UPSC Prelims Topic Wise Solved PYQs – Modern History

The Modern History section in the UPSC Prelims examination from 2013 to 2022 has been a crucial component, assessing candidates’ knowledge of significant events and developments from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. The questions span a wide array of topics, including the Indian independence movement, colonial rule, socio-economic changes, and global events impacting India. Candidates have been tested on their understanding of key personalities, treaties, and movements that shaped the course of modern Indian history. The examination has emphasized the interconnectedness of global and Indian historical events, underlining the importance of a comprehensive approach to studying this period. Aspirants are required to have a nuanced understanding of political, social, economic, and cultural aspects of modern history to navigate through the diverse range of questions posed over the years. This segment serves as a litmus test for candidates’ historical acumen, demanding a meticulous preparation strategy that covers a broad spectrum of themes and events.

2023

1. By which one of the following Acts was the Governor General of Bengal designated as the Governor General of India? 

1. The Regulating Act 
2. The Pitt’s India Act 
3. The Charter Act of 1793 
4. The Charter Act of 1833 

Answer: (d)

Charter Act of 1833 was the final step towards centralisation in British India. It made the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor General of India and vested in him all civil and military powers. Thus, the act created, for the first time, Government of India having authority over the entire territorial area possessed by the British in India. Lord William Bentick was the first Governor-General of India. Hence, option (d) is correct.

2. With reference to the Indian History, Alexander Rea, A. H. Longhurst, Robert Sewell, James Burgess and Walter Elliot were associated with 

1. Archaeological excavations 
2. Establishment of English Press in Colonial India 
3. Establishment of Churches in Princely States 
4. Construction of railways in Colonial India 

Answer: (a)

Option a is correct: Alexander Rea (1858-1924) was a British archaeologist who worked mainly in South British India. He is known for unearthing a sarcophagus from the hillocks of Pallavaram in Tamil Nadu.

Albert Henry Longhurst (1876 – 1955) was a British archaeologist and art historian, working in India and Ceylon.From 1927 to 1931 he was in charge of the systematic digging of Nagarjunakonda.

Robert Sewell (1845–1925) worked in the civil service of the Madras Presidency during the period of colonial rule in India. Sewell undertook archaeological work at the Buddhist stupa at Amaravati, which had already been largely destroyed prior to his arrival. The site had previously been surveyed by Colin Mackenzie and Walter Elliot (1803-1887)

James Burgess (1832 – 1916), was the founder of the Indian Antiquary in 1872 and an important archaeologist of British India in the 19th century. From 1886-89 he was Director General, Archaeological Survey of India.

3. Consider the following statements: 

Statement- I: 7th August declared as the National Handloom Day. 

Statement-II It was in 1905 that the Swadeshi Movement was launched on the same day. 

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements? 

(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement- II is the correct explanation for Statement- I 

(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement- II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I.  

(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect  

(d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct 

Answer: (a)

In 2015, the Government of India decided to designate the 7th August every year, as the National Handloom Day. On this day, we honour our handloom-weaving community and highlight the contribution of this sector in the socio-economic development of our country. Hence, statement-I is correct. 

The Swadeshi Movement which was launched on 7th August, 1905 had encouraged indigenous industries and in particular handloom weavers. In 2015, the Government of India decided to designate the 7th August every year, as the National Handloom Day. Hence, statement II is correct and is correct explanation to statement I. 

2022

1. In the Government of India Act 1919, the functions of Provincial Government were divided into “Reserved” and “Transferred” subjects. Which of the following were treated as “Reserved” subjects? 

1. Administration of Justice 
2. Local Self-Government 
3. Land Revenue 
4. Police 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

(a) 1, 2 and 3 

(b) 2, 3 and 4 

(c) 1, 3 and 4 

(d) 1, 2 and 4 

Answer: (c)

Government of India Act 1919 was passed on the basis of Montagu-Chelmsford or Montford Reforms. Subjects were divided into two lists: ‘reserved’ which included subjects such as law and order, finance, land revenue, irrigation, etc., and ‘transferred’ subjects such as education, health, local government, industry, agriculture, excise, etc. 

Option 1 is correct: Law and order was a reserved subject under the Government of India Act, 1919 

Option 2 is incorrect: local government was a transferred subject under the Government of India Act, 1919. 

Option 3 is correct: Land Revenue was a reserved subject under the Government of India Act, 1919 

Option 4 is correct: Police was a reserved subject under the Government of India Act, 1919. 

Government of India Act, 1919 

Main Features: 

• The Provincial Legislative Councils were enlarged and the majority of their members were to be elected.The Act introduced dyarchy for the executive at the level of the provincial government. 
• Under this system some subjects, such as Land revenue administration, famine relief, irrigation, administration of justice, law and order, newspapers, borrowing, forests etc., were called ‘reserved’ subjects and remained under the direct control of the Governor; others such as education, public health & sanitation, public works, agriculture, fisheries, religious endowments, local self-governments, medical services etc, were called ‘transferred’ subjects and were to be controlled by ministers responsible to the legislatures.
•  In other words, the subjects which were considered of key importance for the welfare of the masses and for maintaining peace and order in the state were classified as reserved, while subjects in which there was more local interest were treated as transferred. 

2. Consider the following freedom fighters: 

1. Barindra Kumar Ghosh 

2. Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee 

3. Rash Behari Bose 

Who of the above was/were actively associated with the Ghadar Party? 

(a) 1 and 2 

(b) 2 only 

(c) 1 and 3 

(d) 3 only 

Answer : (d) 

• Barindra Kumar Ghosh- AnushilanSamiti 
• Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee- AnushilanSamiti 
• Rash Behari Bose- Ghadr Party 
• Hindustan Republican Association/Army or HRA (later renamed Hindustan Socialist Republican Association or HSRA). The HRA was founded in October 1924 in Kanpur by Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee and Sachin Sanyal. 
• The first revolutionary groups in Bengal were organised in 1902 in Midnapore (under Jnanendranath Basu) and in Calcutta (the Anushilan Samiti founded by Promotha Mitter, and including Jatindranath Banerjee, Barindra Kumar Ghosh and others.) 
• Rash Behari Bose was one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian National Movement, especially during the extremist phase. He was one of the masterminds behind the Delhi conspiracy case, participated in the Ghadar movement, and established the Indian Independence league while in Japan.  

3. With reference to the proposals of Cripps Mission, consider the following statements: 

1. The Constituent Assembly would have members nominated by the Provincial Assemblies as well as the Princely States. 
2. Any Province, which is not prepared to accept the new Constitution would have the right to sign a separate agreement with Britain regarding its future status. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

(a) 1 only 

(b) 2 only 

(c) Both 1 and 2 

(d) Neither 1 nor 2 

Answer: (b) 

The Cripps mission was an attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War. The mission was headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, a senior left-wing politician and government minister in the War Cabinet, who had actively supported the Indian national movement. 

The main proposals of the mission were as follows: 

• An Indian Union with a dominion status would be set up; it would be free to decide its relations with the Commonwealth and free to participate in the United Nations and other international bodies. 
• After the end of the war, a constituent assembly would be convened to frame a new constitution. Members of this assembly would be partly elected by the provincial assemblies through proportional representation and partly nominated by the princes. (Hence, Statement 1 is incorrect) 
• The British government would accept the new constitution subject to two conditions: (i) any province not willing to join the Union could have a separate constitution and form a separate Union, and (ii) the new constitution- making body and the British government would negotiate a treaty to effect the transfer of power and to safeguard racial and religious minorities. (Hence, Statement 2 is correct) 
• In the meantime, defence of India would remain in British hands and the governor-general’s powers would remain intact. 

4. With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements: 

1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers. 
2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate. 
3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire. 

Which of the statements given above is correct? 

(a) 1 and 2 only 

(b) 2 and 3 only 

(c) 1 and 3 only 

(d) 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (b) 

Statement 1 is incorrect: First factory established by Dutch was in Masulipatnam in 1605, whereas Gajapati rule lasted till middle of the 16th century. Kapilendra, the minister of Bhanudeva IV (1414-1435), usurped the throne in 1435 and laid the foundation of the Gajapati rule in Odisha. After Pratapa Rudra’s death (1540), his successors could hardly hold the empire intact, and the end of Suryavamsi (Gajapati) dynasty came soon after (1542), whereas the Dutch East India Company was formed in 1602 through a charter. 

Statement 2 is correct: Albuquerque acquired Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 with ease; the principal port of the Sultan of Bijapur became “the first bit of Indian territory to be under the Europeans since the time of Alexander the Great”. 

Statement 3 is correct. The rulers of Vijayanagara appointed chieftains called Nayaks to rule independently in their areas. Darmala Venkatadri Nayaka was incharge of what is Chennai today. He gave land to British on which they established settlement of British factory workers and merchants. 

