UPSC Prelims MOCK Test 2026 Modern History

1.In the context of freedom struggle, the Post

War Economic Development Committee in

1942 was set up by

(a) Indian Capitalists

(b) Communist Party

(d) British Indian Government

Answer-A

• The capitalists such as G.L. Mehta who was the president of FICCI, argued in 1943, that ‘consistent programme of reforms’ was the most effective remedy against social upheavals.’ It was with this reform perspective that the ‘Post War Economic Development Committee,’ set up by the capitalists in 1942, which eventually drafted the Bombay Plan, was to function.

• Its attempt was to incorporate ‘whatever is sound and feasible in the socialist movement’ and see ‘how far

socialist demands could be accommodated without capitalism surrendering any of its essential features.’

• The Bombay Plan, therefore, seriously took up the question of rapid economic growth and equitable

distribution, even arguing for the necessity of partial nationalization, the public sector, land reform and a

series of workers’ welfare schemes.

• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

2.The Lottery Committee of 1817 was commissioned with the help of the British Government for the purpose of raising funds for town planning in

(a) Madras

(b) Bombay

(d) Delhi

Answer-C

•Calcutta being the first capital of British India, was thick in the process of development. After the Battle of Plassey with the laying out of Maidan around Fort William, the British entrenched themselves with the local administration.

• Having been elevated from merchants to rulers, their immediate concern was to provide wide roads for easy movement of their army, the establishment of commercial interests wherever possible and attend to the urgent needs of fire control and prevention of epidemics in their seat of power i.e. Calcutta.

• With these goals in mind, Governor-General Lord Wellesley (1798-1805) began the planning process with his prescriptive ‘Minute on Calcutta' in 1803 which led to the setting up of the Lottery Committee in 1817 — so-called because funds for city development were raised through public lotteries.

• The Lottery Committee (1817) assisted the government in the task of town planning in Calcutta.

•The committee was named because funds for town improvement were raised through public lotteries. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

• The Lottery Committee commissioned a new city map to provide a comprehensive picture of Calcutta. Among the main activities of the Committee was road building in the Indian part of the city and clearing the river bank from encroachments. In its drive to clean up the Indian areas of Calcutta, the committee removed many huts and displaced the laboring poor, who had now been pushed to the outskirts of Calcutta.

3.Consider the following statements regarding the Nehru report:

1. It envisaged India to be a federation with linguistic provinces.

2. It recommended reservation for religious minorities in proportion to their population in Central and Provincial levels. 3. The report rejected the demand of separating Sindh from Bombay province.

4. It suggested for joint electorates instead of separate electorates.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only

(b) 2, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 3 and 4 only

Answer-C

•As an answer to the challenge of the Simon Commission, Indian political leaders organized several allIndia conferences to settle communal issues and draw up an agreed constitution for India. The Congress proposals came in the form of the Nehru Report (chaired by Motilal Nehru) drafted by an all-parties committee. The Report was put up for approval before an All-Party Convention at Calcutta at the end of December 1928.

• Nehru report made the following recommendations: o The Nehru Report recommended that India should be a federation on the basis of linguistic provinces and provincial autonomy. Hence statement 1 is correct.

•It suggested that seats in central and provincial legislatures be reserved for religious minorities in proportion to their population. Hence statement 2 is correct.

4.With reference to Individual Satyagraha, consider the following statements:

1. It was started to express Indian National Congress’s stand against participating in World War II.

2. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first person to participate in Individual Satyagraha.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-A

•Individual Satyagraha was direct result of August Offer, which was rejected by both INC and the Muslim League. Since Gandhiji thought that the time was not ripe for an another mass struggle and not to hamper the war efforts of British.

•He decided start Individual Satyagraha, to convey people’s disinterest in the war and their lack of distinction between Nazism and the double autocracy that controlled India. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Individual Satyagraha was offered by Vinobha Bhave first and followed by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1941, this forced the British to come up with Cripps Proposal which was different from August offer and it provided way for Constituent Assembly in future. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

5.Which of the following personalities were associated with Workers' and Peasants' Parties?

1. Sohan Singh Josh

2. S.A.Dange

3. Muzaffar Ahmed

4. P.C.Joshi

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1, 2 and 4 only

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer-D

•The main form of political work by the early Communists was to organize Workers’ and Peasants’ Parties (WPPs) and work through them. The first such organization was the Labour-Swaraj Party of the Indian National Congress organized by Muzaffar Ahmed, Qazi Nazrul Islam, Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, and others in Bengal in November 1925. In late 1926, a Congress Labour Party was formed in Bombay and a Kirti-Kisan Party in Punjab. A Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan had been functioning in Madras since1923.

