1. With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) The ceiling laws were aimed at family holdings and not individual holdings.
(b) The major aim of land reforms was providing agriculture land to all the landless.
(c) It resulted in cultivation of cash crops as a predominant form of cultivation.
(d) Land reforms permitted no exemptions to the ceiling limits.
Ans. (b) In most states, initially, the ceilings were imposed on individual and not family holdings, enabling landowners to divide up their holdings ‘notionally’ in the names of relatives merely to avoid the ceiling. So, A is wrong. – A large number of exemptions to the ceiling limits were permitted by most states following the Second Plan recommendations that certain categories of land could be exempted from ceilings. These were tea, coffee and rubber plantations, orchards, specialized farms etc. Land reform is not responsible for cash crop cultivation becoming predominant in India. Besides, majority of India’s area under cultivation is foodgrains and cereals. (and not cash crops).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2019]
2. 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?
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3
Ans. (a) The Company’s monopoly over trade in India ended, but the Company retained the trade with China and the trade in tea. The Company was to retain the possession of territories and the revenue for 20 years more, without prejudice to the sovereignty of the Crown.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2019]
3. 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 Swadeshi Movement.
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
Ans. (c) Programme of Swadeshi: On August 15, 1906, the National Council of Education was set up to organise a system of education- literary, scientific and technicalon national lines and under national control. The swadeshi spirit also found expression in the establishment of swadeshi textile mills, soap and match factories, tanneries, banks, insurance companies, shops, etc. So, both 1 and 2 are correct.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2019]
4. Consider the following pairs :
Movement: Organization Leader
1. All India Anti-Untouchability League: Mahatma Gandhi
2. All India Kisan Sabha: Swami Sahajanad Saraswati
3. Self Respect Movement: E.V. Ramaswami Naicker Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (d) While in jail, Gandhi set up the All India Anti- Untouchability League in September 19323 All India Kisan Congress/Sabha: This sabha was founded in Lucknow in April 1936 with Swami Sahjanand Saraswati as the president and N.G. Ranga as the general secretary. During the 1920s in South India, the nonbrahmins organised the Self-Respect Movement led by E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker. –
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2019]
5. Consider the following statements :
1. In the revenue administration of Delhi Sultanate, the in-charge of revenue collection was known as ‘Amil’.
2. The Iqta system of Sultans of Delhi was an ancient indigenous institution.
3. The office of’ Mir Bakshi’ came into existence during the reign of Khalji Sultans of Delhi.
Maximum Marks : 200 Time Limit : 2Hr.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (a) – The first stage of Iqta system started in 1206. The system started with the assignment of different regions as iqtas (territorial areas or units whose revenues were assigned to officials in lieu of salaries) to military commanders, out of whose revenues they could maintain themselves and their troops as well. So, it means Iqta started in 1206 itself and it was not an ancient indigenous Indian institution. 2 is wrong. B and D eliminated. – Mughal Central Administration: Mir Bakshi was Head of the military department. So, 3 is wrong. We are left with answer A:1 only.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2019]
6. 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?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (b) – Called by Viceroy Chelmsford to a War Conference in Delhi in April 1918, Gandhi said in one-sentence speech that he supported recruitment for the war. So, 2 is wrong, by elimination we get answer B.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2019]
7. With reference to Indian National Movement, consider the following pairs :
Persons: Position head
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?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (d) P.C. Joshi was C.P.I. General Secretary. And K.C. Neogy was member of Constituent Assembly from W.Bengal. Only in Option ‘D’ this combination is available.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2019]
8. Which one of the following foreign travellers elaborately discussed about diamonds and diamond mines of India?
(a) Francois Bernier
(b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
(c) Jean de Thevenot
(d) Abbe Barthelemy Carre
Ans. (b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier: was a French traveler who visited India between 1640 and 1667. Being a diamond merchant, he was particularly interested in diamonds and visited various diamond mines in India, especially those of the Deccan.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
9. The staple commodities of export by the English East India Company from Bengal in the middle of the 18th century were
(a) Raw cotton, oil-seeds and opium
(b) Sugar, salt, zinc and lead
(c) Copper, silver, gold, spices and tea
(d) Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium
Ans. (d) • NEW NCERT, Std 8- Our Past III, Chapter 2: “….The fine qualities of cotton and silk produced in India had a big market in Europe…. The competition among the European companies inevitably pushed up the prices at which these goods could be purchase(d)” • NEW NCERT St(d)12- Ch.12 Colonial Cities: “….By the end of the nineteenth century, half the imports and exports of India passed through Bombay. One important item of this trade was opium that the East India Company exported to Chin(a)” • “Indigo and saltpetre were the other major imports from India, and the fact that both products were produced in the eastern Gangetic plain, especially in Bihar, stimulated British efforts to establish factories on the east coast as well as the west coast of the Indian subcontinent.” So Saltpetre was indeed exported otherwise British wouldn’t have made efforts to setup factories on East coast.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
10. Which one of the following statements does not apply to the system of Subsidiary Alliance introduced by Lord Wellesley?
(a) To maintain a large standing army at other’s expense
(b) To keep India safe from Napoleonic danger
(c) To secure a fixed income for the Company
(d) To establish British paramountcy over the Indian States
Ans. (c) Point A, B and D were the salient features of Subsidiary Alliance, hence “C” doesn’t apply.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
11. 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
Ans. (c) Lala Lajpat Rai founded the Indian Home Rule League in the US in 1916 (TN History Class 12 book, page 150). So, he’s the closest match. ICSE History textbook class 10 page 110 confirms that he indeed wrote those biographies Mazzini, Garibaldi et al.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
12. After the Santhal Uprising subsided, what was/were the measure/measures taken by the colonial government?
1. The territories called ‘Santhal Paraganas’ were create(d)
2. It became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to a non-Santhal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. (c) • NEW NCERT Class 12 Themes-III page 272: It was after the Santhal Revolt (1855-56) that the Santhal Pargana was created, carving out 5,500 square miles from the districts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum. The colonial state hoped that by creating a new territory for the Santhals and imposing some special laws within it, the Santhals could be conciliate(d) So statement 1 is right. • After the revolt was suppressed the British government passed the the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act (SPT), which prohibits the transfer of lan(d) So, statement 2 also right.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
13. Economically, one of the results of the British rule in India in the 19th century was the
(a) increase in the export of Indian handicrafts
(b) growth in the number of Indian owned factories
(c) commercialization of Indian agriculture
(d) rapid increase in the urban population
Ans. (c) Commercialization of Indian agriculture was among the major impacts of British rule on Indian economy.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
14. Which among the following events happened earliest ?
(a) Swami Dayanand established Arya Samaj.
(b) Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan.
(c) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandmath.
(d) Satyendranath Tagore became the first Indian to succeed in the Indian Civil Services Examination.
Ans. (b) • 1859: Neeldarpan was written • 1863: Satyendranath cleared CSE. • 1875: Arya Samaj was founde(d) • 1882: Anandmath was written.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
15. With reference to educational institutes during colonial rule in India, consider the following pairs of Institution vs 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 ?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 3 only
Ans. (b) 1. In 1791 due to the sincere efforts of the British resident, Jonathan Duncan, a Sanskrit College was established to promote the study of Hindu laws and philosophy in Banaras. And Sir William Jones is associated with Asiatic Society of Bengal. So, 1 is wrong. A and C eliminate(d) 2. Fort William College was established by Lord Wellesley (1798) for the training of civil servants. But, Arthur Wellesley was the brother of Lord Wellesley who fought the 4th Anglo-Mysore war against Tipu Sultan. Arthur Wellesley, forced Tipu to retreat to his capital Srirangapattinam.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
16. Regarding Wood’s Dispatch, which of the following statements are true ?
1. Grants-in-Aid system was introduce(d)
2. Establishment of universities was recommende(d)
3. English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education was recommende(d) 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
Ans. (a) Wood’s dispatch recommended that Primary and secondary education should be in Vernacular language.*” so statement 3 is wrong, and by elimination we are left with Answer A: only 1 and 2.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
17. 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
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (d) All three were responsible for the introduction of English education in Indi(a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
18. Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran Satyagraha?
(a) Active all-India participation of lawyers, students and women in the National Movement
(b) Active involvement of Dalit and Tribal communities of India in the National Movement
(c) Joining of peasant unrest to India’s National Movement
(d) Drastic decrease in the cultivation of plantation crops and commercial crops
Ans. (c) Option A, B and D are irrelevant to Champaran Satyagrah(a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
19. In 1920, which of the following changed its name to “Swarajya Sabha”?
(a) All India Home Rule League
(b) Hindu Mahasabha
(c) South Indian Liberal Federation
(d) The Servants of India Society
Ans. (a) Upon repeated instance from home rule leaguers, Gandhi did accept the presidentship of the Home Rule League only in 1920 and changed its name to “Swarajya Sabha”.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
20. 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
Ans. (d) The Founding Conference elected Com. Ashok Mehta as the General Secretary and Com. G.G. Mehta and V.S. Mathur as Secretaries. Ms. Maniben Kara and Com. T.S. Ramanujam were elected as Vice-Presidents of HMS. So, D is most fitting.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
21. Consider the following events:
1. The first democratically elected communist party government formed in a State in Indi(a)
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 Indi(a) 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
Ans. (b) NCERT Political Science Class 12 Page 33 • As early as in 1957, the Congress party had the bitter taste of defeat in Keral(a) In the assembly elections held in March 1957, the Communist Party won the largest number of seats to the Kerala legislature….The governor invited E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the leader of the Communist legislature party, to form the ministry. For the first time in the world, a Communist party government had come to power through democratic elections. • This means 1 comes in between 2 (SBI-1955) and 4 (Goa-60s).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2018]
22. Who among the following was/were associated with the introduction of Ryotwari Settlement in India during the British rule?
1. Lord Cornwallis
2. Alexander Reed
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
Ans. (c) New NCERT Std. 8, Our Past-III, Chapter 3 Ruling the Country Side lists following combinations: Lord Cornwallis: Permanent settlement system (1793). So, 1 is wrong and by elimination we are left with answer “C”.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2017]
23. Consider the following pairs:
1. Radhakanta Deb: First President of the British Indian Association
2. GazuluLakshminarasuChetty: 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
Ans. (b) Madras Mahajansabha (1884) was setup by M.Viraghavachari , B.SubramaniyaAiyer and P. Ananda Charlu. So pair 2 is wrong, this eliminates “C” and “D”. • India Association (1876): Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose. So, 3 is right. Only Option B fits this combination.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2017]
24. 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.
Ans. (d) Government of India act 1919 provided for dyarchy in provinces i.e. provincial subjects were classified into two parts 1) transferred and 2) reserved.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2017]
25. 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
Ans. (c) Correct chronology is 3-2-1. • 2nd RTC: 1931, September to December • Quit India movement: 1942, August. • RIN Mutiny: 1946, 18th February
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2017]
26. 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.
Ans. (d) The Butler Committee (1927) was set up to examine the nature of relationship between the states and Government. Hence “D” is the fitting answer.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2017]
27. 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.
Ans. (d) The Trade disputes Act of April 1929 imposed a system of tribunals and tried to ban strikes ‘undertaken for objects other than furtherance of a trade dispute or if designed to coerce Government and/or inflict hardships on the community.’ Hence “D” is the answer.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2017]
28. 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
Ans. (b) Lord Ripon introduced the Factory Act of 1881 to improve the service condition of the factory workers in India. The Act banned the appointment of children below the age of seven in factories. It reduced the working hours for children. It made compulsory for all dangerous machines in the factories to be properly fenced to ensure security to the workers. So statement 1 is wrong. • In Bombay, middle class philanthropic efforts to improve labour conditions began fairly early with N.M. Lokhende starting weekly Dinabandhu in 1880….and even starting a Bombay Mill-hands Association in 1890. So, statement 2 is right. Hence “B” is the answer.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2017]
29. The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ 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
Ans. (a) The Swadeshi Movement had its genesis in the antipartition movement which was started to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2016]
30. The Montague-Chelmsford Proposals were related to
(a) social reforms (b) educational reforms
(c) reforms in police administration
(d) constitutional reforms
Ans. (d) In line with the government policy contained in Montagu’s statement (August 1917), the Government announced further constitutional reforms in July 1918, known as Montagu- Chelmsford or Montford Reforms.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2016]
31. 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 peasent movement in Punjab.
Ans. (c) Satyashodhak Samaj is a society established by Jyotirao Phule in Maharastra, India, on 24 September 1873. Its purpose is to liberate the Shudra and Untouchable castes from exploitation and oppression.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2016]
32. 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
Ans. (b) The agitation following the partition of Bengal brought into prominence the rise of extremists which differed in some essential points from the moderates which dominates the National Congress. And this actually led to split between moderates and extremes in the Surat Congress (1907).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2016]
33. Consider the following:
1. Calcutta Unitarian Committee
2. Tabernacle of New Dispensation
3. Indian Reforms 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
Ans. (b) Establishment of the Calcutta Unitarian Committee by Rammohun Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore, and William Adam in 1821. On the occasion of the anniversary festival on 24th January 1868 Keshab laid the foundation stone of his mandir called the Tabernacle of New Dispensation. The Indian Reform Association was formed on 29 October 1870 with Keshub Chander Sen as president
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2016]
34. 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
Ans. (d) In March 1942, a mission headed by Stafford Cripps was sent to India with constitutional proposals to seek Indian support for the war. • 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.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2016]
35. With reference to 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
Ans. (a) It recommended a federal type of Government for the whole of India, including the States.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
36. Which one of the following movements has contributed to a split in the Indian National Congress resulting in emergence of ‘moderates’ and ‘extremists’?
(a) Swadeshi Movement
(b) Quit India Movement
(c) Non-Cooperation Movement
(d) Civil Disobedient Movement
Ans. (a) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
37. Who of the following was/were economic critic/ critics of colonialism in India?
1. DadabhaiNaoroji
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
Ans. (d) Dadabhai Naoroji was the first person to look through the plans of the Raj. He wrote the book “Poverty and Unbritish Rule in India”. In this, he exposed the economic policies of the govt, which were detrimental to the countrymen, in the form of the Drain theory. • Another person, R C Dutt, published the book “Economic History of India”, in which he wrote about the entire economic system of the nation under Britishers, since the Battle of Plassey (1757). • Others like, G Subramaniyam Iyer and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, along with many others, worked together to analyse every aspect of the nation’s economy under the colonial rule.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
38. 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
Ans. (d) The origin of the Congress Socialist Party is to be traced to the growing communist influence on the Indian National Congress in the 1920s.The suspension of mass civil disobedience by Gandhiji (July 1933) caused confusion among radical Congressmen. An All-India Socialist Conference was held at Patna (May 1934) with Acharya Narendra Deo in the chair. Among prominent leaders were Sampurnanand and Sri Jaiprakash. • In his presidential address Narendra Deo criticized the “Zamindar-Capitalist alliance,” expressed concern for the interest of the lower middle classes and workers, and opposition to Swarajism. He wished the socialist group to keep within the congress fold for anit-imperialist considerations. The Conference decided to form an All-India Congress Socialist Party.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
39. 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 use the Home Rule League
3. Demonstrations against the Simon Commission coincided with the 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
Ans. (b) Demonstration against Simon Commission happened in 1927 while Rowlatt act passed in 1919. Gandhiji did not use Home Rule Leagues to protest against Rowlatt act.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
40. 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
Ans. (b) In the summer of 1930 at the break of dawn, C. Rajagopalachari picked up a fistful of spontaneous salt at Agasthyampalli and belted out “VandeMataram.” It was April 30 that year, Gandhi’s deputy led the salt march from Tiruchi to Vedaranyam against the draconian salt law.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
41. 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
Ans. (b) As per 1919 act there were to be two lists for administration– central and provincial hence option b is correct.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
42. 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 BadruddinTyabji
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
Ans. (b) First woman President of Indian National Congress – Mrs Annie Besant (1917). First Muslim to become president of Indian National Congress Badrudin Tayabji (Madras, 1887)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2015]
43. 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 Darbar in Delhi in 1911
(c) Gandhiji launched his Civil Disobedience Movement
(d) the Partition of India, in 1947 when East Bengal became East Pakistan
Ans. (b) Reunite of East and West Bengal : On 22 March 1911, a royal proclamation announced that the Durbar would be held in December to commemorate the coronation in Britain a few months earlier of King George V and Queen Mary and allow their proclamation as Emperor and Empress of India. Without public forewarning, the announcement of the move of India’s capital from Calcutta to Delhi was also made at the Durbar. King George V also announced to annul the partition of Bengal.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2014]
44. The 1929 Session of Indian, National Congress is of significance in the history of the Freedom Movement because the
(a) attainmentof 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
Ans. (b) On December 19, 1929, under the Presidentship of J.L.Nehru, the INC, at its Lahore session, declared Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence) as its ultimate goal.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2014]
45. 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
Ans. (a) The purpose of Queen Victoria’s Proclamation concerning India, issued in 1858, was to announce that England was assuming control of its Indian colonies, removing them from the administration of the British East India Company. A secondary purpose was to reassure the people of India that Britain intended to respect and preserve the culture of India, particularly the right of Indians to practice their traditional religions. • The document was called “Magnacarta of the People of India” and was declared in eloquent words the principles of justice and religious toleration as the guiding policy of the queen’s rule. Peace was proclaimed throughout India on July 8, 1859.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2014]
46. The Ghadr (Ghadar) 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 head-quarters at Tashkent
Ans. (a) Original name of Ghadar Party was Pacific Coast Hindustan Association. The founding president of Ghadar Party was Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal was the co-founder of this party.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2014]
47. 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
Ans. (c) Boundary Commission, consultative committee created in July 1947 to recommend how the Punjab and Bengal regions of the Indian subcontinent were to be divided between India and Pakistan shortly before each was to become independent from Britain. The commission appointed by Lord Mountbatten, the final viceroy of British India consisted of four members from the Indian National Congress and four from the Muslim League and was chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2014]
48. 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
Ans. (a) The Tebhaga movement was led by the share croppers of the Bengal region against the oppressive jotedars in 1946-47. In late 1946, the bhagadars challenged the prevailed system of share cropping. • They asserted that they would not pay half of the produce but only one-third of the produce and also before the share of the produce, it should be stored in their godowns (also called as khamars) and not that of jotedars. The sharecroppers were encouraged by the FloudCommision which had already recommended their demand to the government.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2013]
49. With reference to Indian History, the Members of the Constituent Assembly from the Provinces were
(a) directly elected by the people of those Provinces
(b) nominated by the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League
(c) elected by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies
(d) selected by the Government for their expertise in constitutional matters
Ans. (c) Elections of Members of Constituent Assembly Members of Constituent Assembly were indirectly elected. During British Era, India had provincial assemblies like the current legislative assemblies of states. The members of the Constituent assembly were indirectly elected by the members of the provincial assemblies by method of single transferable vote system of proportional representations.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2013]
@50. Quit India Movement was launched in response to
(a) Cabinet Mission Plan
(b) Cripps Proposals
(c) Simon Commission Report
(d) Wavell Plan
Ans. (b) The failure of the Cripps Mission left India bitter and disillusioned. Congress started Quit India Movement in response to failure of Cripps Mission.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2013]
51. 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
Ans. (c) The commission was to consist of 7 members of the British Parliament, with Sir Simon as its Chairman the most objectionable feature of the commission, from the point of view of Indians, was its “all-white” composition not a single Indian was considered fit to undertake the inquiry.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2013]
52. 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
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2013]
53. The Ilbert Bill controversy was related to the
(a) imposition restrictions the Indians of certain to carry arms by Indians
(b) imposition of restrictions on 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
Ans. (c). Ripon had proposed an amendment for existing laws in the country and to allow Indian judges and magistrates the jurisdiction to try British offenders in criminal cases at the District level.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2013]
54. Consider the following statements :
The most effective contribution made by Dadabhai Naoroji to the cause of Indian National Movement was that he
1. Exposed the economic exploitation of India by the British
2. Interpreted the ancient Indian texts stored
3. Stressed the need for eradication of all the social evils before anything else.
Which of the statements given above is/ are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3
Ans. (a) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
55. The Rowlatt act aimed at
(a) compulsory economic support to war efforts
(b) imprisonment without trial and summary procedures for trial
(c) suppression of the Khilafat movement
(d) imposition of restrictions on freedom of the press
Ans. (b) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
56. The Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress
(1929) is very important in history because
1. The congress passed a resolution demanding complete independence
2. The rift between the extremists and moderates was resolved in that session
3. A resolution was passed rejecting two nation theory in that session
Which of the statements given above is/ are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) None of the above
Ans. (a) It was in this session that the Congress for the first time raised the demand for complete independence. Such demand was not raised from the Congress platform earlier.The Lahore Congress accepted the new interpretation for Swaraj which was now to mean ‘complete independence’.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
57. Which of the following statements is/ are correct regarding Brahmo Samaj?
1. It opposed idolatry.
2. It denied the need for a priestly class for interpreting the religious texts.
3. It popularized the doctrine that the Vedas are infallible
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3
Ans. (b) Brahmo Samaj, also spelled Brahma, theistic movement within Hinduism, founded in Calcutta [now Kolkata]
in 1828 by Ram Mohun Roy. The Brahmo Samaj does not accept the authority of the Vedas, has no faith in avatars (incarnations), and does not insist on belief in karma (causal effects of past deeds) orsamsara (the process of death and rebirth).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
58. The distribution of powers between the Centre and the States in the Indian Constitution is based on the scheme provided in the
(a) Morley-Minto reforms 1909
(b) Montagu-Chelmsford Act 1919
(c) Government of India Act, 1935
(d) Indian Independence Act 1947
Ans. (c) Government of India Act, 1935.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
59. Consider the following :
1. Assessment of the land revenue on the basis of nature of the soil and the quality of crops.
2. Use of mobile cannons in warfare
3. Cultivation of tobacco and red chilies
Which of the above was/were introduced into India by the English?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2
(c) 2 and 3 (d) None
Ans. (d) Assessment of land revenue on the basis of nature of soil and the quality of crop was introduced into India by Sher Shah Suri and was made more rational by Akbar. War artillery and cannon-fire was actively used, it must be the First Battle of Panipat, fought between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi on 20-21 April, 1526.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
60. Which of the following is/ are the principal feature(s) of the Government of India Act, 1919?
1. Introduction of dyarchy in the executive government of the provinces.
2. Introduction of separate communal electorates for Muslims
3. Devolution of legislative authority by the centre to the provinces
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3
Ans. (c) Introduction of separate communal electorates for Muslims was done in Marley Minto reforms in 1909 not in 1919.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
61. The congress ministries resigned in the seven provinces in 1939,because
(a) The Congress could not form ministries in the other four provinces
(b) Emergence of a ‘left wing’ in the Congress made the working of the ministries impossible
(c) There were widespread communal disturbances in their provinces.
(d) None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given below is correct.
Ans. (d) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
62. Which of the following parties were established by
DR. B. R. Ambedkar?
1. The Peasants and Workers party of India
2. All India Scheduled Castes Federation
3. The Independent Labour Party
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3
Ans. (b) The Peasants and Workers Party of Bharatiya Shetkari Kamgar Paksha, Bharat ki Kisaan Mazdoor Party; abbr. PWP); is a Marxistpolitical party in Maharashtra, India. • All India scheduled castes federation, was a first all India political party exclusively for Scheduled Castes. SCF was founded by Dr.Ambedkar in a national convention of the Scheduled castes held at Nagpur during 17-20 July 1942. It was presided by Rao Bahadur N. Shivraj, a renowed Dalit leader from Madras. • Independent Labour Party (ILP) was an Indian political organisation formed under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in August 1936 against the brahmanical and capitalist structures in the society.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
63. During Indian freedom struggle, the National Social Conference was formed. What was the reason for its formation?
(a) Different social reforms groups or organizations of Bengal region united to form a single body to discuss the issues of larger interest and to prepare appropriate petitions/ representations to the government.
(b) Indian National Congress did not want to include social reforms in its deliberations and decided to form a separate body for such a purpose
(c) Behramji Malabari and M.G.Ranade decided to bring together all the social reform groups of the country order one organisation.
(d) None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct on this context.
Ans. (b) Indian (National) Social Conference was founded by M.G. Ranade and Raghunath Rao. It was virtually the social reform cell of the Indian National Congress. Its first session was held in Madras in December 1887. The Conference met annually as a subsidiary convention of the Indian National Congress, at the same venue, and focused attention on social reform. The Conference advocated intercaste marriages and opposed kulinism and polygamy. It launched the famous “Pledge Movement” to inspire people to take an oath to prohibit child marriage.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
64. With reference to Ryotwari Settlement, consider the following statements :
1. The rent was paid directly by the peasants to the Government.
2. The Government gave Pattas to the Ryots.
3. The lands were surveyed and assessed before being taxed.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3 (d) None
Ans. (a) In the East India Company territories, the Ryotwari system was introduced by Thomas Munroe and Captain Reed first in Madras presidency. It was later extended to Bombay, Parts of Bengal, Assam, Coorg etc. This system was exactly opposite to the Zamindari system. • Under the Ryotwari settlement system, the company recognized mirasidars as the sole proprietors of land, dismissing tenants’ rights completely.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
65. Mahatma Gandhi undertook fast unto death in 1932 mainly because
(a) Round Table Conference failed to satisfy Indian political aspirations
(b) Congress and Muslim League had differences of opinion
(c) Ramsay Macdonald announced the Communal Award
(d) None of the statements a, b and c given above is correct in this context
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2012]
66. What was the purpose with which Sir William Wedderburn and W.S.Caine had set up the Indian Parliamentary Committee in 1893 ?
(a) To agitate for Indian political reforms in the house of commons.
(b) To campaign for the entry of Indians into the imperial judiciary.
(c) To facilitate a discussion on India’s independence in the British parliament.
(d) Toagitate for the entry of eminent Indians into the British parliament.
Ans. (a) In 1893, Sir William became a Liberal Member of Parliament. In the Indian Parliamentary Committee was established on which Sir William Wedderburn, W. C. Caine and Lord Clywd worked, and secured the support of some Independent and Labour members, it tried to present the Indian problems in Parliament in their true shape.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
67. With reference to Indian freedom struggle, Usha Mehta is well- known for ?
(a) Running the secret Congress radio in the wake of Quit India movement.
(b) Participating in the second round table conference.
(c) Leading a contingent of Indian national army.
(d) Assisting in the formation of Interim government under Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Ans. (a) Usha Mehta was a renowned Gandhian and freedom fighter of India. She is also remembered for operationalizing the Congress Radio, also called the Secret Congress Radio, an underground radio station, which functioned for few months during the Quit India Movement of 1942. In 1998, the Government of India conferred on her Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of Republic of India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
68. Mahatma Gandhi said that some of his deepest convictions were reflected in a book titled, “unto this last’’ and the book transformed his life. What was the message from the book that transformed Mahatma Gandhi ?
(a) Uplifting the oppressed and poor is the moral responsibility of an educated man
(b) The good of an individual is contained in the good of all.
(c) Thelife of celibacy and spiritual pursuit are essential for a noble life.
(d) All the statements (a), (b) and (c) are correct in this context.
Ans. (b) The words of Mahatma on the book written by John Ruskin- (Mahatma Gandhi -I believe that I discovered some of my deepest convictions reflected in this great book of Ruskin, and that is why it so captured me and made me transform my life.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
69. With reference to the period of Indian freedom struggle, which of the following was/were recommended by the Nehru report?
1. Complete independence for India.
2. Joint electorates for reservation of seats for minorities.
3. Provision of fundamental rights for the people of India in the constitution.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 only. (b) 2 and 3 only.
(c) 1and 3 only. (d) 1,2and 3.
Ans. (b) The following were the recommendations advanced by the Nehru Report: • India should be given the status of a dominion. • There should be federal form of government with residuary powers vested in the center. • India should have a parliamentary form of government headed by a Prime Minister and six ministers appointed by the Governor General. • There should be bicameral legislature. • There should be no separate electorate for any community. • System of weightage for minorities was as bad as that of separate electorates. • Reservation of Muslim seats could be possible in the provinces where Muslim population was at least present, but this was to be in strict proportion to the size of the community. • Muslims should enjoy one-fourth representation in the Central Legislature.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
70. Which one of the following observation is not true about the quit India movement of 1942?
(a) It was a non-violent movement.
(b) It was led by Mahatma Gandhi.
(c) It was a spontaneous movement.
(d) It did not attract the labour class in general.
Ans. (a) What makes the Quit India-movement different from the Non-Co-Operation and Civil Disobedience movements is the spontaneous rising of the people with no leaders to guide them. It, of course, resulted in violence, though Gandhiji had urged the public to follow his principles of nonviolence throughout the movement. Widespread violence was a common feature of the Quit India movement.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
71. The tendency for increased litigation was visible after the introduction of the land settlement system of Lord Cornwallis in 1793. The reason for this is normally traced to which of the following provisions?
(a) Making Zamindar’s position stronger vis-a-vis the ryot.
(b) Making East India company an overlord of zamindars.
(c) Making judicial system more efficient.
(d) None of the (a), (b) and (c) above.
Ans. (d) The main features of the Land Settlement of Lord Cornwallis were as under: • The Zamindars who collected land revenues were made the owners of the land. • The Zamindars had to pay a fixed amount to the company. • It was decided that Govt, would have claim to the 10/ 11 of the gross revenue. • In case, any Zamindar failed to pay the fixed amount of revenue, the Government had the right to confiscate some part of his land holding to recover the amount due. • The farmers or the ryots were made the tenants of the Zamindars. • The Zamindars were deprived of their administrative and judicial powers.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
72. What was the reason for Mahatma Gandhi to organize a satyagraha on behalf of the peasants of Kheda?
1. The administration did not suspend the land revenue collection in spite of a drought.
2. The administration proposed to introduce permanent settlement in Gujarat.
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.