2021

1. Consider the following statements: 

1. Francis Xavier was one of the founding members of the Jesuit Order. 
2. Francis Xavier died in Goa and a church is dedicated to him there. 
3. The Feast of St. Francis Xavier is celebrated in Goa each year. 

Which of the statements given above are correct? 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 2 and 3 only 
3. 1 and 3 only 
4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (c)

Statement 1 is correct: St. Francis Xavier was one of the founders of the Jesuit order. He was a Spanish saint.  

Statement 2 is incorrect: Xavier traveled to Sancian (Shangchuan) Island, near Canton, but was not able to access the mainland because borders had been closed to foreigners. Before he could find a way inside the country, illness incapacitated Xavier. He died on the island on December 3, 1552, at the age of 46. His body was then taken to Goa. 

Statement 3 is correct: Each year, 3^rd December, marks the anniversary of St. Francis Xavier’s death, when thousands gather at the Basilica of Bom Jesus. This annual festival, known as the Feast of St. Francis Xavier or Lord of Goa Festival, is the biggest of all the Christian festivals in Goa celebrated each year.   

2. Consider the following statements : 

1. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 recommended granting voting rights to all the women above the age of 21. 
2. The Government of India Act of 1935 gave women reserved seats in legislature. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

1. 1 only 
2. 2 only 
3. Both 1 and 2 
4. Neither 1 nor 2 

Answer: (d)

Statement 1 is incorrect: In 1918, Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy, produced their scheme of constitutional reforms, known as the Montagu-Chelmsford (or Mont-Ford) Reforms, which led to the enactment of the Government of India Act of 1919. The Act introduced reforms at the Central as well as Provincial levels, which also included voting rights for some women, among others. 

Statement 2 is incorrect: The Government of India Act 1935 gave women separate electorate (and did not reserved seats for women in legislature). It provided separate electorates to depressed classes and labours also. 

3. With reference to 8^th August, 1942 in Indian history, which one of the following statements is correct? 

1. The Quit India Resolution was adopted by the All-India Congress Committee. 
2. The Viceroy’s Executive Council was expanded to include more Indians. 
3. The Congress ministries resigned in seven provinces. 
4. Cripps proposed an Indian Union with full Dominion Status once the Second World War was over. 

Answer: (a) 

Statement a is correct: On 8^th August, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call to end the British rule and launched the Quit India Movement at the session of the All-India Congress Committee in Mumbai. Gandhiji gave the call “Do or Die” in his speech delivered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, now popularly known as August Kranti Maidan. 

Statement b is incorrect: More Indians were added to Viceroy’s executive council by Government of India Act 1919. First time, an Indian was added in this council by Government of India act 1909.  

Statement c is incorrect: Congress resigned from ministries in 7 provinces in 1939 as they decided not to support war as India could not be party to a war for democratic freedom while that freedom was being denied to India.  

Statement d is incorrect: Cripps proposed a dominion status to India, but this was not related to 8 August 1942. 

  

4. Who among the following is associated with ‘Songs from Prison’, a translation of ancient Indian Religious lyrics in English? 

1. Bal Gangadhar Tilak 
2. Jawaharlal Nehru 
3. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 
4. Sarojini Naidu 

Answer: (c)

Option (c) is correct: “Songs From Prison: Translations Of Indian Lyrics Made In Jail” was the collection of songs and lyrics by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, written during his imprisonment in Yerwada Jail, Poona. 

86. Who among the following was associated as Secretary with Hindu Female Schools which later came to be known as Bethune Female School? 

1. Annie Besant 
2. Debendranath Tagore 
3. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar 
4. Sarojini Naidu 

Answer: (c)

Option (c) is correct: In 1849, the Hindu Female School was founded by J.E.D. Bethune. In 1856, the British Government took charge of the Hindu Female School, and later renamed it as Bethune School. Pandit Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was made the secretary. 

5. In the context of Colonial India, Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillion are remembered as 

1. Leaders of Swadeshi and Boycott Movement 
2. Members of the Interim Government in 1946 
3. Members of the Drafting Committee in the Constituent Assembly 
4. Officers of the Indian National Army 

Answer: (d)

Prem Kumar Sehgal, Shah Nawaz Khan and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon were the second-tier commanders of the Indian National Army (INA) whose trial were held in 1945 at the Red Fort in Delhi. This was the first trial of INA Prisoners of wars. 

Additional Information: 

Red Fort trials: Between November 1945 and May 1946, approximately ten courts-martial were held in public at the Red Fort in Delhi. Claude Auchinleck, the Commander-in-Chief of the British-Indian army, hoped that by holding public trials in the Red Fort, public opinion would turn against the INA. 

Those to stand trials were accused variously of murder, torture and “waging war against the King-Emperor”. However, the first and most celebrated joint courts-martial – those of Prem Sahgal, Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan – were not the story of torture and murder Auchinleck had hoped to tell the Indian press and people. 

6. With reference to Indian history, which of the following statements is/are correct? 

1. The Nizamat of Arcot emerged out of Hyderabad State. 
2. The Mysore Kingdom emerged out of Vijayanagara Empire. 
3. Rohilkhand Kingdom was formed out of the territories occupied by Ahmad Shah Durrani. 

Select the correct answer using the code given below. 

1. 1 and 2  only 
2. 2 only 
3. 2 and 3  only 
4. 3 only 

Answer: (a)

Statement 1 is correct: The Nizamat of Carnatic (Arcot) was one of the subas (dependency) of the Mughal Deccan and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Later, Arcot emerged from Hyderabad. 

Statement 2 is correct: The Mysore kingdom, which was founded and ruled for most part by the Hindu Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagar Empire.  

Statement 3 is incorrect: Most of Rohilkhand’s borders were established by Ali Mohammed Khan and largely came into existence as a check to the power of Oudh State. 

7. In the first quarter of seventeenth century, in which of the following was/were the factory/factories of the English east India Company located? 

1. Broach 
2. Chicacole 
3. Trichinopoly 

Select the correct answer using the code given below. 

1. 1 only 
2. 1 and 2 
3. 3 only 
4. 2 and 3 

Answer: (a)

Option (a) is correct: In January, 1618, the English factories in the dominions of the Mughal Empire numbered five in all: Agra, Ahmadabad, Burhanpur (in Khandesh), Broach, and Surat. 

8. With reference to Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh, which one of the following statements is correct? 

1. Pingali Venkayya designed the tricolour Indian National Flag here. 
2. Pattabhi Sitaramaiah led the Quit India Movement of Andhra region from here. 
3. Rabindranath Tagore translated the National Anthem from Bengali to English here. 
4. Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott set up headquarters of Theosophical Society first here. 

Answer: (c)

Option (c) is correct: The original song ‘Jana Gana Mana’ (National Anthem) was written in Bengali, but in a Sanskritized dialect known as Sadhu Bhasha. The idea of translating the song from Bengali to English came to Rabindranath Tagore while he was visiting the Besant Theosophical College on the invitation of Irish poet James H. Cousins. He penned down the English translation during his stay at Madanapalle, a small town in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. 

2020

1. In the context of Indian history, the Rakhmabai case of 1884 revolved around 

1. Women’s right to gain education 
2. Age of consent 
3. Restitution of conjugal rights 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 2 and 3 only 
3. 1 and 3 only 
4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (b)

Rakhmabai (1864-1955) made her mark in history due to the legal case she was involved in, which contributed to the enactment of the Age of Consent Act, 1891. 

Statement 1 is not correct: Rakhmabai became the first women doctor to practice medicine in British India, the case was not related to the women’s right to gain education. 

Statement 2 is correct: The ripples that the case created led to the influence on the passage of the Age of Consent Act, 1891, which made child marriages illegal across the British Empire. 

Statement 3 is correct: In 1885, after 12 years of marriage, her husband sought “restitution of conjugal rights”, Rakhmabai was ordered to go live with her husband or spend six months in jail. 

2. Indigo cultivation in India declined by the beginning of the 20th century because of 

1. peasant resistance to the oppressive conduct of planters 
2. its unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions 
3. national leaders’ opposition to the cultivation if indigo 
4. Government control over the planters 

Answer: (b)

Option (b) is correct: Indigo is a blue dye which comes from the indigo plant. During the rule of the East India Company and later during British Raj, it was widely grown in India. It was often called “Blue Gold” and widely traded in European market. 

New inventions took place in Germany where the invention of scientific techniques like modern synthetic chemistry took place. By the late 19th century, nearly all indigo came from indigo bush plantations in India. The Germans succeeded in making it in the laboratory in 1878, but it took nearly three decades for the large-scale production of synthetic indigo. 

3. Wellesley established the Fort William College Calcutta because 

1. he was asked by the Board of Directors at London to do so 
2. he wanted to revive interest in oriental learning in India 
3. he wanted to provide William Carey and his associates with employment 
4. he wanted to train British civilians for administrative purpose in India 

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct: Fort William College was established on 18 August 1800 by Lord Richard Wellesley, Governor General of Bengal in order to provide instruction in the vernacular languages of India to the civil and military officials of the East India Company. It was named after King William III of England. It was aimed to train British civilians for administrative purposes in India . 

