Delhi Trivia
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59 free Delhi trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Delhi has been razed and rebuilt so many times that locals count seven cities on the site, and the current one is the fourth-largest metropolis on Earth. This quiz covers the capital from the Mahabharata's Indraprastha to the odd-even traffic scheme. The easy questions ask which river the city straddles, which fort the prime minister speaks from on Independence Day, what stands at the end of Kartavya Path, and which three monuments are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. From there it moves into the layers of history: the Tomars' Lal Kot, Qutb-ud-din Aibak's victory tower, Timur's sack, Babur at Panipat, Shah Jahan's walled Shahjahanabad, Nadir Shah walking off with the Peacock Throne, the Siege of 1857 and the Durbar of 1911 that moved the capital from Calcutta. The harder end is for people who know the city: the rust-proof iron pillar of Chandragupta II, Bega Begum's tomb for Humayun, Jahanara's moonlit canals, the Lahori Gate flag, Lutyens and Baker on Raisina Hill, the 340 rooms of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the 27 marble petals, Hemu crowned in Purana Qila, the Ashokan pillar Firoz Shah floated to Delhi, the world's largest CNG bus fleet, the Red Line's first run in 2002 and the WHO's pollution rankings. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries on Delhi and its monuments, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. If you enjoy this one, try our India, Mumbai and world capitals quizzes next.
30 of 59 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which river does Delhi straddle, though the city spreads mainly west of it?
Yamuna
The Yamuna, a Ganges tributary sacred in Hinduism, is the only major river flowing through Delhi; most of the city lies on its western bank.
Q 02Which architect designed Connaught Place, New Delhi's colonnaded commercial hub?
Robert Tor Russell
Robert Tor Russell, chief architect to the Government of India, designed Connaught Place's Georgian-style colonnades, completed in 1933 and named after the Duke of Connaught.
Q 03Which three Delhi monuments are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
Qutb Minar, Humayun's Tomb and Red Fort
Qutb Minar (begun 1193), Humayun's Tomb (1570s) and the Red Fort (1648) are Delhi's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, spanning the Sultanate and Mughal centuries.
Q 04Which legendary city of the Mahabharata is traditionally placed on the site of Delhi?
Indraprastha
Indraprastha, the Pandavas' capital in the Mahabharata, is traditionally placed at Purana Qila; excavations there found Painted Grey Ware pottery but no ancient fortifications.
Q 05How many cities are traditionally said to have stood on the site of Delhi?
7
Shahjahanabad, today's Old Delhi, is counted as the seventh.
Q 06Which Tomara Rajput king built Lal Kot in 1052, the first of Delhi's cities?
Anang Pal
Anang Pal II of the Tomara dynasty built Lal Kot around 1052; the Chauhans later took it and Prithviraj Chauhan expanded it as Qila Rai Pithora.
Q 07Who founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206?
Qutb-ud-din Aibak
Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Muhammad Ghori's deputy, founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 after Ghori died without an heir; he began the Qutb Minar and started the Mamluk (Slave) dynasty.
Q 08How tall is the Qutb Minar?
72.5 m
It is the world's tallest brick minaret and has 399 steps.
Q 09What struck the Qutb Minar in 1369, prompting Firuz Shah Tughlaq to rebuild its top?
Lightning
Lightning struck in 1369 and destroyed the top storey; Firuz Shah Tughlaq rebuilt it as two smaller storeys faced in marble and sandstone.
Q 10Which Gupta emperor made the famously rust-resistant iron pillar now in the Qutb complex?
Chandragupta II
The pillar's Sanskrit inscription honours a king Chandra, identified with Chandragupta II (r. c.375-415); it stands 7.21 m tall, weighs over six tonnes and may have come from Udayagiri.
Q 11Who was the first woman to rule Delhi, succeeding her father Iltutmish?
Razia
Razia Sultan ruled Delhi from 1236 to 1240 after her father Iltutmish, who had consolidated the conquest of northern India and completed the Qutb Minar.
Q 12Which sultan moved his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, then had to move it back?
Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq marched Delhi's population to Daulatabad in 1327, then brought the capital back within a few years; the sultanate reached its greatest extent under him before the Deccan broke away.
Q 13Which conqueror sacked Delhi in 1398 and massacred 100,000 captives?