Ans. (a) In Kheda, after famine, the poor peasants had barely enough to feed themselves, but the British government of the Bombay Presidency insisted that the farmers not only pay full taxes, but also pay the 23% increase stated to take effect that very year. This eventually became the main reason for the Kheda Satyagraha.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
73. With reference to the period of colonial rule in India, “Home Charges” formed an important part of drain of wealth from India. Which of the following funds constituted “Home Charges’’?
1. Funds used to support the India office in London.
2. Funds used to pay salaries and pensions of British personnel engaged in India.
3. Funds used for waging wars outside India by the British.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 only. (b) 1 and 2 only.
(c) 2 and 3 only. (d) 1,2,and 3.
Ans. (d) During the period of colonial rule in India, the drain of wealth took place through various forms, Main among them were: 1) Home Charges: These refer to the expenditure incurred in England by the Secretary of the State on behalf of India. Post 1857 this charge constituted 24% of total revenue of India, 2) Civil and Military charges, 3) Interest on Foreign Capital Investments (especially during the 20th century) • Home charges : Costs of the Secretary of State’s India Office, East India Company’s military adventures, cost of suppressing the Mutiny of 1857 and the compensation to the company’s shareholders, pensions to the British Indian officials and army officers, costs of army training, transport, equipments and campaigns outside India and guaranteed interests on railways.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2011]
74. For the Karachi session of Indian National Congress in 1931, presided over by Sardar Patel, who drafted the Resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Programme?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(d) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Ans. (b) The Karachi session was presided by Sardar Patel. The congress adopted a resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy which represented the Party’s Social, Economic and Political programme. It was later known as Karachi Resolution. Nehru had originally drafted it, but some Congress leaders thought it was too radical and it was redrafted for the first time, the resolution tried to define what would be the meaning of Swaraj for common people.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
75. Who among the following were official Congress negotiators with Cripps Mission?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel
(b) Acharya J. B. Kripalani and C. Rajagopalachari
(c) Pandit Nehru and Maulana Azad
(d) Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
Ans. (c) The Cripps mission was an attempt in late March 1942 by the British Government to secure Indian cooperation and support for this efforts in World War II. The mission was headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, a senior left using politician and government minister in the war cabinet of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Pandit Nehru and Maulana Azad were official congress negotiators with cripps mission. The proposal to India was that India would be a dominion associated with the United Kingdom.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
76. With reference to Simon Commission’s recommendations, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) It recommended the replacement of diarchy with responsible government in the provinces
(b) It proposed the setting up of inter- provincial council under the Home Department
(c) It suggested the abolition of bicameral legislature at the Centre
(d) It recommended the creation of Indian Police Service, with a provision for increased pay and allowances for British recruits as compared to Indian recruits
Ans. (a) The recommendations of the Simon Commission were published in May 1930. They were as follows : • Dyarchy in the provinces should be abolished and ministers should be made responsible to the provincial legislatures in all departments, including the department of law and order. • The Governor was to retain the special powers for the safety and tranquility of the province and for the protection of the minorities. • He would also have full powers of intervention in the event of breakdown of the constitution. • The Franchise was to be extended and legislatures were to be enlarged. • At the centre, a Federal assembly would be constituted on the basis of representation of the provinces and other areas as per the population. • The council of state would continue as the Upper House but its members would be chosen not on the basis of direct election but on the basis of indirect election by the Provincial councils.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
77. After Quit India Movement, C. Rajagopalachari issued a pamphlet entitled ‘The Way Out”. Which one of the following was a proposal in this pamphlet?
(a) The establishment of a “War Advisory Council” composed of representatives of British India and the Indian States
(b) Reconstitution of the Central Executive Council in such a way that all its members, except the Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief should be Indian leaders
(c) Fresh elections to the Central and Provincial Legislatures to be held at the end of 1945 and the Constitution making body to be convened as soon as possible
(d) A solution for the constitutional deadlock
Ans. (d) “The Way Out” by C. Rajagopalachari, has an importance out of all proportion to its length. Mr. C. Rajagopalachari, was Premier of Madras and a leading member of the Congress Party. He resigned his place in its inner counsels as a protest against the rejection of the Cripps offer, and made a vain attempt to prevent the fatal rebellion of August, 1942 ; in a letter to Mr. Gandhi, he protested strongly against the Mahatma’s cynical proposal to leave the future destinies of India to “ God or anarchy.”
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
78. Four resolutions were passed at the famous Calcutta session of Indian National Congress in 1906. The question of either retention OR of rejection of these four resolutions became the cause of a split in Congress at the next Congress session held in Surat in 1907. Which one of the following was not one of those resolutions?
(a) Annulment of partition of Bengal
(b) Boycott
(c) National education
(d) Swadeshi
Ans. (a) The congress was compelled by the extremists to adopt following resolutions which were accepted by the moderates with half heart. These were as follows: • Resolution on Partition of Bengal • Resolution of Self Government (Swaraj) • Resolution on Swadeshi • Resolution on Boycott Thus in Calcutta session of 1906, under the leadership of Dadabhai Naoroji, Congress adopted Swaraj as the Goal of Indian people.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
79. What was the immediate cause for the launch of the Swadeshi movement?
(a) The partition of Bengal done by Lord Curzon
(b) A sentence of 18 months rigorous imprisonment imposed on LokmanyaTilak
(c) The arrest and deportation of LalaLajpatRai and Ajit Singh; and passing of the Punjab Colonization Bill
(d) Death sentence pronounced on the Chapekar brothers
Ans. (a) The Swadeshi movement had its genesis in the antipartition movement which started with the partition of Bengal by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, 1905 and continued up to 1911.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
80. Who among the following Governor Generals created the Covenanted Civil Service of India which later came to be known as the Indian Civil Service?
(a) Warren Hastings (b) Wellesley
(c) Cornwallis (d) William Bentinck
Ans. (c) The civil services were reformed and modernised by Lord Cornwallis and hence he is called the “Father of Indian Civil Service”.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
81. Consider the following statements:
1. The “Bombay Manifesto” signed in 1936 openly opposed the preaching of socialist ideals.
2. It evoked support from a large , section of business community from all across India.
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
Ans. (a) The ‘Bombay Manifesto’ signed in 1936 by twentyone Bombay businessmen, contained an open indictment of Nehru’s preaching of socialist ideals, which were deemed prejudicial to private property and to the peace and prosperity of the nation. • Although it did not evoke support from any other section of the business community it strengthened the hands of moderates within Congress to put pressure on Nehru to tone down his socialist utterances.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
82. 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 regulation?
(a) Lord Cornwallis felt that the District Collector’s efficiency of revenue collection would enormously increase without the burden of other work
(b) Lord Cornwallis felt that Judicial power should compulsorily be in the hands of Europeans while Indians can be given 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 a good training in law and Lord Cornwallis felt that District Collector should be only a revenue collector
Ans. (c) Thus by 1793 Cornwallis, had separated the administrative and commercial dervices and built up that fabric which is existent even today. 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
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
83. Consider the following statements:
1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to come to Champaran to investigate the problem of peasants.
2. Acharya J. B. Kriplani was one of Mahatma Gandhi’s colleagues in his Champaran investigation.
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
Ans. (b) Champaran Satyagraha: Raj Kumar Shukla, a local man, decided to follow Gandhiji all over the country to pursued him to come to the Champaran to investigate the problem. • Accompanied by Babu Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul- Huq, J.B. Kripalani, and Mahadev Desai Gandhiji reached Champaran in 1917 for conducting a detailed enquiry into the condition of the peasantry.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
84. With reference to Pondicherry (now Puducherry), consider the following statements :
1. The first European power to occupy Pondicherry was the Portuguese.
2. The second European power to occupy Pondicherry were the French
3. The English never occupied Pondicherry.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (a) Portugese were first Europeans to set up a factory in the region during 16th century. They were followed by Danes and Dutch. In 1674 French East India company set up trading centre at Pondicherry. British captured Pondicherry on 16th January 1761 from French but by the Treaty of Paris (1763) Pondicherry was returned to French and remained under then until 1954.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2010]
85. Which one of the following began with the Dandi March?
(a) Home Rule Movement
(b) Non – Cooperation Movement
(c) Civil Disobedience Movement
(d) Quit India Movement
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
86. In the context of the Indian freedom struggle 16th October 1905 is well known for which one of the following reasons?
(a) The formal proclamation of Swadeshi Movement was made in Calcutta town hall
(b) Partition of Bengal took effect
(c) Dadabhai Naoroji declared that the goal of Indian National Congress was Swaraj
(d) Lokmanya Tilak started Swadeshi Movement in Poona
Ans. (b) In 1905 AD, the Viceroy of India Lord Curzon carried out the partition although there was a strong opposition from majority of Indians. The government announced its final decision on 19th July 1905 and partition was completed with effect from 16th October 1905.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
87. With which one of the following movements is the slogan ‘’Do or Die” associated?
(a) Swadeshi Movement
(b) Non – Cooperation Movement
(c) Civil Disobedience Movement
(d) Quit India Movement
Ans. (d) Congress Working Committee met at Wardha on 14th July 1942 and adopted the famous “Quit India Resolution”. With little modification this resolution was adopted by the All India Congress Committee at its Bombay session on 8th August 1942. The Committee asserted India’s right to freedom and decided to start a mass struggle on non-violent means on the widest possible scale. • Addressing the Conference, Gandhiji gave the call “Do or Die”, either to get India free or to die in this attempt.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
88. Consider the following statements: The Cripps Proposals include the provision for
1. Full independence for India
2. Creation of Constitution making body
Which of the given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. (b) Proposal of Cripps Mission a. Dominion status immediately after the war with the right of secession. b. A Constituent Assembly to be set up to implement these proposals and the members to be drawn from British India and Princely states. c. The British Government would accept the constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly and negotiate a treaty agreement with India guaranteeing to protect racial and the religious minorities. d. If any province desires, it could remain outside the Indian union and negotiate directly with the British. e. In the transition period British would be responsible for India’s defence.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
89. In the “Individual Satyagraha”, Vinoba Bhave was chosen as the first Satyagrahi. Who was the second?
(a) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(b) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) C. Rajagopalachari
(d) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Ans. (b) The first Satyagrahi selected was Acharya Vinoba Bhave, who was sent to Jail when he spoke against the war. Second Satyagrahi was Jawahar Lal Nehru. • Third was Brahma Datt, one of the inmates of the Gandhi’s Ashram. • They all were sent to jails for violating the Defense of India Act.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
90. Who of the following is the author of a collection of ‘ poems called “Golden Threshold”?
(a) Aruna Asaf Ali (b) Annie Besant
(c) Sarojini Naidu (d) Vijayalaksmi Pandit
Ans. (c) In 1905, Sarojini Naidu’s first collection of poems, named “The Golden Threshold” was published. Her poems were admired by many prominent Indian politicians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Her collection of poems entitled “The Feather of The Dawn” was edited and published posthumously in 1961 by her daughter Padmaja.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
91. During the freedom struggle, Aruna Asaf Ali was a major woman organizer of underground activity in:
(a) Civil Disobedience Movement
(b) Non-Cooperation
(c) Quit India Movement
(d) Swadeshi Movement
Ans. (c) Aruna Asaf ali came under the influence of the congress socialists and became a radical nationalist. She was arrested during the civil disobedience movement in 1930 and again in the course of the individual Satyagraha in 1941. She married Asaf Ali, a prominent lawyer and Congress leader of Delhi. • She participated in the Quit India movement (1942- 46) from underground.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
92. In collaboration with David Hare and Alexander Duff, who of the following established Hindu College at Calcutta?
(a) Henry Louis Vivian Derozio
(b) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
(c) Keshab Chandra Sen
(d) Raja Rammohan Roy
Ans. (d) The plan of imparting English education by David Hare, prominent educationalists received general approbation. Along with the other leaders like Raja Ram Mohun Roy the Hindu College was established in 1817.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
93. With reference to Union Government, consider the following statements :
1. The number of Ministries at the Centre on 15th August 1947 was 18.
2. The number of Ministries at the Centre at present is 36.
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
Ans. (a) The Government consists of a number of Ministries/ Departments, number and character varying from time to time on factors such as volume of work importance attached to certain items, changes of orientation, political expediency, etc. On 15 August 1947, the number of Ministries at the Centre was 18.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
94. Who of the following Prime Ministers sent Cripps Mission to India?
(a) James Ramsay MacDonald
(b) Stanley Baldwin
(c) Neville Chamberlain
(d) Winston Churchill
Ans. (d) 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 II. The mission was headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, a senior left-wing politician and government minister in the War Cabinet of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
95. During the Indian Freedom Struggle, why did Rowlatt Act arouse popular indignation?
(a) It curtailed the freedom of religion
(b) It suppressed the Indian traditional education
(c) It authorized the government to imprison people without trial
(d) It curbed the trade union activities
Ans. (c) The Satyagraha Movements by Mahatma Gandhi achieved their desired objectives and were a great success.To control such movements, the British proposed the Rowlatt Act in 1919. The Rowlatt Act aimed to curb the political activities in the country and equipped the courts with the power to detain political prisoners without trial for two years.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
96. Consider the following statements:
1. The discussions in the Third Round Table Conference eventually led to the passing of the Government of India Act of 1935.
2. The Government of India Act of 1935 provided for the establishment of an All India Federation to be based on a Union of the provinces of British India and the Princely States.
Which of the above statements is/ are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. (c) After the conclusion of the Third Round Table Conference in London a white paper was issued in March 1933 giving details of the basis of the working of the new constitution of India. • This Act established a “Federation of India” made up of British Indian Provinces (Governor’s Province and Commissioner’s Province) and Indian states which might accede to be united.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2009]
97. Where was the First Session of the Indian National Congress held in December 1885?
(a) Ahmadabad (b) Bombay
(c) Calcutta (d) Delhi
Ans. (b) The first session of the All India Congress began on 28th December 1885 at GokuldasTejpal Sanskrit College. Eminent barrister of Calcutta, Mr. Woomesh Chandra Banerjee presided over it.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
98. Which one of the following was a journal brought out by Abul Kalam Azad?
(a) Al-Hilal (b) Comrade
(c) The Indian Sociologist (d) Zamindar
Ans. (a) The Al-Hilal was a weekly Urdu language newspaper established by the Indian leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and used as a medium for criticism of the British Raj in India. • The Comrade was a weekly English-language newspaper that was published and edited by Maulana Mohammad Ali between 1911 and 1914. • Shyamji Krishnavarma (1857–1930) was an Indian revolutionary fighter, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and The Indian Sociologist in London. • Zamindar was an Indian Muslim newspaper in the Urdu language. The founding editor of this newspaper was Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, a poet, intellectual, writer, Muslim nationalist and a supporter of All India Muslim League’s Pakistan Movement.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
99. Assertion (A): The Congress in all the provinces resigned in the year 1939.
Reason (R) : The Congress did not accept the decision of the Viceroy to declare war against Germany in the context of the Second World War.
(a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are individually true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is True but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Ans. (a) Viceroy Linlithgow declared India at war with Germany on 3 September 1939. The Congress objected strongly to the declaration of war without prior consultation with Indians. • The Congress Working Committee suggested that it would cooperate if there were a central Indian national government formed, and a commitment made to India’s independence after the war. • Linlithgow refused the demands of the Congress. On 22 October 1939, Congress ministries tendered their resignations.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
@100. Who among the following rejected the title of knighthood and refused to accept a position in the Council of the Secretary of State for India?
(a) Motilal Nehru (b) M.G. Ranade
(c) G.K. Gokhale (d) B.G. Tilak
Ans. (c) After the foundation of the Indian National Congress, Gokhale was made its secretary. He was made a member of the Bombay Legislative Council in 1899, and in 1902 he succeeded Sir Pherozeshah Mehta as member of the Imperial Legislative Council. He refused a knighthood saying that by accepting such honours he would cease to be Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
101. Who among the following Gandhian followers was a teacher by Profession ?
(a) A.N. Sinha (b) Braj Kishore Prasad
(c) J.B. Kriplani (d) Rajendra Prasad
Ans. (c) Kripalani started off his career as a teacher and educationist but soon gave up the same to take part in the freedom struggle. He actively took part in the Gandhi-initiated Non- Cooperation Movement, Salt Satyagraha, Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
102. Which one of the following suggested the reconstitution of the Viceroy’s Executive council in which all the portfolios including that of War Members were to be held by the Indian leader?
(a) Simon Commission (b) Shimla Conference
(c) Cripps Proposal (d) Cabinet Mission
Ans. (b) When the war ended in August 1945, Viceroy Lord Wavell decided to hold a political conference to which he invited Muslim League and Congress representatives. The conference began in Shimla on June 24, 1945 and lasted till July 14, 1945. The three parties, Congress, Muslim League and Viceroy had to decide the fate of the conference. The viceroy’s decision that he formally handed over the power to veto-final authority in an constitutional progress in India to Jinnah. Jinnah become sole representative of Muslim.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
103. During the Indian Freedom Struggle, who of the following raised an army called ‘Free Indian Legion’?
(a) LalaHardayal (b) Rashbehari Bose
(c) Subhas Chandra Bose (d) V.D.Savarkar
Ans. (c) The Indian Legion , officially the Free India Legion or Infantry Regiment 950 (Indian) and later the Indian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS , was a military unit raised during World War II in Nazi Germany. Intended to serve as a liberation force for British-ruled India, it was made up of Indian prisoners of war and expatriates in Europe. Because of its origins in the Indian independence movement, it was known also as the “Tiger Legion”, and the “Azad Hind Fauj”. Initially raised as part of the German Army, it was part of the Waffen-SS from August 1944.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
104. Who among the following 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
Ans. (a) Aurobindo Ghosh : the book ‘new lamps for old’ presents a selection of Sri Aurobindo’s political writings and speeches, mostly from the period 1906– 10 when he was one of the leaders of the nationalist school of Indian politics that advocated full independence from British rule. During this time he edited and wrote for three newspapers in which the doctrines and principles of this movement were formulated. Some writings from before and after this period are also included, such as the “New Lamps for Old” articles published in 1893–94, his comments on the reform proposals of 1918, and his message of 15 August 1947.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
105. Who among the following used the phrase ‘Un-British’ to criticize the English colonial control of India?
(a) Anandmohan Bose (b) BadruddinTyabji
(c) Dadabhai Naoroji (d) Pherozeshah Mehta
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
106. Who was the Viceroy of India when the Rowlatt Act was Passed?
(a) Lord Irwin
(b) Lord Reading
(c) Lord Chelmsford
(d) Lord Wavell
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2008]
107. The song ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ written during the Swadeshi Movement of India inspired the liberation struggle of Bangladesh. Who wrote this song?
(a) Rajni Kanta Sen (b) Dwijendralal Ray
(c) Mukunda Das (d) Rabindranath Tagore
Ans. (d) Amar Sonar Bangla is part of a Bengali song with the same title, written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905. The song was written in 1905 during the first partition of Bengal, when the ruling British Empire had an undivided India’s province of Bengal split into two parts.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
108. Which one of the following aroused a wave of popular indignation that led to the massacre by the British at Jallianwala Bagh ?
(a) The arms Act
(b) The Public Safety Act
(c) The Rowlatt Act
(d) The Vernacular Press Act
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
109. The first factory Act restricting the working hours of women and children, and authorizing local governments to make necessary rules was adopted during whose time?
(a) Lord Lytton (b) Lord Bentinck
(c) Lord Ripon (d) Lord Canning
Ans. (c) During Lord Ripon’s time, the first Factories Act was enacted in 1881 and since then it has been amended on many occasion.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
110. Who among the following started the newspaper Shome Prakash?
(a) Dayanand Saraswati
(b) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
(c) Raja Rammohan Roy
(d) Surendranath Banerjee
Ans. (b) Dwarkanath Vidyabhusan (1820 – 22 August 1886) was an Indian scholar, editor and publisher of the trend-setting weekly Bengali newspaper Somprakash. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar proposed the publication of a weekly newspaper Somprakash partly with the objective of providing employment for a deaf scholar.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
111. At which one of the following Place did Mahatma Gandhi first start his Satyagraha in India?
(a) Ahmedabad (b) Bardoli
(c) Champaran (d) Kheda
Ans. (c) The first Satyagraha movements inspired by Mahatma Gandhi occurred in Champaran district of Bihar and the Kheda district of Gujarat on 1917 to 1918. Champaran Satyagraha was the first to be started, but the word Satyagraha was used for the first time in Anti Rowlatt Act agitation.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
112. Who among the following Europeans were the last to come to pre independence India as traders?
(a) Dutch (b) English
(c) French (d) Portuguese
Ans. (c) France was the last of the major European maritime powers of the 17th century to enter the East India trade.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
113. The ruler of which one of the following States was removed from power by the British on the pretext of misgovernance?
(a) Awadh (b) Jhansi
(c) Nagpur (d) Satara
Ans. (a) The Kingdom of Oudh was the only great Indian state whose ruler Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dispossessed on the ground of “intolerable misgovernment”.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
114. Which one of the following was the first fort constructed by the British in India?
(a) Fort William (b) Fort St. George
(c) Fort St. David (d) Fort St. Angelo
Ans. (b) Fort St George (or historically, White Town) is the name of the first English (later British) fortress in India, founded in 1644 at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city of Chennai.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
115. Consider the following statements:
1. Robert Clive was the first Governor-General of Bengal.
2. William Bentinck was the first Governor-
General of India.
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
Ans. (b) Warren Hastings : • Warren Hastings succeeded Clive in 1772 and became the first Governor of Bengal for two years and in 1774, after enactment of Regulating Act of 1773, he became first Governor-General of Bengal. Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835) • He was appointed as the Governor general of Bengal from 1828 to 1833 but after enactment of the Charter Act of 1833, he became the First Governor General of India. He was also known as the liberal Governor- General.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
116. Which one of the following places was associated with Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement at the beginning of the movement?
(a) Udaygiri (b) Rapur
(c) Pochampalli (d) Venkatagiri
Ans. (c) Bhoodan Movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi’s disciple Vinoba Bhave in April 1951. Born spontaneously at an evening meeting in an Andhra Pradesh village Pochampalli, the movement saw land owners gifting land to the landless.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
117. Consider the following statements :
1. Jawaharlal Nehru was in his fourth term as the Prime Minister of India at the time of his death.
2. Jawaharlal Nehru represented Rae Bareilly constituency as a Member of Parliament.
3. The first non-Congress Prime Minister of India assumed the Office in the year 1977.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 3 only
(c) 1 only (d) 1 and 3
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
118. Assertion (A): According to the Wavell Plan, the number of Hindu and Muslim members in the Executive Council were to be equal.
Reason (R): Wavell thought that this arrangement would have avoided the partition of India.
(a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are individually true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is True but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Ans. (c) The Wavell Plan, in essence, proposed the complete Indianisation of the Executive Council, but instead of asking all the parties to nominate members to the Executive Council from all the communities, seats were reserved for members on the basis of religion and caste, with the caste Hindus and Muslims being represented on it on the basis of parity. • Wavell wanted to keep India united by making the Indian elites cooperate in the governance of the country, but the plan failed because the Indians disagreed on the question of representation within the proposed council.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2007]
119. Who was the Governor-General of India during the Sepoy Mutiny?
(a) Lord Canning (b) Lord Dalhousie
(c) Lord Hardinge (d) Lord Lytton
Ans. (a) Lord Canning (1856- 58) was the Governor-General of India during the Sepoy Mutiny.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2006]
120. Which portfolio was held by Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the Interim Government formed in the year 1946?
(a) Defence
(b) External Affairs and Commonwealth
(c) Food and Agriculture
(d) None
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2006]
121. Consider the following statements:
1. The Charter Act 1853 abolished East India Company’s monopoly of Indian trade.
2. Under the Government of India Act, 1858, the British Parliament abolished the East India company altogether and undertook the responsibility of ruling India directly.
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
Ans. (b) Charter Act of 1853 was the last charter act passed for East India Company. It abolished East India Company’s monopoly of Indian trade in tea and trade with China. Government of India Act 1858 provided that India was to be governed directly and in the name of the crown. This act abolished the company rule, abolished the Court of directors and abolished the Board of control. This act abolished the Dual Government introduced by the Pitt’s India act. The act provided the Crown will govern India directly through a Secretary of State for India, who was to exercise the powers which were being enjoyed by the Court of Directors and Board of control.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2006]
122. Consider the following statements about Madam Bhikaji Cama :
1. Madam Cama unfurled the National Flag at the international Socialist Conference in Paris in the year 1907.
2. Madam Cama served as private secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji.
3. Madam Cama was born to Parsi parents.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 2 and 3, only
(c) 1 and 2, only (d) 3 only
Ans. (a) In 1908 in London, Bhikaji Rustom Cama came in contact with Shyamji Krishna Varma, who was well known in London’s Indian community for fiery nationalist speeches he gave in Hyde Park. Through him, she met Dadabhai Naoroji, then president of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress, and for whom she came to work as private secretary.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2006]
123. With reference to the revolt of the year 1857, who of the following was betrayed by a friend; captured and put to death by the British?
(a) Nana Sahib (b) Kunwar Singh
(c) Khan Bahadur Khan (d) Tantya Tope
Ans. (d) The British forces failed to subdue Tantya Tope for over a year. after revolt 1857. He was, however, betrayed into the hands of the British by his trusted friend Man Singh, Chief of Narwar, while asleep in his camp in the Paron forest. He was captured and taken to Shivpuri where he was tried by a military court and executed at the gallows on April 18, 1859.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2006]
124. In the year 1613, where was the English East India Company given permission to set up a factory
(trading post)?
(a) Bangalore (b) Madras
(c) Masulipattam (d) Surat
Ans. (d) On 31st December, 1600, Queen Elizabeth granted a Charter to the Company named ‘The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading in the East Indies’ the right to carry on trade with all countries of the East. This company is commonly known as the English East India Company.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2006]
125. Under whose presidency was the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress held in the year 1929 wherein a resolution was adopted to gain complete independence from the British?
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(b) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Motilal Nehru
Ans. (c) The 1929 Lahore Session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru hold special significance as in the session ‘Purna Swaraj’ (complete independece) was declared as the goal of the INC, 26th January 1930 was declared as Purna Swaraj day
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2006]
126. Which party was founded by Subhash Chandra Bose in the year 1939 after he broke away from the Congress?
(a) Indian Freedom Party (b) Azad Hind Fauj
(c) Revolutionary Front (d) Forward Block
Ans. (d) The All India Forward Bloc is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
127. Consider the following statements:
1. Warren Hastings was the first Governor General who established a regular police force in India on the British pattern
2. A Supreme Court was established at Calcutta by the Regulating Act, 1773.
3. The Indian Penal Code came into effect in the year 1860.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (b) Lord Cornwallis first Governor General established a regular police force on the British pattern in India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
128. Consider the following statements :
The Government of India Act, 1935 provided for
1. The provincial autonomy
2. The establishment of Federal Court
3. All India Federation at the centre
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
129. Which one of the following is the correct statement?
(a) The modern Kochi was a Dutch colony till India’s independence.
(b) The Dutch defeated the Portuguese and built Fort Williams in the modern Kochi.
(c) The modern Kochi was first a Dutch colony before the Portuguese took over from them.
(d) The modern Kochi never became a part of the British colony.
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
130. Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of the battle fought in India in the 18th Century?
(a) Battle of Wandiwash – Battle of Buxar – Battle of Ambur – Battle of Plassey.
(b) Battle of Ambur – Battle of Plassey – Battle of Wandiwash – Battle of Buxar.
(c) Battle of Wandiwash – Battle of Plassey – Battle of Ambur – Battle of Buxar.
(d) Battle of Ambur – Battle of Buxar – Battle of Wandiwash – Battle of Plassey.
Ans. (b) The Battle of Ambur (3 August 1749) was the first major battle of the Second Carnatic War. The battle was initiated by Muzaffar Jung and supported by Joseph François Dupleix and led by Chanda Sahib, who sought to overthrow Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, the Nawab of the Carnatic, for supporting Nasir Jung’s claim to be Nizam of Hyderabad. • On 23 June 1757, the Battle of Plassey was fought between the forces of Siraj Ud Daulah, and his French support troops and the troops of the British East India Company, led by Robert Clive. • Battle of Wandiwash, (Jan. 22, 1760), in the history of India, a confrontation between the French, under the Comte de Lally, and the British, under Sir Eyre Coote. It was the decisive battle in the Anglo-French struggle in Southern India during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63). • The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the British East India Company led by Hector Munro and the combined army of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; the Nawab of Awadh; and the Mughal King Shah Alam II.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
131. Which one of the following territories was not affected by the Revolt of 1857?
(a) Jhansi (b) Chittor
(c) Jagdishpur (d) Lucknow
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
132. Consider the following statements :
1. Lord Mountbatten was the Viceroy when Shimla Conference took place
2. Indian Navy Revolt, 1946 took place when the Indian sailors in the Royal Indian Navy at Bombay and Karachi rose against the Government.