4. With reference to the history of India, “Ulgulan” or the Great Tumult is the description of which of the following events? 

1. The Revolt of 1857 
2. The Mappila Rebellion of 1921 
3. The Indigo Revolt of 1859-60 
4. Birsa Munda’s Revolt of 1899-1900 

Answer: (d) 

Option (d) is correct: Munda Rebellion was one of the prominent 19th century tribal rebellions in the subcontinent. It was led by Birsa Munda in the region south of Ranchi in 1899-1900. The Ulgulan, meaning ‘Great Tumult’, sought to establish Munda Raj and independence. It is also known as the Birsa Munda’s Revolt of 1899-1900.  

Additional Information: 

Birsa Munda (1875-1900) was born in the Munda tribe which inhabited the Chotanagpur area Bengal Presidency (Present-day Jharkhand). He is often referred to as ‘Dharti Abba’ or the Earth Father. His struggle against the exploitation and discrimination against tribals led to the passing of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act in 1908 which restricted the passing of land from the tribal people to non-tribals. 

5. Which of the following statements correctly explains the impact of the Industrial Revolution on India during the first half of the nineteenth century? 

1. Indian handicrafts were ruined. 
2. Machines were introduced in the Indian textile industry in large numbers. 
3. Railway lines were laid in many parts of the country. 
4. Heavy duties were imposed on the imports of British manufactures. 

Answer: (a)

Option (a) is correct: The Industrial Revolution brought severe consequences to the Indian society. One of the most important consequences of British Rule was the decline and destruction of urban and rural handicraft industries.

At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, cotton industries were developed in England which made industrial groups worry about imports from other countries. The government was pressured to impose import duties on cotton textiles so that Manchester goods could sell in Britain without facing any competition from outside.

At the same time, the East India Company was also persuaded by industrialists to sell British manufactures in Indian markets as well. Exports of British cotton goods increased dramatically in the early nineteenth century and the export market of the cotton weavers collapsed. Produced by machines at lower costs, the imported cotton goods were so cheap that weavers could not easily compete with them. 

6. With reference to the book ‘Desher Katha’ written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during the freedom struggle, consider the following statements: 

1. It warned against the Colonial State’s hypnotic conquest of the mind. 
2. It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs. 
3. The use of ‘desh’ by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal.

 Which of the statements given above are correct? 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 2 and 3 only 
3. 1 and 3 only 
4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (a)

Statement 1 is correct: Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912) a close associate of Sri Aurobindo was a marathi brahmin who had settled in Bengal, Sakharam was born in Deoghar. His text, titled Desher Katha (Story of the Nation/Country), written in 1904, warned against the colonial state’s ‘hypnotic conquest of the mind’. The book described in exhaustive detail the British commercial and industrial exploitation of India. The government of Bengal banned the book in 1910 and confiscated all the copies. 

Statement 2 is correct: This book had an immense repercussion in Bengal, captured the mind of young Bengal and assisted more than anything else in the preparation of the Swadeshi Movement. 

Statement 3 is not correct: In his book, Deuskar uses ‘desh’ in the context of the whole country. 

7. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact included which of the following? 

1. Invitation to Congress to participate in the Round Table Conference 
2. Withdrawal of Ordinances promulgated in connection with the Civil Disobedience Movement 
3. Acceptance of Gandhi’s suggestion for enquiry into police excesses 
4. Release of only those prisoners who were not charged with violence 

    Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

1. 1 only 
2. 1, 2 and 4 only 
3. 3 only 
4. 2, 3 and 4 only 

Answer: (b) 

The Delhi Pact (5 March 1931), also known as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, placed the Congress on an equal footing with the government. 

Statement 1 is correct: Gandhi on behalf of the Congress agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Congress got the invitation to participate in the next Round Table Conference. 

Statement 2 and 4 are correct: Lord Irwin, the Viceroy and Governor-General of India (1926-1931), on behalf of the British government, agreed with Mahatma Gandhi on the following:
 

• immediate release of all political prisoners not convicted of violence; 
• remission of all fines not yet collected; 
• return of all lands not yet sold to third parties; 
• lenient treatment to those government servants who had resigned; 
• right to make salt in coastal villages for personal consumption (not for sale); 
• right to peaceful and non-aggressive picketing; and 
• withdrawal of emergency ordinances. 

Statement 3 is not correct: The viceroy turned down two of Gandhiji’s demands: public inquiry into police excesses and commutation of death sentence of Bhagat Singh and his comrades to life sentence. 

8. The Vital-Vidhvansak, the first monthly journal to have the untouchable people as its target audience was published by 

1. Gopal Baba Walangkar 
2. Jyotiba Phule 
3. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 
4. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar 

Answer: (a)

Gopal Baba Walangkar  was born into a family of the untouchable Mahar caste in Raigad district, Maharashtra. He was the first to fight for the rights of the Mahars in Maharashtra. He retired from military service in 1886 and mobilized people and made them conscious about their human rights. 

Option (a) is correct: Gopal Baba Walangkar, also known as Gopal Krishna, (1840-1900) was an activist working to release the untouchable people of India from their historic socio-economic oppression. He is generally considered to be the pioneer of that movement. 

He developed a racial theory to explain the oppression. In 1888, Walangkar began publishing the monthly journal titled Vital-Vidhvansak (Destroyer of Brahmanical or Ceremonial Pollution), which was the first to have the untouchable people as its target audience. 

2019

1. Consider the following statements about ‘the Charter Act of 1813’: 

1. It ended the trade monopoly of the East India Company in India except for trade in tea and trade with China. 
2. It asserted the sovereignty of the British Crown over the Indian territories held by the Company. 
3. The revenues of India were now controlled by the British Parliament. 

Which of the statements given above are correct? 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 2 and 3 only 
3. 1 and 3 only 
4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (a)

Statement 1 is correct: The Company’s monopoly over trade in India ended, but the Company retained the trade with China and the trade in tea. 

Statement 2 is correct and statement 3 is not correct:  The Company was to retain the possession of territories and the revenue for 20 years more, without prejudice to the sovereignty of the Crown. Thus, the constitutional position of the British territories in India was defined explicitly for the first time. 

• Charter Act of 1813 regulated the company’s territorial revenues and commercial profits by asking territorial and commercial accounts to be kept separate. 
• A provision that the Company should invest Rs. 1 Lakh every year on the education of Indians was also proposed. 
• The local governments, under this Act, were empowered to impose taxes on the persons subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. 

2. With reference to Swadeshi Movement, consider the following statements: 

1. It contributed to the revival of the indigenous artisan crafts and industries. 
2. The National Council of Education was established as a part of the Swadeshi Movement. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

1. 1 only 
2. 2 only 
3. Both 1 and 2 
4. Neither 1 nor 2 

Answer: (c)

The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal was announced by the Indian National Congress against the announcement of the partition of Bengal in July 1905 by Lord Curzon. Launched as a protest movement, it also paved the way for the Boycott movement in the country which led to the use of goods produced in India. 

Statement 1 is correct: The Swadeshi Movement saw the growth of indigenous industries by the way of establishment of swadeshi textile mills, soap and match factories, tanneries, banks, insurance companies, shops, etc. This inculcated a feeling of self-reliance by reducing the dependence on foreign goods. These enterprises were based more on patriotic zeal than on business acumen. 

Statement 2 is correct: As an impact of the movement, the demand for the establishment of national education reached its peak which resulted in the setting up of various national schools and colleges. To impart education through the vernacular medium, the National Council of Education was also set up on August 15, 1906 to organize a system of education— literary, scientific, and technical—on national lines and under national control. 

3. Consider the following pairs: 

Movement/Organization                                             Leader 

1. All India Anti-Untouchability League           Mahatma Gandhi 

2. All India Kisan Sabha                                         Swami Sahajanand Saraswati 

3. Self-Respect Movement                           Naicker E.V. Ramaswami 

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? 

1. 1 only 

2. 1 and 2 only 

3. 2 and 3 only 

4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (d)

Pair 1 is correctly matched: Mahatma Gandhi set up All India Anti-Untouchability league in 1932 which later transformed into Harijan Sevak Sangh.  Gandhi advised that the activities of the League should be mainly directed towards the economic, social and educational improvement of the depressed classes rather than limiting it to the issue of temple entry and inter-dining. Henceforth, the word untouchable was replaced by Harijan.  

Pair 2 is correctly matched: To spearhead peasant movements in colonial India, All India Kisan Sabha was formed in 1936, at the Lucknow session of the Congress, with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati as its first President. It later issued a Kisan manifesto which demanded the abolition of Zamindari and occupancy rights for all tenants. Under pressure from its socialist members and leaders, the Congress adopted an Agrarian Programme in December 1936. 