Timur
Timur's army massacred some 100,000 captives before the battle and sacked Delhi in December 1398; the sultanate never fully recovered under the Sayyids who followed.
Q 21What does the name of the Old Delhi market Chandni Chowk mean?
Moonlight Square
Chandni Chowk means Moonlight Square: a canal down the middle of the street was designed to reflect the moon, and the British later filled it in.
Q 22Which daughter of Shah Jahan designed Chandni Chowk in 1650?
Jahanara
Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan's eldest daughter, laid out Chandni Chowk in 1650 with 1,560 shops along a 1,520-yard street and a canal down its centre.
Q 23Which invader looted Delhi in 1739 and carried off the Peacock Throne?
Nadir Shah
Nadir Shah won the Battle of Karnal in under three hours in February 1739, then looted Delhi, carrying off the Peacock Throne, the Koh-i-Noor and the Daria-i-Noor.
Q 14Who founded the Mughal Empire after beating the last Lodi sultan at Panipat in 1526?
Babur
Babur, a Timurid prince from the Fergana Valley descended from both Timur and Genghis Khan, defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in April 1526 and founded the Mughal Empire.
Q 15Which Hindu king was crowned in Purana Qila in 1556 after beating Akbar's forces?
Hem Chandra Vikramaditya
Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, known as Hemu, took Delhi from Akbar's governor and was crowned at Purana Qila in October 1556; a month later the Mughals crushed him at the Second Battle of Panipat.
Q 16Who commissioned Humayun's Tomb, the first garden-tomb on the subcontinent?
Bega Begum, his widow
She chose the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and paid the 1.5 million rupees herself.
Q 17In which year did Shahjahanabad, now Old Delhi, become the Mughal capital?
1638
Shah Jahan moved his capital from Agra to Delhi in 1638 and began building Shahjahanabad, whose walls and Red Fort were completed in 1648.
Q 18Which architect, also credited with the Taj Mahal, designed the Red Fort?
Ustad Ahmad Lahori
Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the architect also credited with the Taj Mahal, designed the Red Fort, which Shah Jahan commissioned on 12 May 1639 after moving his capital from Agra.
Q 19Above which Red Fort gate did Nehru raise the flag in August 1947?
Lahori Gate
Nehru hoisted the tricolour above the Lahori Gate, the Red Fort's main entrance facing Chandni Chowk, and prime ministers have raised it there on every Independence Day since.
Q 20Which mosque, built by Shah Jahan by 1656, is described as India's largest?
Jama Masjid
The Jama Masjid, completed in 1656 with a courtyard holding some 25,000 worshippers, served as the Mughal imperial mosque until the empire's end in 1857.
Q 24Which Maratha leader raided Delhi in 1737 after winning the First Battle of Delhi?
Baji Rao I
Baji Rao I, the Maratha peshwa, routed the Mughals outside Delhi in March 1737 and plundered the suburbs; a 1752 treaty later made the Marathas protectors of the Mughal throne.
Q 25In which year did the British East India Company take Delhi from the Marathas?
1803
Delhi fell to Lord Lake's army on 11 September 1803, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II passed under Company protection.
Q 26From which city was the capital of British India transferred to Delhi in 1911?
Calcutta
The transfer from Calcutta, the Company's base since the 18th century, was announced at the Delhi Durbar of 12 December 1911; construction of the new capital began the following year.
Q 27Which king-emperor was proclaimed in person at the 1911 Durbar?
George V
George V, the only reigning British monarch to attend a Delhi Durbar, wore the Imperial Crown of India, set with some 6,100 diamonds and weighing 34 ounces.
Q 28Which two British architects designed Rashtrapati Bhavan and much of New Delhi?
Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker
Edwin Lutyens designed Viceroy's House, now Rashtrapati Bhavan, and Herbert Baker the Secretariat blocks; built from 1912 to 1929, the palace has 340 rooms and 2.5 kilometres of corridors.
Q 29Where does the President of India's residence stand, at the head of the central vista?
Raisina Hill
Rashtrapati Bhavan stands on Raisina Hill; built as Viceroy's House, it became the Governor-General's residence at independence and the President's when India became a republic in 1950.
Q 30In what year was New Delhi formally inaugurated as the capital?
1931
New Delhi was inaugurated on 13 February 1931 by Viceroy Lord Irwin; the name had been adopted in 1927 and the transfer from Calcutta announced in 1911.