• During the 1920s, WPPs sprang up in Bengal, Bombay, Punjab, UP and Ajmer-Marwara with basically the same orientation and programme. The basic objective of the WPPs was to work within the Congress to give it a more radical orientation and make it The party of the people5 and independently organize workers and peasants in class organizations, to enable first the achievement of complete independence and ultimately of socialism.

• It was in the second half of the1920s that the consolidation of various Left ideological trends occurred and began to have a significant impact on the national movement. Various Communist groups in different parts of India had by early 1927 organized themselves into the Workers5 and Peasants5 Parties (WPP), under the leadership of people like S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, P.C. Joshi and Sohan Singh Josh. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• The WPPs,functioning as a left-wing within the Congress, rapidly gained in strength within the Congress organization at the provincial and the all India levels. Also, by working within a broad Left from under the WPPs, Communist influence in the trade union movement, marginal till early 1927, had become very strong indeed, by the end of 1928.

6.Consider the following events:

1. Government announced the annulment of the Partition of Bengal.

2. Formation of the National Council of Education.

3. Passage of Indian Universities Act by Curzon.

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

(a) 1-2-3

(b) 2-3-1

(d) 2-1-3

Answer-C

•Universities Act, 1904 was the outcome of deliberations held at the Educational Conference at Simla in 1901 and the recommendations put forward by the Universities Commission of 1902. It came into force on 1 September 1904. Indian Universities Act 1904 ensured greater government control over universities, which it described as factories producing political revolutionaries.

• The National Council of Education- Bengal (or NCE - Bengal) was an organization founded by Satish Chandra Mukherjee and other Indian nationalists with Aurobindo Ghose as principal in Bengal in 1906 to promote science and technology as part of a swadeshi industrialization movement.

• When Lord Hardinge assumed charge as Governor-General of India. On the occasion of the visiting His Majesty George V and holding of Darbar at Delhi on 12th December 1911, the partition of Bengal was cancelled.

• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

7.Which of the following was/were the causes

behind the 1857 revolt?

1. Sepoys would not be given the foreign service allowance (batta) when serving in Sind or in Punjab.

2. General Services Enlistment Act required the sepoys must be ready to serve even in British land across the sea.

3. Military authorities forbade the sepoys to wear caste and sectarian marks.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

The Revolt of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company.

• It began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army in the garrison town of Meerut.

• It was fed by resentments born of diverse perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, as well as skepticism about the improvements brought about by British rule.

• Causes of The Revolt:

• Political and Administrative Causes: British policy of expansion through the Doctrine of Lapse and direct annexation. A large number of Indian rulers and chiefs were dethroned which raised suspicion and fuelled resentment in the minds of ruling families. For egRani Lakshmi Bai’s adopted son was not permitted to sit on the throne of Jhansi. Satara, Nagpur, and Jhansi were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. Awadh was annexed on the pretext of maladministration. Common people were hard hit by the prevalence of corruption at the lower levels of administration. The middle and upper classes of Indian society, particularly in the North were hard hit by their exclusion from the well-paid higher posts in the administration.

• Social and Religious Cause: Western Civilisation was gradually spreading all over the country. Hindu law of inheritance enables Christian converts to inherit their ancestral properties. The abolition of practices like sati and female infanticide, and the legislation legalizing widow remarriage, was believed as threats to the established social structure. Western education system posed a threat to the orthodox section of Hindu as well as Muslim communities. o

•Economic Cause: Peasants and zamindars were explored through the imposition of heavy taxes on land and harsh consequences in case of failure to do so including confiscation of landholdings. The influx of British manufactured goods into India ruined local industries, particularly the textile industry of India.

• Military Causes: Indian sepoys were paid less than a European sepoy of the same rank. They were required to serve in areas far away from their homes. Sepoys would not be given the foreign service allowance (batta) when serving in Sind or in Punjab. General Services Enlistment Act required the sepoys must be ready to serve even in British land across the sea. Military authorities forbade the sepoys to wear caste and sectarian marks. Use of greased cartridges which were rumored to contain animal fat hurt the religious sentiment of Indian Sepoys.

• Hence option (d) is the correct answer

8.In the context of British administration in South India, Paraiyars and Vanniyars communities refer to groups of

(a) Bankers

(b) Traders

(d) Rich Peasants

Answer-C

•Madras developed by incorporating innumerable surrounding villages and creating opportunities and spaces for a variety of communities. Several different communities came and settled in Madras, performing a range of economic functions.

• The dubashes were Indians who speak two languages-the local languages and English. They worked as agents and merchants, acting as intermediaries between Indian society and the British. They used their privileged position in the government to acquire wealth.

