his Siyasat Nama as a right over revenue that gave the holder no claim over the peasants or their lands.
The institution came to India with the Turks, and Iltutmish (1211 to 1236) made it the main tool for holding the newly conquered territories together.
- A revenue right, not ownership. The muqti could collect the land tax (kharaj) and other lawful dues, but the land stayed with the peasants and the area stayed under the Sultan's law. The iqta was a salary paid through revenue, not a fief in the European sense.
- Military and administrative duties joined together. The muqti had to keep a fixed number of troops ready for the Sultan's campaigns and maintain law and order in his area. Revenue collection, army upkeep and local government therefore sat in one pair of hands.
- Transferable and non-hereditary. In the thirteenth century iqtas were transferred often so that no muqti could build local roots. Balban went further and tried to resume iqtas held by old soldiers of Iltutmish's time who no longer gave service.
- The surplus and central audit. After meeting his own pay and his troops' costs, the muqti had to send the surplus, fawazil, to the treasury. Alauddin Khalji (1296 to 1316) had the revenue of each iqta estimated by the diwan-i wizarat, audited the accounts of the muqtis' agents strictly, and paid his standing army in cash instead of through small iqtas.
- Tughluq changes. Ghiyasuddin Tughluq eased the audits and, according to Barani, told muqtis not to raise the revenue of an iqta by more than a tenth or an eleventh in a year. Muhammad bin Tughluq separated revenue collection from the payment of troops in many areas, paying amirs and soldiers from the treasury. Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351 to 1388) reversed this, assigning revenue to soldiers and allowing iqtas to pass to sons.
- Khalisa and iqta lands. Revenue from khalisa land went straight to the Sultan's treasury, and the rest of the territory was distributed as iqtas. The balance between the two is a good measure of how centralised a Sultan's rule was.
Conclusion. The iqta system let the Sultans pay a large army, govern distant provinces and draw surplus revenue to Delhi without a full salaried bureaucracy. Historians such as Irfan Habib and K.A. Nizami see it as the backbone of Sultanate centralisation and the forerunner of the Mughal jagir. Once Firuz Shah made iqtas largely hereditary, central control weakened, and provincial governors broke away in the fifteenth century.
The growth of Sufism in India
Question 7: Discuss the growth of Sufism in India. (20)
Introduction. Sufism, or tasawwuf, is the mystical tradition within Islam that seeks a direct experience of God through love, self-discipline and the guidance of a spiritual master, the pir or shaikh. It reached India with Turkish rule and grew into one of the most influential religious movements of the Sultanate and Mughal periods.
- Early beginnings. Shaikh Ali bin Usman al-Hujwiri, remembered as Data Ganj Bakhsh, settled at Lahore in the eleventh century. His Kashf-ul-Mahjub is one of the earliest Persian works on Sufi thought and practice.
- Organisation into silsilas. By the thirteenth century Sufis in India were organised in orders, or silsilas, in which a chain of masters passed spiritual authority to disciples (murids). They lived and taught in hospices called khanqahs. Abul Fazl's Ain-i Akbari lists fourteen silsilas active in India.
- The Chishti silsila. Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti settled at Ajmer and died there in 1236. His successors included Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki at Delhi, Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar at Ajodhan and Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya at Delhi, who died in 1325. The Chishtis kept away from the court, refused state grants and used sama, devotional music, so their khanqahs drew people of every faith and class. The sayings of Nizamuddin Auliya were recorded by Amir Hasan Sijzi in Fawaid-ul-Fuad, a classic of the malfuzat literature. After Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli, Chishti disciples carried the order to the Deccan, where Gesu Daraz settled at Gulbarga, and to Bengal, Malwa and Gujarat.
- The Suhrawardi silsila. Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya established the order at Multan. Unlike the Chishtis, the Suhrawardis accepted state grants and court positions, believing that ties with rulers helped them serve the community. They were strongest in Punjab, Sindh and Bengal.
- Regional orders. In Bihar the Firdausi branch flourished under Shaikh Sharafuddin Yahya Maneri, whose letters, the Maktubat, were read across north India for their practical spiritual guidance.
