Consider the following statements:1.Saint Nimbarka was a contemporary of Akbar.2.Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. A

   1 only

   (a) 1 only. Nimbarka (Nimbarkacharya), the Dvaitadvaita Vaishnava teacher, belongs to a much earlier medieval centuries-range than Akbar’s sixteenth century, so ‘contemporary of Akbar’ fails and 1 only is not the key.

2. B

   2 only

   (b) 2 only. Kabir (fifteenth–early sixteenth century) died before Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (1564–1624, Mujaddid Alf-i-Sani) flourished at Akbar–Jahangir’s court, so Kabir cannot have been ‘greatly influenced’ by Sirhindi. 2 only is not the key.

3. C

   Both 1 and 2

   (c) Both 1 and 2. Both chronology claims fail, so both-true is not the key.

4. D

   Neither 1 nor 2

   (d) Neither 1 nor 2. Nimbarka was not Akbar’s contemporary, and Kabir was not a disciple of Sirhindi. Neither statement stands, so this is the official key.

Summary. Official key is (d) neither 1 nor 2. Nimbarka’s sampradaya is pre-Mughal. Kabir’s milieu is Sultanate-era Bhakti–Sufi north India; Sirhindi is a Naqshbandi reformer under Akbar and Jahangir, after Kabir. Honour the stored letter (d).