• Initially Vellalars, a rural caste monopolized jobs for Company by taking advantage of new opportunities provided by British rule. After the spread of English education Bramhins started competing with them for similar positions in the administration.

• Telugu Komatis were a powerful commercial group that controlled the grain trade in Madras city. Gujratis performs banking operations in the city since the eighteenth century.

• Paraiyars and Vanniyars formed the labouring poor.

• The Nawab of Arcot settled in nearby Triplicane which became the nucleus of substantial Muslim settlement. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

9.With reference to the Cripps Mission, consider the following statements:

1. It was sent to gain the cooperation of Indians in World War II.

2. It promised freedom for India after the conclusion of World War II.

3. It promised to convene a constituent assembly to frame a new constitution for India after World War II.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-B

•The Cripps mission was an attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II.

•The mission was headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, a senior left-wing politician and government minister in the War Cabinet, who had actively supported the Indian national movement. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• The main proposals of the mission were as follows: o 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. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• After the end of the war, a Constituent Assembly would be convened to frame a new constitution. Members of this assembly would be partly elected by the provincial assemblies through proportional representation and partly nominated by the princes. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• The British government would accept the new constitution subject to two conditions: any province not willing to join the Union could have a separate constitution and form a separate Union, and the new constitution- making body and the British government would negotiate a treaty to effect the transfer of power and to safeguard racial and religious minorities.

• In the meantime, defence of India would remain in British hands and the governor-general’s powers would remain intact.

10.During the Civil Disobedience Movement, in which of the following regions, a powerful agitation led by students was launched against Circular’?

(a) United Provinces

(b) Assam

(d) Madras

Answer-B

The historic Dandi March, which marked the launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement, began on March 12 of 1930. Mahatma Gandhi broke the salt law by picking up a lump of salt at Dandi on April 6. The violation of the law was seen as a symbol of the Indian people’s resolve not to live under Britishmade laws and therefore under British rule.

• A brief survey of the nature of the Civil Disobedience Movement in different parts of the subcontinent is given below:

• In Bengal, the onset of the monsoon, which made it difficult to make salt, brought about a shift to antichowkidar and anti-Union Board agitation.

Here too, villagers withstood severe repression, losing thousands of rupees worth of property through confiscation and destruction, and having to hide for days in forests to escape the wrath of the police.

• In Assam, a powerful agitation led by students was launched against the infamous ‘Cunningham Circular’ which forced students and their guardians to furnish assurances of good behavior. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• Defiance of forest laws assumed a mass character in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and the Central Provinces, especially in areas with large tribal populations that had been the most seriously affected by the colonial Government’s restrictions on the use of the forest.

11.Consider the following demands:

1. Reduction of import duties on textiles import

2. No expansion in Afghanistan or Burma

3. Higher expenditure on famine relief

4. The right of Indians to join the semimilitary volunteer corps 5. The right of Indian judges to try Europeans in criminal cases

Which of the above-given demands were part of the Nationalist Indian demands during pre-Congress campaigns? (a) 1, 2 and 4 only

(b) 2, 3 and 5 only

(d) 2, 3, 4 and 5 only

Answer-D

•The Indian National Congress was not the first political organisation in India. However, most of the political associations in the early half of the nineteenth century were dominated by wealthy and aristocratic elements. They were local or regional in character.

• The associations organised various campaigns before the Indian National Congress appeared on the scene. Nationalist Indian demands during Pre-Congress Campaigns were — o for imposition of import duties on textile import; hence option 1 is not correct.

• no expansion in Afghanistan or Burma; hence option 2 is correct.

• the right to bear arms, freedom of the Press;

• reduction of military expenditure;

• higher expenditure on famine relief; hence option 3 is correct.

•Indianization of the civil services;

• the right of Indians to join the semi-military volunteer corps; hence option 4 is correct. o the right of Indian judges to try Europeans in criminal cases; hence option 5 is correct.

• But these were demands that a colonial regime could not easily concede, for that would undermine its hegemony over the colonial people.

12. Consider the following statements with settlement system introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793, consider the following statements :

1. Zamindars were made owners of the land and their right of ownership was made hereditary and transferable.

2. Initial fixation of revenue under the system was made arbitrarily and without any consultation with zamindars.

3. Zamindars were to pay 10/11 of the rent they received from the peasantry.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

•Permanent Settlement system: It was introduced in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Banaras division of modern UP, and Northern Carnatic in the 18th century. The zamindars were recognized as the owners of land and ten years of settlement was made with them in 1790. In 1793, under Governor-General Lord Cornwallis the decennial settlement was declared permanent and the zamindars and their legitimate successors were allowed to hold their estates.