- The Mughal period. The Qadiri order grew under Mian Mir of Lahore, deeply admired by Dara Shukoh. The Naqshbandi order was brought by Khwaja Baqi Billah, whose disciple Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi stressed the sharia, opposed Akbar's liberal policies and countered Ibn Arabi's idea of wahdat-ul-wujud (unity of being) with wahdat-ush-shuhud (unity of appearance).
- Social and cultural impact. Sufi khanqahs used local languages, and Amir Khusrau's Hindavi verse grew from this setting. Dargahs became shared shrines for Hindus and Muslims, and Sufi ideas of love and equality ran parallel to the teachings of Bhakti saints such as Kabir.
Conclusion. Sufism grew in India by adapting to local society through its silsilas, khanqahs and languages. It softened religious boundaries, enriched literature and music, and left a network of shrines that remains part of India's shared culture today.
3. Questions Answered Only in the Full File
These 12 items are printed below exactly as they appear in the June 2026 paper.
Section I
Question 1: Critically examine the role of religion and religious groups in the politics of the Vijayanagara empire. (20)
Question 2: Discuss the central administrative structure of the Mughal empire. (20)
Question 4: Write short notes on any two of the following in about 200 words each. (10 + 10)
(a) Insha tradition
(b) Conflict between the Afaqis and the Deccanis in the Bahmani state
(c) Akbar's policy towards the autonomous chieftains
(d) Escheat
Section II
Question 5: Discuss the land revenue system of the Delhi Sultans. (20)
Question 6: Critically examine agrarian relations in Mughal India. (20)
Question 8: Write short notes on any two of the following in about 200 words each. (10 + 10)
(a) Textile technology
(b) Tughluq architecture
(c) Development of architectural forms under Akbar
(d) Raziya Sultan
From the religious politics of Vijayanagara to the brief reign of Raziya Sultan, each of these 12 items is answered in full, at the same length and depth as the two samples above.
4. The 18 Units, Delhi Sultans to Aurangzeb
BHIC 133 is taught through four themes and 18 units, and the June 2026 paper drew its 14 items from 12 of those units.
The theme and unit titles below follow IGNOU's own listing of the course on eGyanKosh. The topics column is our summary of what each unit teaches, and the last column shows the June 2026 question drawn from it.
| Unit | Theme | Unit title | Key topics | June 2026 item |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I. Political Structures | Trends in History Writing | Barani and Minhaj as court chroniclers; Abul Fazl's Akbarnama; the insha (letter-writing) tradition | Q4(a) |
| 2 | I. Political Structures | Foundation, Expansion and Consolidation of Delhi Sultanate | Iltutmish and the Shamsi state; Balban's theory of kingship; Khalji and Tughluq expansion | Q8(d) |
| 3 | I. Political Structures | Provincial Kingdoms | Sharqi Jaunpur; the sultanates of Bengal, Malwa and Gujarat after the Tughluqs | — |
| 4 | I. Political Structures | Vijayanagar and Deccan States | Sangama and Tuluva rulers; the nayankara system; Bahmani politics and its five successor states | Q1, Q4(b) |
| 5 | I. Political Structures | Early Mughals and Afghans | Babur's Central Asian background and Panipat in 1526; Sher Shah Sur's reforms; Humayun's return | — |
| 6 | I. Political Structures | Mughal Polity: Akbar to Aurangzeb | Akbar's alliances with Rajput chiefs; Deccan wars; Aurangzeb's relations with the Marathas | Q4(c) |