Pair 3 is correctly matched: Self-Respect Movement, started by E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker in Tamil Nadu in 1925, was a dynamic social movement aimed at destroying the contemporary Hindu social order in its totality and creating a new, rational society without caste, religion, and God. It was an egalitarian movement that propagated the ideologies of breaking down the Brahminical hegemony, equal rights for the backward classes and women in the society and revitalization of the Dravidian languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.

4. With reference to the British colonial rule in India, consider the following statements: 

1. Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in the abolition of the system of ‘indentured labour’. 
2. In Lord Chelmsford’s ‘War Conference’, Mahatma Gandhi did not support the resolution on recruiting Indians for World War. 
3. Consequent upon the breaking of Salt Law by Indian people, the Indian National Congress was declared illegal by the colonial rulers. 

Which of the statements given above are correct? 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 1 and 3 only 
3. 2 and 3 only 
4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (b)

Statement 1 is correct: Indentured labour was bonded labour hired on contract for working on plantations in various colonies of western imperialists. In South Africa, Gandhi in opposition to compulsory registration of Indian population under Asiatic Law Amendment Act of the Transvaal government organised non-violent protest which led to passing of Indian Relief Act 1914- which eliminated extra tax on Indian citizens who had not renewed their indentures and recognized validity of Indian marriages. 

Statement 2 is not correct: Lord Chelmsford, the then viceroy of India invited Gandhi to Delhi, at an award conference in order to gain the trust of the empire and Gandhi agreed to move people to enlist in the army for World War I. He agreed to the resolution with the belief that absolutely unconditional and whole-hearted cooperation with the government on the part of educated India will bring us within sight of our goal of Swaraj as nothing else will’. 

Statement 3 is correct: The Salt March or the Dandi March was commenced on March 12^th, 1930 and extended for a period of 24 days. The salt law was broken by Gandhi on April 6^th when he collected salt from mud. As the Salt March ended in month of April 1930, between June and August several Congress Working Committees and leaders were arrested and Congress as a political was declared illegal by the British Administration.  

5. With reference to Indian National Movement, consider the following pairs: 

Position held, Person

1. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru     President, All India Liberal Federation 

2. K.C. Neogy                   Member, The Constituent Assembly 

3. P.C. Joshi                   General Secretary, Communist Party of India 

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? 

1. 1 only 

2. 1 and 2 only 

3. 3 only 

4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (d)

Pair 1 is correctly matched: When the Montague report of 1918 was made public, there was a divide in the Congress. The moderates welcomed it while the extremists opposed it. This led to a rift in the Congress with moderate leaders forming the “Indian National Liberal Federation (INLF)” in 1919. INLF was founded by Surendra Nath Banerjee and Tej Bahadur Sapru was chosen as the President of the federation. 

Pair 2 is correctly matched: In 1946, the Cabinet Mission visited India to draft a Constitution for the country. On the basis of the framework provided by the Cabinet Mission, a Constituent Assembly was constituted on 9th December 1946 which was a fully sovereign body. It elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India. Kshitish Chandra Neogy, an Indian politician from West Bengal, was also a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. 

Pair 3 is correctly matched: The Communist Party of India was formed on 26 December 1925 at the first Party Conference in Kanpur. Cawnpore. S.V. Ghate was appointed the first General Secretary of CPI. The scattered Communist Group again met in Surat in late 1935 and chose P.C. Joshi as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India. 

2018

1. Consider the following events: 

1. The first democratically elected communist party government formed in a State in India. 
2. India’s then largest bank, ‘Imperial Bank of India’, was renamed ‘State Bank of India’. 
3. Air India was nationalised and became the national carrier. 
4. Goa became a part of independent India. 

Which of the following is the correct chronological sequence of the above

events? 

(a) 4 – 1 – 2 – 3 

(b) 3 – 2 – 1 – 4 

(c) 4 – 2 – 1 – 3 

(d) 3 – 1 – 2 – 4 

Answer: (b)

In 1953, India nationalized all Indian airlines, creating two corporations—one for domestic service, called Indian Airlines Corporation (merging Air-India Limited with six lesser lines), and one for international service, Air-India International Corporation. 

The Reserve Bank of India, which is the Central Bank of India, acquired a controlling interest in the Imperial Bank of India in 1955. On 1 July 1955, the Imperial Bank of India became the State Bank of India. 

First democratically elected communist party government formed in a state in India in 1957. The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1957 was the first assembly election in the Indian state of Kerala. The Communist Party of India won the election with 60 seats. 

Goa became an independent India on 18 December 1961. Indian troops crossed the border into Goa and “liberated” it. After conferring statehood on Goa on 30 May 1987, Daman and Diu was made a separate Union Territory. 

2. Which of the following led to the introduction of English Education in India? 

1. Charter Act of 1813 
2. General Committee of Public Instruction, 1823 
3. Orientalist and Anglicist Controversy 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 2 only 
3. 1 and 3 only 
4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct: The introduction of English Education in India was first put forward by the Charter Act of 1813 and Orientalist and Anglicist Controversy. Then in 1823, the Governor- General-in Council appointed a “General Committee of Public Instruction”, which had the responsibility to grant one lakh of rupees for education. That Committee consisted of ten European members of which Lord Macaulay was the President. 

3. In 1920, which of the following changed its name to “Swarajya Sabha”? 

1. All India Home Rule League 
2. Hindu Mahasabha 
3. South Indian Liberal Federation 
4. The Servants of India Society 

Answer: (a) 

Option (a) is correct: The year 1919 opened with two main political bodies in the field, viz., the All India Home Rule League established in 1916 mainly by Mrs. Besant and Tilak’s Indian Home Rule League started in 1917. 

The Home Rule League demanded self-government based on the Irish model. Tilak’s League with its stronghold in the Deccan. Mrs. Besant on the other hand had for some time been losing ground everywhere. 

All India Home Rule League which in October 1920 was renamed the “Swarajya Sabha” with the avowed object of securing complete Swaraj for India in accordance with the wishes of the people of India.

4. Which among the following events happened earliest? 

1. Swami Dayanand established Arya Samaj. 
2. Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neel Darpan. 
3. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandmath. 
4. Satyendranath Tagore became the first Indian to succeed in the Indian Civil Services Examination. 

Answer: (b)

Option (b) is correct: 

• Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan=1858-1859 
• Swami Dayanand established Arya Samaj-1875 
• Satyendranath Tagore became the first Indian to succeed in the Indian Civil Services Examination -1863 
• Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandmath-1882 

5. With reference to educational institutions during colonial rule in India, consider the following pairs: 

Institution – Founder

1. Sanskrit College at Benaras                             William Jones
2. Calcutta Madarsa                                           Warren Hastings 
3. Fort William College                                             Arthur Wellesley 

Which of the pairs given above is/are correct? 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 2 only 
3. 1 and 3 only 
4. 3 only 

Answer: (b)

Pair 1 is not correctly matched: In 1791 the efforts of Jonathan Duncan, the British Resident at Benares, bore fruit and a Sanskrit College was opened at Benares.   

Pair 2 is correctly matched: Warren Hastings set up Calcutta Madrasa in 1781 for the study and learning of Persian and Arabic. This was done as the British hoped to win a place in the hearts of the “natives”; only then could the alien rulers expect to be respected by their subjects. 

Pair 3 is not correctly matched: Lord Richard Colley Wellesley (Not Arthur Wellesley) took the first step for training of Civil Servants when he founded the fort William College, in Calcutta in November 1800 where the Civil Servants of the Company were to receive training in the literature, science and languages of India. 

6. The staple commodities of export by the English East India Company from Bengal in the middle of the 18th century were: 

1. Raw cotton, oil-seeds and opium 
2. Sugar, salt, zinc and lead 
3. Copper, silver, gold, spices and tea 
4. Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium 

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct: Crucial to the emergence of a powerful capitalist economy, British-Indian territory was developed as a source of food and raw material for Britain. In fact, it ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China, where the main items of trade were cotton, silk, tea, opium, and saltpetre (potassium nitrate). 

7. Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran Satyagraha? 

1. Active all-India participation of lawyers, students and women in the National Movement 
2. Active involvement of Dalit and Tribal communities of India in the National Movement 
3. Joining of peasant unrest to India’s National Movement 
4. Drastic decrease in the cultivation of plantation crops and commercial crops 

Answer: (c) 

Option (c) is correct: The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was India’s first Civil Disobedience Movement that opened a new phase in the national movement by joining it to the great struggle of the Indian peasantry for bread and land. Gandhi led the struggle of indigo workers as India’s first Satyagraha that set the pace for involvement of peasant unrest to the National Movement. 

