Here are 25 Questions, a part of our series on UPSC Prelims Mock Test.
Q1. The First Factory Act restricted the working hours of women and children and authorizing local government to make necessary rules was adopted during whose time?
(a) Lord Lytton
(b) Lord Bentinck
(c) Lord Ripon
(d) Lord Canning
Answer – C
- Option (c) is correct: The First Factory Act was passed in 1881 during the time of Lord Ripon. It was passed to improve the service conditions of factory workers in India. It fixed the working hours for women and children above the age of seven years.
Q2. Which of the following Acts was introduced by the Britishers to remove the shortcomings of the Regulating Act?
(a) Pitt’s India Act, 1784
(b) Rowlatt Act
(c) The Charter Act of 1793
(d) Government of India Act 1919 A
Answer – A
- Option (a) is correct: PITTS India act was introduced by Britishers to remove the shortcomings of the regulating act.
Q3. Write the correct chronological order of the following?
I. Pitt’s India Act
II. Rowlatt Act
III. Regulating Act
IV. Indian Councils Act
(a) A, C, D, B
(b) B, A, C, D
(c) C, A, D, B
(d) D, B, A, C
Answer – C
- Pitt’sIndiaAct-1784
- RowlattAct-1919
- RegulatingAct-1773
- Indian Councils Act- 1861
Q4. Which of the following are associated with Lord Lytton?
- Rowlatt Act
- The Arms Act
- The Vernacular Press Act
- Abolition of duties on the import of coarse cotton goods
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 – B
- Option (b) is correct: The Rowlatt Act came into effect in March 1919. In the Punjab the protest movement was very strong, and on 10 April two leaders of the congress, Dr. Satya Pal and Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew were arrested and taken secretly to Dharamsala. During the viceroyalty of Lord Chelmsford, the Rowlatt act was passed. As per this act, the British government was empowered to detain anyone in the lockup without any trial. It was repealed by Viceroy Lord Reading.
Q5. The significance of the Bengal Regulation of 1793 lies in the fact that
(a) it provided for the establishment of the Supreme Court
(b) it restricted the application of English law to Englishmen only
(c) it accommodated the personal laws of Hindus and Muslims
(d) it provided for the appointment of the Indian Law Commission
Answer – C
- Option (c) is correct: The significance of the Bengal Regulation of 1793 lies in the fact that restricted the application of English law to Englishmen only. It is best-known provision was the Permanent Settlement which established a revenue collection scheme that lasted until the 20th century. Beginning with Bengal, the system over all of northern India by means of the issue of a series of regulations dated 1 May 1793.
Q6. Which one of the following Acts of British India strengthened the Viceroy’s authority over his Executive Council by substituting the “Portfolio” or departmental system for corporate functioning?
(a) Indian Council Act, 1861
(b) Government of India Act, 1858
(c) Indian Council Act, 1892
(d) Indian Council Act, 1909
Answer – A
- Option (a) is correct: The Indian Councils Act of 1861 transformed the viceroy’s Executive Council into a miniature cabinet run on the portfolio system, and each of the five ordinary members was placed in charge of a distinct department of Calcutta’s government.
Q7. Which one of the following provisions was not made in the Charter Act of 1833?
(a) The trading activities of East India The company was to be abolished.
(b) The designation of the supreme authority was to be changed as the GovernorGeneral of India in Council.
(c) All law-making powers to be conferred on the Governor-General in Council.
(d) An Indian was to be appointed as a Law Member in the Governor-General’s Council
Answer – D
- Option (d) is correct: The Charter Act of 1833 provides for the appointment of a law member but not necessarily an Indian
Q8. Consider the following statements:
- Warren Hastings was the first Governor General who established a regular police force in India on the British pattern.
- A Supreme Court was established at Calcutta by the Regulating Act, 1773.
- The Indian Penal Code came into effect in the year 1860.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer – B
- Option (b) is correct: Lord Curzon was the first Governor General who established a regular police force in India on the British pattern. A Supreme Court was established at Fort Williams by the Regulating Act, of 1773 with jurisdiction over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
Q9. By a regulation in 1793, the District Collector was deprived of his judicial powers and made the collecting agent only. What was the reason for such a regulation?
(a) Lord Cornwallis felt that the District Collector’s efficiency of revenue collection would enormously increase without the burden of additional work.
(b) Lord Cornwallis felt that judicial power should compulsorily be in the hands of Europeans while Indians can be given the the job of revenue collection in the districts.
(c) Lord Cornwallis was alarmed at the extent of power concentrated in the District Collector and felt that such absolute power was undesirable in one person.