| 7 | II. Military and Administrative Systems | Administrative Structure | Sultanate wazir and diwan-i arz; Mughal diwan and mir bakhshi; provincial and local officials | Q2 |
| 8 | II. Military and Administrative Systems | Army Organisation and Mansab System | Zat and sawar ranks; three classes of mansabdars; the system of escheat | Q4(d) |
| 9 | II. Military and Administrative Systems | Iqta and Jagir | The muqti and his duties; transfer of assignments; the Mughal jagir and its crisis | Q3 (Sample 1) |
| 10 | III. Economy and Society | Land Revenue | Kharaj under the Sultans; Alauddin Khalji's measurement; Akbar's zabt and dahsala | Q5 |
| 11 | III. Economy and Society | Rural Society | Zamindars and their rights; khud-kasht and pahi-kasht peasants; the village community | Q6 |
| 12 | III. Economy and Society | Inland Trade | Banjaras and caravan routes; hundis and sarrafs; regional markets and merchant groups | — |
| 13 | III. Economy and Society | Oceanic Trade | Surat and the Gujarat ports; the Portuguese cartaz; Dutch and English companies | — |
| 14 | III. Economy and Society | Technology, Craft Production and Social Change | The Persian wheel; gunpowder and firearms; textile crafts and karkhanas | Q8(a) |
| 15 | III. Economy and Society | Towns, Cities and Growth of Urban Centres | Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri; urban classes and their standard of living | — |
| 16 | IV. Religion and Culture | Bhakti and Sufi Traditions | Chishti and Suhrawardi silsilas; Kabir and Nanak; Vaishnava bhakti in Maharashtra and Bengal | Q7 (Sample 2) |
| 17 | IV. Religion and Culture | Architecture and Painting | Qutb complex and Tughluqabad; Fatehpur Sikri; Mughal miniature workshops | Q8(b), Q8(c) |
| 18 | IV. Religion and Culture | Women and Gender | Women of the royal household; Mirabai and women in bhakti; the zenana | — |
If a unit in the table is new to you, read it once in the BHIC 133 Study Material before you revise its answer. Units 12, 13 and 15 on trade and towns were not asked this time, which the repeat table further down shows is unusual.
5. Paper Pattern and Marks
The paper carries 100 marks for 3 hours: you answer any five questions of 20 marks each, taking at least two from each section.
Essays are expected in about 400 words and each short note in about 200 words, and every answer in our file is sized to those limits.
| Section | Questions | Type | Marks | Expected length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section I | Q1 to Q3 | Essay | 20 each | About 400 words |
| Section I | Q4 (any 2 of a to d) | Short notes | 10 + 10 | About 200 words per note |
| Section II | Q5 to Q7 | Essay | 20 each | About 400 words |
| Section II | Q8 (any 2 of a to d) | Short notes | 10 + 10 | About 200 words per note |
Section I mostly carries political history and administration, and Section II mostly carries economy, religion and culture. IGNOU does cross that line: the June 2025 paper placed Mughal agrarian economy in Section I. You can check older sessions in our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper archive.
6. Topics IGNOU Keeps Asking
Historiography and sources appeared in all six official BHIC 133 papers we checked, and five more topic areas appeared in five of the six.
We read the official papers for December 2023, June 2024, December 2024, June 2025, December 2025 and June 2026. The June 2023 paper and earlier sessions were not available on the official sites when we checked, so the counts cover these six papers only.