8. Who among the following were the founders of the “Hind Mazdoor Sabha” established in 1948? 

1. B. Krishna Pillai, E.M.S. Namboodiripad and K.C. George 
2. Jayaprakash Narayan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and M.N. Roy 
3. C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, K. Kamaraj and Veeresalingam Pantulu 
4. Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanujam and G.G. Mehta 

Answer: (d) 

Option (d) is correct:The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) was founded in Howrah in 1948 by socialists Forward Bloc followers and independent unionists which included Basawon Singh (Sinha), Ashok Mehta, R.S. Ruikar, Maniben Kara, Shibnath Banerjee, R.A. Khedgikar, T.S. Ramanujam, V.S. Mathur, G.G. Mehta. R.S. Ruikar was elected president and Ashok Mehta general secretary. HMS absorbed the Royist Indian Federation of Labour and the Hind Mazdoor Panchayat, which was formed in 1948 by socialists leaving the increasingly communist dominated AITUC. 

9. Which one of the following statements does not apply to the system of Subsidiary Alliance introduced by Lord Wellesley? 

1. To maintain a large standing army at others expense 
2. To keep India safe from Napoleonic danger 
3. To secure a fixed income for the Company 
4. To establish British paramountcy over the Indian States 

Answer: (c) 

The French assistance to Tipu Sultan in 1798 was the last instance of active intervention of any other European power in India. To counter the intrigues of Napoleon and any further development in French Power in India, Wellesley, who was extremely influenced with the imperial thoughts, came up with the scheme of eliminating the French Power from India for ever. 

He placed the British on the head of the great Indian confederacy. The Fourth Anglo Mysore war had placed England on the Military supremacy in India and now Wellesley used the Subsidiary Alliance System aggressively. 

Option (c) is correct: Some Important features of Subsidiary Alliance are, to maintain a large standing army at others expense, to keep India safe from Napoleonic danger, to establish British paramountcy over the Indian States, etc. To secure a fixed income for the Company was not a part of it. 

10. After the Santhal Uprising subsided, what was/were the measure/measures taken by the colonial government? 

1. The territories called ‘Santhal Parganas’ were created. 
2. It became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to a non-Santhal. 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

1. 1 only 
2. 2 only 
3. Both 1 and 2 
4. Neither 1 nor 2 

Answer: (c)

Santhals are a group of tribes concentrated in the state of Jharkhand. The Santhal Revolt took place in 1855-56. Santhal rebellion was led by four Murmu brothers named Sindhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav against the oppressive zamindari system.

The Santhals showed exemplary courage in fighting against the British, despite being beaten and harassed. This was the first peasant movement which took place in India. The revolt has reference to the establishment of the permanent land settlement of 1793. 

Statement 1 is correct: In order to be able to rule the area, the British finally agreed on demands of Santhals following which the district of Santhal Pargana was created in 1885, carving out 5,500 square miles from the districts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum. 

Statement 2 is correct: The British government enacted laws to ensure that the tribal land is not taken away by outsiders (dikus). This means, it became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to a non- Santhal. 

11. Economically one of the results of the British rule in India in the 19th century was the 

1. increase in the export of Indian handicrafts 
2. growth in the number of Indian owned factories 
3. commercialization of Indian agriculture 
4. rapid increase in the urban population 

Answer: (c)

Option (c) is correct: Commercialization of Indian agriculture was the result of British rule in India in the 19th century. Farmers were forced to grow Indigo and other cash crops which were exported to Great Britain as raw materials of the English factories. In the 19^th century, agriculture became commercial due to the use of modern agricultural equipment and Indians started producing crops for commercial use and on a large-scale basis.  

12. Regarding Wood’s Dispatch, which of the following statements are true? 

1. Grants-in-Aid system was introduced. 
2. Establishment of universities was recommended. 
3. English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education was recommended. 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

1. 1 and 2 only 
2. 2 and 3 only 
3. 1 and 3 only 
4. 1, 2 and 3 

Answer: (a)

Statement 1 is correct: As per this Wood’s Despatch an education department was to be set up in every province along with the provision of grants in aid to the affiliated private schools. 

Statement 2 is correct: The Wood’s Despatch also recommended the establishment of three universities in the Presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras on the model of the London University. 

Statement 3 is not correct: It also wanted to promote the study of English as well as Indian regional languages and classical languages like Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. It did not recommend English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education, only for higher studies it was recommended. 

Charles Wood was a British Liberal politician and Member of Parliament. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846 to 1852. He later became the President of the Board of Control of the East India Company. In 1854, the “Wood’s despatch” was sent to the Governor General Lord Dalhousie by him. This document is considered as the “Magna Carta of English Education in India“. 

13. He wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shrikrishna, stayed in America for some time; and was also elected to the Central Assembly. He was 

1. Aurobindo Ghosh 
2. Bipin Chandra Pal 
3. Lala Lajpat Rai 
4. Motilal Nehru 

Answer: (c)

Option (c) is correct: Lala Lajpat Rai wrote the biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji, Dayanand and Shri Krishna, besides other important works in English, Hindi, and Urdu. He was famously called the “Lion of Punjab”. 

14. In the federation established by the Government of India Act of 1935, residuary powers given to the 

1. Federal Legislature 
2. Governor General 
3. Provincial Legislature 
4. Provincial Governors 

Answer: (b)

Option (b) is correct: The Government of India Act of 1935 provided for the establishment of an All- India Federation consisting of Provinces and Princely States as units. The Act divided the powers between the Centre and units in terms of three lists, Federal List (for Centre, with 59 items), Provincial List (for provinces, with 54 items) and the Concurrent List (for both, with 36 items). 

Residuary powers were given to the Governor General. 

The Government of India Act of 1935 abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced ‘provincial autonomy’ in its place and introduced bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces. Thus, the legislatures of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Bihar, Assam and the United Provinces were made bicameral consisting of a legislative council (upper house) and a legislative assembly (lower house), further extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for depressed classes (scheduled castes), women and labour (workers). It abolished the Council of India, established by the Government of India Act of 1858. 

The secretary of state for India was provided with a team of advisors. It provided for the establishment of a Reserve Bank of India to control the currency and credit of the country and provided for the establishment of not only a Federal Public Service Commission but also a Provincial Public Service Commission and Joint Public Service Commission for two or more provinces. 

2017

1. Who among the following was/were associated with the introduction of Ryotwari Settlement in India during the British rule?

1. Lord Cornwallis
2. Alexander Read
3. Thomas Munro

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (c)

Option (c) is correct: 

• During British rule, Alexander Read and Thomas Munro were involved in the introduction of the Ryotwari Settlement in India. 
• Thomas Munro introduced the Ryotwari System in 1820. 
• It was based on the Captain Alexander Reed-managed system. 
• The system began in Tamil Nadu and was later expanded to Maharashtra, Berar, East Punjab, Coorg, and Assam. 
• Ownership rights were transferred to peasants under the Ryotwari System. 
• There were no middlemen between the government and the individual cultivator, and the British government collected taxes directly from the peasants. 

2. The Trade Disputes Act of 1929 provided for

(a) the participation of workers in the management of industries.

(b) arbitrary powers to the management to quell industrial disputes.

(c) an intervention by the British Court in the event of a trade dispute.

(d) a system of tribunals and a ban on strikes.

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct:

The Trade Disputes Act of 1929 

It established a tribunal system and prohibited strikes. 

• The main purpose of the Trade Disputes Act of 1929 was to establish procedures for the formation of Courts of Inquiry and Boards of Conciliation. 
• The Trade Disputes Act of 1929 also prohibited unannounced strikes or lockouts in public utility services. The Working Men’s Club, founded in 1870 by Sasipada Banerjee, was the first labour organisation. It was established in Kolkata. 
• B.P. Wadia founded the Chennai Labour Union in 1918.

3. Consider the following statements:

1. The Factories Act, 1881 was passed with a view to fix the wages of industrial workers and to allow the workers to form trade unions.
2. N.M. Lokhande was a pioneer in organizing the labour movement in British India.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (b)

The Factory Act of 1881: 

• It was adopted in 1881 by Lord Ripon. 
• In 1885, a Factory Commission was formed. 
• The 1881 Act aimed to improve labour working conditions. 
• It also prohibited hiring children under the age of seven. 
• The most important decision was to limit the number of working hours for children under the age of twelve. 
• The Factory Act of 1881 required one hour of rest during the working day and required that dangerous machinery be properly fenced, but it made no mention of the formation of trade unions. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect. 
• N.M. Lokhande was a forerunner in organising the British Indian labour movement. He worked for the working conditions of textile mill-hands and also for the caste and communal issues. Hence, statement 2 is correct. 

4. The object of the Butler Committee of 1927 was to?

(a) Define the jurisdiction of the Central and Provincial Governments.

(b) Define the powers of the Secretary of State for India.

(c) Impose censorship on national press.

(d) Improve the relationship between the Government of India and the Indian States.