(d) The judicial work demanded a deep knowledge of India and good training in law and Lord Cornwallis felt that District Collector should be only a revenue collector
Answer – C
- Option (c) is correct: The judicial reforms undertaken by Lord Cornwallis laid a strong foundation in the British Indian administrative system in the year 1793.The judicial reforms of Cornwallis were documented in the famous Cornwallis Code. However, the new judicial reforms of Lord Cornwallis were based on the principle of Separation of Powers. Cornwallis at first sought to separate the revenue administration from the administration of justice. The collector used to be the head of the Revenue Department in a district and also enjoyed extensive judicial and magisterial powers. However, Cornwallis wanted Separation of Power and the Cornwallis Code divested the collector of all the judicial and magisterial powers. Thus the Collectors were given only the power of the revenue administration according to the Cornwallis Code. A new class of officer called the District Judge was created to preside over the district Civil court.
Q10. Match the following Pairs
A. Rajendra Prasad 1. “A Nation in the Making”
B. Dilip Mukherjee 2. “India Divided”
C. S. N. Bannerjee 3. “My Experiments with Truth”
D. Mahatma Gandhi 4. “The Terrorists”
(a) A-2 , B-1, C-4, D-3
(b) A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
(c) A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
(d) A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1
Answer – B
- Option (b) is correct: Written in the last years of Sir Surendranath Banerjee’s life, A Nation in Making is not only the autobiography of a pioneering leader in Indian politics but also a commentary on public life. Rajendra Prasad’s preface to the third edition since a reprint of India Divided was published in May 1946. The Story of My Experiments with Truth is the autobiography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and published in his journal Navjivan from 1925 to 1929
Q11. The Modern Review’ was started by
(a) Madan Mohan Malaviya
(b) C. V. Chintamani
(c) Raman and Chatterjee
(d) Annie Besant
Answer – C
- Option (c) is correct: Modern Review was the name of a monthly magazine published in Calcutta since 1907. It was founded by Ramananda Chatterjee. The Modern Review soon emerged as an important forum for the Indian Nationalist intelligentsia
Q12. A Voice of Freedom is a book written by
(a) Benazir Bhutto
(b) Corazon Aquino
(c) Aung San Suu Kyi
(d) Nayantara Sahgal
Answer – d
- Option (d) is correct: A Voice of Freedom is a book written by Nayantara Sahgal. Nayantara Sahgal is an Indian writer who writes in English. She is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the second of three daughters born to Jawaharlal Nehru\’s sister, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Q13. Who among the following was a prominent leader of the Congress Socialist Party?
(a) M.N. Roy
(b) Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi
(c) Pattam Thanu Pillai
(d) Acharya Narendra Dev
Answer – D
- Option (d) is correct: CSP was formed in 1934 by JP Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev, Basawon Singh and Yogendra Shukla
Q14. Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer:
List-I List-II
A. Surendra Nath 1. Hind Swaraj Banerjee
B. M.K. Gandhi 2. The Indian Struggle
C. Subhash 3. Autobiographical Chandra Bose
D. Lajpat Rai 4. A Nation in Making
Select the correct answer using the Code given below:
(a) A – 4; B – 1; C – 3; D – 2
(b) A – 1; B – 4; C – 3; D – 2
(c) A – 4; B – 1; C – 2; D – 3
(d) A – 1; B – 4; C – 2; D – 3
Answer – C
- Option (c) is correct: The correct matches of the following persons with their books are given
below: Persons: Books Surendra Nath Banerjee: A Nation in Making
M.K. Gandhi : Hind Swaraj - Subhash Chandra Bose: The Indian Struggle
- Lajpat Roy: Autobiographical Writings
Q15. Which one of the following statements is not correct?
(a) ‘Neel Darpan’ was a play based on the exploitation of the Indigo farmers.
(b) The author of the play ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’s is Vijay Tendulkar.
(c) The play ‘Navann’ by Nabin Chandra Das was based on the famine of Bengal.
(d) Urdu theatre used to depend heavily on Parsi theatre
Answer – C
- Option (c) is correct: Ghashiram Kotwal is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972. Neel Darpan, the Mirror of Indigo; translated as Neel Darpan; or, the Indigo Planting Mirror is a Bengali play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1858-1859. The play was essential to Neel Bidroha, or Indigo Revolt.
Q16. Match List-I with List-II
List-I (Books) List-II (Authors)
A. The First Indian 1. Rabindranath Tagore War of Independence
B. Anand Math 2. Sri Aurobindo
C. Life Divine 3. Bankim Chandra Chatterji
D. Sadhana 4. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) A – 4; B – 3; C – 2; D – 1
(b) A – 3; B – 4; C – 1; D – 2
(c) A – 4; B – 3; C – 1; D – 2
(d) A – 3; B – 4; C – 2; D – 1
Answer – A
- Option (a) is correct: The Life Divine is Sri Aurobindo’s major philosophical opus. It combines a synthesis of Western thought and Eastern spirituality with Sri Aurobindo’s own original insights, covering topics such as the nature of the Divine (the Absolute, Brahman), how the creation came about, the evolution of consciousness and the cosmos, the spiritual path, and human evolutionary-spiritual destiny.