| Topic area | Papers (of 6) | Sessions | June 2026 item |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historiography and sources (Barani, chronicles, Abul Fazl, insha) | 6 | All six papers | Q4(a) |
| Vijayanagara state, nayankara and ayagar | 5 | Jun 24, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | Q1 |
| Regional and Deccan kingdoms (Bahmani, Malwa, Jaunpur, eastern India) | 5 | Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | Q4(b) |
| Technology and crafts (gunpowder, textiles, military technology) | 5 | Dec 23, Jun 24, Dec 24, Dec 25, Jun 26 | Q8(a) |
| Bhakti movement | 5 | Dec 23, Jun 24, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25 | — |
| Trade (inland, oceanic, Portuguese, trade personnel) | 5 | Dec 23, Jun 24, Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25 | — |
| Sufism and the silsilas | 4 | Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25, Jun 26 | Q7 (Sample 2) |
| Mughal agrarian system (crops, revenue, cultivation, agrarian relations) | 4 | Dec 23, Jun 24, Jun 25, Jun 26 | Q6 |
| Architecture (Sur, Sultanate, Mughal, Tughluq, Akbar) | 4 | Dec 23, Jun 24, Jun 25, Jun 26 | Q8(b), Q8(c) |
| Mansab system, including escheat | 4 | Jun 24, Dec 24, Dec 25, Jun 26 | Q4(d) |
| Delhi Sultanate politics (Mongols, Alauddin, Deccan policy, Raziya) | 4 | Dec 24, Jun 25, Dec 25, Jun 26 | Q8(d) |
| Iqta system | 3 | Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 26 | Q3 (Sample 1) |
| Land revenue of the Delhi Sultans | 3 | Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 26 | Q5 |
| Central and local administration | 3 | Jun 24, Jun 25, Jun 26 | Q2 |
| Mughal-Maratha relations | 3 | Jun 24, Jun 25, Dec 25 | — |
| Mughal painting | 3 | Jun 24, Dec 24, Dec 25 | — |
| Women and gender | 3 | Dec 23, Dec 24, Jun 25 | — |
| Early Mughals and Afghans (Babur, Sur empire, Afghan kingship) | 3 | Jun 24, Dec 24, Dec 25 | — |
| Mughal polity, Akbar to Aurangzeb | 2 | Dec 23, Jun 26 | Q4(c) |
Two gaps stand out. Bhakti and trade each appeared in five straight papers and then skipped June 2026, which is worth remembering for December. For a ranked list of what to learn next, see our IGNOU Solved Guess Paper page.
The groupings are our editorial call. We counted escheat with the mansab system, for example, because IGNOU teaches it inside Unit 8, and we placed Raziya Sultan with Sultanate politics rather than with women and gender.
7. How Our Answers Are Written and Checked
Each BHIC 133 answer is written from the eGyanKosh unit its question comes from, sized to the paper's word limit, and checked by a second reader before it goes into the file.
The writer starts from the unit text and then checks dates and Persian terms against the wider readings.
Essays open with a short definition, move through numbered features with each Persian term in italics and its meaning beside it, name at least one historian or primary source, and close with a judgement. Short notes stay near 200 words and carry at least one date or source an examiner can tick.
The review then reads every answer against the printed question, checking that the answer does what the verb asks: critically examine means weighing views, discuss means covering the main features, and a short note means staying brief.
Because the answers were written after studying earlier BHIC 133 papers, recurring themes such as iqtas and Sultanate land revenue carry the angles IGNOU has used before, so the same answer still helps if the topic returns in a different form.
8. Solved File Index of All 14 Items
BHIC 133 is a theory-only course with no practical or record work, so this index lists all 14 answered items, the unit each one comes from and whether you can read it here.
| Item | Topic | Theme and unit | Marks | Where the answer is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Religion and religious groups in Vijayanagara politics | Theme I, Unit 4 | 20 | Full file |
| Q2 | Central administrative structure of the Mughal empire | Theme II, Unit 7 | 20 | Full file |
| Q3 | Iqtas and the iqta system under the Delhi Sultans | Theme II, Unit 9 | 20 | Sample 1 above |
| Q4(a) | Insha tradition | Theme I, Unit 1 | 10 | Full file |
| Q4(b) | Afaqis and Deccanis in the Bahmani state | Theme I, Unit 4 | 10 | Full file |
| Q4(c) | Akbar's policy towards the autonomous chieftains | Theme I, Unit 6 | 10 | Full file |
| Q4(d) | Escheat | Theme II, Unit 8 | 10 | Full file |
| Q5 | Land revenue system of the Delhi Sultans | Theme III, Unit 10 | 20 | Full file |
| Q6 | Agrarian relations in Mughal India | Theme III, Unit 11 | 20 | Full file |
| Q7 | Growth of Sufism in India | Theme IV, Unit 16 | 20 | Sample 2 above |
| Q8(a) | Textile technology | Theme III, Unit 14 | 10 | Full file |
| Q8(b) | Tughluq architecture | Theme IV, Unit 17 | 10 | Full file |
| Q8(c) | Architectural forms under Akbar | Theme IV, Unit 17 | 10 | Full file |
| Q8(d) | Raziya Sultan | Theme I, Unit 2 | 10 | Full file |
Many students pair this index with the earlier sessions in our BAG Question Paper collection to see how each topic has been framed before.