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
Ans. (b) In May 1945, Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India, went to London and discussed his ideas about the future of India with the British administration. • Leaders of both the Congress and the Muslim League attended the conference, which is known as the Shimla Conference happened under Lord Wavell. • On February 18, 1946, a section of non-commissioned officers and sailors known as Ratings, serving in the Royal Indian Navy, mutinied against the British Officers.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
133. Which one of the following pairs are correctly matched? Movement/Satyagraha Person Actively Associated With
1. Champaran Rajendra Prasad
2. Ahmedabad Morarji Desai Mill Workers
3. Kheda Vallabhbhai Patel
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (c) Raj Kumar Shukla, an indigo cultivator, persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to go to Champaran and thus, the Champaran Satyagraha began. Gandhiji arrived in Champaran 10 April 1917 with a team of eminent lawyers: Brajkishore Prasad, Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha and others including Acharya Kripalani. • Gandhiji’s activity was in 1918 at Ahmedabad where an agitation had been going on between the labourers and the owners of a cotton textile mill for an increase of pay. Ambalal Sarabhai’s sister, Anasuya Behn, was one of the main lieutenants of Gandhiji in this struggle in which her brother and Gandhiji’s friend was one of the main advisories. • Gandhiji organised Satyagraha and asked the cultivators not to pay land revenue till their demand for remission was met.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
134. Which one of the following places did Kunwar Singh, a prominent leader of the Revolt of 1857 belongs to?
(a) Bihar (b) Madhya Pradesh
(c) Rajasthan (d) Uttar Pradesh
Ans. (a) In Bihar, the Revolt was led by Kunwar Singh, a Zamindar of Jagdishpur. Though he was eighty years old, he played a prominent part in the revolt. He fought the British in Bihar and then joined Nana Sahib’s forces and took part in various encounters with the English in Oudh and Central India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
135. Who among the following drafted the resolution on fundamental rights for the Karachi Session of Congress in 1931?
(a) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
(b) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(d) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Ans. (b) The Karachi session of 1931 was presided by Sardar Patel. The congress adopted a resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy which represented the Party’s Social, Economic and Political programme. It was later known as Karachi Resolution.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
136. Who among the following was not associated with the formation of U.P. Kisan Sabha in February 1918?
(a) Indra Narain Dwivedi
(b) Gauri Shankar Misra
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Madan Mohan Malviya
Ans. (c) The Kisan Sabha (Peasant Association) was a protest movement in the present-day Indian state of Uttar Pradesh that took place between 1919 and 1922.During second half of nineteenth century situation of Avadh peasants were very bad due to exorbitant rents, illegal levices, renewal fees or nazrana, and arbitrary ejectments or bedakhali had made life tough for peasants. This led to formation of U.P. kisaan sabha set up in February 1918 through the effort of Gauri Sankar Mishra and Indra Narain Dwivedi with the support of Madan Mohan Malaviya. It involved numerous agricultural caste groups. Baba Ram Chandra, a Brahmin from Maharashtra become leader of peasants in Avadh and met Jawahar Lal Nehru to visit rural areas and see the movement activities.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
137. At which Congress Session was the Working Committee authorized to launch a programme of Civil Disobedience?
(a) Bombay (b) Lahore
(c) Lucknow (d) Tripuri
Ans. (b) The Indian National Congress, at its historic Lahore session in December 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, adopted a resolution to gain complete independence from the British. It authorised the Working Committee to launch a civil disobedience movement throughout the country. It was decided that 26 January 1930 should be observed all over India as the Purna Swaraj (complete independence) Day. Many Indian political parties and Indian revolutionaries of a wide spectrum united to observe the day with honor and pride.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
138. In October 1920, who of the following headed a group of Indians gathered at Tashkent to set up a communist Party of India?
(a) H. K. Sarkar (b) P. C. Joshi
(c) M. C. Chagla (d) M. N. Roy
Ans. (d) The ground for the formation of an émigré Communist Party of India was prepared by The Second World Congress of the Communist Third International (1920). The Comintern Executive committee (ECCI) set up a subcommittee, the ‘Small Bureau’, to begin the process.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
139. In which one of the following provinces was a Congress Ministry not formed under the Act of 1935?
(a) Bihar (b) Madras
(c) Orissa (d) Punjab
Ans. (d) Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by the Government of India Act 1935. Elections were held in eleven provinces – Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, Assam, NWFP, Bengal, Punjab and Sindh. Congress ministries were formed in July 1937 in several provinces, including the United Provinces, Madras, the Central Provinces, Bombay, Bihar, Orissa, and after sometime in the North-West Frontier Provinces (NWFP). It also formed coalition ministries in Sind and Assam. Only Bengal and Punjab had non- Congress ministries.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
140. Where were the Ghadar revolutionaries, who became active during the outbreak of the World War I based?
(a) Central America (b) North America
(c) West America (d) South America
Ans. (b) The Ghadar Party was an organisation founded by Indians in the United States and Canada (North America) with the aim of securing India’s independence from British rule. Key members included Lala Har Dayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Abdul Hafiz Mohamed Barakatullah, Kartar Singh Sarabha, and Rashbehari Bose. After the outbreak of World War I, Ghadar party members returned to Punjab to agitate for rebellion alongside the Babbar Akali Movement.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
141. What was Komagata Maru?
(a) A political party based in Taiwan
(b) Peasant communist leader of China
(c) A naval ship on voyage to Canada
(d) A Chinese village where Mao Tse Tung began his Long march
Ans. (c) Gurdit Singh, an Indo-Canadian immigration pioneer, had chartered the Japanese steamship S.S. Komagata Maru to take people from India to Canada. It set sail from Hong Kong on April 4, 1914, with 165 passengers; more passengers joined in Shanghai and Yokohama.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
142. Consider the following statements: On the eve of the launch of Quit India Movement, Mahatma Gandhi
1. asked the Government servants to resign.
2. asked the soldiers to leave their posts.
3. asked the Princes of the Princely States to accept the sovereignty of their own people.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (c) Gandhi’s General Instructions to Different Sections on the eve of Quit India Movement : (a) These were spelt out at the Gowaliar Tank meeting but not actually issued. They were directed at various sections of society: • Government servants: Do not resign but declare your allegiance to the Congress. • Soldiers: Do not leave the Army but do not fire on compatriots. • Students: If confident, leave studies. • Peasants: If Zamindars are anti-government, pay mutually agreed rent, and if Zamindars are progovernment, do not pay rent. • Princes: Support the masses and accept sovereignty of your people. • Princely states’ people: Support the ruler only if he is anti-government and declare yourselves to be a part of the Indian nation.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
143. Consider the following statements:
1. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar founded the Bethune School at Calcutta with the main aim of encouraging education for women.
2. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was the first graduate of the Calcutta University.
3. Keshav Chandra Sen’s campaign against Sati led to the enactment of a law to ban Sati by the then Governor General.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2
(c) 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (b) Noticing the British Government’s indifference towards female education Iswar Chandra himself started a few model schools for girls. He also collaborated with Drinkwater Bethune in establishing the Hindu Female School (at present known as Bethune School and College) in 1849. • The University of Calcutta was founded in 1857. In 1858, Joddu Nath Bose and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay became the first graduates of the university.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
144. Consider the following statements :
1. In the First Round Table Conference Dr. Ambedkar demanded electorates for the depressed classes.
2. In the Poona Pact, special provisions for representation of the depressed people in the local bodies and civil services were made.
3. The Indian National Congress did not take part in the Third Round Table Conference.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (c) First Round Table Conference (November 1930 – January 1931) : Along with other important discussion a separate electorate for the socalled Untouchables was demanded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The Poona Pact was the agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Br Ambedkar reached on 25 September 1932. 148 seats were to be allotted to the depressed classes in the provincial legislatures not local bodies. Third Round Table Conference was held in London on November 17, 1932. This was just a nominal conference, Congress refused to attend it (not invited, in fact) and in Britain, the Labor party also refused to not to attend it.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
145. Who among the following repealed the Vernacular Press Act?
(a) Lord Dufferin (b) Lord Ripon
(c) Lord Curzon (d) Lord Hardinge
Ans. (b) Lord Lytton passed the Vernacular Press Act in 1878. • By this act, the magistrates of the districts were empowered, without the prior permission of the Government, to call upon a printer and publisher of any kind to enter into a Bond, undertaking not to publish anything which might “rouse” feelings of disaffection against the government.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
146. Who among the following was a proponent of Fabianism as a movement?
(a) Annie Beasant
(b) A. O. Hume
(c) Michael Madhusudan Dutt
(d) R. Palme Dutt
Ans. (a) The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of Democratic Socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. Immediately upon its inception, the Fabian Society began attracting many prominent contemporary figures drawn to its socialist cause, including George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, Charles Marson, Sydney Olivier, Oliver Lodge, Ramsay MacDonald and Emmeline Pankhurst.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2005]
147. Consider the following statements: Some of the main features of the Government of India Act, 1935 were the
1. Abolition of diarchy in the Governors’ provinces
2. Power of the Governors to veto legislative action and to legislate on their own
3. Abolition of the principle of communal representation
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2
(c) 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (b) As per the act 1935 System of communal and class electorates further extended.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
148. Consider the following statements:
1. The First Session of the Indian National Congress was held in Calcutta.
2. The Second Session of the Indian National Congress was held under the President ship of Dadabhai Naoroji.
3. Both Indian National Congress and Muslim League held their sessions at Lucknow in 1916 and concluded the Lucknow Pact.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 (d) 3 only
Ans. (c) (1) The efforts of A.O. Hume yielded results and he organized the first session of the Indian National Congress at Bombay in December, 1885. It was presided over by Womesh Chandra Banerjee of Bengal and attended by 72 delegates. (2) The Second session of the Indian National Congress was held in 1886 in Calcutta. The President of the session was Dadabhai Naoroji. The second session was very important on various grounds. (3) Lucknow Pact refers to an agreement reached between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League at the joint session of both the parties, held in Lucknow, in 1916. (4) Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then a member of the Congress as well as the League, made both the parties reach an agreement to pressure the British government to adopt a more liberal approach to India and give Indians more authority to run their country, besides safeguarding basic Muslim demands.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
149. Which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) The Constituent Assembly of India was elected by the Provincial Assemblies in the year 1946.
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru, M.A. Jinnah and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were members of the Constituent Assembly of India
(c) The First Session of the Constituent Assembly of India was held in January, 1947
(d) The Constitution of India was adopted on 26th January, 1950
Ans. (a) The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of India took place in Constitutional Hall, New Delhi, on 9th December 1946. Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was the first president of the Constituent Assembly. In the first meeting, the assembly adopted an ‘Objective Resolution’ which later became the preamble of the constitution. • M.A. Jinnah was not the member of Constituent Assembly. • The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of India took place in Constitutional Hall, New Delhi, on 9th December 1946. Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was the first president of the Constituent Assembly. • The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November, 1949 and the hon’ble members appended their signatures to it on 24 January, 1950. In all, 284 members actually signed the Constitution.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
@150. The Montagu-Chelmsford Report formed the basis of :
(a) the Indian Councils Act, 1909
(b) the Government of India Act, 1919
(c) the Government of India Act, 1935
(d) the Indian Independence Act, 1947
Ans. (b) In line with the government policy contained in Montagu’s statement (August 1917), the Government announced further constitutional reforms on July 1918, known as Montagu- Chelmsford or Montford Reforms. • The reforms were outlined in the Montagu- Chelmsford Report prepared in 1918 and formed the basis of the Government of India Act 1919.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
151. During the Indian Freedom Struggle, who among the following proposed that Swaraj should be defined as complete independence free from all foreign control?
(a) Mazharul Haque
(b) Maulana Hasrat Mohani
(c) Hakim Ajmal Khan
(d) Abul Kalam Azad
Ans. (b) In the year 1921, in the role of the presiding chairman of the All India Muslim League, Maulana Hasrat Mohani demanded the complete independence of his country from the British.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
152. The name of the famous person of India who returned the Knighthood conferred on him by the British Government as a token of protest against the atrocities in Punjab in 1919 was:
(a) Tej Bahadur Sapru
(b) Ashutosh Mukherjee
(c) Rabindra Nath Tagore
(d) Syed Ahmad Khan
Ans. (c) Tagore, who had been given the knighthood by the British government, in recognition of his achievements in literature, decided to return it. This was to him an appropriate form of protest in that dark hour. He wrote to the Viceroy Lord Chelmsford, on May 31, 1919, asking to be “relieved of his knighthood”.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
153. Consider the following Princely States of the British rule in India:
1. Jhansi
2. Sambalpur
3. Satara The correct chronological order in which they were annexed by the British is:
(a) 1-2-3 (b) 1-3-2
(c) 3-2-1 (d) 3-1-2
Ans. (c) The states annexed by the application of Doctrine of Lapse under Lord Dalhousie were Satara (1848), Jaipur and Sambalpur (1849), Bhagat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1854) and Nagpur in (1853).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
154. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(a) Pitt’s India Act : Warren Hastings
(b) Doctrine of Lapse : Dalhousie
(c) Vernacular Press Act : Curzon
(d) Ilbert Bill : Ripon
Ans. (c) Vernacular Press Act of 1878 gagged the press and result was some proceedings against some vernacular press people. There was now a popular protest against this act. The act was later repealed by Lord Ripon, who followed Lord Lytton.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
155. Which of the following pairs are correctly matched?
List-I (Period) List-II (Wars)
1. AD 1767-69 : First Anglo-Maratha War
2. AD 1790-92 : Third Mysore War
3. AD 1824-26 : First Anglo-Burmese War
4. AD 1845-46 : Second Sikh War
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Codes:
(a) 2 and 4 (b) 3 and 4
(c) 1 and 2 (d) 2 and 3
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
156. Consider the following events during India’s freedom struggle:
1. Chauri-Chaura Outrage
2. Minto-Morley Reforms
3. Dandi March
4. Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of the events given above?
(a) 1-3-2-4 (b) 2-4-1-3
(c) 1-4-2-3 (d) 2-3-1-4
Ans. (b) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
157. Consider the following Viceroys of India during the British rule :
1. Lord Curzon 2. Lord Chelmsford
3. Lord Hardinge 4. Lord Irwin Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of their tenure?
(a) 1-3-2-4 (b) 2-4-1-3
(c) 1-4-2-3 (d) 2-3-1-4
Ans. (a) Lord Curzon was the Governor General and Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905. • From 1910 to 1916, Lord Hardinge served as India’s Viceroy. • Lord Chelmsford served as Governor General and Viceroy of India from 1916 to 1921. • On April 3, 1926 Lord Irwin was appointed 30th Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
158. Consider the following statements:
1. In the Third Battle of Panipat, Ahmed Shah Abdali defeated Ibrahim Lodi.
2. Tipu Sultan was killed in the Third Anglo-
Mysore War.
3. Mir Jafar entered in a conspiracy with the English for the defeat of Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah in the Battle of Plassey.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 (d) None
Ans. (b) The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761, at Panipat, about 97 km north of Delhi between a northern expeditionary force of the Maratha Empire and the forces of the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali, supported by two Indian Muslim allies—the Rohilla Afghans of the Doab, and Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh. • The Fourth Anglo–Mysore War (1798–1799) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company under the Earl of Mornington. This was the final conflict of the four Anglo–Mysore Wars. • The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757. The battle consolidated the Company’s presence in Bengal.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2004]
159. Which one of the following provisions was NOT made in the Charter Act of 1833?
(a) The trading activities of the East India Company were to be abolished
(b) The designation of the supreme authority was to be changed as the Governor-General of India in Council
(c) All law-making powers to be conferred on Governor-General in Council
(d) An Indian was to be appointed as a Law Member in the Governor-General’s Council
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
160. The leader of the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) was:
(a) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Vithalbhai J. Patel
(d) Mahadev Desai
Ans. (a) Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) • This movement was the decisive factor in history of Indian freedom struggle and political career of Sardar Patel. This satyagraha laid the foundation of biggest civil disobedience movement against British rule. In 1928, authorities raised the land revenue in Bardoli. The region was already reeling under the grunt of famine and floods.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
161. With reference to colonial rule in India, what was sought by the Ilbert Bill in 1883?
(a) To bring Indians and Europeans on par as far as the criminal jurisdiction of courts was concerned
(b) To impose severe restrictions on the freedom of the native press as it was perceived to be hostile to colonial rulers
(c) To encourage the native Indians to appear for civil service examinations by conducting them in India
(d) To allow native Indians to possess arms by amending the Arms Act.
Ans. (a) Ilbert Bill Controversy (1884) • According to law, a European could be tried only by a European Judge • Rippon thought this was unjust and needless dishonor upon the Indian-born members of the judiciary • Hence he tried to abolish this law, C P Ilbert, Law Member of his council, introduced a bill in 1883 to abolish this discrimination in judiciary
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
162. An important aspect of the Cripps Mission of 1942 was :
(a) That all Indian States should join the Indian Union as a condition to consider any degree of autonomy for India
(b) The creation of an Indian Union with Dominion status very soon after the Second World War
(c) The active participation and cooperation of the Indian people, communities and political parties in the British war effort as a condition for granting independence with full sovereign status to India after war.
(d) The framing of a constitution for the entire Indian Union, with no separate constitution for any province, and a Union Constitution to be accepted by all provinces
Ans. (b) Proposal of Cripps Mission • Dominion status immediately after the war with the right of secession. • A Constituent Assembly to be set up to implement these proposals and the members to be drawn from British India and Princely states. • The British Government would accept the constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly and negotiate a treaty agreement with India guaranteeing to protect racial and the religious minorities. • If any province desires, it could remain outside the Indian union and negotiate directly with the British. • In the transition period British would be responsible for India’s defence.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
163. With reference to the entry of European powers into India, which one of the following statements is NOT correct?
(a) The Portuguese captured Goa in 1499
(b) The English opened their first factory in South India at Masulipatam
(c) In Eastern India, the English Company opened its first factory in Orissa in 1633
(d) Under the leadership of Dupleix, the French occupied Madras in 1746
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
164. When Congress leaders condemned the Montagu-Chelmsford Report, many moderates left the party to form the:
(a) Swarajya party
(b) Indian Freedom Party
(c) Independence Federation of India
(d) Indian Liberal Federation
Ans. (a) After condemning Montagu-Chemsford report many moderate leader formed Swaraj Party, so option a is correct. • After Gandhi’s arrest (March 1922), there was disintegration, disorganisation and demoralisation among nationalist ranks. A debate started among Congressmen on what to do during the transition period, i.e., the passive phase of the movement. • One section led by C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru and Ajmal Khan wanted an end to the boycott of legislative councils so that the nationalists could enter them to expose the basic weaknesses of these assemblies and use these councils as an arena of political struggle to arouse popular enthusiasm. • They wanted to ‘end or mend’ these councils, i.e., if the Government did not respond to the nationalists’ demands, then they would obstruct the working of these councils.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
165. Who headed the Interim Cabinet formed in the year 1946?
(a) Rajendra Prasad
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
(d) Rajagopalachari
Ans. (b) Interim Cabinet was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946. The interim government of India was formed on September 2, 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
166. With reference to Indian freedom struggle, which one of the following statements is NOT correct?
(a) The Rowlatt Act aroused a wave of popular indignation and led to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre
(b) Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Forward Bloc
(c) Bhagat Singh was one of the founders of Hindustan Republican Socialist Association
(d) In 1931, the Congress Session at Karachi opposed Gandhi Irwin Pact
Ans. (d) The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931 before the second Round Table Conference in London. The Gandhi Irwin Pact was endorsed by the Congress in the Karachi Session of 1931, that was held from March 26-31. Gandhi was nominated to represent Congress in the Second Round Table Conference.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
167. The aim of education as stated by the Wood’s dispatch of 1854 was:
(a) the creation of employment opportunities for native Indians
(b) the spread of western culture in India
(c) the promotion of literacy among the people using English medium of language
(d) the introduction of scientific research and rationalism in the traditional Indian education
Ans. (c) In 1854 he sent the “Wood’s despatch” to the Governor General Lord Dalhousie. As per this despatch: • The Indian natives should be given training in their mother tongue also. Wood’s Despatch is called Magna carta of English Education in India. In accordance with Wood’s despatch, Education Departments were established in every province and universities were opened at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1857 on the model of the London University. Later more universities were opened in Punjab in 1882 and at Allahabad 1887.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
168. During the colonial period in India, what was the purpose of the Whitley Commission?
(a) To review the fitness of India for further political reforms
(b) To report on the existing conditions of labour and to make recommendations
(c) To draw up a plan for financial reforms for India
(d) To develop a comprehensive scheme for Civil Services in India
Ans. (b) Whitley Commission (1928) was appointed to report on existing conditions of labour in industrial undertakings and plantations in India on the basis of present working conditions, their health and hygiene and their capacity to work and to give his recommendation for improving it.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
169. Assertion (A): Shah Alam II spent the initial years as an Emperor far away from his capital.
Reason (R): There was always a lurking danger of foreign invasion from the north-west frontier.
Ans. (c) Shah Alam II, the lighteenth Mughal Emperor, was the son of Alamgir II. He faced many inuasions mainly by Amir of Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah Abdali which led to the third battle of Panipat. Shah Alam II spent the initial years as an emperor far away from his capital due to the fear of his wazir Najib Khan Rohilla and not due to danger of foreign invasion from the North Western frontier.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
170. Assertion (A): In 1916, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Abul Kalam Azad resigned from the Legislative Council.
Reason (R): The Rowlatt Act was passed by the Government in spite of being opposed by all Indian members of the Legislative Council.
(a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are individually true but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Ans. (d) Maulana Muhammad Ali and Abul Kalam Azad resigned from the Legislative Council in 1919, during Khilafat Movement not in 1916. The Rowlatt Act was passed in 1919.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
171. Assertion (A): Marathas emerged as the strongest native power in India after the decline of Mughal empire.
Reason (R): Marathas were the first to have a clear concept of a united Indian nation.
Ans. (c) Though Marathas emerged as the strongest native power in India. but they had no concept of united Indian nation.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2003]
172. Which one of the following submitted in 1875 a petition to the House of Commons demanding India’s direct representation in the British Parliament?
(a) The Deccan Association
(b) The Indian Association
(c) The Madras Mahajan Sabha
(d) The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha
Ans. (d) Poorna Sarvajanik Sabha was founded by MG Ranade in 1870 to represent the aspirations of the people to government. In published a quaterly journal to put forth the probelms of people before the government. The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha submitted in 1875 a petition to the House of Commons demanding India’s direct representation in the British Parliament.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
173. The last opportunity to avoid the partition of India was lost with the rejection of
(a) Cripps Mission
(b) Rajagopalachari Formula
(c) Cabinet Mission
(d) Wavell Plan
Ans. (c) The Congress accepted the proposals related to the constituent assembly put forwarded by Cabinet Mission. But the Muslim league thought that had been given disproportionate representation, it rejected the idea of the interim government. • On July 29, it rejected the plan and called the Muslim to resort to ’Direct Action’ to achieve the land of their dream ‘Pakistan’. August 16, 1946 was fixed as ‘Direction Action Day’
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
174. Which one of the following Acts of British India strengthened the Viceroy’s authority over his executive council by substituting “portfolio” or departmental system for corporate functioning?
(a) Indian Council Act, 1861
(b) Government of India Act, 1858
(c) Indian Councils Act, 1892
(d) Indian Councils Act, 1909
Ans. (a) The Indian Council Act, 1861, strengthened the Viceroy’s authority over his Executive Council by substituting ‘portfolios’, or departmental system for corporate functioning.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
175. The real intention of the British to include the princely states in the Federal Union proposed by the India Act of 1935 was to
(a) exercise more and direct political and administrative control over the princely states
(b) involve the princes actively in the administration of the colony
(c) finally effect the complete political and administrative take-over of all the princely states by the British
(d) use the princes to counter-balance the antiimperialist doctrines of the nationalist leaders
Ans. (d) Government of India Act 1935 was passed by British Parliament in August 1935. • This act ended the system of diarchy introduced by GoI Act 1919 and provided for establishment of a federation of India to be made up of provinces of British India and some of or all the Princely States. However the federation never came into being as the required number of princely states did not join it. The real intention of the British to include the princely states in the Federal Union proposed by the India Act of 1935 was to use the pri.nces to counter-balance the anti-imperialist doctrines of the nationalist leaders.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
176. With reference to the period of extremist nationalist movement in India with its spirit of Swadeshi, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) Liakat Hussain led the Muslim peasants of Barisal in their agitations
(b) In 1989, the scheme of national education was formulated by Satish Chandra Mukherjee
(c) The Bengal National College was founded in 1906 with Aurobindo as the Principal
(d) Tagore preached the cult of Atmasakti, the main plank of which was social and economic regeneration of the villages
Ans. (a) Barisal Movement was for breaking salt law during Civil Disobedience Movement. Liakat Hussain did not lead the Barisal movement of peasants.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
177. The President of India National Congress as the time of partition of India was
(a) C Rajagopalachari
(b) J B Kripalani
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Ans. (b) Acharya J. B. Kripalani was an accomplished politician and socialist, who contributed much, both before and after Indian independence. An ardent follower of Gandhi, he was an exponent of the Gandhian philosophy and ideology. While Kripalani contributed much in the freedom struggle and afterwards, he is best known for holding the chair of the President of the Indian National Congress during the turbulent phase of 1947.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
178. With reference to colonial period of Indian history, match List I (Person) with List II (Event) and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists :
List I (Person) : List II (Event)
A. MacDonald : 1. Doctrine of Lapse
B. Linlithgow : 2. Communal Award
C. Dalhousie : 3. August Offer
D. Chelmsford : 4. Dyarchy
Codes:
A B C D
(a) 3 2 1 4 (b) 3 2 4 1
(c) 2 3 1 4 (d) 2 3 4 1
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
179. With which one of the following mountain tribes did the British first come into contact with after the grant of Diwani in the year 1765?
(a) Garo (b) Khasis
(c) Kukis (d) Tipperahs
Ans. (b) Between the state of Jaintia and hills on the west occupied by Garos is a tract of mountain territory inhabited by Khasis. The British first got acquinted with the Khasis in 1765 when the company acquired Dewani of Synhets from the Mughals. The British started trading with Khasi in item like lime, iron, silk, ivory, honey etc.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
180. During the Indian freedom struggle, the Khudai Khidmatgars, also known as Red Shirts, called for
(a) the Union of Pashtun tribal areas in north-west with the Afghanistan
(b) the adoption of terrorist tactics and methods for terrorising and finally ousting the colonial rulers
(c) the adoption of communist revolutionary ideology for political and social reform
(d) the Pathan regional nationalist unity and a struggle against colonialism
Ans. (d) In Peshawar, capital of the North-West Frontier Province, Abdul Ghaffar Khan had started educational and social reform work among his pathan countrymen from 1912, deriving inspiration successively from the Deoband Muslim Nationalist group, the Khilafat Movement, and the modernistic reforms of Amir Atnanullah (the Afghan king whose progressive and pro-Soviet politics led to his overthrow in 1928). Badshah Khan, as he was popularly called since the mid 1920s, started the first Pushto political monthly Pakhtun in May 1928, organised a volunteer brigade, Khudai Khidmatgar, having red shirts as uniform for the Pathan regional nationalist unity and a struggle against Colonialism. • By 1929, Ghaffar Khan had become a fervent disciple of Gandhi after attending the Lahore Congress. The membership of the Khudai Khidmatgars shot up from 500 to 50,000 in six months.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
181. With reference to the Indian freedom struggle, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) Hakim Ajmal Khan was one of the leaders to start a nations list and militant Ahrar movement
(b) When the Indian National Congress was formed, Sayyid Ahmad Khan opposed it
(c) The All-India Muslim League which was formed in 1906 vehemently opposed the partition of Bengal and separate electorates
(d) Maulana Barkaullah and Maulana Obeidullah Sindhi were among those who formed a Provisional Government of India in Kabul
Ans. (c) The decision to effect the Partition of Bengal was announced in July 1905, by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The partition took place on 16 October 1905 and separated the largely Muslim eastern areas from the largely Hindu western areas. The Hindus of West Bengal who dominated Bengal’s business and rural life complained that the division would make them a minority in a province that would incorporate the province of Bihar and Orissa.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
182. Assertion (a): The effect of labour participation in the Indian nationalist upsurge of the early 1930s was weak.
Reason (R): The labour leaders considered the ideology of Indian National Congress as bourgeois and reactionary.
(a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are individually true but R is not a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Ans. (a) The labour leaders were influenced by communist ideology and they considered INC as bourgeoisie and reactionary. That is why their participation in the Indian nationalist upsurge was weak.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
183. Match List I (Acts of Colonial Government of India) with List II (Provisions) and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists:
List I (Acts of Colonial Government of India)
A. Charter Act, 1813
B. Regulating Act
C. Act of 1858
D. Pitt’s India Act List II (Provisions)
1. Set up a Board of Control in Britain to fully regulate the East India Company’s affair in India
2. Company’s trade monopoly in India was ended
3. The power to govern was transferred from East India Company to British Crown
4. The Company’s Director were asked to present to the British Government all correspondence and documents pertaining to the administration of the company
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 2 4 3 1 (b) 1 3 4 2
(c) 2 3 4 1 (d) 1 4 3 2
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2002]
184. Who among the following organised the famous Chittagong armoury raid?
(a) Laxmi Sehgal (b) Surya Sen
(c) Batukeshwar Datta (d) J.M. Sengupta
Ans. (b) Surya Sen’s plan was to capture Chittagong’s two main armouries and take down the communications and railway lines. His plan also included assassinating the members of the European Club; military and government officials who were responsible for siding with the British to maintain the Raj.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2001]
185. Who among the following, was the President of the All-India States’ Peoples’ Conference in 1939?
(a) Jaya Prakash Narayan
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Sheikh Abdullah
(d) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Ans. (b) In 1927 the All India States Peoples Conference was formed to co-ordinate political activities in the princely states. • In 1938 the Congress defined its goal of independence so as to include the independence of princely states. Jawaharlal Nehru became the President of the All India States’ People’s Conference in 1939.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2001]
186. A London branch of the All-India Muslim League was established in 1908 under the presidency of
(a) Agha Khan (b) Ameer Ali
(c) Liaquat Ali Khan (d) M.A. Jinnah
Ans. (b) Syed Ameer Ali (1849–1928) was an Indian/British Indian jurist hailing from the state of Oudh from where his father shifted and settled down at Orissa. • He was a signatory to the 1906 Petition to the Viceroy and was thus a founding-member of the All India Muslim League. • He established the London Muslim League in 1908.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2001]
187. Who among the following leaders proposed to adopt Complete Independence as the goal of the Congress in the Ahmedabad session of 1920?