Q17. Consider the following statements:
- Arya Samaj was founded in 1835.
- Lala Lajpat Rai opposed the appeal of Arya Samaj to the authority of Vedas in support of its social reform program.
- Under Keshab Chandra Sen, the Brahmo Samaj campaigned for women’s education.
- Vinoba Bhave founded the Sarvodya Samaj to work among refugees.
Which of these statements are correct?
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 2 and 4
(d) 3 and 4
Answer – D
- Option (d) is correct: Arya Samaj was founded in 1875 (not 1835) at Bombay by Dayananda Saraswati. Lala Lajpat Rai joined the Arya Samaj. His journal Arya Gazette concentrated mainly on subjects related to the Arya Samaj. He never opposed Arya Samaj.
Q18. Who gave a systematic critique of the moderate politics of the Indian National Congress in a series of articles entitled New Lamps for Old?
(a) Aurobindo Ghosh
(b) R C Dutt
(c) Syed Ahmad Khan
(d) Viraraghavachari
Answer – A
- Option (a) is correct: K.G. Deshpande, a friend of Aurbindo from his Cambridge days, was in charge of a weekly, “Induprakash”, published from Bombay. He requested Sri Aurobindo to write upon the current political situation. Sri Aurobindo began writing a series of fiery articles under the title “New Lamps for Old”, strongly criticizing the Congress for its moderate policy
Q19. Who among the following were the founders of the “Hind Mazdoor Sabha” established in 1948?
(a) B. Krishna Pillai, E.M.S. Namboodiripad and K.C. George
(b) Jayaprakash Narayan, DeenDayal Upadhyay and M.N. Roy
(c) C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, K. Kamaraj and Veeresalingam Pantulu
(d) Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanujam and G.G. Mehta
Answer – D
- Option (d) is correct: Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanujam and G.G. Mehta were the founders of the “Hind Mazdoor Sabha” established in 1948.
Q20. Who evolved the national consciousness as a formal concept?
(a) B.G. Tilak
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Surendranath Bannerjee
Answer – D
- Option (d) is correct: Surendranath Bannerjee evolved National Consciousness as a formal concept in our country. He was a political leader of the party ‘Indian National Congress’, which was born in the year 1848 at Kolkata and died in the year 1925. He was the founder of the first nationalist organisation called ‘Indian National Association’.
Q21. Which of the following statements is true about Annie Besant?
- She was the President of the Indian National Congress
- She was the founder of the Asiatic Society
- She was the founder of the Theosophical Society
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer – b
- Option (b) is correct:
- The first woman president of Indian National Congress was Annie Besant. Asiatic Society of Bengal, a scholarly society founded on Jan. 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies. At its founding, Jones delivered the first of a famous series of discourses. The Theosophical Society was an organization formed in the United States in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky to advance Theosophy
Q22. Which one of the following statements does correctly defines the term ‘drain theory’ as propounded by Dadabhai Naoroji?
(a) That the resources of the country were being utilized in the interest of Britain
(b) That a part of India’s national wealth or total annual product was being exported to Britain for which India got no material return
(c) That the British Industrialists were being given an opportunity to invest in India under the protection of the imperial power
(d) That the British goods were being imported to the country it poorer day by day
Answer – B
- Option (b) is correct: That a part of India’s national wealth or total annual product was being exported to Britain for which India got no material return. In 1867, Dadabhai Naoroji put forward the ‘drain of wealth’ theory in which he stated that the Britain was completely draining India. The drain of wealth was the portion of India’s wealth and economy that was not available to Indians for consumption
Q23. Consider the following statements about Madam Bhikaji Cama:
- Madam Cama unfurled the National Flag at the International Socialist Conference in Paris in the year 1907.
- Madam Cama served as private secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji.
- Madam Cama was born to a Parsi
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 2 only
(d) 3 only
Answer – B
- option (b) is correct: Madam Cama unfurled the National Flag at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, a city in Germany (not in Paris) on 21st August 1907.
Q24. 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:
(a) Aurobindo Ghosh
(b) Bipin Chandra Pal
(c) Lala Lajpat Rai
(d) Motilal Nehru
Answer – C
- Option (c) is correct: Lala Lajpat Rai founded the Indian Home Rule League in the US in 1916. So, he’s the closest match
Q25. In the context of Indian history, the Rakhmabai case of 1884 revolved around:
- women’s right to gain education
- age of consent
- restitution of conjugal rights
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer – D
- Option (d) is correct: Rukhmabai was married off at the early age of 11. Hence by 1880 she fought a court case against her husband who demanded to live married life with her & have physical relations with him. She wanted to study further and also wanted the marriage age should be increased leading to the formation of Rukhmibai defence committee supported by social reformers like Behramji Malabari, finally leading to the Age of Consent Bill- 1891 which increased the Minimum age of Marriage. She also became a doctor after resuming her studies.
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