Answer: (c)

Butler Committee Report of 1927: 

• Option (c) is correct: It sought to improve relations between the Government of India and the Indian States. 
• The Butler Committee, also known as the Indian States Committee, was formed in 1927. 
• In 1929, the committee submitted its report. 
• According to the Committee, the Viceroy should represent the Crown in all dealings with the States. This proposed change is comparable to the new Imperial arrangement under which the Governor-General of a Dominion serves as High Commissioner for the Protectorates of the Dominion. 
• It states that the monarchy must remain supreme. 
• It is claimed that British supremacy protects the princely state. 
• The Committee understands the Native Princes’ concern that their States might be transferred without their consent under a new Government in British India accountable to an Indian Legislature, and they express unequivocally that no such transfer should occur without the Princes’ consent.  
• It also states that the state should not be transferred unless both parties agree. 

5. Consider the following pairs:

1. Radhakanta Deb — First President of the British Indian Association
2. Gazulu Lakshmi Narasu Chetty — Founder of the Madras Mahajana Sabha
3. Surendranath Banerjee — Founder of the Indian Association

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b)

• The British Indian Association 
• It was established in Calcutta in October 1851.  
• The British Indian Association’s first president was Raja Radha Kanta dev, and its secretary was Debendranath Tagore. Hence, Pair 1 is correctly matched. 
• The Madras Mahajana Sabha  
• It was established in May 1884.  
• M. Veeraraghavachariar, S. Ramaswami Mudaliar, and P. Anandacharlu founded it. Hence, Pair 2 is not correctly matched. 
• Indian Association  
• Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose founded the Indian Association in 1876. Hence, Pair 3 is correctly matched. 
• The Indian Association was the first openly nationalist organisation to be established in British India.  
• The objectives of this Association were “promoting by every legitimate means the political, intellectual and material advancement of the people”. 

6. In the context of Indian history, the principle of `Dyarchy (diarchy)’ refers to

(a) Division of the central legislature into two houses.

(b) Introduction of double government i.e., Central and State governments.

(c) Having two sets of rulers; one in London and another in Delhi.

(d) Division of the subjects delegated to the provinces into two categories.

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct: 

The Montage-Chelmsford reforms 1919 

• In 1918, Lord Chelmsford, Viceroy, and Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State, introduced constitutional reforms that led to the passage of the Government of India Act of 1919. 
• The Provincial Legislative Councils were expanded, with the majority of members elected. 
• Under the Dyarchy system, provincial governments were given more authority. 
• Under Dyarchy, some subjects, such as finance and law and order, remained directly under the Governor’s control and were referred to as ‘reserved’ subjects. 
• Other subjects, such as education, public health, and local self-government, were to be controlled by ministers accountable to the legislatures and were referred to as ‘transferred’ subjects. 

7. With reference to Indian freedom struggle, consider the following events:

1. Mutiny in Royal Indian Navy
2. Quit India Movement launched
3. Second Round Table Conference

What is the correct chronological sequence of the above events?

(a) 1-2-3

(b) 2-1-3

(c) 3-2-1

(d) 3-1-2

Answer: (c)

Second Round Conference 

• In September 1931, the Second Round Conference convened. 
• Gandhi stood in for the Indian National Congress, while Sarojini Naidu stood in for Indian women. 
• Other attendees included Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Muhammad Iqbal, Sir Mirza Ismail Diwan of Mysore, S K Dutta, and Sir Syed Ali Imam. 
• Quit India Movement 
• The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Revolution (August Kranti), was launched on August 8, 1942, during World War II, at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee or, more simply, by Gandhiji (Mahatma Gandhi), demanding an end to British rule in India. 
• Royal Indian Navy Mutiny 
• On February 18, 1946, a group of non-commissioned officers and sailors known as Ratings in the Royal Indian Navy rebelled against British officers. The mutiny began with a strike by the ratings in response to financial, food, and racial discrimination.  

2016

1. The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the

(a) Agitation against the Partition of Bengal

(b) Home Rule Movement

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement

(d) Visit of the Simon Commission to India

Answer: (a)

The Swadeshi movement in Bengal  

• It was started by the Indian National Congress after Lord Curzon, who was viceroy of India at the time, announced the division of Bengal in July 1905. Hence, Option (a) is correct. 
• The Boycott movement in the nation got its start as a result of the protest movement known as the Swadeshi movement. 
• The main figures in the swadeshi movement are Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Lala Lajpat Rai. All political parties, with the exception of the Justice party and a portion of the Muslim League, rejected the commission. 

2. Satya Shodhak Samaj organized

(a) a movement for upliftment of tribals in Bihar.

(b) a temple-entry movement in Gujarat.

(c) an anti-caste movement in Maharashtra.

(d) a peasant movement in Punjab.

Answer: (c)

Satya Shodak Samaj  

• It is an Anti-caste movement in Maharashtra. (Option (c) is correct. )
• The fundamental goal was to free the so-called “lower castes” from oppression and exploitation.  
• Jyotirao Phule created Satyashodhak Samaj.  
• It was established on September 24, 1873, in Pune, Maharashtra. 
• It was against brahminical dominance and in favour of the emancipation of the lower castes, untouchables, and widows.
• Tenants revolted against their brahman landlords in Satara in 1919, in tandem with the Samaj’s anti-religious ideology.  
• It arrived with its ideology that mocked brahman superiority, and the process of rebellion in other cities in Maharashtra took a similar shape.  
• Peasants abandoned their reliance on brahmans for religious ceremonies, disrupted brahman ceremonies, violated temples, and broke idols.  
• These peasant revolts in Maharashtra demonstrated that the Satyashodhak Samaj’s ideology was appealing to the general public and capable of inciting group action.  

3. The Montague-Chelmsford Proposals were related to

(a) social reforms

(b) educational reforms

(c) reforms in police administration

(d) constitutional reforms

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct:

Montagu-Chelmsford reforms: 

• The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were implemented in India by the British administration in 1919. 
• Lord Chelmsford was India’s Viceroy at the time, while Edwin Montagu served as the country’s Secretary of State for India. 
• It announced that India would gradually become a part of the British Empire and get responsible government. 

Important provisions of the act: 

• Separate Preamble & End of Benevolent Despotism. 
• Introduction of Diarchy. 
• This act made the central legislature bicameral. 
• The act provided for the establishment of a Public Service Commission in India for the first time. 

Therefore, The Montagu-Chelmsford Proposals were related to Constitutional Reforms. 

4. Consider the following:

1. Calcutta Unitarian Committee
2. Tabernacle of New Dispensation
3. Indian Reform Association

Keshab Chandra Sen is associated with the establishment of which of the above?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b)

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy formed the Calcutta Unitarian Committee. Hence, Statement 1 is not correct. 
• Keshab Chandra Sen  
  • He was a social reformer from Bengal. 
  • In 1856, he joined the Brahmo Samaj. 
  • Keshab Chandra Sen lay the cornerstone for his mandir, the Tabernacle of New Dispensation, on January 24, 1868. Hence, Statement 2 is correct. 
  • The first Brahmo street procession in Calcutta was led by Keshab and his followers, who marched to the designated location early in the morning while singing sankirtan. It was denounced by Adi Samaj as being beneath Brahmoism. 
  • He additionally belonged to the Indian Reform Association. Its objective also included to create public opinion against child marriage, get Brahmo form of marriage legalized, promote the status of women. Hence, Statement 3 is correct. 
  • The Indian reform association strived to legalize Brahmo marriage and to fix the minimum age of marriage. 

5. What was the main reason for the split in the Indian National Congress at Surat in 1907?

(a) Introduction of communalism into Indian politics by Lord Minto

(b) Extremists’ lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British Government

(c) Foundation of Muslim League

(d) Aurobindo Ghosh’s inability to be elected as the President of the Indian National Congress

Answer: (b)

Option (b) is correct:

• In 1907, Rash Behari Ghosh presided over the Congress’ Surat session. 
• In 1907, the Indian National Congress broke into two factions, the moderates and the extremists. 
• Lala Lajpat Rai’s appointment as INC President and a resolution on Swaraj were the two main demands made by the extremists in the 1907 Surat session, and the moderates rejected both of these demands. 
• The moderates favoured the notion of Rash Behari Ghosh serving as the president of the 1907 INC session of Surat rather than Lala Lajpat Rai.  
• The fundamental cause of the break in the Indian National Congress at Surat in 1907 was the extremists’ lack of confidence in the ability of the moderates to deal with the British Government. 

6. The plan of Sir Stafford Cripps envisaged that after the Second World War

(a) India should be granted complete independence.

(b) India should be partitioned into two before granting independence.

(c) India should be made a republic with the condition that she will join the Commonwealth.

(d) India should be given Dominion status.