(a) Abul Kalam Azad (b) Hasrat Mohani
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Ans. (b) Congress leader and famous poet Hasrat Mohani was the first activist to demand complete independence (Poorna Swaraj) from the British in 1921 from an All-India Congress Forum.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2001]
188. The Hunter Commission was appointed after the
(a) Black hole incident
(b) Jalianwallabagh massacre
(c) Uprising of 1857
(d) Partition of Bengal
Ans. (b) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2001]
189. Consider the following statements:
1. Arya Samaj was founded in 1835.
2. Lala Lajpat Rai opposed the appeal of Arya Samaj to the authority of Vedas in support of its social reform programmes.
3. Under Keshab Chandra Sen, the Brahmo Samaj campaigned for women’s education.
4. Vinoba Bhave founded the Sarvodaya Samaj to work among rufugees.
Which of these statements are correct?
(a) 1and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 2 and 4 (d) 3 and 4
Ans. (d) Dayanand Saraswati was a reformer and believed in pragmatism. He preached against many rituals of the Hindu religion such as idol-worship, caste by birth, animal sacrifices and restrictions of women from reading Vedas. • Keshab Chandra Sen was one of the most popular influential social reformer and religious leader in the 19th century in Bengal. The brought a sea change in the dimension of movement led by Bhahmo samaj. Acharya Vinoba Bhave a prominent Gandhain started the Bhoodan movement. This involved every landed family to donate atleast one-sixth of their holdings to poor landless peasant and accept him as a member of their family. For this purpose, Bhave started Sarvodaya Samaj and asked its volunteers to do padyatra through villages and request families to donate land.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2001]
190. Under the Permanent Settlement, 1793, the zamindars were required to issue pattas to the farmers which were not issued by many of the zamindars. The reason was
(a) the zamindars were trusted by the farmers
(b) there was no official check upon the zamindars
(c) it was the responsibility of the British Government
(d) the farmers were not interested in getting pattas
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2001]
191. While delivering the presidential address, the Congress President who advocated the introduction of Roman script for Hindi language was
(a) Mahatma Gandhi (b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Abul Kalam Azad (d) Subhas Chandra Bose
Ans. (d) Bose was in London, when it was announced in India he had been elected President of the Indian National Congress for its 51st session to be held at Haripura in Gujarat. • To prepare for independence, he established a planning committee based on the Soviet model under the chairmanship of Nehru. He also proposed a unifying Hindustani language – a combination of Hindi and Urdu – written in the Roman script. At the 1939 session of the AICC in Tripuri in Madhya Pradesh, Bose was duly re-anointed president.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
192. The Balkan Plan for fragmentation of India was the brain-child of
(a) W. Churchill (b) M. A. Jinnah
(c) Lord Mountbatten (d) V. P. Menon
Ans. (c) Mountbatten formulated a plan with code name of Plan Balkan. This envisaged transfer of power to separate provinces (or to confederations, if formed before the transfer), with the Bengal and the Punjab Assemblies being given the option to vote for partition of their provinces. The various units thus formed along with the Princely States, rendered independent by the lapse of the paramountcy, would have the choice of joining India, Pakistan, or remaining independent.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
193. At the time of partition of India, which one of the following provinces of the British India came forward with a plan for a united and independent existence?
(a) Punjab (b) Assam
(c) Bengal (d) Bihar
Ans. (a) Patiala and East Punjab States Union, popularly known as PEPSU, formed on 5 May 1948 by merging together of eight East Punjab princely states of Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Kapurthala, Faridkot, Kalsia, Malerkotia and Nalagarh, was formally inaugurated on 15 July 1948 by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Deputy Prime Minister of India. The government of the Union started functioning on 20 August 1948 when Maharaja Yadavinder Singh of Patiala took over as Rajpramukh or governor.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
194. The Indian National Army (INA) came into existence in 1943 in
(a) Japan (b) Burma
(c) Singapore (d) Malaya
Ans. (c) Subhas Chandra Bose organized the Indian National Army with the cooperation of Rash Bihari Bose in Singapore in 1943.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
195. In this instance we could not play off the Mohammedans against the Hindus”. To which one of the following events did this remark of Aitchison relate?
(a) Revolt of 1857
(b) Champaran Satyagraha (1917)
(c) Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-
22)
(d) August Movement of 1942
Ans. (c) Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement Hindu & Muslims led combined compaingn against Britishers.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
196. As an alternative to the partition of India, Gandhiji suggested to Mountbatten that he
(a) postpone granting of independence
(b) invite Jinnah to form the government
(c) invite Nehru and Jinnah to form the government together
(d) invite the army to take over for some time
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
197. The last major extension of British Indian Territory took place during the time of
(a) Dufferin (b) Dalhousie
(c) Lytton (d) Curzon
Ans. (b) Dalhousie’s contribution was that he uniformly applied this Doctrine of Lapse and did not ignore or neglect any opportunity in consolidating the territories of the East India Company. The states actually annexed by the application of the Doctrine of Lapse under Lord Dalhousie were Satara (1848); Jaitpur and Sambhalpur(1849); Bhagat (1850); Udaipur(1852); Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
198. After returning from South Africa, Gandhiji launched his first successful Satyagraha in
(a) Chauri-Chaura (b) Dandi
(c) Champaran (d) Bardoli
Ans. (c) The peasants of the Champaran and other areas of North Bihar were growing the Indigo under the tinakathia system. Under the tinakathia system the peasants were bound to plant 3 out of 20 parts of his land with indigo for his landlord. This means that out of 20 khatas which make an acre, they had to dedicate 3 khatas for indigo plantation. This was the root cause of the trouble.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
199. The native State of Tripura became involved in the Freedom Movement early in the 20th century because
(a) the kings of Tripura were always anti-British
(b) the Bengal revolutionaries took shelter in Tripura
(c) the tribes of the State were fiercely freedom loving
(d) there were already some groups fighting against the kingship and its protector, the British
Ans. (d) The native State of Tripura became involved in the Freedom Movement early in the 20th century because there were already some groups fighting against the kingship and its protector, the British.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
@200. Assertion (A): The basic weakness of the early nationalist movement lay in its narrow social base.
Reason (R): It fought for the narrow interests of the social groups which joined it.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (c) R is incorrect as early nationalists fought for the rights of common people. • The basic weakness of the early national movement lay in its narrow social base. It did not penetrate down to the masses. In fact, the leaders lacked faith in the masses. Describing the difficulties in the way of organizing of active political struggle, Gopal Krishna Gokhale pointed to the endless divisions and subdivisions in the country, the bulk of the population ignorant and clinging with a tenacity to the old modes of thought and sentiment, which are averse to all changes and do not understand change. Lacking support of the masses, the early nationalists could not adopt a militant political position.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
201. Assertion (A): Lord Linlithgo described the August Movement of 1942 as the most serious revolt after the Sepoy mutiny.
Reason (R): Peasants joined the movement in large number in some places.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
202. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists :
List I : List II
A. Chittagong Armoury 1. Kalpana Dutt Raid
B. Abhinav Bharat 2. Guru Ram Singh
C. Anushilan Samiti 3. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
D. Kuka Movement 4. Aurobindo Ghosh
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 1 3 4 2 (b) 1 3 2 4
(c) 3 1 2 4 (d) 3 1 4 2
Ans. (a) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
203. That the per capita income in India was Rs. 20 in 1867-68, was ascertained for the first time by
(a) M. G. Ranade (b) Sir W. Hunter
(c) R. C. Dutta (d) Dadabhai Naoroji
Ans. (d) The ‘Drain Theory’ was first developed by Dadabhai Naoroji in a series of speeches and writings subsequently published in 1901 in a volume entitled “Poverty and un-British Rule in India”. • He ascertained per capita income in India was Rs. 20 in 1867-68.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
204. Which one of the following is not a feature of the Government of India Act of 1935?
(a) Diarchy at the Centre as well as in the provinces
(b) A bicameral legislature
(c) Provincial autonomy
(d) An All-India Federation
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
205. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists :
List-I
A. Land allotted to big feudal landlords
B. Land allotted to revenue farmers or rent collectors
C. Land allotted to each peasant with the right to sublet, mortage, gift or sell
D. Revenue settlements made at village level List-II
1. Jagirdari System
2. Ryotwari System
3. Mahalwari System
4. Zamindari System
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 1 3 2 4 (b) 1 4 2 3
(c) 3 4 1 2 (d) 2 1 3 4
Ans. (b).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
206. Consider the following statements about the Indian National Congress:
1. Sarojini Naidu was the first woman to be the President of the Congress.
2. C.R. Das was in prison when he functioned as the President of the Congress.
3. The first Britisher to become the President of the Congress was Alan Octavian Hume.
4. Alfred Webb was the President of the Congress in 1894.
Which of these statements are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 (b) 2 and 4
(c) 2, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [2000]
207. The Congress policy of pray and petition ultimately came to an end under the guidance of
(a) Aurobindo Ghosh (b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(c) Lala Lajpat Rai (d) Mahatma Gandhi
Ans. (b) The man who enunciated the details of extremism was Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Maharashtra. • In a speech in 1902, he declared, ‘Though downtrodden and neglected, you must be conscious of your power of making the administration impossible if you but choose to make it so. It is you who manage the rail road and the telegraph, it is you who make settlements and collect revenue. He seemed to be moving towards the techniques of mass passive resistance and civil disobedience. His two newspapers, Kesari in Marathi and Mahratta in English, became the mouthpiece of the new group of nationalists.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
208. The first venture of Gandhi in all-India politics was the
(a) Non-Cooperation Movement
(b) Rowlatt Satyagraha
(c) Champaran Movement
(d) Dandi March
Ans. (a) The Non-cooperation Movement’ of 1920-22 was undertaken by the Indian National Congress under the leadership and direction of Gandhi, launched formally on 1 August, 1920, the day on which Lokamanya Tilak breathed his last. The boycott of foreign cloth was very successful, huge bonfires of which were organised all over the land. Picketing of shops selling foreign cloth was also a major form of boycott.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
209. ‘Abinava Bharat’ a secret society of revolutionaries was organised by
(a) Khudiram Bose
(b) V. D. Savarkar
(c) Prafulla Chaki
(d) Bhagat Singh
Ans. (b) Ganesh Savarkar (the elder brother of V.D. Savarkar) and V.D. Savarkar founded the Abinava Bharat in 1907. Initially founded at Nasik as Mitra Mela when Vinayak Savarkar was still a student Fergusson College at Pune, the society grew to include several hundred revolutionaries and political activists with branches in various parts of India, extending to London after Savarkar went to study law.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
210. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists :
List-I (Persons) List-II (Journals)
A. Shyamji Krishna Varma 1. Bande Mataram
B. Madame Bhikaji Cama 2. Indian Sociologist
C. Annie Besant 3. The Talwar
D. Aurobindo Ghosh 4. Commonwealth
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 2 3 4 1 (b) 3 2 1 4
(c) 2 3 1 4 (d) 3 2 4 1
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
211. “It made its proposals in May. It still wanted a united India. There was to be a Federal Union composed of British provinces.” The above quotation is related to
(a) Simon Commission (b) Gandhi-Irwin Pact
(c) Cripps Mission (d) Cabinet Mission
Ans. (d) Cabinet Mission was sent to India. While it rejected the idea of two Constituent Assemblies, it put forth a scheme for the Constituent Assembly which more or less satisfied the Muslim League.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
212. The most short-lived of all of Britain’s constitutional experiments in India was the
(a) Indian Councils Act of 1861
(b) Indian Councils Act of 1892
(c) Indian Councils Act of 1909
(d) Government of India Act of 1919
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
213. At a time when empires in Europe were crumbling before the might of Napoleon which one of the following Governors- General kept the British flag flying high in India?
(a) Warren Hastings (b) Lord Cornwallis
(c) Lord Wellesley (d) Lord Hastings
Ans. (d) Under the new Governor General, Lord Hastings, Nepal was defeated in 1814 and large parts were ceded to the British. In 1818, the Marathas made a last attempt to restore their independence. The third Anglo-Maratha war ended in their ignominious defeat.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
214. The Governor-General who followed a spirited “Forward” policy towards Afghanistan was
(a) Minto (b) Dufferin
(c) Elgin (d) Lytton
Ans. (d) Lord Lytton (Viceroy of India, 1876-1880) reversed the policy of Masterly Inactivity and followed instead the Forward Policy towards Afghanistan. He provoked a senseless war with Afghans with a view to establish a scientific frontier towards the northwest. The adventure proved a failure, while the Government had squandered millions exorted from the poor ryot. During the wars of succession which followed the death of Dost Mohammad in Afghanistan, the wisest course open to the Indian Government was one of vigilant non-intervention.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
215. Which one of the following leaders of the Congress was totally in favour of Cabinet Mission Plan?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Sardar Patel
(d) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Ans. (c) Cabinet Mission was sent to India. While it rejected the idea of two Constituent Assemblies, it put forth a scheme for the Constituent Assembly which more or less satisfied the Muslim League. The Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan. Patel supported the idea.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
216. Which Indian nationalist leader looked upon a war between Germany and Britain as a godsent opportunity which would enable Indians to exploit the situation to their advantage?
(a) C. Rajagopalachari (b) M. A. Jinnah
(c) Subhas Chandra Bose (d) Jawaharlal Nehru
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
217. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below:
List I (Year) : List II (Event)
A. 1775 : 1. First Anglo- Burmese War
B. 1780 : 2. First Anglo-Afghan War
C. 1824 : 3. First Anglo –Maratha War
D. 1838 : 4. Second Anglo-Mysore War
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 4 3 2 1 (b) 4 3 1 2
(c) 3 4 1 2 (d) 3 4 2 1
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
218. Which one of the following Indian leaders was dismissed by the British from the Indian Civil Service?
(a) Satyendranath Tagore
(b) Surendranath Banerji
(c) R. C. Dutt
(d) Subhash Chandra Bose
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
219. The term “imperial preference” was applied to the
(a) special privileges on British imports in India
(b) racial discrimination by the Britishers
(c) subordination of Indian interest to that of the British
(d) preference given to British political agents over Indian Princes
Ans. (d) Imperial Preference was a proposed system of reciprocally-enacted tariffs or free trade agreements between the dominions and colonies of the British Empire. As Commonwealth Preference, the proposal was later revived in regard to the members of the Commonwealth of Nations. • Especially during the early 1900s, Imperial Preference was considered a method of promoting unity within the British Empire and sustaining Britain’s position as a global power as a response to increased competition from the protectionist Germany and United States.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
220. Consider the following events:
(a) Indigo Revolt
(b) Santhal Rebellion
(c) Deccan Riot
(d) Mutiny of the Sepoys The correct chronological sequence of these events is:
(a) 4, 2, 1, 3 (b) 4, 2, 3, 1
(c) 2, 4, 3, 1 (d) 2, 4, 1, 3
Ans. (a) The Indigo revolt of 1859-60 in the eastern part of Bengal was one of the most militant and wide spread peasant movements of early nationalist era. • Santhal Rebellion: Santhals were the tribal-peasant of Birbhum Bankura, Singh bhum, Hazaribagh, Bhagalpur and Munger. The elements of zamindars and mahajans were active in this area too. On June 30 1855 ten thousand Santhals, under the leadership of Sido and Kanhu assembled at Bhaghadihi and was announced that the Santhals should get out of the content of their oppressors. • Deccan Riots: A serous peasant riots, broke in 1875 at Poona and Ahmadnagar against moneylenders. It is known as Deccan riots because it broke in Deccan, the upper part of south India. • Sepoy Mutiny: The violence started on May 10, 1857 in Meerut, when Mangal Pandey, a soldier in the Army shot his commander for forcing the Indian troops to use the controversial rifles.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
221. There was no independent development of industries in India during British rule because of the
(a) absence of heavy industries
(b) scarcity of foreign capital
(c) scarcity of natural resources
(d) preference of the rich to invest in land
Ans. (a) In lack of Capital Goods and heavy industries like iron, coal indian industry base not expanded enough.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
222. Assertion (a): Lord Linlithgow described the August Movement of 1942 as the most serious rebellion since Sepoy Mutiny.
Reason (R): There was massive upsurge of the peasantry in certain areas.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
223. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:
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
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 4 3 2 1 (b) 3 4 1 2
(c) 4 3 1 2 (d) 3 4 2 1
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1999]
224. The educated middle class in India
(a) opposed the revolt of 1857
(b) supported the revolt of 1857
(c) remained neutral to the revolt of 1857
(d) fought against native rulers
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
225. Assertion (A): Partition of Bengal in 1905 brought to an end the Moderates’ role in the Indian freedom movement.
Reason (R): The Surat session of Indian National Congress separated the Extremists from the Moderates.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (d) Moderate leaders remain strong during partition of Bengal and after that as they took over congress after surat split (between moderates and extremists) in 1907.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
226. Lord Mountbatten came to India as Viceroy along with specific instructions to
(a) balkanize the Indian sub-continent
(b) keep India united if possible
(c) accept Jinnah’s demand for Pakistan
(d) persuade the Congress to accept partition
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
227. Assertion (A): The first ever Bill to make primary education compulsory in India was rejected in 1911.
Reason (R): Discontent would have increased if every cultivator could read.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (a) As a reaction to Gokhale’s resolution, the Government assured him that the subject would receive careful consideration. Consequently Gokhale withdraw his resolution. • Fortunately, King George V came to India in 1912 and declared a donation of 50 lakh rupees for the development of education in India. When he came to know about Gokhale’s Bill, he expressed his dissatisfaction for rejecting the Bill. As a result the Government had to modify the previous policy and declared a new policy with several reforms. Gokhale’s Bill created a flutter in the British Parliament also.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
228. Assertion (A): The Khilafat movement did bring the urban Muslims into the fold of the National Movement.
Reason (R): There was a predominant element of anti-imperialism in both the National and Khilafat Movements.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
229. Assertion (A): Gandhi stopped the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922.
Reason (R): Violence at Chauri-Chaura led him to stop the movement.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (a) On 5 February 1922, police station of Chaura, near Gorakhpur in UP was attacked by a mob of peasants. The mob burnt the police station and in those nearly 22 policemen died. On hearing the incident, Gandhi decided to suspend the entire movement.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
230. Assertion (A): The Congress rejected the Cripps proposals.
Reason (R): The Cripps Mission consisted solely of whites.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true
Ans. (b) The Cripps Mission did not accept the demand of Congress like of immediate Dominion Status. So R is not the correct Explantion.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
231. The Indian National Congress agreed in 1947 to the partition of the country mainly because
(a) the principle of two-Nation theory was then acceptable to them
(b) it was imposed by the British Government and the Congress was helpless in this regard
(c) they wanted to avoid large-scale communal riots
(d) India would have otherwise lost the opportunity to attain freedom
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
232. When the Indian Muslim League was inducted into the interim government in 1946, Liyaqat Ali Khan was assigned the portfolio of
(a) Foreign affairs (b) Home
(c) Finance (d) Defence
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
233. What is the correct sequence of the following events?
1. Tilak’s Home Rule League
2. Kamagatamaru Incident
3. Mahatma Gandhi’s arrival in India
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Codes :
(a) 1, 2, 3 (b) 3, 2, 1
(c) 2, 1, 3 (d) 2, 3, 1
Ans. (d) Tilak’s Home Rule League: Tilak’s League was set up in April 1916 and was restricted to Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka, Central Provinces and Berar. • Kamagatamaru Incident: In 1914 there occured the Kamagata Maru incident; Komgata Maru was a Japanese ocean ship which had been hired by Guruduit Singh, to transport Punjabi’s (mostly Sikhs) direct from an Indian Port, Calcutta to Canada. • Mahatma Gandhi: Gandhi left South Africa forever and returned to India January 1915. Initially he stayed at Shantivan ashram of Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. By 1917, he had established Satyagraha ashram on the banks of Sabarmati river.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
234. At the time of India’s Independence, Mahatma Gandhi was
(a) a member of Congress Working Committee
(b) not a member of the Congress
(c) the President of the Congress
(d) the General Secretary of the Congress
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
235. The Indian Muslims, in general, were not attracted to the Extremist movement because of the
(a) influence of Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan
(b) anti-Muslim attitude of extremist leaders
(c) indifference shown to Muslim aspirations
(d) Eextremists’ policy of harping on Hindu past
Ans. (d) Tilak decried everything between western and preached intense love for India. B.C. Pal appealed, in the name of Kali and Durga, for acquiring strength and cultivating the capacity to strike. Mrs. Annie Besant also helped in this revivalism. • Communal minded Indian historians divided history into Hindu and Muslim periods. In the Hindu period the Muslims were foreign invaders, whereas in the Muslim period the Muslim were the rulers and the Hindus there subjects. Thus, both the communities became suspicious of each other. Hindu rulers and leaders like Maharana Pratap, Shivaji, Guru Gobind Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai were represented as heroes while Muslims rulers like Akbar, Shahjahan, Aurangzeb were labeled as ‘foreigners’.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
236. Simon Commission of 1927 was boycotted because
(a) there was no Indian Member in the Commission
(b) it supported the Muslim League
(c) Congress felt that the people of India are entitled to Swaraj
(d) there were differences among the members
Ans. (a). • Its composition met with a storm of criticism in India because Indians were excluded. The commission was boycotted by the Indian National Congress and most other Indian political parties.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
237. What is the correct sequence of the following events?
1. The August Offer
2. The I.N.A. trial
3. The Quit India Movement
4. The Royal Indian Naval Ratings’ Revolt
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Codes :
(a) 1, 3, 2, 4 (b) 3, 1, 2, 4
(c) 1, 3, 4, 2 (d) 3, 1, 4, 2
Ans. (a) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
238. Which one of the following events, was characterised by Montague as ‘Preventive Murder’?
(a) Killing of INA activists
(b) Massacre of Jallianwalla Bagh
(c) Shooting of the Mahatma
(d) Shooting of Curzon-Wythe
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
239. Which of the following pairs are correctly matched?
1. Theodore Beck : Mohammadan Anglo-
Oriental College, Aligarh
2. Ilbert Bill : Ripon
3. Pherozesha Mehta : Indian National Congress
4. Badruddin Tyabji : Muslim League
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Codes :
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4 (b) 2 and 4
(c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (d) Theodore Beck: It was mainly through Theodore Beck’s efforts that in August 1888, was established the ‘United Indian Patriotic Association’ at Aligarh in which both Hindus and Muslims joined. The objects of the Association were to carry on anti-Congress propaganda in England. • Ilbert Bill: The Ilbert Bill was a simple measure putting Indian judges at par with the European in dealing with all cases in the Bengal Presidency. Lord Ripon tried to pass this bill in view of the fact that Indians were now rising in the ranks of the judicial services. • Pherozesha Mehta & Badruddin Tyabji: The foundation of the Indian National Congress on 28 December 1885 at Sir Tej Pal Sanskrit Vidyalaya, Bombay, was not a sudden event. In fact the Idea of a national organization had been in the air for quite some time.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
240. Which one of the following defines extremist ideology during the early phase of Indian freedom movement?
(a) Stimulating the production of indigenous articles by giving them preference over imported commodities
(b) Obtaining self-government by aggressive means in place of petitions and constitutional ways
(c) Providing national education according to the requirements of the country
(d) Organising coups against the British empire through military revolt.
Ans.(b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
241. Who was the leader of the Ghaddar Party?
(a) Bhagat Singh (b) Lala Hardayal
(c) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (d) V. D. Savarkar
Ans. (b) The Gadar Party had its beginnings when peasants from Punjab went to North America and Canada looking for work; were racially discriminated and were physically attacked with the British government refusing to intervene. The movement started in North America and moved on to India to liberate the country. Lala Hardayal, an intellectual giant and a fire brand revolutionary from Punjab was the moving spirit behind the organisation of the Ghadr Party on November 1913 at San Fransisco in the U.S.A. he was actively assisted by Ram Chandra and Barkatulla. The party also published weekly paper, the Ghadr (Rebellion) in commemoration of the Mutiny of 1857.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
242. “The Congress is tottering to its fall and one of my great ambitions while in India, is to assist it to a peaceful demise.” This statement is attributed to
(a) Lord Dufferin (b) Lord Curzon
(c) Lord Lytton (d) None of the above
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1998]
243. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists:
List-I : List-II
A. Butler Committee : 1. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
B. Hartog Committee : 2. Relationship between the Indian States and Paramount Power
C. Hunter Inquiry Committee Report : 3. Working of Dyarchy as laid down in the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms
D. Muddiman Committee Report : 4. The growth of education in British India & potentialities of its further progress
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 3 2 1 4 (b) 1 4 2 3
(c) 2 1 3 4 (d) 2 4 1 3
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
244. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists:
List-I (Events) : List-II ( Results)
A. Morley Minto Reforms : 1. Country wise agitation
B. Simon Commission : 2. Withdrawal of a movement
C. The Chauri-Chaura incident : 3. Communal Electorates
D. The Dandi March : 4. Illegal manufacture of salt Codes :
A B C D
(a) 3 4 5 2 (b) 4 1 2 3
(c) 2 3 4 5 (d) 3 1 2 5
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
245. Who among the following was associated with the suppression of Thugs?
(a) General Henry Frendergast
(b) Captain Sleeman
(c) Alexander Burnes
(d) Captain Robert Pemberton
Ans. (b) Sleeman revolutionized police techniques. Sleeman was the first detective in history to employ informers as a key weapon against the criminal gangs. Between 1831 and 1837 Sleeman captured and tried a total of 3,266 Thugs, while several hundred more were in prison awaiting trial.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
246. The Poona Pact which was signed between the British Government and Mahatma Gandhi in 1932 provided for
(a) the creation of dominion status for India
(b) separate electorates for the Muslims
(c) separate electorate for the Harijans
(d) joint electorate with reservation for Harijans
Ans. (d) Macdonald’s Communal Award of August 1932 with its creation of separate electorates for each minority (Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians) including the backward classes helped to focus his attention primarily on Harijan welfare. Gandhi began a fast unto death on the untouchable separate electorate issue on September 20. In view of the mass upsurge generated in the country to save the life of Gandhi, Ambedkar was compelled to soften his stand. A compromise between the leaders of caste Hindu and the depressed classes was reached on September 24, 1932, popularly known as Poona Pact.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
247. “A graduate at 18, professor and associated editor of the Sudharak at 20, Secretary of the Sarvajanik Sabha and of the Provincial Conference at 25, Secretary of the National Congress at 29, leading witness before an important Royal Commission at 31, Provincial legislator at 34, Imperial legislator at 36, President of the Indian National Congress at 39 a patriot whom Mahatma Gandhi himself regarded as his master.” This is how a biographer describes
(a) Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
(b) Mahadev Govind Ranade
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Ans. (c) On May 9, 1866, Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born in the Ratnagiri District of the Bombay Presidency into a poor but eminently respectable Chitapavan Brahmin family. At age 18 he secured a bachelor’s degree from Elphinstone College and joined the illustrious Deccan Education Society. At 22 Gokhale became secretary of the famous Sarvajanik Sabha, the leading political organization of Bombay. • The year 1905 saw Gokhale at the apex of his career. He was elected president of the Indian National Congress, and he founded the prestigious Servants of India Society, dedicated to advancement of the nation’s welfare and to the spiritualization of politics.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
248. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists :
List-I : List-II
A. Chittagong Armoury : 1. Lala Hardayal raid
B. Kakori Conspiracy : 2. Jatin Das
C. Lahore Conspiracy : 3. Surya Sen
D. Ghadr Party : 4. Ram Prasad Bismil : 5. Vasudeo Phadke
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 3 4 1 5 (b) 4 3 2 5
(c) 3 4 2 1 (d) 2 4 3 1
Ans.(c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
249. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the Lists:
List-I List-II
A. Surat Split : 1. 1929
B. Communal Award : 2. 1928
C. All-Party Convention : 3. 1932
D. Poorna Swaraj Resolution : 4. 1907
: 5. 1905
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 4 3 1 5 (b) 4 3 2 1
(c) 2 5 4 1 (d) 1 4 2 3
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
@250. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists :
A. Moplah revolt : 1. Kerala
B. Pabna revolt : 2. Bihar
C. Eka Movement : 3. Bengal
D. Birsa Munda revolt : 4. Awadh
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 1 3 4 2 (b) 2 3 4 1
(c) 1 2 3 4 (d) 3 4 1 2
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
251. What is the correct chronological sequence of the following?
1. Wood’s Education Despatch
2. Macaulay’s Minute on Education
3. The Sargeant Education Report
4. Indian Education (Hunter Commission)
Codes :
(a) 2, 1, 4, 3 (b) 2, 1, 3, 4
(c) 1, 2, 4, 3 (d) 4, 3, 1, 2
Ans: (a) Wood’s Education Despatch, 1854: The declaration issued on July 19, 1854 was known as “Wood’s Despatch”. On the basis of the recommendations of the Wood’s Despatch, new educational policies were formed. The three universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay came into existence in 1857. • Indian Education (Hunter Commission): Lord Ripon appointed the first Indian Education Commission on 3rd February 1882. Sir Willium Hunter (a member of viceroy’s Executive Council) was appointed as the chairman of the commission. • Macaulay’s Minute on Education: In 1823, the Governor-General-in Council appointed a “General Committee of Public Instruction”, which had the responsibility to grant the one lakh of rupees for education. That committee consisted of 10 European members of which Lord Macaulay was the president. • The Sargeant Education Report: Sir John Sargeant, the Educational Adviser to the Government of India was asked to prepare a comprehensive report on education. For the purpose, the government formed a Committee of Enquiry with 22 members. The report of the committee was submitted to the Central Advisory Board of Education in 1944.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
252. M.C.Setalvad, B.N. Rao and Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer were distinguished members of the
(a) Swaraj Party
(b) All-India National Liberal Federation
(c) Madras Labour Union
(d) Servants of India Society
Ans. (d) The Servants of India Society was founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1905 to unite and train Indians of different ethnicities and religions in welfare work. It was the first secular organization in that country to devote itself to the underprivileged, rural and tribal people, emergency relief work, the increase of literacy, and other social causes.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1997]
253. The meeting of Indian and British political leaders during 1930-32 in London has often been referred to as the First; Second and Third Round Table Conferences. It would be incorrect to refer to them as such because
(a) the Indian National Congress did not take part in two of them
(b) Indian parties other than the Indian National Congress participating in the Conference represented sectional interests and not the whole of India
(c) the British Labour Party had withdrawn from the Conference, thereby making the proceedings of the Conference partisan
(d) it was an instance of Conference held in three sessions and not that of three separate conferences
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
254. 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
Ans. (d) Congress Socialist Party, or (CSP), was a left-wing group within the Congress. It was formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as President and Jay Prakash Narayan as General Secretary in 1934.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
255. Who among the following suggested the winding up of the Indian National Congress after India attained independence?
(a) C. Rajagopalachari (b) Acharya Kripalani
(c) Mahatma Gandhi (d) Jayaprakash Narain
Ans. (c) Gandhi ji had suggested for winding of Congress after India attended independence and converting it into Lok Sevak Samaj.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
256. Consider the following landmarks in Indian education:
1. Hindu College, Calcutta
2. University of Calcutta
3. Adam’s Report
4. Wood’s Despatch The correct chronological order of these landmarks is
(a) 1, 3, 4, 2 (b) 1, 4, 3, 2
(c) 3, 1, 4, 2 (d) 3, 2, 4, 1
Ans. (a) Presidency University, Calcutta, formerly Hindu College and Presidency College, is a public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal. The college was established in 1817 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Radhakanta Deb, David Hare, Justice Sir Edward Hyde East, Baidyanath Mukhopadhya and Rasamay Dutt. • Charles Wood was a British Liberal politician and Member of Parliament. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846 to 1852. Later he became the President of the Board of Control of the East India Company. In 1854 he sent the “Wood’s despatch” to the Governor General Lord Dalhousie. • The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a public state university located in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), West Bengal, India established on 24 January 1857.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
257. Consider the following statements: The Non-Cooperation Movement led to the
1. Congress becoming a mass movement for the first time.
2. growth of Hindu-Muslim unity.