9. Who Studies BHIC 133
BHIC 133 is a core history course for learners in IGNOU's BAG and BAM programmes who take History as a discipline.
In the IGNOU Bachelor of Arts (General), BAG, it sits between BHIC 132, which ends in 1206, and BHIC 134, which begins in 1707, so it is the medieval bridge of the History core.
The Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary), BAM, uses the same course code and assignment booklet, so one file serves both. The solved paper also suits learners writing a re-appear exam, since the paper format has not changed across the sessions we checked.
10. How to Get the Full Solved Question Paper
Message 9899436384 on WhatsApp with the words "BHIC 133 June 2026" and we will share the full solved file with all 14 answers, including the 12 not shown on this page.
Tell us your programme, BAG or BAM, in the same message. We confirm the price on chat and the PDF reaches you on the same WhatsApp number.
The answers follow the question numbers printed on the paper, so you can revise straight from the file in the last few days before your exam without hunting for a topic.
11. BHIC 133 FAQs
These are the questions BAG and BAM students ask us most often about the June 2026 solved file.
What is in the Solved Question Paper June 2026?
It contains the official IGNOU June 2026 term-end paper for History of India from c. 1206 to 1707 with complete answers to all 14 items: six 20-mark essays and all eight short-note options. Essays run about 400 words and short notes about 200 words, matching the paper's instructions. Two answers are open on this page and the remaining 12 are in the full file.
How do I get the full solved file on WhatsApp?
Send a WhatsApp message to 9899436384 with the words BHIC 133 June 2026. Our team confirms the price and shares the full PDF on the same chat. The file holds 14 answers in total: the two samples you can read here, Questions 3 and 7, plus the 12 answers that are not shown on this page.
Which answers can I read before ordering?
You can read two complete answers on this page: Question 3 on iqtas and the iqta system under the Delhi Sultans, and Question 7 on the growth of Sufism in India. Both are printed exactly as they appear in the paid file, at full length, so you can judge the depth and structure before you contact us.
How many questions must I attempt in the BHIC 133 exam?
You attempt any five of the eight printed questions, with at least two from each section, and every question carries 20 marks for a total of 100 in three hours. Questions 4 and 8 are short-note sets where you write any two of four topics in about 200 words each, earning 10 marks per note.
Does BHIC 133 have a practical component?
No. BHIC 133 is a theory-only, six-credit core course with no practical, lab or record work. Your result comes from assignments, weighted at 30 per cent, and the term-end examination, weighted at 70 per cent. That is why this page carries a solved file index of all 14 answered items rather than a practical file index.
Which BHIC 133 topics come up most often?
Across the six official papers from December 2023 to June 2026, historiography and sources appeared in every paper. Vijayanagara, regional kingdoms, technology, Bhakti and trade each appeared in five. Bhakti and trade were both missing from June 2026 after five straight appearances, so both deserve serious attention before you sit the December 2026 exam.
Who wrote and reviewed the BHIC 133 answers?
The answers were written by Prateek Talwar, founder of Unnati Educations, and reviewed by Sheetal Kirola, who checks every IGNOU answer against the printed question and its eGyanKosh unit. Each answer was written after studying earlier BHIC 133 papers, so the angles IGNOU has used before on topics like iqtas and land revenue are covered.
Can BAM students use the BHIC 133 solved file?
Yes. BHIC 133 is shared by the Bachelor of Arts (General), BAG, and the Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary), BAM, with the same course code, syllabus and assignment booklet. The June 2026 paper is printed under the BAG heading, but the questions, marks and section rules apply equally to BAM learners.
12. Who Wrote and Checked the BHIC 133 Answers
The BHIC 133 answers were written by Prateek Talwar and reviewed by Sheetal Kirola.
Prateek Talwar, founder of Unnati Educations, leads the IGNOU solved-paper series and prepares answers from the course units and the official term-end paper. Sheetal Kirola, Academic Head (M.Ed.), checks every date, Persian term, ruler and source against the course material before release.