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct:

Cripps Mission: 

• In order to get the support of India in World War II, Cripps Mission was sent to India in 1942. 
• Among the mission’s proposals are:  
• Dominion status for India after the war. 
• After the war, the constitution-making body. 
• Only if a particular province wishes to break away from the Union of India would the British Government recognise the constitution as it is. 
• Any province with the option to form a separate deal with the British if it refused to accept the new constitution 
• Due to the Cripps Mission’s offer of Dominion Status following the war, Gandhi referred to it as “A post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank.” 

2015

1. With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the ‘Sedition Committee’.
2. In Rowlatt Satyagraha, Gandhiji tried to Utilize the Home Rule League.
3. Demonstrations against the arrival of Simon Commission coincided with Rowlatt Satyagraha.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b)

• In 1918, with Mr Justice Rowlatt, an English judge, as its president, the Rowlatt committee was a Sedition Committee appointed by the British Indian Government. Hence, Statement 1 is correct. 
• The committee’s objective was to evaluate political terrorism in India, in particular in Bengal and Punjab.  
• Gandhi tried to use three types of political networks in organising his satyagraha – the Home Rule Leagues, certain pan-Islamist groups and a satyagraha sabha that he started on 24 February in Bombay. Hence, Statement 2 is correct. 

Simon Commission 

• Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and Government of India Act, 1919 had a provision that a commission would be appointed ten years from the date to study the progress of the government scheme and suggest new steps. Hence, Statement 3 is not correct. 
• An all-white, seven-member Indian Statutory Commission, popularly known as the Simon Commission was set up by the British government under Stanley Baldwin’s prime ministership on November 8, 1927. 
• The commission was to recommend to the British government whether India was ready for further constitutional reforms and along what lines. 

2. Who of the following was/were economic critic/critics of colonialism in India?

1. Dadabhai Naoroji
2. G.Subramania Iyer
3. R.C. Dutt

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct:

Moderates Leaders of the Indian National Congress 

• The early leaders of the Indian national movement, known as the Moderates, were the first in the 19th century to create an economic criticism of colonialism. This critique was firmly anchored in an awareness of the nature and character of colonial economic dominance and exploitation. 
• They use popular lectures, booklets, newspapers, dramas, songs, and Prabhat pheries to spread awareness of nationalist agitation. 
• After 1860, as their expectations for India’s social development were not met, they started to see that, despite gradual and halting progress in different directions, the nation as a whole was under- and regressing. 
• Three names stand out among the large number of Indians who initiated and carried out the economic analysis of British rule during the years 1870-1905. 
• Dadabhao Naoroji, RC Dutt, G.V. Joshi, G. Subramaniya Iyer, G.K. Gokhale, Prithwis Chandra Ray, and hundreds of other political workers and journalists analyzed every aspect of the economy and subjected the entire range of economic issues and colonial economic policies to minute scrutiny. 
• They posed basic questions regarding the nature and purpose of British rule. 
• They were able to follow the process of the colonialization of the Indian economy and conclude that colonialism was the principal hurdle to India’s economic progress. 

3. With reference to Congress Socialist Party, consider the following statements:

1. It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes.
2. It wanted to establish the dictatorship of proletariat.
3. It advocated, separate electorate for minorities and oppressed classes.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 1, 2 and 3

(d) None

Answer: (d)

Option (d) is correct: 

• Congress Socialist Party was formed in 1934 as a party within the Congress.
• It was in favour of socialist ideas within the Congress.
• It believed in democratic socialism.
• It did not favour separate electorates.

4. The Government of India Act of 1919 clearly defined

(a) the separation of power between the judiciary and the legislature

(b) the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments

(c) the powers of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy

(d) None of the above

Answer: (b)

Option (b) is correct:

Government of India Act of 1919  

• It was passed in 1919 and went into effect in 1921. 
• It is also known as the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (Montagu was the Secretary of State for India and Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India). 
• It delineated and separated the central and provincial topics, easing central control over the provinces. 
• The national and provincial legislatures were given the authority to pass laws on the issues on their respective lists. 
• The government’s organisational structure remained centralised and unitary. 
• The provincial subjects were further separated into two categories: transferred and reserved. 
• The Governor was to oversee the transferred subjects with the assistance of Ministers answerable to the legislative council. 
• The Governor and his executive council were to handle the restricted topics without reporting to the legislative council. This dual governing structure was known as ‘dyarchy,’ a term derived from the Greek word diarchy, which means “dual rule.” 
• It established bicameralism and direct elections in the country for the first time.  
• A bicameral legislature made up of an Upper House (Council of State) and a Lower House took the role of the Indian Legislative Council (Legislative Assembly). 

5. Who of the following organized a march on the Tanjore coast to break the Salt Law in April 1930?

(a) V.O. Chidambaram Pillai

(b) C.Rajagopalachari

(c) K.Kamaraj

(d) Annie Besant

Answer: (b)

C. Rajagopalachari  

• In April 1930, he planned a march to violate the salt law along the Tanjore seashore. (Option (b) is correct.)
• For organising a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast, he was detained in April 1930. 
• He was given the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and served as India’s first and last Indian Governor-General. 

Additional Information 

V. O. Chidambaram Pillai 

• He was an Indian freedom fighter and leader of the Indian National Congress. 
• They founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in 1906 to compete against the monopoly of the British India Steam Navigation Company (BISNC). 
• Tuticorin Port Trust, one of India’s thirteen major ports, is named after him. 

K. Kamaraj 

• He was the founder and president of the Indian National Congress, and he is largely regarded as the Kingmaker in post-independence Indian politics.  
• He made significant contributions to the Madras state’s infrastructure development and sought to raise the standard of living for the underprivileged and those in need. 

Annie Besant 

• She had founded two journals, “The Commonweal” and “New India,” and she was connected to the Theosophical Society of India. 
• She served as the Indian National Congress’s first female president. 

6. Consider the following statements

1. The first woman President of the Indian National Congress was Sarojini Naidu.
2. The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress was Badruddin Tyabji.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (b)

Annie Besant 

• She is considered the founder of the Theosophical Society in India. 
• She was the first woman President of the Indian National Congress in the Calcutta session in 1917. (Statement 1 is correct)
• In 1898, she was instrumental in setting up Central Hindu College, which in 1911 culminated as Banaras Hindu University with her joint efforts with Madan Mohan Malviya. 

Badruddin Tyabji 

• He was the first Muslim President of the 3rd session of the Indian National Congress (INC) that was held at Madras in 1887. (Statement 2 is correct.)
• Badruddin Tyabji was the first Indian barrister, and the first Muslim Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. 

Sarojini Naidu 

• She was the first Indian woman to become President of INC in the Kanpur session in 1925. 
• Sarojini Naidu was awarded by British “Kaiser-i-Hind medal” for her work during the plague epidemic in India. 

7. With reference to the Cabinet Mission, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It recommended a federal government.
2. It enlarged the powers of the Indian courts.
3. It provided for more Indians in the ICS.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3

(c) 1 and 3

(d) None

Answer: (a)

The Cabinet Mission  

• This was composed of three Cabinet Ministers of England. 
• This mission’s goal was to devise the apparatus needed to draught Independent India’s constitution. 
• Make preparations for the transitional administration. 
• According to the cabinet mission plan the country could have a Federal government consisting of the British and the Indian India.  Therefore, the mission was like a declaration of India’s independence. (Statement 1 is correct. )
• The cabinet mission plan called for the establishment of a Union of India with authority over communications, foreign policy, and defence. 
• The Union Government and its legislature were given just a small number of authorities in the areas of finance, foreign policy, and communications. 
• The Union would have the authority needed to collect the funds needed to run the subjects. 
• All subjects besides Union subjects and any leftover authority will be given to the provinces. 
• Therefore, the Cabinet Mission plan proposed a weak Centre with Provincial autonomy – essentially proposing a federal structure of government. 
• It did not make any recommendations related to courts or ICS. (Statements 2 and 3 are not correct.)

8. Which one of the following movements has contributed to a split in the Indian National Congress resulting in the emergence of ‘moderates’ and ‘extremists’?

(a) Swadeshi Movement

(b) Quit India Movement

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement

(d) Civil Disobedience Movement

Answer: (a)

Option (a) is correct:

Swadeshi movement  

• It was the result of the partition of Bengal.   
• After the partition of the Bengal Swadeshi and Boycott Movement was adopted as a means of integration.  
• It was aimed at self-reliance, self-determination, and self-help. 
• Tilak called it Bahiskar Yoga. 
• Bande Mataram became the theme song of this movement. 
• This along with the Boycott Movement aimed at boycotting foreign-made goods and adopting Indian goods as an alternative. 
• Boycotts and public burning of foreign clothes, picketing of shops selling foreign goods were adopted. 
• The Shivaji and Ganpati festivals were organized by Tilak to deliver the Swadeshi message to the masses.  
• The National College of Bengal was founded with Aurobindo Ghosh as its principal.  
• The national education council was established in August 1906. 
• It also changed the character of the Indian National Congress.   
• The Congress split into moderates and extremists at the Surat session which weakened the Swadeshi Movement. 