3. removal of fear of the British ‘might’ from the minds of the people.
4. British government’s willingness to grant political concessions to Indians.
Of these statements :
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4 are correct
(b) 2 and 3 are correct
(c) 1 and 3 are correct
(d) 3 and 4 are correct
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
258. Which one of the following is an important historical novel written during the latter half of the nineteenth century?
(a) Rast Goftar (b) Durgesh Nandini
(c) Maharatha (d) Nibandhamala
Ans. (b) Durgesh Nandini is a Bengali historical romance novel written by Indian writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1865.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
259. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists:
List-I List-II
A. Abhinav Bharat 1. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh Society
B. Anushilan Samiti 2. Lala Hardayal
C. Ghadar Party 3. C. R. Das
D. Swaraj Party 4. V. D. Savarkar
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 4 1 3 2 (b) 1 4 3 2
(c) 1 4 2 3 (d) 4 1 2 3
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
260. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists:
List I (Period) List II (Event)
A. 1883 1. Announcement of Communal Award from Whitehall
B. 1906 2. Formation of the All-India State Peoples Conference
C. 1927 3. Foundation of Muslim League at Dacca
D. 1932 4. First session of National Conference at Calcutta
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 4 3 1 2 (b) 3 4 1 2
(c) 4 3 2 1 (d) 3 4 2 1
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
261. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists:
List-I : List-II
A. Surendranath Bannerjee : 1. Hind Swaraj
B. M. K. Gandhi : 2. The Indian Struggle
C. Subhash Chandra Bose : 3. Autobiographical Writings
D. Lajpat Rai : 4. A Nation in Making
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 4 1 3 2 (b) 1 4 3 2
(c) 4 1 2 3 (d) 1 4 2 3
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
262. Which one of the following is not correct about the Cabinet Mission Plan?
(a) Provincial grouping
(b) Interim Cabinet of Indians
(c) Acceptance of Pakistan
(d) Constitution framing right
Ans. (c) There upon, the Cabinet Mission issued a statement on May 16, 1946 formulating a plan for the future Government of India. According to it, there was to be a Union of India, embracing both British India and the Indian States. • India was to be divided into three groups of provinces—Group A consisting of Madras, Bombay, Central provinces, United provinces, Bihar, and Orissa; Group B of the North-West Frontier Province, the Punjab, Sind, and Baluchistan; and Group C comprising Bengal and Assam.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
263. The Sarabandi (no tax) campaign of 1922 was led by
(a) Bhagat Singh (b) Chittaranjan Das
(c) Rajaguru (d) Vallabhbhai Patel
Ans. (d) When the Bombay government announced a revenue hike of 22 per cent in Bardoli in 1927, even though the cotton prices had been declining, Vallabh Bhai Patel undertook to organise a no rent campaign. • The Bardoli Satyagraha soon acquired national importance because of its Gandhian methods of rural organisation and agitation Ahmedabad workers raised Rs 1,300 for the Satyagraha.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
264. Consider the following statements about Jawaharlal Nehru:
1. He was the President of the Congress Party in 1947.
2. He presided over the Constituent Assembly.
3. He formed the first Congress Ministry in United Province before India’s independence.
Of these statements
(a) 1, 2 and 3 are correct
(b) 1 and 3 are correct
(c) 1and 2 are correct
(d) None is correct
Ans. (d) Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani , popularly known as Acharya Kripalani, was an Indian politician, noted particularly for holding the presidency of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1947. Kripalani was a Gandhian socialist, environmentalist, mystic and independence activist. • Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was the first elected chairman (temporary) of Constituent Assembly. Later Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president and its vice-president was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a Christian from Bengal and former vicechancellor of Calcutta University. In the elections held in 1937, the Indian National Congress won the majority seats, but declined to form a government. Therefore on 1 April 1937, and the Nawab of Chhatari, the leader of the National Agriculturist Parties, was invited to form a minority provisional government.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
265. Assertion (a): The British sovereignty continued to exist in free India.
Reason (R): The British sovereign appointed the last Governor-General of free India.
In the context of the above two statements, which one of the following is correct?
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
266. Which one of the following first mooted the idea of a constituent assembly to frame a constitution for India?
(a) Swaraj Party in 1934
(b) Congress Party in 1936
(c) Muslim League in 1942
(d) All Parties Conference in 1946
Ans. (a) It was in 1934 that the idea of a Constituent Assembly for India was put forward for the first time by M. N. Roy, a pioneer of communist movement in India and an advocate of radical democratism. In 1935, the Indian National Congress (INC), for the first time, officially demanded a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
267. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists:
List-I : List-II
A. Governor General of Presidency of Fort William in Bengal (under Regulating Act, 1773) : 1. Archibald Percival Wavell, Viscount and Earl Wavell
B. Governor General of India (under Charter Act, 1833) : 2. James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, Earl and Marques of Dalhousie
C. Governor General and Viceroy of India (Under Indian Councils Act, 1858) : 3. Charles Cornwallis 2nd , Earl and First Marques of Cornwallis
D. Governor General and Crown Representatives (Under Government of India Act, 1935) : 4. Gibert John Elliot-Murray Kynymond, Earl of Minto
Codes :
A B C D
(a) 3 2 4 1 (b) 3 4 1 5
(c) 2 3 4 5 (d) 4 2 3 1
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
268. His ‘principal forte was social and religious reform.
He relied upon legislation to do away with social ills and worked unceasingly for the eradication of child marriage, the purdah system…….To encourage consideration of social problems on a national scale, he inaugurated the Indian National Social Conference, which for many years met for its annual sessions alongside the Indian National Congress.’ The reference in this passage is to
(a) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
(b) Behramji Merwanji Malabari
(c) Mahadev Govind Ranade
(d) B. R. Ambedkar
Ans. (c) This reference in the passage is for Behramji Merwanji Malabari. In August 1884, Malabari published a set of Notes on Infant Marriage and Enforced Widowhood, that he sent to 4,000 leading Englishmen and Hindus. In it, Malabari deplored the “social evil” of “baby marriage” and demanded legislature to prevent it. • Similarly on the issue of remarriage for widows, Malabari criticised the Hindu practice of prohibiting it, and he placed the blame squarely with that religion’s “priestly class” and the “social monopolists” (i.e. the Brahmin caste) for their “vulgar prejudices.”
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
269. The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crime Act (1919) was popularly known as the
(a) Rowlatt Act (b) Pitt’s India Act
(c) Indian Arms Act (d) Ilbert Bill
Ans. (a) The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a legislative act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on March 18, 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without trial and judicial review enacted in the Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
270. Who among the following leaders did not believe in the drain theory of Dadabhai Naoroji?
(a) B.G. Tilak
(b) R.C. Dutt
(c) M.G. Ranade
(d) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
271. Who among the following was the first European to initiate the policy of taking part in the quarrels of Indian princes with a view to acquire territories?
(a) Clive (b) Dupleix
(c) Albuquerque (d) Warren Hastings
Ans. (a) Lord Clive was made the Governor of Bengal twice – from 1757-1760 and 1765-1767. He was the first European to initiate the policy of taking part in the quarrels of Indian princes with a view to acquire territories
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1996]
272. In the interim government formed in 1946, the Vice-President of the Executive Council was
(a) Jawaharlal Nehru
(b) Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
(c) C. Rajagopalachari
(d) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Ans. (a) The interim government of India, formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly of India, had the task of assisting the transition of India and Pakistan from British rule to independence. • Interim Government (1946-47): Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Vice President of the Executive Council, held External Affairs and Commonwealth relations.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
273. Which one of the following was an emigree Communist Journal of M.N. Roy?
(a) Kisan Sabha (b) The Worker
(c) Vanguard (d) Anushilan
Ans. (c) As a member of the Vanguard Party, Roy in 1922 sent a programme to the Indian National Congress on the eve of Gaya Congress. Roy was Editor of Vanguard, and Masses in 1922 and 1928.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
274. The radical wing of the Congress Party, with Jawaharlal Nehru as one of its main leaders, founded the ‘Independence for India League’ in opposition to
(a) the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
(b) the Home Rule Movement
(c) the Nehru Report
(d) the Montford Reforms
Ans. (c) Independence for India League’ founded by J.Nehru and Subhas Bose on the background of their dissatisfaction over ‘dominion status’ proposal in Nehru Report. • The ‘Independence for India League’ acted as a pressure group within the congress for acceptance of the goals of complete independence and a Socialist, Democratic State.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
275. Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched?
(a) Battle of Buxar : Mir Jafar vs. Clive
(b) Battle of Wandiwash : French vs. East India Company
(c) Battle of Chilianwala : Dalhousie vs.
Marathas
(d) Battle of Kharda : Nizam vs. East India Company
Ans. (b) Battle of Buxar: The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the British East India Company led by Hector Munro and the combined army of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; the Nawab of Awadh; and the Mughal King Shah Alam II. • The Battle of Chillianwala: The battle was fought during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Chillianwala region of Punjab, now part of modernday Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by the British East India Company. • The Battle of Kharda: The battle took place in March 1795, ending up in a resounding win for the Marathas. • Battle of Wandiwash: The Battle of Wandiwash was fought between Anglo-French forces in 1760 to gain control over the Vandavasi fort. The English forces led by Eyre Coote overpowered the French forces led by Thomas Arthur de Lally at Vandavasi on January 22, 1760. It was the decisive battle in the Anglo-French struggle in southern India during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
276. Hooghly was used as a base for piracy in the Bay of Bengal by
(a) the Portuguese (b) the French
(c) the Danish (d) the British
Ans. (a) The Portuguese were known to take advantage of the anarchical conditions that prevailed in Bengal before the establishment of strong Mughal rule. • Plundering wealth and riches, selling men, women and children as slaves and forcefully converting people to Christianity were common practices amongst the Portuguese so much so the people remained in constant fear of ‘Firangi Pirates’.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
277. The word Adivasi was used for the first time to refer to the tribal people by
(a) Mahatma Gandhi (b) Thakkar Bappa
(c) Jyotiba Phule (d) B.R. Ambedkar
Ans. (b) A renowned social reformer, Thakkar Bappa, He was also associated with the Depressed Classes Mission and the Widows Home, Poona. Thakkar Bappa was deeply influenced by the reform measures advocated by Gandhi. During 1933-34, he came in close contact with the great leader and undertook a Harijan tour with him.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
278. What is the correct sequence of the following events?
1. The Lucknow Pact
2. The Introduction of Dyarchy
3. The Rowlatt Act
4. The Partition of Bengal
Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1, 3, 2, 4 (b) 4, 1, 3, 2
(c) 1, 2, 3, 4 (d) 4, 3, 2, 1
Ans. (b) Partition of Bengal: The Partition of Bengal in 1905 was made on October 16, by then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. • The Lucknow Pact: The Lucknow session of 1916 was also the first united Congress since 1907. The meeting at Lucknow marked the reunion of the moderate and radical wings of the Congress. • The Government of Act, 1919: The act also known as Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (Montagu was the Secretary of State for India and Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India). The system was called diarchy. • Rowlatt Act: The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a legislative act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on March 18, 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without trial and judicial review enacted in the Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
279. Which of the following political parties is/are national political parties?
1. Muslim League
2. Revolutionary Socialist Party
3. All-India Forward Block
4. Peasants and Workers Party of India
Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 2 and 4
(c) 3 only (d) None of the above
Ans. (d) The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP): It is a regional political party, as approved by the Election Commission of India. The Revolutionary Socialist Party was formed in March 1940, largely as a political manifestation of the Anushilan Samiti or the Liberation Movement in Bengal. • All India Forward Bloc (AIFB): It is a regional political party founded by Subhas Chandra Bose, popularly called Netaji. It is a revolutionary party with a leftwing nationalist political ideology. • Formation of Muslim League: All-India Muslim League was set up in 1906, with active guidance and support of the Government. • Peasants and Workers Party of India: The Labour Swaraj Party was formed in Bengal, on November 1, 1925. It was called the Labour Swaraj Party of the Indian National Congress. This organisation was a forerunner of the Workers and Peasants Party.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
280. The Barrah dacoity was the first major venture of the revolutionary terrorist of the freedom movement in
(a) Bombay-Karnataka
(b) Punjab
(c) East Bengal
(d) The Madras Presidency
Ans. (c) In the year 1908, he planned and conducted the Barrah Dacoity, which was organized in broad daylight by a group of revolutionaries at the Barrah zamindar’s residence in the district of Dhaka.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
281. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(a) Jamnalal Bajaj : Satyagraha Ashram at Wardha
(b) Dadabhai Naoroji : Bombay Association
(c) Lala Lajpat Rai : National School at Lahore
(d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak : Satya Shodhak Sabha
Ans. (d) Jotiba Govind Phule (1827-90) took up the fight against Brahmanic oppression in his voluminous prose and poetic works, and gave it a concrete form in his organization for the uplift of the low castes, the Satyasodhak Samaj.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
282. In 1930 Mahatma Gandhi started Civil Disobedience Movement from
(a) Sevagram (b) Dandi
(c) Sabarmati (d) Wardha
Ans. (b) Under the leadership of Gandhiji, the Civil Disobedience Movement was launched in AD 1930. It began with the Dandi March.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1995]
283. Those who joined Mahatma Gandhi during the Champaran struggle included
(a) Vallabhbhai Patel and Vinobha Bhave
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajendra Prasad
(c) Rajendra Prasad and Anugraha Narayan Sinha
(d) Mahadev Desai and Maniben Patel
Ans. (c) Gandhi, the exponent of the Satyagraha movement, staged his first satyagraha in Champaran, in Bihar. It was in 1917. • Gandhi ji arrived in Champaran 10 April 1917 with a team of eminent lawyers: Brajkishore Prasad, Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha and others including Acharya Kripalani.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
284. Who among the following was the leader of a number of anti- British revolts in Sambalpur?
(a) Utirat Singh (b) Surendra Sai
(c) Kattabomman (d) Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi
Ans. (b) Veer Surendra Sai after being released from Hajaribag Jail heralded a new phase of confrontation with British by coming back to Sambhalpur in July 1857, to inspire and give leadership to his old associates and fellowmen whose unflinching support and sacrifices for the cause of freedom was ever burning in their memory.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
285. The first Indian ruler who joined the Subsidiary Alliance was
(a) the Nawab of Oudh
(b) the Nizam of Hyderabad
(c) Peshwa Baji Rao II
(d) the King of Travancore
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
286. The capital of the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was
(a) Amritsar (b) Patiala
(c) Lahore (d) Kapurthala
Ans. (c) Maharaja Ranjit Singh (called “The Lion of the Punjab”) (1780-1839) was a Sikh ruler of the Punjab. • In 1802 he shifted his capital to Lahore. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period, from a leader of a single Sikh misl to finally becoming the Maharaja (Emperor) of Punjab.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
287. Which one of the following upheavals took place in Bengal immediately after the Revolt of 1857?
(a) Sanyasi Rebellion (b) Santhal Rebellion
(c) Indigo Disturbances (d) Pabna Disturbances
Ans. (c) The Indigo Rebellion (1859-61) is considered an appendix to the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, which resulted in the nearly a century-old rule of the East India Company losing power to the British Crown. Compared with the Indigo Rebellion, the participation of Bengali peasants in the 1857 mutiny was not as significant.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
288. Consider the map given below:
The map shows the sea voyage route followed by
(a) Thomas Cook (b) Ferdinand Magellan
(c) John Cabot (d) Vasco da Gama
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
289. What is common among Madam Bhikaji Cama, M.
Barkatulla, V.V.S. Iyer and M.N. Roy?
(a) All of them were leading members of the International Communist Movement
(b) M. Barkatulla was the Prime Minister and the rest were Ministers in the Provisional Government of Free India established by a group of revolutionaries at Kabul
(c) All of them were among the prominent revolutionaries outside India operating in different countries during the Freedom Movement
(d) All of them were accused in the case relating to the throwing of a bomb on Lord Hardinge
Ans. (c) Madam Bhikaji Cama (1861-1936) headquarters were in Paris and that was the meeting place of young revolutionaries like Hardayal and Shaklatvala. • Abdul Hafiz Mohamed Barakatullah, known with his honorific as Maulana Barkatullah. Barkatullah fought from outside India, with fiery speeches and revolutionary writings in leading newspapers, for the independence of India. • M. N. Roy was a twentieth century Indian philosopher. He began his career as a militant political activist and left India in 1915 in search of arms for organizing an insurrection against British rule in India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
290. 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
Ans. (c) Lord Cornwallis and his code of 1793 separated revenue collection from administration of civil justice as a safeguard for property rights against abuse of power by revenue officials and their agents.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
291. Which of the following international events influenced the course of the national movement in India before the advent of Mahatma Gandhi?
1. Italian-Abyssinian War, 1898
2. Boxer Movement in China
3. Revolutionary Movement in Ireland
4. Victory of Japan in the Russo-Japanese War
Choose the correct answer from the code given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only (b) 1, 2 and 4 only
(c) 3 and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Ans. (d) Contemporary International influences: Abyssinia’s repulsion of Italian Army in 1896 and Japan’s victory over Russia in 1905 broke the spell of European invincibility. Nationalistic movements in Egypt, Persia, Turkey and Russia also influenced extremism, also humiliating treatment of Indians in British colonies like South Africa helped extremism. 3. As in India, parallel movements went on in Ireland, one militant and the other peaceful. The Indian nationalist movement led by Gandhi, prides itself on its non-violent nature and ideology. But in the case of Ireland, it was the military offensive that seems to have forced the British to come to an agreement with Irish nationalists. Moreover, the Irish truce was affected along with a partition of the country on lines of religion.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1994]
292. Which of the following were the main objectives of the Khilafat movement?
1. To rouse anti-British feelings among the Muslims of India
2. To reform the Muslim society
3. To demand separate electorates and preserve the Khilafat
4. To save the Ottoman empire and preserve the Khilafat
Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 3 and 4 (d) 1 and 4
Ans. (d) The main objectives of Khilafat Movement were: • To protect the Usmania Khilafat of Turkey • The protection of sacred and religious places of Muslims i.e. Bat-ul-Muqaddas • The protection of limits of Turkey if it is defeated in the world war • To rouse anti-British feelings among the Muslims of India
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
293. The title given by British Government to Mahatma Gandhi which, he surrendered during the Non-Cooperation Movement, was
(a) Hind Kesari (b) Kaiser-e-Hind
(c) Rai Bahadur (d) Rt.Honorable
Ans. (b) ‘Kaiser-e-Hind’ (or Kaiser-e-Hind) was the title invented for Queen Victoria and was used in the imperial durbar of 1877. It means ‘Emperor of India’.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
294. The first political organisation established in India in 1838 was known as
(a) British India Society
(b) Bengal British India Society
(c) Settlers Association
(d) Zamindary Association
Ans. (d) In July, 1838 the “Zamindary Association” more popularly known as the “Landholders Society” was founded to safeguard the interests of landlords. • Although limited in its objectives, the Landholders society marks the beginning of an organised political activity and use of methods of constitutional agitataion for the redressal of grievances.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
295. 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 utilised 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 making it poorer day by day
Ans. (b) The ‘Drain Theory’ was first developed by Dadabhai Naoroji. • Naoroji emphasised three types of drain. First, the most important item was the remittance to England of a proportion of salaries, incomes, and saving by civil, military employees of the British origin, as well as by professionals such as lawyers and doctors. • The second item was military expenditure. Just as in the case of civil servants, the remittances of a proportion of salaries, incomes and savings by British military personnel and the payment in sterling by the government of India of pensions and other allowances to the army officers, constituted an item of drain. • The third item was the remittances made in sterling of interest on loans for construction and maintenance of public works such as railways, irrigation works, etc.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
296. Mahatma Gandhi was referred to as the ‘Father of the nation’ first by
(a) Jawaharlal Nehru
(b) Vallabhbhai Patel
(c) C. Rajagopalachari
(d) Subhash Chandra Bose
Ans. (d) Much before the Constitution of Free India conferred the title of the Father of the Nation upon the Mahatma, it was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who first addressed him as such in his condolence message to the Mahatma on the demise of Kasturba.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
297. “Indian cotton merchant; banker; Congressman and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi.” This description fits
(a) G.D. Birla (b) M.R. Jayakar
(c) Jamnalal Bajaj (d) V.S. Srinivasa Sastri
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
298. The Ryotwari Settlement was introduced by the British in the
(a) Bengal Presidency
(b) Madras Presidency
(c) Bombay Presidency
(d) Madras and Bombay Presidencies
Ans. (d) In Madras presidency, the first land revenue settlements were made in the Baramahal district after its acquisition by the Company in 1792. • Captain Reed assited by Thomas Munro fixed the state demand on the basis of 50% of the estimated produce of the fields which worked out to be more than the whole economic rent. The Ryotwari system in the Bombay Presidency had its beginning in Gujarat after its annexation in 1803, and when the Peshwa’s territories were conquered in 1818, it was extended to those areas as well under the supervision of Munro’s disciple, Mountstuart Elphinstone.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
299. What is the correct chronological sequence of the following stages in the political life of Mahatama Gandhi?
1. Champaran
2. Ahmedabad Mill Strike
3. Kheda
4. Non-cooperation Movement
Choose the correct option from the codes given below:
(a) 2, 4, 3, 1 (b) 1, 3, 2, 4
(c) 4, 3, 2, 1 (d) 3, 4, 2, 1
Ans. (b) Champaran: The peasants of the Champaran and other areas of North Bihar were growing the Indigo under the tinakathia system. Under the tinakathia system the peasants were bound to plant 3 out of 20 parts of his land with indigo for his landlord. The Champaran peasant movement was launched in 1917-18. • Kheda Satyagraha: The Kheda campaign in Gujarat was chiefly directed against the government. In the spring of 1918 crop failures and drought brought misery to the peasants, they were on the verge of famine owing to failure of the crops. • Ahmedabad Mill Strike: Gandhi’s intervention in Ahmedabad in February-March 1918 was in a situation of purely internal conflict between the Gujarat mill-owners and their workers over the question of plague bonus of 1917. • Non- Cooperation movement: In 1920–22, organized by Mahatma Gandhi, to induce the British government of India to grant self-government, or swaraj, to India. It was one of Gandhi’s first organized acts of large-scale civil disobedience (satyagraha).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
@300. Uplift of the backward classes was the main programme of the
(a) Prathana Samaj (b) Satyashodhak Samaj
(c) Arya Samaj (d) Ramakrishna Mission
Ans. (b) Jotiba Govind Phule (1827-90) took up the fight against Brahmanic oppression in his voluminous prose and poetic works, and gave it a concrete form in his organization for the uplift of the low castes, the Satyasodhak Samaj. • Among many theoretical reformers, Phule was a very practical man: he started girl’s schools, schools for untouchables, and founded a home for widows’ children.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
301. The foundation of modern educational system in India was laid by
(a) The Charter Act of 1813
(b) Macaulay’s Minutes of 1835
(c) The Hunter Commission of 1882
(d) Wood’s Despatch of 1854
Ans. (b) In a famous minute Lord Macaulay, the Law Member of the Governor General’s council argued that Indian languages were not sufficiently developed to serve the purpose.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1993]
302. Which of the following are associated with Lord Lytton?
1. Rowlatt Act
2. The Arms Act
3. The Vernacular Press Act
4. Abolition of duties on the import of coarse cotton goods
Select the correct answer by using the codes given below :
(a) 1,2 and 3 (b) 2, 3 and 4
(c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2 and 4
Ans. (b) Rowlatt act was passed in 1919 and not associetd with Lytton.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
303. Which one of the following was the state that was not annexed by Lord Dalhousie by using the Doctrine of Lapse?
(a) Nagpur (b) Udaipur
(c) Mysore (d) Satara
Ans. (c) Determined to extend direct British control over larger areas, Lord Dalhousie governor-general of India (1848–56), came up with the Doctrine of Lapse. • Under this, if the ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir, his state would not pass on to an adopted heir but would be annexed to the British dominions unless the adoption had been clearly approved by the British authorities. • The states actually annexed by the application of the Doctrine of Lapse under Lord Dalhousie were Satara (1848); Jaitpur and Sambhalpur (1849); Bhagat (1850); Udaipur(1852); Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
304. Which one of the following was given to King Charles II as part of his dowry on the occasion of his marriage with Queen Catherina of Braganz?
(a) Bombay (b) Chandranagore
(c) Cochin (d) Tranquebar
Ans. (a) The marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Portugal on 8 May 1661 placed Bombay in British possession as a part of Catherine’s dowry to Charles. • The island of Bombay was acquired by the British from the Portuguese as a part of the dowry to King Charles II for marrying a portuguese princess in 1688 and was soon fortified.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
305. The All India Muslim League was formed in 1906 at
(a) Aligarh (b) Dhaka
(c) Delhi (d) Karachi
Ans. (b) All-India Muslim League was set up in 1906, with active guidance and support of the Government.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
306. The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 by
(a) Dadabhai Naoroji (b) Henry Cotton
(c) Badruddin Tyabji (d) A.O. Hume
Ans. (d) A. O. Hume, an ex-ICS officer, dominated the INC till 1892 as its General Secretary. The INC met for the first time on December 28, 1885 in the hall of the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
307. Who out of the following was not a moderate?
(a) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(b) Dadabhai Naoroji
(c) Ferozshah Mehta
(d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Ans. (d) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
308. The objective of the Morley-Minto Reforms was to
(a) Establish dyarchy in Provinces
(b) Abolish the post-of Secretary of State for India
(c) Extension of Provincial Assemblies
(d) Give more powers to local government
Ans. (c) The Morley-Minto Reforms were the popular name for the Indian Councils Act of 1909. Objective of Morley-Minto reforms • The number of members of the Imperial Legislative Council was increased to 60 and 27 were to be elected.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
309. In 1921 the Session of the Indian National Congress was held when its President was in prison and with some other leader acting as President. Who was the Congress President in prison?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi (b) Mohammad Ali
(c) C.R. Das (d) Abul Kalam Azad
Ans. (c) Thus, on February 12, 1922, the Non-cooperation Movement came to an end. During Ahmedabad Session of INC (1921), C. R. Das was elected its President but Azamal Khan presided over the session because C.R. Das was in prison.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
310. Which of the following political parties/ organisations were established by Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar?
1. Swaraj Party 2. Samaj Samata Sangh
3. All India Scheduled Castes Federation
4. The Independent Labour Party
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 4 (b) 1,3 and 4
(c) 2, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (c) The suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement led to a split within Congress in the Gaya session of the Congress in December 1922. Leaders like Motilal Nehru and Chittranjan Das formed a separate group within the Congress known as the Swaraj Party on 1 January 1923. • Samaj Samata Sangh established in September 1927 by Hon. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was meant for preaching social equality among the untouchables and caste Hindus. Inter-caste marriages and Intercaste dinners formed important parts of the programme of the organisation. • All India scheduled castes federation, was a first all India political party exclesively for Scheduled Castes. SCF was founded by Dr. Ambedkar in a national convention of the Scheduled castes held at Nagpur during 17-20 July 1942. • Independent Labour Party (ILP) was an Indian political organisation formed under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in August 1936 against the brahmanical and capitalist structures in the society.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1992]
311. When the Portuguese arrived in India, the foreigners whom they encountered as trade rivals were the
(a) Persians (b) Arabs
(c) Dutch (d) English
Ans. (b) From 7th century onwards, India’s merchandize trade with European countries was dominated by Arabs, who took goods from India and supplied it to the merchants of Venice and Genoa in Italy, who in turn supplied it to European markets. Naturally, the sea routes were also dominated by the Arabs who did not allow any other to encroach these routes. However, this arrangement was disturbed when Spanish and Portuguese discovered alternative sea routes to India and South East Asia. Gradually, the seaborne trade of Arabs in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea was paralysed.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
312. The Congress Ministries resigned in November 1939 because
(a) The Provincial Autonomy proved to be a farce
(b) The Governors interfered too much in the dayto-
day administration of the provinces
(c) India was dragged into the Second World War without the consent of her people
(d) The British followed the policy of divide and rule
Ans. (c). • World War II broke out on September 1, 1939. • The Government of India immediately declared India to be at war with Germany without consulting the Congress or the elected members of the Central legislature. • The Congress ministries, therefore, resigned on November 1, 1939 and seven provinces passed under the Governor’s rule.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
313. The intensity of famine increased in India, under the British rule because
(a) The failure of monsoons became frequent
(b) The drain of wealth from India was uncontrolled
(c) Of the poor distribution of food grains
(d) Discriminatory protection was extended, to food processing industries
Ans. (b) So great an Economic Drain out of the resources of land would so impoverish the most prosperous countries on earth; it has reduced India to a land of famines, more frequent, more widespread and more fatal than any other known before in the history of India, of the world. Regular recurrence of famines became a common feature of daily existence in India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
314. Which one of the following is the most significant contribution of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to modern India?
(a) His participation in the Quit India Movement
(b) His role in the Non-Cooperation Movement
(c) His achievement of the integration of princely states
(d) His Presidentship of the Indian National Congress
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
315. Consider the following two statements called Assertion (A) and Reason (R) and answer by using the codes given below the statements.
Assertion (A): The Quit India Movement of 1942 marked the culmination of the Indian Freedom Movement.
Reason (R): After the Quit India Movement it was only a Question of time and determining the actual mechanics of the transfer of power.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not an explanation of A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Ans. (b) Quit India Movement revealed the people’s fighting spirit and their desperate longing for freedom. This movement thus served as an eye-opener to the British Government about India’s attitude to imperialism. The “Quit India Movement” of 1942 gave the death blow to the British Rule. The August Revolution in India marked the culmination of the Indian Freedom Movement. • It was a question of time, the transfer of power and the pattern of Government the country was to have after independence, determining the actual mechanics of the transfer. There remained no doubt for Indians to win freedom any longer.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
316. On whose recommendation was the Constituent Assembly formed?
(a) Mountbatten plan (b) Cripp’s Mission
(c) Cabinet Mission Plan
(d) Government of India Act, 1935
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
317. Federation, Indian responsibility, reservation and safeguards were the three lynchpins of
(a) Gandhi-lrwin Pact (b) Macdonald Award
(c) Poona Pact (d) Radcliffe Award
Ans. (a) Gandhi was authorized by the Congress to negotiate with Lord Irwin. The talks prolonged and the outcome of these talks was a pact known as Gandhi Irwin pact that was signed on March 5, 1931.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
318. “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Who said this?
(a) Winston Churchill (b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Mahatma Gandhi (d) Mao Tse-Tunq
Ans. (a) Following Neville Chamberlain’s resignation in 1940, Churchill was chosen to succeed him as Prime Minister of an all-party coalition government on May 10, 1940. • In his first speech to House of Commons, he said “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” and in this speech he asked the House to declare its confidence in his Government.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
319. “English men are more efficient partly by upbringing, partly by race and partly by education”.
Who said this?
(a) Rippon (b) Lord Curzon
(c) Minto (d) Dufferin
Ans. (b) In Home Department Resolution of May 1904, Lord Curzon’s Government justified the policy, they were pursuing with regard to “White-man’s superiority” in Civil Service.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
320. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists :
List-I (Political parties) : List-II (Personalities)
A. Communist Party of India : 1. C. R. Das
B. Socialist Party : 2. Ram Manohar Lohia
C. Swaraj Party : 3. V. D. Savarkar
D. The Hindu Maha Sabha : 4. P. C. Joshi
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 4 2 1 3 (b) 4 2 3 1
(c) 1 4 3 2 (d) 4 3 2 1
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1991]
321. Who among the following was a revolutionary who later turned into a yogi and philosopher?
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (b) Aurobindo Ghosh
(c) Lala Lajpat Rai (d) Agarkar
Ans. (b) Aurobindo Ghosh, was a revolutionary but later on became yogi and philosopher, so the correct option is (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
322. The I.N.A. was organised by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at
(a) Rangoon (b) Singapore
(c) Taiwan (d) Tokyo
Ans. (b) The INA was organised by Subhas Chandra Bose at Singapore therefore option (b) is correct. • The Indian National Army (INA) was originally founded by Capt Mohan Singh in Singapore in September 1942 with Japan’s Indian POWs (prisoners of wars) in the Far East.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
323. Who among the following was not a ‘no changer’?
(a) Dr. Ansari (b) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(c) Sardar Patel (d) Motilal Nehru
Ans. (d) One section led by C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru and Ajmal Khan wanted an end to the boycott of legislative councils so that the assemblies and use these councils as an arena of political struggle to arouse popular enthusiasm They wanted, in other words, to ‘end or mend’ these councils, i.e., if the Government did not respond to the nationalists’ demands, then they would obstruct the working of these councils. • Those advocating entry into legislative councils came to be known as the Swarajists, while the other school of thought led by Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari and M.A. Ansari came to be known as the ‘No-changers’. The ‘No-changers’ opposed council entry, advocated ,concentration on constructive work, and continuation of boycott and noncooperation.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
324. Consider the following sessions of the Indian National Congress :
The session in which
1. The Muslim League and the Indian National Congress met jointly.
2. The Indian National Congress divided into two groups.
3. The resolution for “Complete Independence” was passed.
4. The Non-cooperation resolution was passed.
The correct chronological sequence of these sessions is
(a) 3 — 4 — 1 — 2 (b) 2 — 1 — 4 — 3
(c) 2—3—4——1 (d) 1—2—3——4
Ans. (b) The correct option is (b) because • Surat Split (1907) refers to the splitting of the Congress party into ‘Moderates’ and ‘Extremists’ after a violent clash at the session. • The 31st Session of the Congress was held at Lucknow in 1916.It was presided over by the Ambica charan Majumdar who was a prominent lawyer and was actively associated with the Congress since its birth. • In December 1920, Congress met once again in the Nagpur Session. This time the differences of CR das had melted away. He moved the main resolution of Non-cooperation. • The Congress passed the Poorna Swaraj Resolution in December 1929, it was a month later on January 26, 1930, when a pledge of Indian Independence also known as Declaration of Independence was taken.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
325. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below them:
List-I (Social Reformers of Modern India) : List-II (Their contributions)
A. Kesab Chandra Sen : 1. Young Bengal Movement
B. Henry Vivian Derazio : 2. Param Hansa Mandali
C. Dadoba Panderung : 3. Sadharan Brahma Samaj
D. Devendranath Tagore : 4. Tatvabodhini Sabha
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 3 2 4 1 (b) 1 2 3 4
(c) 4 2 1 3 (d) 3 1 2 4
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
326. Consider the following events :
1. Hunter Commission
2. Charles Wood’s Despatch
3. Sadler Commission
4. Raleigh Commission Their correct chronological sequence:
(a) 3—2—1—4 (b) 2—1—4—3
(c) 1—4——3—2 (d) 4—3——2—1
Ans. (b) The correct option is (b) • Wood’s Despatch on Education in 1854 laid the foundation on which the educational system has since developed. • Lord Ripon the then Governor-General of India appointed the first Indian Education Commission on February 3, 1882 under the Chairmanship of Sir William Hunter, a member of the Executive Council of Viceroy. So this Commission is popularly known as Hunter Commission. • Lord Curzon held a conference at simla in 1901 to bring certain changes in the education system. He constituted a University commission under the Chairmans hip of Sir Thomas Raleigh. As per the recommendations of Simla Conference and Sir Thomas Raleigh commission he enacted Indian Universities Act 1904. As per this Act Government Control was increased on Universities. • In 1917 the Government of India appointed a Commission to study and report on the problems of Calcutta University. Dr. M.E. Sadler, Vice- Chancellor of the University of Leeds, was appointed its Chairman. The Commission included two Indian members, namely Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee and Dr. Zia-ud-din Ahmad.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
327. Consider the following events in Indian Freedom Movement :
1. Singh Sabha Movement
2. Quit India Movement
3. Dandi March
4. Gurdwara Reform Movement The correct chronological sequence of these events is
(a) 1 — 4 — 3 — 2 (b) 4 — 1 — 2 — 3
(c) 2 — 3 — 4 — 1 (d) 3— 2 — 1 — 4
Ans. (a) The correct option is (a) The Namdhari unrest, the activities of the Sanatan Dharmis, the Arya Samajists and Christian conversions had shaken the foundations of the Sikh religion. To strengthen Sikhism, a small group of prominent Sikhs, led by Thakur Singh Sandhawalia and Giani Gian Singh, founded the Singh Sabha of Amritsar on October 1, 1873. • The Gurdwara Reform Movement launched an agitation for freeing the gurdwaras from these corrupt mahants and for handing over the gurdwaras to a representative body of Sikhs. • Salt March, also called Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha, major nonviolent protest action in India led by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi in March–April 1930. • The All India Congress Committee met at Bombay on 8 August 1942 and passed the famous Quit India Resolution. On the same day, Gandhi gave his call of ‘do or die’. On 8th and 9th August 1942, the government arrested all the prominent leaders of the Congress.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
328. Who among the following led the Sepoys at Kanpur in the 1857 uprising?
(a) Tantia Tope (b) Laxmibai
(c) Nana Sahib (d) Kunwar Singh
Ans. (c) Sepoys mutiny at Kanpur was led by Nana Sahib, therefore option (c) is correct. • At Kanpur the revolt was led by Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa. Nana Saheb expelled the English from Kanpur with the help of the sepoys and proclaimed himself the Peshwa. • Nana Saheb in his efforts against the British was ably supported by two of his lieutenants. One was Tantia Tope, the other was Azimullah. • Sir Hugh Wheeler the commander of the British garrison at Kanpur surrendered on the 27 June 1857. But, soon Kanpur was recaptured by the British commander Sir Colin Campbell.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
329. The Second Round Table Conference was held in
(a) 1930 (b) 1931
(c) 1932 (d) 1935
Ans. (b) Second Round Table Conference was held on 1931 therefore the correct option is (b). • The Second Round Conference opened on September 7, 1931. Gandhi represented Indian National Congress and Sarojini Naidu represented Indian women.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
330. The most effective contribution made by Dadabhai Nauroji to the cause of Indian National Movement was that he
(a) Brought the problems of Indians to the notice of the British
(b) Exposed the economic exploitation of India by the British
(c) Interpreted the ancient Indian texts and restored the self- confidence of Indians
(d) Stressed the need for eradication of all the social evils before anything else
Ans. (b) The correct option is (b) • The term ‘economic drain’ refers to a portion of national product of India which was not available for consumption of its peoples, but was being drained away to Britain for political reasons and India was not getting adequate economic or material returns for it.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
331. ‘The Modern Review’ was started by
(a) Madan Mohan Malaviya
(b) C. V. Chintamani
(c) Ramanand Chatterjee
(d) Annie Besant
Ans. (c) The correct option is (c) • Modern Review was the name of a monthly magazine published in Calcutta since 1907. • Founded by Ramananda Chatterjee, the Modern Review soon emerged as an important forum for the Indian Nationalist intelligentsia. • It carried essays on politics, economics, sociology, as well as poems, stories, travelogues and sketches.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
332. Assertion (A): Ali Brothers founded the Swaraj Party.
Reason (R): The Swarajists were in favour of council entry and obstruction from within.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
Ans. (d) Here the correct option is (d) • Swaraj Party, Indian political party established in late 1922–early 1923 by members of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party), notably Motilal Nehru, one of the most prominent lawyers in northern India (and the father of political leader Jawaharlal Nehru), and Chitta Ranjan Das, a nationalist politician from Bengal. The party’s name is taken from the term swaraj, meaning “self-rule,” which was broadly applied to the movement to gain independence from British rule. • The Swarajists wanted to contest the council elections and wreck the government from within. Elections to Legislative Councils were held in November 1923. In this, the Swaraj Party gained impressive successes. In the Central Legislative Council Motilal Nehru became the leader of the party whereas in Bengal the party was headed by C.R. Das.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1990]
333. Brahmo Samaj was founded by
(a) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
(b) David Hare
(c) Derozio
(d) Alexander
Ans. (a) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
334. “Asiatic Society of Bengal” was founded by
(a) Sir William Jones
(b) Annie Besant
(c) Lord William Bentinck
(d) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Ans. (a) Asiatic Society of Bengal, scholarly society founded on Jan. 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
335. The “Servants of India Society” was founded by
(a) Annie Besant
(b) Gopalakrishna Gokhale
(c) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(d) Dadabhai Naoroji
Ans. (b) Servants of India Society was founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1905 to unite and train Indians of different ethnicities and religions in welfare work.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
336. Railway and Telegraphy systems were introduced in India by
(a) Lord Dalhousie (b) Lord Cornwallis
(c) Lord Bentinck (d) Lord Wellesley
Ans. (a) Dalhousie was the father of Indian Railways his famous Railway Minute of 1853 convinced the home authorities of the need of the railways and laid down the main lines of their development. • The first railway line running from Bombay to Thana was opened to traffic in 1853. • In 1852 Dalhousie introduced the Electric Telegraph System in India. • The first telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra was opened in 1854, covering a distance of 800 miles.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
337. Which of the following introduced a measure of provincial autonomy?
(a) Minto-Morley reforms
(b) Montague-Chelmsford reforms
(c) Cripps’ Mission
(d) Government of India Act, 1935
Ans. (d) The Government of India Act, 1935 provided for an All India Federation. It envisaged that the provinces would join the federation automatically, and provided for voluntary entry by the prince of each state executing an Instrument of Accession in favor of the Crown.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
338. Swaraj as a national demand was first made by
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (b) Dadabhai Naoroji
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru (d) Chitaranjan Das
Ans. (a) Born as Keshav Bal Gangadhar Tilak on July 23, 1856, in a village near Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer and independence fighter, who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement and was conferred with the honorary title of “Lokmanya.” • He was one of the first and strongest advocates of Swaraj (self-rule) and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. His famous quote, “Swaraj is my birth right, and I shall have it ” is well remembered in India even today.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
339. Who among the following Indians mostly encouraged the remarriage of the widows?
(a) Jaisingh (b) Ahilya Bai
(c) Sarfoji (d) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Ans. (d) Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned for rights for women, including the right for widows to remarry, and the right for women to hold property.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
340. The Brahmo Samaj is based on the principles of
(a) Monotheism (b) Polytheism
(c) Atheism (d) Monism
Ans. (a) Rammohan Roy founded Atmiya Sabha, in Calcutta in 1815, eventually took the shape of Brahmo Samaj in 1828, based on the essential principle of monotheism.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
341. Moderates and extremists of the Indian National Congress differed mainly on the issue of
(a) Swaraj (b) Swadeshi
(c) Boycott (d) National education
Ans. (c) There was a great deal of public debate and disagreement among moderates and extremists in the years 1905-07, even when they were working together against the partition of Bengal. • The extremists wanted to extend the movement from Bengal to all over the country. • They also wanted to extend the boycott of foreign goods to eventually, all kind of association with the colonial rulers. • The moderates were opposed to all these ideas. Matters nearly came to a head at the Calcutta Congress in 1906, over the question of its Presidentship.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
342. The system of ‘Dyarchy’ was first introduced by
(a) Montague-Chelmsford Reforms
(b) Minto-Morley Reforms
(c) Government of India Act, 1935
(d) None of the above
Ans. (a) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
343. Banaras Hindu University was founded by
(a) Dadabhai Naoroji
(b) Gopalakrishna Gokhale
(c) Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
(d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Ans. (c) The Banaras Hindu University is an internationally reputed University and is situated in Varanasi. The great nationalist leader, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, founded the Banaras Hindu University in the year 1916.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
344. On whose recommendations was the Constituent Assembly formed?
(a) Mountbatten
(b) Cripps’ Mission plan
(c) Cabinet Mission plan
(d) Government of India Act, 1935
Ans. (c) The Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1989]
345. Match the columns :
List-1 Authors : List-2 (Books)
A. Mahatma Gandhi : 1. India Divided
B. Ram Manohar Lohia : 2. India Wins Freedom
C. Dr. Rajendra Prasad : 3. Hind Swaraj
D. Maulana Azad : 4. The Wheel of History
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 3 4 1 2 (b) 1 3 4 2
(c) 4 3 2 1 (d) 2 3 4 1
Ans. (a) Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule is a book written by Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1909. In it he expresses his views on Swaraj, modern civilization, mechanisation etc. • Ram Manohar Lohia wrote “ the wheel of history” • Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote “ India Divided” • Maulana Azad wrote “ India Wins Freedom”
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
346. Which of the following is/are correctly matched?
Persons Events
1. Keshab Chandra Sen : Prarthana Samaj
2. Mahadev Govind : Brahmo Samaj Ranade
3. Swami Vivekanand : Ramakrishna Mission
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 1 only (d) 3 only
Ans. (b) Already Mentioned
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
347. The British rulers introduced a new system of education in India chiefly because they wanted to
(a) Provide a class of office workers for the company
(b) Promote the work of Christian missionaries
(c) Create an awareness of scientific and technical developments
(d) Generate the capacity for self-government
Ans. (a) The first educational institutions supported by the company were the Calcutta, Madras and Benaras Sanskrit College established in 1781 and 1791, respectively. • Both these institutions were designed to provide a regular supply of qualified Indians to help the administration of law in the courts of the Company.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
348. Albuquerque captured Goa from the ruler of
(a) Bijapur (b) Golkonda
(c) Ahmadnagar (d) Vijayanagar
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
349. Match the columns:
List-1 List-2
A. Karsondas Mulji 1. Tatvabodhini Patrika
B. Dadabhai Naoroji 2. Satya Prakash
C. Debendranath Tagore 3. Fight for legal status to Parsi women
D. Henry Vivian Derozio 4. Peasant Movement
5. Did not believe in existence of god
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 2 3 1 5 (b) 5 3 1 2
(c) 4 5 2 1 (d) 5 1 4 2
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
@350. Which one of the following was the most immediate factor for the spread of Swadeshi and Boycott agitation during the first decade of the present century?
(a) Curzon’s attempt to control the Universities
(b) Curzon’s design to curtail the sphere of local self-government
(c) Curzon’s partition of Bengal
(d) Curzon’s plan to curb the growing popularity of the Indian National Congress
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
351. Match the columns :
List-1 List-2 Leaders (Views on the Cripps Missions proposals in 1942)
A. Nehru 1. Postdated cheque
B. Ambedkar 2. The autocratic powers of Viceroy would remain
C. Gandhi 3. It will do the greatest harm to the depressed
D. Sapru & Jayckar 4. The creation of more than one Union will be disastrous
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 2 3 1 4 (b) 3 2 1 4
(c) 4 2 1 3 (d) 3 4 2 1
Ans. (a) Nehru: The autocratic powers of Viceroy would remain • Ambedkar: It will do the greatest harm to the depressed • Gandhi: Postdated cheque • Sapru & Jayckar: The creation of more than one Union will be disastrous
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
352. Which one of the following pairs is NOT correctly matched?
(a) Holt Machenzie Mahalvari settlement in Northern India
(b) Lord Cornwallis Subsidiary system
(c) Lord Ripon Local Self-Government
(d) Thomas Munro Ryotwari settlement
Ans. (b) Subsidiary system was started by Lord Dalhousie.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
353. Match the columns :
List-1 : List-2
A. Madan Mohan Malviya : 1. Ghadar Movement
B. Sohan Singh Bhakna : 2. Swatantra Party
C. Annie Besant : 3. Hindu Mahasabha
D. Rajagopalachari : 4. Theosophical Society of India
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 2 4 5 1 (b) 3 1 4 2
(c) 3 4 2 1 (d) 4 5 2 3
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
354. Match the columns :
List-1 : List-2
A. Morley Minto Reforms : 1. Dyarchy in the Provinces
B. Montague Chelmsford Reforms : 2. Provincial Autonomy
C. Reform Act of 1935 : 3. Introduction of separate electorate
D. Cripps Proposals : 4. Provision for establishment of a Constituent Assembly
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 4 3 2 1 (b) 3 1 2 4
(c) 2 1 4 3 (d) 3 2 1 4
Ans. (b) Already Mentioned
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
355. Assertion (A): The Zamindari Settlement was introduced by Lord Cornwallis.
Reason (R): The British desired to create a landed class in India for support.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true but R is NOT a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1988]
356. Indianisation of the Civil Services was done by
(a) Lord Ripon
(b) Lord Mayo
(c) Lord Lytton
(d) Lord Reading
Ans. (a) During that time the recruitment to Indian Civil Service examination was held in England only and the age limit was 18. • Ripon urged for the simultaneous examination both in India and in England • He failed in his objective because he could not motivate the Government. • However he succeeded in enhancing the age limit from 18 to 21.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
357. Match the columns :
A. M. N. Roy 1. Swarajist Party
B. C. R. Dass 2. Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
C. Chandra Shekhar Azad 3. Congress Socialist Party
D. Acharya Narendra 4. Communist International
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 4 1 2 3 (b) 2 3 1 4
(c) 3 2 4 1 (d) 4 3 2 1
Ans.(a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
358. What is the correct chronological order of the following?
A. Cabinet Mission
B. Montague – Chelmsford Reforms
C. Minto – Morley Reforms
D. Cripps’ Mission
Codes :
(a) C, B, D, A (b) A, B, C, D
(c) B, C, D, A (d) D, A, B, C
Ans. (a) The Indian Councils Act, 1909. • The Government of Act, 1919. • Cripps Mission: March, 1942 British Government sent Cripps Mission to secure full Indian co-operation for the war. • Cabinet Mission: The Cabinet Mission comprising three members—Lord Pathick-Lawrence (Secretary of State for India) Sir Stafford Cripps (President of the Board of Trade) and AV Alexandor (First Lord of the Admiralty), came to India on March 19, 1946. It could not reach any agreement about the formation of an interim Government and the machinery for formulating the Constitution, after discussions with the Congress and Muslim League.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
359. The purpose of Cripps’ Mission was
(a) To give India dominion status.
(b) To introduce provincial autonomy in India.
(c) To discuss future setup for India on the basis of the Simon Commission report.
(d) To suppress ‘Quit India’ Movement.
Ans. (a) Already mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
360. Ghadar party’ in U.S.A. was formed by
(a) V. D. Savarkar (b) Lala Har Dayal
(c) Swami Varma (d) Raja Pratap Singh
Ans. (b) The Ghadar Party was formed by Lala Har Dayal and Sohan Singh Bhakna in 1913 in the USA(San Francisco). Two of Lala Har Dayal many student followers, Katar Singh Sarabha and Vishnu Govind Pingle later on played very prominent role in the Gadar movement. Gadar, literally means revolt or mutiny, was published in Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, among other languages. • The Gadar Party was a revolt against the British rule in India and it was started and organized by the Indian immigrants to Canada and the United States of America.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
361. Ilbert Bill was prepared for abolishing judicial disqualification based on racial distinction. The bill was vehemently criticised by the Europeans living in India. Who was the Governor-General at that time?
(a) Lord Ripon (b) Lord Dalhousie
(c) Lord Curzon (d) Lord Chelmsford
Ans. (a) It sought to allow senior Indian magistrates to preside over cases involving British subjects in India. But by 1883 the viceroy, Lord Ripon, proposed to make British subjects amenable to sessions courts, over which Indians were now senior enough in the civil service to preside. A compromise was reached by which a British subject could claim a jury, half of which would be Europeans.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
362. Write the correct chronological order of the following?
A. Pitt’s India Act B. Rowlatt Act
C. Regulating Act D. Indian Councils Act
Codes :
(a) A, C, D, B (b) B, A, C, D
(c) C, A, D, B (d) D, B, A, C
Ans. (c) Regulating Act: The Regulating Act of 1773, formally recognised the British Parliament’s right to control Indian affairs. • Pitt’s India Act: Under Pitt’s India Act, 1784 a Board of Control, consisting of six members was constituted and would include one of the secretaries of state, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and four privy councilors. • Rowlatt Act: The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a legislative act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on March 18, 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without trial and judicial review enacted in the Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War. • The Indian Councils Act, 1909: This Act is also known as Morley-Minto Reforms (Lord Morley was the then Secretary of State for India and Lord Minto was the then Viceroy of India). It considerably increased the size of the legislative councils, both Central and provincial.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
363. Lord Cornwallis introduced
(a) Zamindari system (b) Mahalwari system
(c) Mansabdari system (d) None of the above
Ans. (a) One of the Cornwallis major achievement was the Permanent settlement (1793) or the Zamindari Settlement of land revenue in Bengal. For a quarter century after the grant (1765) Diwani Rights to the John Company, the revenue settlement had been on annual basis, through a permanent system was also anticipated.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
364. Khilafat movement stressed on
(a) Restoration of Turkish Khalipha as the head of Indian Muslims
(b) Reservation of seats for Muslim community in Government services
(c) Independent Pakistan
(d) India’s Independence
Ans. (a) Khilafat Movement was force that arose in India in the early 20th century as a result of Muslim fears for the integrity of Islam. • These fears were aroused by Italian (1911) and Balkan (1912–13) attacks on Turkey whose sultan, as caliph, was the religious head of the worldwide Muslim community and by Turkish defeats in World War I. • Its three central demands were that the Turkish Caliph-Sultan must retain control over the muslim holy places, he must be left with sufficient territory to enable him to defend the Islamic faith, and that Jazirat-ul-Arab (Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Palestine) must remain under muslim suzerainty.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
365. Montague – Chelmsford Reforms relate to
(a) Dyarchy (b) Communalism
(c) Provincial autonomy (d) None of the above
Ans. (a) Already Mentioned
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1987]
366. ‘Go back to the Vedas’ was the motto of
(a) Swami Vivekananda
(b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
(c) Swami Dayanand Saraswati
(d) M. G. Ranade
Ans. (c) Dayanand Saraswati was a reformer and believed in pragmatism. He preached against many rituals of the Hindu religion such as idol-worship, caste by birth, animal sacrifices and restrictions of women from reading Vedas. • He claimed that the Vedas alone contained ‘scientific truths’, and therefore, the religion based on these texts was superior to Christianity and Islam; his aim was to educate the nation to Go back to the Vedas.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
367. Arrange the following in a chronological order
1. Foundation of Muslim League
2. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
3. Khilafat Movement
4. Civil Disobedience Movement
The correct order is
(a) 1, 3, 2, 4 (b) 1, 2, 3, 4
(c) 4, 2, 1, 2 (d) 2, 4, 1, 3
Ans. (b) Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy: The Rowlatt Act came into effect in March 1919. In the Punjab the protest movement was very strong, and on April 10 two leaders of the congress, Dr. Satya Pal and Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, were arrested and taken to an unknown place. • Khilafat Movement: Khilafat Movement was force that arose in India in the early 20th century as a result of Muslim fears for the integrity of Islam. These fears were aroused by Italian (1911) and Balkan (1912–13) attacks on Turkey whose sultan, as caliph, was the religious head of the worldwide Muslim community and by Turkish defeats in World War I. • Civil Disobedience Movement: It began with the Dandi March. On 12 March 1930, Gandhiji with some of his followers left the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad and made their way towards Dandi, a village on the west coast of India. • Formation of Muslim League: All-India Muslim League was set up in 1906, with active guidance and support of the Government.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
368. Which of the following statements is true about Annie Besant?
1. She was the President of Indian National Congress
2. She was the founder of the Asiatic Society
3. She was the founder of the Theosophical Society
Codes :
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 1 and 3
(c) 1 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (c) The Asiatic Society was founded by civil servant Sir William Jones on 15 January 1784. Theosophical Society was founded in New York (USA) in 1875 by Madame H P Blavatsky (1831-91), a Russian lady and H S Olcott (1832-1907), an American Colonel to form universal brotherhood of man. While in Jail in 1917 Annie Basent was unanimously elected the Congress President in wake of her contribution in Home Rule Leauge.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
369. Arrange the following in a chronological order:
1. Dandi March 2. Simon Commission
3. Poona Pact 4. Gandhi Irwin Pact
The correct order is
(a) 1, 2, 3, 4 (b) 3, 2, 1, 4
(c) 2, 1, 4, 3 (d) 3, 4, 1, 2
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
370. Match the columns :
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”
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 2 1 4 3 (b) 2 4 1 3
(c) 4 2 3 1 (d) 2 4 3 1
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
371. Which of the following proposals were made by the Cripps Mission?
1. Participation of Indian States in the Constitutionmaking body
2. Forming separate State for the Muslims
3. Election of the Constitution-making body by the members of the lower house of the Provincial Legislature
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 1 and 3
(c) 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans. (b) Cripps Mission was sent because of the reverses suffered by Britain in South- East Asia, the Japanese threat to invade India seemed real now ‘and Indian support became crucial. In such a situation British required Indian support so obviously statement 1 is wrong. As British can not irk Indians by proposing a separate State for the Muslims.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
372. The founder of Asiatic Society was
(a) William Jones (b) Annie Besant
(c) William Kerry (d) Havell
Ans. (a) Asiatic Society of Bengal, scholarly society founded on Jan. 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
373. “Poverty and Un-British Rule in India” was written by
(a) Dadabhai Naoroji
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Sardar Patel
(d) Madan Mohan Malviya
Ans. (a) The ‘Drain Theory’ was first developed by Dadabhai Naoroji in a series of speeches and writings subsequently published in 1901 in a volume entitled “Poverty and un-British Rule in India”.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
374. Rajagopalachari’s formula was
(a) Merger of princely States
(b) Formulation of a separate Muslim State
(c) Plebiscite to Muslims whether they should form a separate State
(d) Forming a Constituent Assembly
Ans. (c) Raja Gopalachari had devised a formula which formed the basis of the talks. The Rajaji formula was that if the Muslims endorsed the demand for independence, • Congress would agree to the demarcation of contiguous Muslim majority areas in the north-west and north-east of India. • In such demarcated areas, the inhabitants should be allowed to decide by plebiscite whether they would remain in India or form a separate State of their own.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
375. 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
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
376. Gokaldas Tejpal Sanskrit Pathshala was the place where
(a) The first session of Indian National Congress was held
(b) Max Mueller came to study Sanskrit
(c) A.O. Hume used to live
(d) Gandhiji made his first Ashram
Ans. (a) Founded in 1885, the Indian National Congress (INC) was at the forefront of the nationalist movement in India before 1947. The INC met for the first time on December 28, 1885 in the hall of the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
377. Swaraj Party was formed after the failure of
(a) Quit India Movement
(b) Satyagraha Movement
(c) Noncooperation Movement
(d) Civil Disobedience Movement
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
378. Arrange the following in a chronological order
1. Surat Split
2. Formation of Muslim League
3. Partition of Bengal
4. Regulating Act The correct Order is:
(a) 1, 2, 3, 4 (b) 4, 3, 2, 1
(c) 2, 1, 4, 3 (d) 2, 3, 4, 1
Ans. (b) Surat Split: Moderates and Extremists divided on the question of anti partition movement of Bengal finally splitted at the Surat session of the Congress (1907). All-India Muslim League was set up in 1906, with active guidance and support of the Government; Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk presided over its first session in Dacca. In Bengal, people like Nawab Salimullah of Dacca were propped up by the British as centres of opposition to the Swadeshi movement. • Partition of Bengal: The Partition of Bengal in 1905 was made on October 16, by then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. According to Curzon, the province of Bengal had become too big and unwieldy to be administered effectively by a Single provincial government. • Regulating Act: The Regulating Act of 1773, formally recognised the Parliament’s right to control Indian affairs.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
379. Which of the following pairs is wrongly matched?
(a) New India Henry Cotton
(b) Khilafat Movement Maulana Azad
(c) Communal award McDonald
(d) Bardoli satyagraha Sardar Patel
Ans. (a) New India was a newspaper founded as a means to spread news related to the Indian freedom struggle, and as a means to vocalize the views of its founder, the freedom fighter Dr. Annie Besant not Henry Cotton
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
380. Who declared, “Swaraj had ‘stunk in the nostrils’ and that without adequate discipline and restraint on the part of the people the movement had proved to be a ‘Himalayan blunder’.”