2014

1. The Partition of Bengal made by Lord Curzon in 1905 lasted until

(a) the First World War when Indian troops were needed by the British and the partition was ended.

(b) King George V abrogated Curzon’s Act at the Royal Durbar in Delhi in 1911.

(c) Gandhiji launched his Civil Disobedience Movement.

(d) the Partition of India in 1947 when East Bengal became East Pakistan.

Answer: (b)

Partition of Bengal (1905)  

• As per Curzon, after the partition, the two provinces would be Bengal (including modern West Bengal, Odisha, and Bihar) and the other one is Eastern Bengal and Assam. 
• The Partition of Bengal made by Lord Curzon in 1905 lasted until. the First World War when Indian troops were needed by the British and the partition was ended. King George V abrogated Curzon’s Act at the Royal Durbar in Delhi in 1911. 
• 1911: King George V visits India 
  • Owing to mass political protests, the Bengal partition was annulled in 1911. 
  • The capital of British India was moved to Delhi from Calcutta (now Kolkata). 
  • East and West Bengal were reunited while Bihar and Orissa became separate provinces. Hence, Option 2 is correct. 
  • A separate Assam province was created.  

2. The 1929 Session of Indian National Congress is of significance in the history of the Freedom Movement because the

(a) attainment of Self-Government was declared as the objective of the Congress

(b) attainment of Poorna Swaraj was adopted as the goal of the Congress

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement was launched

(d) decision to participate in the Round Table Conference in London was taken

Answer: (b)

• 1929 Congress Session 
  • It was held at Lahore 
  • Jawahar Lal Nehru was the president. 
  • Indian National Congress, took the resolution of Poorna Swaraj or Complete Independence. 
  • Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched. 
  • Congress decided to observe 26th January as the total independence or Purna Swaraj Day.  
  • This session is significance in the history of the Freedom Movement because the attainment of Poorna Swaraj was adopted as the goal of the Congress ( Option 2 is correct.)

Additional Information 

1906 Congress Session– 

• It was held at Calcutta 
• President was Dadabhai Naoroji 
• Congress adopted Swaraj (Self Government) as the Goal of the Indian people. 
• Boycott Movement, Swadeshi & National Education Movement Adopted. 
• Non-Cooperation Movement 
•  In March 1920, Mahatma Gandhi starts the non-violent non-cooperation movement.  
• The Round Table Conference 
• In response to the inadequacy of the Simon Report, the British Government decided to hold a series of Round Table Conferences in London. The first Round Table Conference convened from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931. 

3. The Gadar was a

(a) revolutionary association of Indians with headquarters at San Francisco

(b) nationalist organization operating from Singapore

(c) militant organization with headquarters at Berlin

(d) communist movement for India’s freedom with headquarters at Tashkent

Answer: (a)

Gadar movement  

• It was an early 20th-century movement among Indians in North America to end British rule.  
• The Ghadar Party was a revolutionary association founded by Punjabi Indians in the United States and Canada with the aim to gaining Indias independence from British rule. Key members included Lala Har Dayal Sohan Singh Bhakna Kartar Singh Sarabha and Rashbehari Bose.It had its headquarters at San Francisco. (Option (a)  is correct.)
• Many of the Gadarites return to India to carry out terrorist activities in Central Punjab.  
• Lala Hardayal delivered lectures to Americans in intellectual workers in radicals.  
• He became the leader of Indian immigrants on the West Coast. 
• A weekly periodical called Gadar was also started for propaganda campaigns to spread awareness about British rule in India. 
• Komagata Maru was a ship that was commissioned to transport Indian immigrants but the authorities did not allow immigrants to land and they were forced to return. 

4. What was/were the object/objects of Queen Victoria’s Proclamation (1858)?

1. To disclaim any intention to annex Indian States.
2. To place the Indian administration under the British Crown.
3. To regulate East India Company’s trade with India.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a)

• Queen Victoria’s proclamation of 1858  
  • It aimed at ending the rule of the company and transferring all the powers to the British crown after the 1857 revolt. (Statement 2 is correct.)  
  • It was to disclaim any intention to annex Indian States as the announcement reversed Lord Dalhousie pre-war policy of political unification through princely state annexation. 
  • It was aimed at improving the administrative machinery of supervision and control over the Indian government. (Statement 3 is not correct.) 
  • Its objective was to disclaim any intention to annex the Indian States. ( Statement 1 is correct. )
  • The governor-general of India was given the title of Viceroy who became the representatives of the British crown. 

2013

1. The people of India agitated against the arrival of Simon Commission because

(a) Indians never wanted the review of the working of the Act of 1919

(b) Simon Commission recommended the abolition of Dyarchy (Diarchy) in the Provinces

(c) there was no indian member in the Simon Commission

(d) the Simon Commission suggested the partition of the country

Correct Answer: Option (c) 

The people of India agitated against the arrival of Simon Commission because there was no any Indian member in the commission. Hence, option (c) is correct. 

2. Quit India Movement was launched in response to

(a) Cabinet Mission Plan

(b) Cripps Proposals

(c) Simon Commission Report

(d) Wavell Plan

Correct Answer: Option (b) 

• The Cripps Mission Proposal, which included terms like establishment of Dominion, establishment of a Constituent Assembly and right of the Provinces to make separate constitutions, these would be, however, granted after the cessation of the Second World War, So fail to satisfy Indian Nationalists. According to the Congress this Declaration only offered India a promise that was to be fulfilled in the future. 
• Commenting on this Gandhi said; “It is a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank and in CWC meeting at wardha in july 1942 accepted the idea of struggle. Hence, option (b) is correct. 

3. The demand for the Tebhaga Peasant Movement in Bengal was for

(a) the reduction of the share of the landlords from one-half of the crop to one-third

(b) the grant of ownership of land to peasants as they were the actual cultivators of the land

(c) the uprooting of Zamindari system and the end of serfdom

(d) writing off all peasant debts

Correct Answer: Option (a) 

The Tebhaga movement was a militant campaign initiated in Bengal by the Kisan Sabha (peasants front of Communist Party of India) in 1946. At that time share-cropping peasants (essentially, tenants) had to give half of their harvest to the owners of the land. The demand of the Tebhaga (sharing by thirds) movement was.

4. Annie Besant was

1. responsible for starting the Home Rule Movement.
2. the founder of the Theosophical Society.
3. once the President of the Indian National Congress.

Select the correct statement/statements using the codes given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: Option (c) 

Annie Besant was the 1st women President of INC in 1917 Calcutta Session. Madam Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott founded Theosophical Society. Hence, option (c) is correct. 

5. The Ilbert Bill controversy was related to the

(a) imposition of certain restrictions to carry arms by the Indians

(b) imposition of restrictions en newspapers and magazines published in Indian languages

(c) removal of disqualifications imposed on the Indian magistrates with regard to the trial of the Europeans

(d) removal of a duty on imported cotton cloth

Correct Answer: Option (c) 

In AD 1883, Lord Ripon’s law member, Sir Ilbert, introduced a bill which came to be called the Ilbert Bill. It allowed Indian judges to try the cases involving the Europeans. Hence, option (c) is correct. 

6. The Radcliffe Committee was appointed to

(a) solve the problem of minorities in India

(b) give effect to the Independence Bill

(c) delimit the boundaries between India and Pakistan

(d) enquire into the riots in East Bengal

FAQs

Q: Which event marked the beginning of Modern Indian History according to UPSC Prelims questions from 2013-2022?

A: The Battle of Plassey in 1757 is often considered the starting point of Modern Indian History. It led to the establishment of British control over Bengal, setting the stage for subsequent colonial rule.

Q: What was the significance of the Indian National Congress (INC) in the early 20th century, as per UPSC Prelims questions?

A: The INC played a pivotal role in India’s struggle for independence. Its formation in 1885 marked the beginning of organized political resistance against British rule. The party evolved over time, adopting various strategies, including non-violent civil disobedience, to achieve its goals.

Q: Which incident marked a turning point in Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership during the freedom struggle, according to UPSC Prelims questions?

A: The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922) marked a significant turning point in Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership. It reflected his commitment to non-violent resistance and mass participation, bringing diverse groups together against British rule.

Q: What impact did the Partition of India in 1947 have on the socio-political landscape, based on UPSC Prelims questions?

A: The Partition of India resulted in the creation of two independent nations, India and Pakistan. It led to large-scale communal violence, displacement, and loss of life. The event had a lasting impact on the socio-political fabric of the region, shaping India’s and Pakistan’s histories.

Q: How did the economic policies of post-independence India evolve, as per UPSC Prelims questions from 2013-2022?

A: Post-independence, India initially followed a socialist economic model, emphasizing central planning and state intervention. However, economic liberalization in 1991 marked a significant shift towards a more market-oriented approach, promoting economic reforms, globalization, and privatization.

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