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(b) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
(c) Mahatma Gandhi
(d) Subash Chandra Bose
Ans. (c) In continuation of its carrot and stick policy, the government also passed the Rowlatt Act in early 1919 inspite of stiff opposition from all the Indian members of the Legislative Council. • There were demonstrations and hartals in most of the towns on March 30 and April 6 and these were generally accompanied by violence and disorder. • On the Baisakhi Day of April 13, 1919 a peaceful unarmed crowd, consisting mostly of villagers who had come for a fair and were not aware of the ban on meetings, was fired upon without any warning and provocation by Dyers’ troops, in Jallianwala Bagh, a park enclosed from all sides. • Gandhi withdrew the movement on April 18 calling it a ‘Himalayan blunder’. Since then, Gandhi became extremely wary about starting movements without adequate organisational and ideological preparation.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
381. “Anushilan Samithi” was the terrorist organisation with its headquarters at
(a) Lahore (b) Calcutta
(c) Chandigarh (d) Islamabad
Ans. (b) The Anushilan Samiti of Calcutta was formed by Barindrakumar Ghosh, Jatindranath Banerji and Pramotha Mitter in 1902. • The Anushilan Samiti of Dacca was founded by Pulin Das in1902.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
382. Match the columns :
A. Sir John Marshall 1. Glory of Indian Art
B. H. T. Prinsep 2. History of Indian Culture
C. A. K. Coomara 3. Writer during the Swamy time of Lord Hastings
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C
(a) 1 2 3
(b) 3 2 1
(c) 2 3 1
(d) 2 1 3
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
383. The first political association in the Bombay Presidency was established by
(a) Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1905
(b) S. N. Bannerjee in 1894
(c) Dadabhai Naoroji in 1852
(d) Annie Besant in 1924
Ans. (c) The political consciousness that had developed in Bombay in the first half of the nineteenth century crystallized in an organized form into the formation of the pioneering political association in Western Inidia, • ‘The Bombay Association’ on 26 August 1852. • The western educated intellectuals, the ‘intelligentsia’ and the mercantile community of Bombay, the ‘shetias’ such as Jamshedji Jijibhoy, Jagannath Shankarshet, Naoroji Furdunji, Manakji Kharshedji, Narayan Dinanathji, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad and Dadabhai Naoroji were proactive in its formation.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
384. Which pair among the following had the similar views during the national movement?
(a) Subrahmaniam Bharati and Bal Gangadhar
(b) Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru
(c) Chittaranjan Das and Rajagopalachari
(d) Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali
Ans. (b) Gandhi’s decision to withdraw the movement in response to the violence at Chauri Chaura bewildered a number of nationalist leaders who were still in prison. • C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru and others could not understand why the entire country had to pay the price for the crazy behaviour of some people in a remote village. • Soon, however, two main groups emerged within the Congress. Ansari, Rajagopalachari, Kasturiranga Iyengar and staunch Gandhians like Vallabh-Bhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad advocated concentration on the Gandhian constructive rural work, while Motilal Nehru, Vithalbhai Patel and Hakim Ajmal Khan, supported by CR Das, president of the Gaya Congress (December, 1922), put forward a radical justification for the proposal of council entry. Das and Motilal Nehru went ahead to set up a Swaraj Party in March 1923 to contest the coming elections in November.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
385. The Arctic Home of the Vedas” was written by
(a) Minoo Masani
(b) Acharya Vinoba Bhave
(c) S. Radhakrishnan
(d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Ans. (d) While in the Mandalay prison in Burma, Tilak wrote ‘The Arctic Home of the Vedas’ and the ‘Gita Rahasya’.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1986]
386. Match the following :
A. Civil Disobedience : 1. B. G. Tilak Movement
B. Indian Home Rule : 2. Raja Ram Mohan Roy League
C. Moderate leader : 3. Mahatma Gandhi
D. Brahmo Samaj : 4. G. K. Gokhale
Codes:
A B C D
(a) 3 1 4 2 (b) 1 2 3 4
(c) 2 1 3 4 (d) 3 4 1 2
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
387. The first Civil Disobedience Movement was started by Gandhiji after the
(a) Rowlatt Act of 1919
(b) Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919
(c) Chauri Chaura incident in 1922
(d) Arrival of Cripps’ Mission in 1942
Ans. (b) The Rowlatt Act came into effect in March 1919. In the Punjab the protest movement was very strong, and on April 10 two leaders of the congress, Dr. Satya Pal and Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, were arrested and taken to an unknown place. The army was called into Punjab, and on April 13 people from neighbouring villages gathered for Baisakhi Day celebrations in Amritsar, which led to the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. • This anger paved way for the Non-cooperation Movement’ of 1920-22 by the Indian National Congress under the leadership and direction of Gandhi, launched formally on 1 August, 1920.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
388. Who among the following being a renowned poet was a good painter also?
(a) Rabindra Nath Tagore
(b) Amrita Shergil
(c) A. N. Tagore
(d) S. N. Bannerjee
Ans. (a) Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj. He also started an experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried his Upanishadic ideals of education. • Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali , Gora and Ghare-Baire are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
389. Who among the following attended all the three Round Table Conferences?
(a) Madan Mohan Malaviya
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Sarojini Naidu
(d) B. R. Ambedkar
Ans. (d) Dr. Ambedkar attended all the three Round Table Conferences in London and forcefully argued for the welfare of the untouchables.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
390. Who among the following Governors- General introduced the Dual System of Government?
(a) Lord Wellesley (b) Lord Canning
(c) Lord Clive (d) Lord Rippon
Ans. (c) Lord Clive was made the Governor of Bengal twice from 1757-1760 and 1765-1767. • He established a Dual system of Government for the Bengal Province. • Under this system, the administration was divided between the Company and the Nawab but the whole power was actually concentrated in the hands of the Company.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
391. Which of the following Acts gave representation to Indians for the first time in legislatures?
(a) The Indian Councils Act. 1909
(b) The Indian Councils Act, 1919
(c) The Government of India Act, 1935
(d) None of the above
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
392. Which of the following laws was passed during the second half of the nineteenth century under the Social and Religious Reform Movement?
(a) Formation of Theosophical Society
(b) Sanction of inter-caste and inter-communal marriages
(c) Opening of Aligarh Muslim University’
(d) None of the above
Ans. (b) Some legal measures were introduced to raise the status of women. For example Sati was declared illegal (1829). Infanticide was declared illegal. Widow remarriage was permitted by a law passed in 1856. Marriageable age of girls was raised to ten by a law passed in 1860. • A law passed in 1872, sanctioned inter-caste and intercommunal marriages. The other law passed in 1891, aimed at discouraging child marriage. • For preventing child marriage, the Sharda Act was passed in 1929.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
393. Which of the following pairs is correct?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi—”Swaraj is my birth right”
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru—”Truth and nonviolence are my God”
(c) Sardar Patel—”Dilli Chalo”
(d) Subhash Chandra Bose—”Give me blood, I will give you freedom”
Ans. (d) Correct Match (a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak—”Swaraj is my birth right” (b) Gandhi—”Truth and nonviolence are my God” (c) Subhash Chandra Bose —”Dilli Chalo” (d) Subhash Chandra Bose—”Give me blood, I will give you freedom”
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
394. The partition of Bengal was undertaken with the view of
(a) Suppressing the revolt arisen
(b) Satisfying the Hindus and the Muslims
(c) Meeting the demand by the Hindus and the Muslims for a separate State
(d) Dividing the Hindus of the West and the West Bengal and increasing Hindu-Muslim tensions
Ans. (d) The Partition of Bengal in 1905 was made on October 16, by then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. • The British could have instead separated the non- Bengali areas (Bihar and parts of Orissa) from the province. The actual motive was political and not administrative. For the first time, they used their divide and rule political game with great force.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
395. Which of the following pairs are correct?
1. The Indian Councils Act, 1909 — Provincial Autonomy
2. The Government of Act, 1919 — Introduction of India Dyarchy
3. The Government Act, 1935 — Proposal for a of India Federation of India
4. The Indian Act, 1947 — Provincial Independence Legislature
Select the correct answer from the codes given below :
(a) 1 and 4 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 2 and 4
Ans. (b) The Government of Act, 1919: The ministers, in charge of some portfolios in the provinces referred to transferred subjects like education, public health, and local self government etc, were to be responsible to the Council. But the important portfolios remained with the Governors. The system was called diarchy. • The Government Act, 1935: The Act provided for the establishment of an All India Federation to be based on the Union of the British Indian provinces and princely states. It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced ‘provincial autonomy’ in its place.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
396. Lord Wellesley greatly extended the British dominion in India through
(a) Doctrine of Lapse
(b) Subsidiary Alliance
(c) Partitioning of Indian States
(d) Annexing the princely States
Ans. (b) The Subsidiary Alliance system was used by Lord Wellesley, who was Governor-General from 1798- 1805 to outright conquest and the assumption of the territories of previously subordinated rulers. • Under the Subsidiary Alliance system, the ruler of the allying Indian state was compelled to accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
397. Match the columns:
A. “Freedom at Midnight” 1. Mahatma Gandhi
B. “Nineteen Eighty Four” 2. Sarojini Naidu
C. “My Experiments with 3. Larry Collins and Truth” Dominique Lapierre
D. “The Song of India” 4. George Orwell
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 3 4 2 1 (b) 4 1 2 3
(c) 3 4 1 2 (d) 4 1 3 2
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
398. Sepoy mutiny of 1857 failed due to the
(a) Lack of effective organisation
(b) Lack of unity of purpose
(c) Lack of unified system of leadership
(d) All of the above
Ans. (d) The revolt failed for many reasons. There was hardly any coordination among the forces fighting in different regions. • Except for the discontented and the dispossessed zamindars, the middle and the upper classes were mostly critical of the revolt. • The modern educated Indians did not support the Revolt as they believed that only British rule could reform Indian society and modernize it. • The Indian revolutionaries were short of modern weapons and other materials of war.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
399. Gandhiji started the Dandi March
(a) To demonstrate against the policies of British empire
(b) To break the salt law
(c) To boycott foreign goods
(d) None of the above
Ans. (b) Already Mentioned.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
@400. Assertion (A): The First War of Indian Independence started in 1857.
Reason (R): The soldiers refused to use the greased cartridges.
(a) if A and R both are correct and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) if A and R both are correct but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) if A is incorrect but R is correct
(d) if A is correct but R is incorrect
Ans. (b) Major political cause for the outbreak of the Revolt was the policy of annexation followed by Dalhousie. On application of the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ or on the ground of mis-governance he annexed states after states deploring their rulers. Satara, Jhansi, Sambalpur, Nagpur, etc. fill victim in his aggressive policy. All these states came under British rule. So (R) independently seems correct but not the prime reason of (A)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
401. The Swaraj Party was founded by Motilal Nehru in
(a) 1947 (b) 1952
(c) 1920 (d) 1929
Ans. (c) Already Mentioned
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1985]
402. Which of the following statements about Mahatma Gandhi is correct in connection with India’s independence?
(a) He was the happiest man
(b) He was a very disillusioned man
(c) He had full satisfaction about his achievements
(d) He was happy with the formation of Pakistan
Ans. (b) According to Rajaji, Gandhiji was a very great man. But according to him Gandhiji was also a disillusioned man because when everyone accepted partition he also accepted partition.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
403. Who was the leader of the Depressed Classes in the pre- lndependence period?
(a) Ram Manohar Lohia (b) B. R. Ambedkar
(c) Rajendra Prasad (d) Jagjivan Ram
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
404. Which of the following pairs is incorrect?
(a) Lal, Bal, Pal —Extremist Group
(b) Annie Besant —Home Rule movement
(c) Gandhi —Dandi March
(d) None of these
Ans. (d) All are Correct.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
405. In the 19th century the people who participated in the national movement were mostly
(a) Zamindars
(b) Rich people
(c) Educated middle class
(d) Poor people
Ans. (c) The birth of Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 marked the entry of new educated middle-class into politics and transformed the Indian political horizon. • Their emergence marked the beginning of the organised national movement in India. • With members of the group drawn from educated middle-class professionals including lawyers, teachers and government officials, many of them were educated in England. • They have become known as “Early Nationalists” because they believed in demanding reforms while adopting constitutional and peaceful means to achieve their aims.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
406. Write the correct chronological order of the following annexations by the Britishers:
1. Oudh 2. Punjab
3. Upper Burma
Select the correct answer from the codes given below :
(a) 3 2 1 (b) 1 2 3
(c) 1 3 2 (d) 2 1 3
Ans. (d) The Nawab was forced to vacate his throne under charges of misrule and mis administration and Dalhousie annexed Oudh in February 1856. • In the First Anglo-Sikh war (1845), the Punjab army was defeated and the Treaty of Lahore (1846) was signed and the State was placed under British protection. • On January 1, 1886, the territories of Burma were annexed in British India and on September 25, 1886, Lower Burma was annexed as province of British India under Sir Charles Bernard as the first chief commissioner.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
407. Swaraj Party was established to
(a) Share power in the Government
(b) Ask the British to leave India
(c) To enter the Councils and wreck the Government from within
(d) Ask the people to fight against the British
Ans. (c) The suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement led to a split within Congress in the Gaya session of the Congress in December 1922. • Leaders like Motilal Nehru and Chittranjan Das formed a separate group within the Congress known as the Swaraj Party on 1 January, 1923. • The Swarajists wanted to contest the council elections and wreck the government from within.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
408. What is most significant regarding partition of Bengal in 1905?
(a) The English undertook partition without consulting the local population
(b) The English established that they were strong people
(c) Muslims were separated from other people
(d) This paved the way for involvement of people in national movement
Ans. (d) The Congress took up the Swadeshi call at its Banaras session in 1905, presided over by G K Gokhale against Bengal Partition. • It supported the Swadeshi and the Boycott movements for Bengal. • These twin techniques led to heightening of political activities all over India. •
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
409. What was the objectives of Home Rule Movement?
(a) Self-government at all levels
(b) Eradication of evils like Sati in the Indian community
(c) Participation in Indian National Movement
(d) Boycott of foreign goods
Ans. (a) In 1914, Besant decided to launch Home Rule Movement on the basis of Home Rule League of Ireland. • The activities of the Home Rule Leagues consisted in organising discussion groups and reading rooms in cities, mass sale of pamphlets (these focused mainly on the system of government existing in India and the argument for self-rule), and lecture tours to popularise the demand for Home Rule.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
410. Who was the person behind conversion of East India Company from a trading company into a regional power?
(a) Lord Warren Hastings
(b) Lord Clive
(c) Lord Dalhousie
(d) Lord Wellesley
Ans. (b) After success in Battle of Plassey 1757 and Battle of Buxar 1764, Arriving at Calcutta in May 1765, Lord Clive succeeded in getting Mughal emperor Shah Alam II to recognize British holdings in India as well as obtained an imperial firman which gave the East India Company the right to collect revenue in Bengal. • This document effectively made it the ruler of the region and served as the basis for British power in India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
411. What is the correct chronological order of the following?
1. First Round Table Conference
2. Gandhi-Irwin Pact
3. Simon Commission
4. Cripps Mission
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 3 1 2 4 (b) 1 2 3 4
(c) 2 1 3 4 (d) 4 3 2 1
Ans. (a) First Round Table Conference: In response to the inadequacy of the Simon Report, the Labour Government, which had come to power under Ramsay MacDonald in 1929, 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. • Gandhi-Irwin Pact: The British Government realized that the Indian National Congress needed to be part of deciding the future of constitutional government in India. • Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, met with Gandhi to reach a compromise. • On 5 March 1931 they agreed the following to pave the way for the Congress’ participation in the second Round Table Conference: Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement, it would participate in the second Round Table Conference • Simon Commission: It was appointed in November 1927 by the British Conservative government under Stanley Baldwin to report on the working of the Indian constitution established by the Government of India Act of 1919. • Cripps Mission: As the World War-II came near India (Singapore fell on February 15, 1942, Rangoon on March 8, and the Andaman islands on March 23), the British at last felt obliged to make some gestures to win over Indian public opinion. • Thus in March, 1942 British Government sent Cripps Mission to secure full Indian co-operation for the war.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
412. Assertion (A): The revolt of 1857 failed.
Reason (R): It lacked adequate organization and military power.
(a) Both A and R are correct but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(b) A is correct but R is incorrect
(c) A is incorrect but R is correct
(d) Both A and R are correct and R is correct explanation of A
Ans. (d) Both A and R are correct and R is correct explanation of A
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
413. Who had founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784?
(a) Lord Clive
(b) Lord Warren Hastings
(c) Queen Victoria
(d) William Jones
Ans. (d) Asiatic Society of Bengal, scholarly society founded on Jan. 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies. • Until Jones’s death (1794) it was the vehicle for his ideas about the importance of Hindu culture and learning and about the vital role of Sanskrit in the Aryan languages.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
414. Assertion (A): In 1946 in Bombay the ratings of the Royal Indian Navy RIN rose in open mutiny against the British.
Reason (R): The Royal Indian Navy joined the INA
(a) A and R both are incorrect
(b) A is correct but R is incorrect
(c) A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A
(d) A and R are correct but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Ans. (b) On February 18, 1946, the ratings of the RIN in Bombay and Karachi openly revolted. However RIN formally never joined INA. INA lost its significance with the end of WW-II in 1945 itself.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
415. Assertion (A): Lal, Bal and Pal formed extremist group in the Indian National Congress.
Reason (R): They were revolutionary leaders
(a) A and R both are incorrect
(b) A is correct but R is incorrect
(c) A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A
(d) A and R are correct but R is not the correct explanation of A
Ans. (c) Punjab Kesri Lala Lajpat Rai , Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal were a triumvirate of hardcore nationalists in British ruled India from 1905 to 1918. • They advocated the self rule or Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of all imported items and the use of Indian made goods in 1907 during the anti- Partition agitation in Bengal which began in 1905.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1984]
416. Some persons who were close associates of Gandhiji died recently. They were
(a) Anandmayi Ma, Pyarelal, Vinoba Bhave
(b) Mira Behn, J.P. Narayan, Lord Mountbatten, Manibhai Desai
(c) J. B. Kripalani, Mahadev-Desai, Pyarelal
(d) Sarla Behn, J. B. Kripalani, Mira Behn
Ans. (a) Anandamayi Ma (30 April 1896 – 27 August 1982) of India (from Bengal) was regarded as a Self/Godrealized master. Sivananda Saraswati of the Divine Life Society described her as “the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced. • Vinayak Narahari ”Vinoba” Bhave (11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982) was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
417. Who represented India at the Chicago Conference of World Religions in 1893?
(a) Swami Vivekananda
(b) Swami Dayananda
(c) Swami Abhedananda
(d) Ramakrishna Paramhansa
Ans. (a) Swami Vivekananda born as Narendranath Datta was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa. • He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
418. The capital of India was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in the year
(a) 1905 (b) 1911
(c) 1912 (d) 1916
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
419. The theory of economic drain from India to England was propounded by
(a) Dadabhai Naoroji (b) R. C. Dutt
(c) G. Tilak (d) L. K. Jha
Ans. (a) The ‘Drain Theory’ was first developed by Dadabhai Naoroji in a series of speeches and writings subsequently published in 1901 in a volume entitled Poverty and un-British Rule in India.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
420. Indian National Congress was founded by
(a) W. C. Bannerjee (b) A. O. Hume
(c) Mahatma Gandhi (d) Annie Besant
Ans. (b) By 1885, the need for the formation of an all-India level political organisation had become an objective necessity. • In May 1885, Hume secured the Viceroy’s approval to create an Indian National Union, which would be affiliated with the government and act as a platform to voice Indian public opinion.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
421. Who can be called the father of local self-government in India?
(a) Lord Ripon (b) Lord Minto
(c) Lord Curzon (d) Lord Dufferin
Ans. (a) Lord Ripon (1880-84) was a staunch Liberal democrat with faith in self government. • Ripon believed that self-government is the highest and noblest principles of politics. • Therefore, Ripon helped the growth of local bodies like the Municipal Committees in towns and the local boards in taluks and villages. • The powers of municipalities were increased. • Their chairmen were to be non-officials. • They were entrusted the care of local amenities, sanitation, drainage and water-supply and also primary education. • District and taluk boards were created.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
422. The first great experiment of Gandhiji in ‘Satyagraha’ took place in
(a) Dandi (b) Champaran
(c) South Africa (d) Bardoli
Ans. (c) Gandhi developed his philosophy and the technique of Satyagraha as an instrument for redressing the grievances of the immigrant Indian minority in South Africa.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
423. The Indian national movement became organised for the first time in
(a) 1885 (b) 1857
(c) 1905-06 (d) 1916-17
Ans. (c) The Swadeshi Movement had its genesis in the antipartition movement which was started to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal. • The Government’s decision to partition Bengal had been made public in December 1903. • The moderates carried on with an intensive use of conventional methods down to the last day to prevent the partition of Bengal.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
424. The first among the following to establish trade links with India were
(a) Dutch (b) French
(c) Portuguese (d) English
Ans. (c) previously explained.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
425. After Chauri Chaura incident in which 22 policemen were killed, the result was that
(a) Gandhiji started his Dandi March
(b) Gandhiji called off the no tax campaign
(c) Gandhiji withdrew his movement of noncooperation
(d) Gandhiji went to-talk with the Viceroy, Lord Irwin
Ans. (c) On 5 February 1922, police station of Chaura, near Gorakhpur in UP was attacked by a mob of peasants. • The mob burnt the police station and in those nearly 22 policemen died. • On hearing the incident, Gandhi decided to suspend the Non cooperation movement.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
426. The demand for Pakistan was made by the Muslim League for the first time in
(a) 1938 (b) 1940
(c) 1941 (d) 1946
Ans. (b) Various factors fanned communal bitterness and at its annual session, held at Lahore in March 1940, the Muslim League enunciated the theory that the Muslims are not a minority but a ‘nation’ and they must have their separate homeland.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
427. Match the following :
A. Lord Dalhousie : 1. Prohibition of Sati
B. Lord William : 2.Local Self-Government Bentinck
C. Lord Ripon : 3. Division of Bengal
D. Lord Curzon : 4. Doctrine of Lapse
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 4 1 2 3 (b) 4 2 1 3
(c) 1 2 3 4 (d) 3 1 2 4
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
428. The wrongly matched pair among the following is
(a) Gandhiji —Dandi March
(b) Mohammed Ali Jinnah —Khilafat movement
(c) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan —Aligarh
(d) Subhash Chandra Bose —Forward Bloc
Ans. (b) Mohammad Ali and his brother Maulana Shaukat Ali joined with other Muslim leaders such led the Khilafat Movement and not by Mohammad Ali Jinah.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
429. Which of the following events is not correctly matched?
(a) Liberation of Goa — 1961
(b) Death of Jawaharlal Nehru — 1966
(c) Indo-China War — 1962
(d) First General Elections — 1951-52
Ans. (b) Nehru served as the first Prime Minister of India from 1947 until May 27, 1964, the day he died.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
430. Match the following correctly :
A. Ramakrishna Mission 1. Swami Dayanand Saraswati
B. Arya Samaj 2. Raja Rammohan Roy
C. Brahmo Samaj 3. Keshab Chandra Sen
D. Prarthana Samaj 4. Swami Vivekananda
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
A B C D
(a) 1 2 3 4 (b) 3 4 1 2
(c) 2 3 1 4 (d) 4 1 2 3
Ans. (d) Ramakrishna Mission : Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1836-1886), a priest at a temple in Dakshineshwar near Calcutta, emphasized that there were many roads to God and salvation and that service of man was service of God, for man was the embodiment of God. • Arya Samaj : is an Indian religious movement that promotes values and practices based on the infallibility of the Vedas. • The sect was founded by Swami Dayananda, a sanyari, on 7 April 1875. • • Brahmo Samaj: Rammohan Roy, regarded as modern India’s first great leader, was the central figure in this awakening. • The Atmiya Sabha Roy’s first organisation, founded in Calcutta in 1815, eventually took the shape of Brahmo Samaj in 1828, based on the essential principle of monotheism. • • Prarthana Samaj: Prarthana Samaj was founded by Atmaram Panduranga(with the help of Keshav Chandra Sen) in 1867 with an aim to make people believe in one God and worship only one God. •
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
431. The following are the events in national movement
1. Champaran Satyagraha
2. Non-Cooperation Movement
3. Quit India Movement
4. Dandi March
The correct chronological order is
(a) 1, 2, 4, 3 (b) 2, 1, 3, 4
(c) 3, 2, 1, 4 (d) 2, 3, 1, 4
Ans. (a) The Champaran peasant movement was launched in 1917-18. • Its objective was to create awakening among the peasants against the European planters. Non- Cooperation movement: • In 1920–22, organized by Mahatma Gandhi, to induce the British government of India to grant selfgovernment, or swaraj, to India. Dandi March: • The Salt Satyagraha started on March 12, 1930, with the undertaking of the Dandi March. • The triggering factor for this movement was the British monopoly of salt trade in India and the imposition of a salt tax. Quit India Movement : • The famous Quit India resolution was passed in the Bombay session of AICC on August 8, 1942, followed by the call for a ‘mass struggle on the non-violent lines on the widest possible scale’ under Gandhi’s leadership.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
432. Arrange the following in chronological order
1. Home Rule League
2. Swadeshi Movement
3. Bardoli Movement
4. Round Table Conference
The correct chronological order is
(a) 1, 2, 3, 4 (b) 2, 1, 3, 4
(c) 3, 1, 4, 2 (d) 4, 2, 1, 3
Ans. (b) Home Rule Leauge: Annie Besant came to India in 1893 to work for the Theosophical Society. • In 1914, she decided to enlarge her activities to include the building of a movement for Home Rule in India on lines of Irish Home Rule League. • . • Swadeshi Movement: The Swadeshi Movement had its genesis in the anti-partition movement which was stated to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal • Bardoli Movement: The Bardoli satyagraha was launched in mid-February 1928. • In Bardoli in Surat district of Gujarat, Vallabh Bhai Patel undertook to organise a no rent campaign. • It was peaceful and carried out in a determined manner. • • Round Table Conference: Round Table Conference, (1930–32), in Indian history was a series of meetings in three sessions called by the British government to consider the future constitution of India. •
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
433. Which of the following is/are correct ?
Newspaper : Publisher/Editor
A. Leader : Annie Besant
B. Yugantar : C. Y. Chintamani
C. Young India : Aurobindo Ghosh
Codes :
(a) A is correct (b) B and C are correct
(c) A and C are correct (d) None is correct
Ans. (d) The Leader: It was one of the most influential English-language newspapers in India during British Raj. • Founded by Madan Mohan Malviya, the paper was published in Allahabad. • Yugantor : Was a Bengali revolutionary newspaper founded in 1906 in Calcutta by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Abhinash Bhattacharya and Bhupendranath Dutt. • • Young India: It was a weekly paper or journal in English published by Mahatma Gandhi from 1919 to 1932. •
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
434. Who gave the ‘Communal Award’ in India?
(a) C. R. Attlee (b) Ramsay Macdonald
(c) Stafford Cripps (d) None of the above
Ans. (b) The Communal Award was given by the then British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald on 16 August 1932. • This was yet another expression of British policy of divide and rule. • The depressed classes were assigned a number of seats to be filled by election from special constituencies in which voters belonging to the depressed classes could only vote. • Gandhi saw the Communal Award as an attack on Indian unity and nationalism. • And to press for his demands, he went on an indefinite fast on September 20, 1932. • Signed by B.R. Ambedkar on behalf of the depressed classes in September 1932, the Poona Pact abandoned separate electorates for the depressed classes.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
435. The first session of Indian National Congress in 1885 was held at
(a) Bombay (b) Calcutta
(c) Lahore (d) Lucknow
Ans. (a) The INC met for the first time on December 28, 1885 in the hall of the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay. • W. C. Bannerji, an eminent Bengali lawyer, was elected its first president. • It was attended by 72 delegates.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
436. Which of the following was mainly responsible for the transfer of power by the British to India on August 15, 1947?
(a) Cabinet Mission Plan
(b) Attlee Declaration
(c) Simon Commission Plan
(d) Mountbatten Declaration
Ans. (d) The date for British withdrawal was fixed as June 30, 1948 and appointed Lord Mountbatten as the new Viceroy. • Mountbatten went on to formulate an alternative with the appropriate code name of Plan Balkan. • This envisaged transfer of power to separate provinces (or to confederations, if formed before the transfer), with the Bengal and the Punjab Assemblies being given the option to vote for partition of their provinces.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
437. Quit India Movement was launched in
(a) 1936 (b) 1941
(c) 1942 (d) 1947
Ans. (c) The famous Quit India resolution was passed in the Bombay session of AICC on August 8, 1942, followed by the call for a ‘mass struggle on the non-violent lines on the widest possible scale’ under Gandhi’s leadership.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
438. Assertion: Great Britain gave India her independence on August 15, 1947
Reason: Great Britain became weak after her involvement in World War II.
(a) Both A and R are true but R is not the reason for A
(b) Both A and R are true but R is the reason for A
(c) Neither A nor R is correct
(d) A is correct but R is wrong
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
439. Which of the following events is not correct?
(a) Simon Commission—1927
(b) Salt Satyagraha—1930
(c) Gandhi-lrwin Pact—1931
(d) Quit India Movement—1941
Ans. (d) The famous Quit India resolution was passed in the Bombay session of AICC on August 8, 1942, followed by the call for a ‘mass struggle on the non-violent lines on the widest possible scale’ under Gandhi’s leadership.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1983]
440. The personality who is not connected with 1857 mutiny is
(a) Bhagat Singh (b) Lakshmibai
(c) Tantia Tope (d) Nana Saheb
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
441. Who among the following founded Ramakrishna Mission?
(a) Swami Dayanand Saraswati
(b) Raja Rammohan Roy
(c) Swami Vivekananda
(d) None of these
Ans. (c) Ramakrishan Paramhansa (1836-1886), a priest at a temple in Dakshineshwar near Calcutta, emphasized that there were many roads to God and salvation and that service of man was service of God, for man was the embodiment of God. • His great disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), popularised his religious message.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
442. “Once again India leads the world” are the words of
(a) S. N. Bannerjee
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(d) None of these
Ans. (d) “Once again India leads the world” are the words not said by any of the above mention name.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
443. Dandi March was organised by Gandhiji to
(a) Break the salt laws
(b) Protest against atrocities on Harijans
(c) Oppose Simon Commission
(d) Ask for Purna Swaraj
Ans. (a) Civil Disobedience started by Gandhiji and he initiated his campaign by breaking the salt laws. Gandhi started the Dandi March (March 12—April 6) from Sabarmati Ashram to the sea coast.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
444. Who among the following was not a moderate?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi (b) W. C. Bannerjee
(c) G. K. Gokhale (d) B. G. Tilak
Ans. (d)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
445. Civil Disobedience Movement was started in India in 1930 for
(a) Home rule
(b) Purna Swaraj
(c) Non-cooperation with British government
(d) Hindu-Muslim unity
Ans. (b) Congress session was held at Lahore in 1929 where the Congress demanded Poorna Swaraj”. • Here, Gandhiji protested against the Salt Law (salt was a monopoly of the government and no one was allowed to make salt) by making salt himself and throwing up a challenge to the British government. • The Dandi March signified the start of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
446. Non-Cooperation Movement was called off by Gandhiji because
(a) Of Chauri Chaura incident
(b) Government accepted the demands of Indian leaders
(c) Of repressive measures adopted by the government
(d) None of these
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
447. Raja Rammohan Roy was supporter of
(a) Sati (b) Widow re-marriage
(c) Child marriage (d) Learning of Sanskrit
Ans. (b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned for rights for women, including the right for widows to remarry, and the right for women to hold property. • He actively opposed Sati system and the practice of polygamy. • He also supported education, particularly education of women.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
448. Doctrine of Lapse was adopted as a measure to annex Indian states by
(a) Lord Cornwallis (b) Lord Clive
(c) Lord Dalhousie (d) Lord Wellesley
Ans. (c) Determined to extend direct British control over larger areas, Lord Dalhousie governor-general of India (1848–56), came up with the Doctrine of Lapse. • Under this, if the ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir, his state would not pass on to an adopted heir but would be annexed to the British dominions unless the adoption had been clearly approved by the British authorities. • Many states, including Satara in 1848, and Nagpur and Jhansi in 1854, were annexed under this doctrine.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1982]
449. Who was the Viceroy when Attlee declared India’s Independence?
(a) Lord Wavell
(b) Lord Mountbatten
(c) Lord William Bentinck
(d) Lord Cornwallis
Ans. (b) The date for British withdrawal was fixed as June 30, 1948 and appointed Lord Mountbatten as the new Viceroy. • He mainly administered the British withdrawal from India with minimal reputation damage and the transition from British India to independent states of India and Pakistan.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
@450. What is the correct order of happenings of the following three events in the British rule in India?
1. Rowlatt Act
2. Hunter Report
3. Jallianwalla Bagh Tragedy
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1, 3, 2
(b) 2, 1, 3
(c) 3, 2, 1
(d) 2, 3, 1
Ans. (a) Rowlatt Act: The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a legislative act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on March 18, 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without trial and judicial review enacted in the Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War. • Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy: The Rowlatt Act came into effect in March 1919. • Hunter Commission: The Government, at the instigation of the nationalist leadership, appointed the Committee of Enquiry (consisting of four British and three Indian members) under the Chairmanship of Lord Hunter.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
451. Who said these words at the time of Quit India Movement—’Do or die’?
(a) Motilal Nehru
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Sardar Patel
(d) Subhash Chandra Bose
Ans. (b) The famous Quit India resolution was passed in the Bombay session of AICC on August 8, 1942, followed by the call for a ‘mass struggle on the non-violent lines on the widest possible scale’ under Gandhi’s leadership. • A significant clause of the resolution was that if the Congress leadership gets removed by arrest, ‘every Indian who desires freedom and strives for it must be his own guide’. • The same day, Gandhi made his famous ‘Do or die’ speech, stating ‘we shall either be free India or die in the attempt’.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
452. Under whose leadership, the Indian National Army was formed?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Subhash Chandra Bose
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Ans. (b) The Indian National Army (INA) or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
453. The Indian National Movement refers to the
(a) Movement started by Subhash Chandra Bose through I.N.A.
(b) Struggle by the Indians to gain freedom from British colonial rule in India
(c) Struggle by Indians to gain dominion status under British rule
(d) Struggle by Indians to stop British trade in India
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
454. Why did Gandhiji stop the Non- Cooperation Movement?
(a) Because of Gandhi-lrwin Pact
(b) Because the mob turned violent
(c) Because he was ordered to do so by the Britishers
(d) Because he did not like to continue the movement
Ans. (b) On 5 February 1922, police station of Chaura, near Gorakhpur in UP was attacked by a mob of peasants. • The mob burnt the police station and nearly 22 policemen died. • On hearing the incident, Gandhi decided to suspend the entire movement. • Thus, on February 12, 1922, the Non-cooperation Movement came to an end.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
455. Purna Swaraj Day was observed on
(a) 26th November, 1947 (b) 26th October, 1949
(c) 26th January, 1950 (d) 26th January, 1930
Ans. (d) The Lahore Congress under Jwaharlal’s presidentship (he succeeded Motilal Nehru as the President) at last adopted the creed of Purna Swaraj instead of a Dominion Status. • January 26 was fixed as the first Independence day, which was to be so celebrated everywhere, with people taking the pledge that ‘it was a crime against man and God to submit any longer to British rule.’
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
456. Which of the following represents the integration of Hindus and Muslims for a common cause?
(a) Khilafat Movement
(b) Quit India Movement
(c) Civil Disobedience Movement
(d) None of the above
Ans. (a) The Indian Muslims were aggravated, that their apprehensions about a harsh peace treaty to be imposed on the defeated Ottoman Empire were fast becoming a reality. • The Khilafat Movement gained momentum after WW-I. • Khilafat leaders were extremely eager for a Hindu- Muslim unity, as they were edging towards a noncooperation movement to protest against the government behaviour. • Gandhi was the indispensable link. • Gandhiji, therefore, started his non-cooperation movement in August 1920, in which he appealed to the people not to cooperate with the British government.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
457. Which of the following periods can be considered as the era of mass revolution?
(a) 1856-1885 A.D. (b) 1757-1857 A.D.
(c) 1920-1947 A.D. (d) 1901-1919 A.D.
Ans. (c) Gandhi led the Non-cooperation movement of 1920- 21, Civil disobedience movement of 1930, Quit India movement of 1942 against the colonial authority. • These were the periods when Gandhi led mass movements.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
458. Whom did Gandhiji consider his political Guru?
(a) Vinoba Bhave
(b) B. G. Tilak
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(d) Dadabhai Naoroji
Ans. (c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale was one of the founding social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. • Gokhale was famously a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi in his formative years. • In 1912, Gokhale visited South Africa at Gandhi’s invitation. • In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
459. Who among the following were associated with the birth of Swarajya Party?
(a) C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru
(b) C. R. Das and Sardar Patel
(c) Motilal Nehru and Rajendra Prasad
(d) None of the above
Ans. (a) In the Gaya session of Congress in 1922; CR Das resigned from the presidentship of the Congress and along with Moti Lal Nehru, N C Kelkar launched their own political outfit called “Congress Khilafat Swarajya Party” or simply the “Swarajya Party”.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
460. The Indian patriot, who died in jail due to hunger strike, was
(a) S. C. Bose (b) Bhagat Singh
(c) Jatin Das (d) Bipin Chandra Pal
Ans. (c) Jatindra Nath Das was an Indian independence activist and revolutionary. • On 14 June 1929 he was arrested for revolutionary activities and was imprisoned in Lahore jail to be tried under the supplementary Lahore Conspiracy Case. • In Lahore jail, Das began a hunger strike along with other revolutionary fighters, demanding equality for Indian political prisoners with those from Europe.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
461. Who among the following was responsible for the revival of Hinduism in the 19th century?
(a) Swami Dayanand
(b) Swami Vivekanand
(c) Guru Shankaracharya
(d) Raja Rammohan Roy
Ans. (a) Dayanand Saraswati was a reformer and believed in pragmatism. • He preached against many rituals of the Hindu religion such as idol-worship, caste by birth, animal sacrifices and restrictions of women from reading Vedas. • He tried to project Hinduism as a ‘religion of the book’, like Christianity and Islam.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1981]
462. The year 1919 is associated with
(a) Dandi March by Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy
(c) Chauri Chaura Incident
(d) Partition of Bengal
Ans. (b) On 13th April, the Baisakhi day (harvest festival), a public meeting was organized at the Jallianwala Bagh (garden) against Rowlatt act. • Dyer marched in and without any warning opened fire on the crowd.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
463. Who introduced the ‘Civil Services’ in India?
(a) Lord Dalhousie (b) Lord Curzon
(c) Lord Wellesley (d) Lord Cornwallis
Ans. (d) Lord Cornwallis inaugurated the policy of making appointments mainly on the basis of merit thereby laying the foundation of the Indian Civil Service.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
464. Who was the founder of the Servants of India Society?
(a) G. K. Gokhale (b) K. M. Roy
(c) M. K. Gandhi (d) B. G. Tilak
Ans. (a) Servants of India Society was founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1905 to unite and train Indians of different ethnicities and religions in welfare work.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
465. Gandhiji opposed the untouchability and he wanted
(a) The Harijans to revolt against it
(b) The people of India to give treatment of equality to the untouchables
(c) Untouchability to be declared a crime under law
(d) A social revolution to create a society based on equality
Ans. (b) Gandhiji was against any social revolution or any revolt as he was strictly against voilence so option a and d are wrong. He considered untouchability a social issue and hence option c can be eliminated.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
466. Why did India industrialise only gradually in the time of Britishers?
(a) Capitalists helped to set up new industries
(b) Many technicians came from different parts of the world to set up new industries
(c) Britishers seized and handicapped Indian cottage industries
(d) People were fond of new machine made goods
Ans. (c) The invention of the power loom in Europe brought about the ruin of the Indian textile industry. • The Indian domestic and cottage handicrafts could not possibly have withstood foreign competition which was backed by a powerful industrial organisation, big machinery, large-scale production and complex division of labour.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
467. Which of the following is not a tenet of Gandhian Socialism?
(a) Social justice
(b) Concern for the poor but not hatred for the rich
(c) Equality of opportunities of all
(d) Nationalisation of all means of production and distribution
Ans. (d) Gandhiji was not in favour of communism like that of Russia and hence obviously not advocated Nationalisation of all means of production and distribution which was an essentioal feature of Communism.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
468. Which of the following was the main feature of the policy of Dual Government of British rulers in India?
(a) The English collected the revenues with the help of Indian Officials and they became virtually the head of the civil and military administration
(b) The general administrative body consisted of two categories of rulers
(c) Main items of administration were in the hands of local kings and rest were in the hands of British rulers
(d) Some portions of land were ruled by the local kings and rest by the British rulers
Ans. (a) During Dual System, Nawab-ud-Daulla and Saif-ud- Daulla were the Nawabs of Bengal. • Following the Treaty of Allahabad (1765), Robert Clive set up the infamous dual system of administration in Bengal. Under this dual system of governance, the British administration acquired both the functions of the Diwani or revenue and Nizamat or civil administration of Bengal from 2 distinct sources, Diwani (Fiscal) from the Mughal emperor and Nizamat (police, justice etc) from the Nawab of Bengal. [The Diwani was concerned with revenue and civil justice and the Nizamat with police and criminal justice.]
.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
469. Which important event immediately preceded Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
(a) Rowlatt Act enactment
(b) Communal award
(c) Coming of Simon Commission
(d) Quit India Movement
Ans. (a) In continuation of its carrot and stick policy, the government passed the Rowlatt Act in early 1919 in spite stifle opposition from all the Indian members of the Legislative Council. • It authorised the Government, through a system of special courts, to detain anyone without trial for a maximum period of two years. • While all the sections of Indian opinion deeply resented the Act, it was Gandhi ji who suggested a concrete form of a mass protest his first at an all Indian level.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
470. The basic education advocated by Gandhiji in Wardha Congress is related with
(a) Compulsory elementary education
(b) Social relevance of education to society
(c) Demand of separate institutions for minorities
(d) Compulsory military training for every student
Ans. (b) Gandhiji was agianst any separtist idea in society (option c wrong). Gandhiji was a strict follower of Non Voilence so he could not suggest Compulsory military training (option d wrong). Option b is more relevent as Gandhian Ideas on Education.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
471. Who started Bhoodan Movement in India?
(a) Gandhiji (b) Jayaprakash Narayan
(c) Vinoba Bhave (d) Jawaharlal Nehru
Ans. (c) The Bhoodan Movement was a voluntary land reform movement in India, started by Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village in Telangana which is now known as Bhoodan Pochampally.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
472. Non-Cooperation Movement was suspended in 1921 because
(a) Violence broke out at Chauri Chaura
(b) Gandhiji was arrested for five years
(c) Government accepted the demands of Indian leaders
(d) People were not supporting this movement
Ans. (a) On 5 February 1922, police station of Chaura, near Gorakhpur in UP was attacked by a mob of peasants. • The mob burnt the police station and in those nearly 22 policemen died. On hearing the incident, Gandhi decided to suspend the entire movement. • Thus, on February 12, 1922, the Non-cooperation Movement came to an end.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
473. According to Gandhiji non-violence is
(a) A way to attain truth
(b) A way to win political freedom
(c) The only way to realise God
(d) An end in itself
Ans. (a) Gandhi’s non-violence was a well worked out philosophy. • According to him, resort to violence to enforce one’s own understanding of truth (nobody attains the ultimate truth) was sinful. • To him, violence was the opposite of truth.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
474. Gandhiji was of the view that
(a) All old traditions should be followed
(b) All old traditions should be discarded
(c) Only scientifically based traditions should be followed
(d) Those traditions should not be followed which are against our moral values
Ans. (d) Statement 1 & 2 are incorrect: absolute & extreme statement as indicated by word ‘All’ old traditions, hense obviouly illogical. Statement 3 is highly selective in favour of science and hence does not resonant with gandhian socio-ecnomic ideas.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
475. What is true of Indian National Congress during World II?
(a) It demanded for its co-operation with the British that a provincial national government may be set up at the centre
(b) It extended full support to the Indian National Army to oust the British from India
(c) It decided to extend full support to the allied nations
(d) It worked for the defeat of the allied nations
Ans. (a) World War II broke out on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. • A promise of a post-war Constituent Assembly to determine the political structure of a free India, and the immediate formation of a genuinely responsible government at the Centre. • These conditions, the Congress said, were essential if Indian opinion had to be really mobilized in favour of the war which the allied propaganda had projected as the one between democracy and the principle of self-determination of nations against tyranny and aggression.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
476. The DYARCHY as introduced by the Government of India Act, 1919 postulated which of the following?
(a) A system of dual government in Bengal
(b) Backward classes were entitled to vote
(c) A few subjects were transferred to the Provincial Ministries and the rest retained by the Executive Council
(d) Hindus and Muslims could vote separately
Ans. (c) In July 1918, the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms were announced. • The ministers, in charge of some portfolios in the provinces referred to transferred subjects like education, public health, and local self government etc, were to be responsible to the Council. • But the important portfolios remained with the governors (reserved subjects). • The system was called dyarchy.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1980]
477. Who said first : “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it”.
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (b) M.K. Gandhi
(c) Lala Lajpat Rai (d) Sardar Patel
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
478. First Europeans, who started trade with India, were
(a) The Portuguese (b) The British
(c) The French (d) The Dutch
Ans. (a) The Portuguese were the first European community to discover a direct sea route to India. • On 20th May, 1498, a Portuguese sailor named Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut, an important sea port of South-West India. • He was cordially received by King Zamorin, the local ruler, and was offered certain privileges. • In 1501, Vasco da Gama came back to India for the second time. • He set up a trading factory at Cannanore.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
479. “India Wins Freedom” was written by
(a) Rajendra Prasad
(b) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
(c) R.N. Tagore
(d) J.L. Nehru
Ans. (b)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
480. The cause for the immediate precipitation of the Sepoy Mutiny was
(a) Use of cartridges greased with cow fat
(b) Doctrine of Lapse
(c) The disparity between salaries of Native Sepoys and the British Soldiers
(d) The Spread of Christianity
Ans. (a) The East India Company upgraded to the new Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle, which used greased paper cartridges. • In order to open the cartridges and load the rifles, sepoys had to bite into the paper and tear it with their teeth. • Rumors spread in 1856 that the grease on the cartridges was made of a mixture of beef tallow and pork lard; eating cows, of course, is forbidden in Hinduism, while consumption of pork is haram in Islam. • The violence started on May 10, 1857 in Meerut, when Mangal Pandey, a soldier in the Army shot his commander for forcing the Indian troops to use the controversial rifles.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
481. The Home Rule movement was launched by
(a) Annie Besant (b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(c) Mahatma Gandhi (d) Lala Lajpat Rai
Ans. (a) Annie Besant came to India in 1893 to work for the Theosophical Society. • In 1914, she decided to enlarge her activities to include the building of a movement for Home Rule in India on lines of Irish Home Rule League. • Tilak’s League was set up in April 1916 and was restricted to Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka, Central Provinces and Berar.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
482. Gandhiji’s “Champaran Movement” was for
(a) The security of rights of Harijans
(b) Civil disobedience movement
(c) Maintaining the unity of Hindu society
(d) Solving the problem of the Indigo workers
Ans. (d) The peasants of the Champaran and other areas of North Bihar were growing the Indigo under the tinakathia system. • Under the tinakathia system the peasants were bound to plant 3 out of 20 parts of their land with indigo for their landlord. • This was the root cause of the trouble. • They had to lease this part in return to
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
483. Gandhiji started Dandi March in 1930
(a) Against imposition of salt tax laws
(b) Against the announcement of communal award
(c) Against atrocities committed on Harijans
(d) Against all of the above
Ans. (a) The Salt Satyagraha started on March 12, 1930, with the undertaking of the Dandi March. • The triggering factor for this movement was the British monopoly of salt trade in India and the imposition of a salt tax.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
484. “Khilafat” movement subsided because of the
(a) Concessions given to Muslims by the British
(b) Amity achieved between Congress and Muslim League
(c) Accession of Kamal Pasha on the throne of Turkey
(d) None of the above
Ans. (c) During the War, Turkey had allied with Germany and Austria against the British. • When the War ended, the British took a stern attitude towards Turkey; • Turkey was dismembered and the Khalifa removed from power. • Turkish nationalists dealt the final blow to the Khilafat movement by abolishing the Ottoman sultanate in 1922 after Accession of Kamal Pasha on the throne of Turkey, and the caliphate in 1924.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
485. Who commented “the Cripps Mission was a postdated cheque on a crashing bank”?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Subhash Chandra Bose
(d) Sardar Patel
Ans. (a) In March 1942, a mission headed by Stafford Cripps was sent to India with constitutional proposals to seek Indian support for the war. 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.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
486. The Lucknow Congress Session of 1916 refers to
(a) Concession of separate electorates for the Muslims by the Congress Party
(b) Merger of Muslim League into Congress
(c) Selection of Muslim leader as the Congress President
(d) None of the above
Ans. (a) The Congress agreed to separate electorates for Muslims in electing representatives to the Imperial and Provincial Legislative Councils. Although the Muslims were given this right in the Indian Council Act of 1909, the Indian National Congress opposed it.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
487. The aim of the Cripps Mission to India was to
(a) Appease the Indian public opinion
(b) Appease the American people
(c) Decentralise the power to States
(d) None of the above
Ans. (a) 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 II.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
488. The Interim Government at the Centre after independence was formed
(a) After the visit of Cripps Mission
(b) Before the visit of Cripps Mission
(c) After Mountbatten submitted his plan
(d) Before the visit of the Cabinet Mission
Ans. (a) The interim government of India, formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly of India, had the task of assisting the transition of India and Pakistan from British rule to independence.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
489. Rabindranath Tagore surrendered his title to the British because of
(a) Civil Disobedience Movement
(b) Non-Cooperation Movement
(c) Jallianwalah Bagh massacre
(d) Partition of Bengal
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
490. Who led the extremists before the arrival of Gandhiji on the political scene for freedom struggle?
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(b) Dadabhai Naoroji
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(d) Subhash Bose
Ans. (a) Dadabhai Naoroji And Gopal Krishna Gokhale belong to moderates and not extremist leaders. While Subhash Bose entered into struggle only after Gandhian entry. • Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a social reformer and freedom fighter. • His movement was based on the principles of Swadeshi (Indigenous), Boycott and Education. • Tilak formed the extremist wing of Indian National Congress Party. • Tilak was well supported by fellow nationalists Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. • The trio was referred to as the Lal-Bal-Pal.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
491. Who was the Prime Minister of U.K. at the time of India’s Independence?
(a) Lord Attlee (b) Winston Churchill
(c) Lord Mountbatten (d) Harold Wilson
Ans. (a) The Labour Party came to power in the United Kingdom after its unexpected victory in the July 1945 general elections. • Party leader Clement Attlee became Prime Minister replacing Winston Churchill.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
492. Indian National Congress took the stand during Second World War that
(a) It would support axis powers
(b) It would support allied powers
(c) It would cooperate with the British if India is promised dominion status after the war
(d) It would cooperate with the British if India is granted complete Independence
Ans. (d) World War II broke out on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. • A promise of a post-war Constituent Assembly to determine the political structure of a free India, and the immediate formation of a genuinely responsible government at the Centre. • These conditions, the Congress said, were essential if Indian opinion had to be really mobilized in favour of the war
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
493. The French supremacy in India came to an end with the
(a) Battle of Wandiwash (b) Battle of Plassey
(c) Battle of Buxar (d) Battle of Panipat
Ans. (a) The Battle of Wandiwash was fought between Anglo- French forces in 1760 to gain control over the Vandavasi fort. • It was the decisive battle in the Anglo-French struggle in southern India during the Seven Years’ War (1756– 63).
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
494. Which of the following was not the outcome of Jallianwalah Bagh massacre?
(a) Suspension of Gen. Dyer
(b) Change in Gandhiji’s outlook towards Britishers
(c) Temporary peace in Punjab
(d) Renunciation of British titles and positions by many Indians
Ans. (c) Obviously answer is option c.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
495. “Inquilab Zindabad” slogan was given by
(a) Chandra Shekhar Azad
(b) Subhash Chandra Bose
(c) Bhagat Singh
(d) Iqbal
Ans. (c) Inquilab Zindabad is an Urdu phrase which translates to “Long Live the Revolution ” • Its first use by a revolutionary was in 1929 when Bhagat Singh shouted it after bombing the Central Assembly in Delhi.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
496. Who evolved the national consciousness as a formal concept?
(a) B.G. Tilak
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Surendranath Bannerjee
Ans. (d) Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian National Association with Anandamohan Bose, one of the earliest Indian political organizations of its kind, on 26 July 1876. • The Bengalee, a daily newspaper founded by S N Bannerji, became its chief organ. • The very first issue it took up was the raising of the age limit for ICS examination, so as to improve the prospects of the Indian candidates. • During 1883-84, it organised popular demonstrations of the peasants to get the Rent Bill changed in favour of the tenants. • The Indian Association organised an all India campaign in favour of the Ilbert Bill (1883) of Lord Ripon, the Venacular Press Act (1878), the Arms Act (1878)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
497. “Red Shirts” movement aimed at
(a) To throw out Britishers from India
(b) To promote Communist organizational activities
(c) To promote trade union activities
(d) All of the above
Ans. (a) In Peshawar, capital of the North-West Frontier Province, Abdul Ghaffar Khan had started educational and social reform work. In May 1928, he organised a volunteer brigade, Khudai Khidmatgar, having red shirts as uniform for the Pathan regional nationalist unity and a struggle against Colonialism. Its aim was to throw out Britishers from India
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
498. Who participated the least in the Indian National Movement?
(a) Capitalists
(b) Landlords and Merchants
(c) Princes of States
(d) Government officials
Ans. (c). • There were 562 states ruled by Indian princes. • Even though Indian states were not annexed, they were subordinated to the British Government and almost act as allies directly or indirectly.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
499. Why could British only succeed in trade and commerce in India?
(a) Because of government backing
(b) Quality of merchandise
(c) Naval superiority
(d) All of the above
Ans. (c)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
@500. Swadeshi movement started during
(a) Anti-Bengal partition movement
(b) Non-Cooperation Movement
(c) Civil Disobedience Movement
(d) None of the above
Ans. (a) The Swadeshi Movement had its genesis in the antipartition movement which was stated to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal. • Their objective was to exert sufficient pressure on the Government through an educated public opinion in India and England to prevent the unjust partition of Bengal from being implemented.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
501. The Prime Minister of Interim Government of India after Independence was
(a) Gandhi (b) Nehru
(c) Jinnah (d) Rajgopalachari
Ans. (b) Jawaharlal Nehru took charge as the first Prime Minister of India on 15 August 1947, and chose 15 other members for his cabinet. •
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
502. Swaraj Party was founded by
(a) Motilal Nehru (b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) B.G. Tilak (d) C. Rajagopalachari
Ans. (a)
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
503. Aim of Swaraj Party was to
(a) Enter the Legislative Councils by contesting elections in order to wreck the legislatures from within
(b) Boycott the foreign goods
(c) Launch a non-cooperation movement against the British
(d) Adopt Swadeshi in piece goods on a vast scale
Ans. (a) The suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement led to a split within Congress in the Gaya session of the Congress in December 1922. • Leaders like Motilal Nehru and Chittranjan Das formed a separate group within the Congress known as the Swaraj Party on 1 January 1923. The Swarajists wanted to contest the council elections and wreck the government from within.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]
504. Which party was in power in U.K. when India became independent?
(a) Labour (b) Conservative
(c) Liberal (d) None of these
Ans. (a) The Labour Party came to power in the United Kingdom after its unexpected victory in the July 1945 general elections. • Party leader Clement Attlee became Prime Minister replacing Winston Churchill.
UPSC Previous Year Paper [1979]