• Features o Zamindars were not only to act as agents of the government but to become the owners of the entire land. Zamindar's right of ownership was made hereditary and transferable. Cultivators were reduced to the status of mere tenants. Zamindars were to pay 10/11th of the rent they derived from peasants and this was fixed in perpetuity.

• Zamindars had to pay the revenue on the due date even if the crops failed. Moreover, the initial fixation of the land revenue under this system was made arbitrarily and without any consultation with zamindars.

• Consequences: The state proved to be a great loser in the long run as a prospective share in the increase in land revenue was sacrificed. o Since the land revenue was to be fixed for perpetuity, it was fixed at a high level – the absolute maximum, and the customary rates were increased. This placed a high burden on revenue. Though a fixed revenue demand was placed with the Zamindars, no rules were placed regulating the collection of revenue from the peasants. As a result, Zamindars placed exorbitant demands. o Absentee landlordism was a consequential feature. Zamindars took no interest in the development of agriculture. o Peasants suffered from the double injustice of surrendering their property rights and being left entirely at the mercy of Zamindars • Hence, all three statements are correct.

13.Consider the following statement regards to the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC):

1. It was founded by Ramabai Ranade in 1927.

2. It worked for a society based on the principles of social justice, integrity, and equal rights for all.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-B

The All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), founded by Margaret Cousins in 1927, was perhaps the first women’s organization with an egalitarian approach. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• Its first conference was held at Ferguson College, Pune. Important founding members included Maharani Chimnabai Gaekwad, Rani Sahiba of Sangli, Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Devi Chattopadhyaya, and Lady Dorab Tata.

• Its objectives were to work for a society based on principles of social justice, integrity, equal rights, and opportunities; and to secure for every human being, the essentials of life, not determined by the accident of birth or sex but by planned social distribution. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• For this purpose, the AIWC worked towards various legislative reforms before and after India’s independence, some examples being Sarda Act (1929), Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act (1937), Factory Act (1947), etc.

14.Born in 1827 in Maharashtra. He organized a powerful movement against upper caste domination and brahminical supremacy. In 1851, he started a girl's school at Pune with his wife and soon many other schools came up. Who among the following is being described in the passage given above?

(a) Gopalhari Deshmukh

(b) Gopal Ganesh Agarkar

(d) Jyotiba Phule

Answer-D

Jyotiba Phule (1827-1890), born in Satara, Maharashtra, belonged to the mali (gardener) community and organized a powerful movement against upper caste domination and brahminical supremacy.

• Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers’ Society) in 1873, with the leadership of the samaj coming from the backward classes, malis, telis, kunbis, saris, and dhangars.

• In 1851, he started a girl's school at Pune with his wife and soon many other schools came up.

• The main aims of the movement were (i) social service, and (ii) the spread of education among women and lower caste people. Phule’s works, Sarvajanik Satyadharma and Gulamgiri, became sources of inspiration for the common masses.

• Phule used the symbol of Rajah Bali as opposed to the brahmins’ symbol of Rama. Phule aimed at the complete abolition of the caste system and socio-economic inequalities; he was against Sanskritic Hinduism.

• This movement gave a sense of identity to the depressed communities as a class against those brahmins who used religion and the blind faith of the masses to exploit the masses for personal monetary gain. • Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

15.In the context of the cultural history of India, consider the following statements regarding Martand Sun Temple:

1. It was built by the Karkota Dynasty of Kashmir in the 8th century CE.

2. It was built in a square field using limestone and pillars in a Greek pattern.

3. It is tagged as a site of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

•After almost three decades, the auspicious Navgrah Ashtamangalam Pooja was held recently, at the ancient Martand Sun temple in Mattan (Jammu & Kashmir).

• Martand Temple was built by King Lalitaditya of the Karkota Dynasty of Kashmir (724 to 761 CE) in honor of Sun or Martand in the 8th century. Hence statement 1 is correct. It is one of the oldest sun temples such as Konark, Almora, Modhera, and Borsad Sun Temple.

• It is considered an example of Kashmiri architectural skills built in a square field using limestone and pillars in Greek Pattern. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• In the 15th century, it was destructed on the order of Muslim ruler Sikander Butshikan.

• It has been tagged as a site of national importance and protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. Hence statement 3 is correct.

16.With reference to English East India Company (EIC), consider the following statements:

1. Queen Elizabeth granted the company a Royal Charter and the exclusive privilege to trade in the East.

2. Shahjahan was the first Mughal emperor to grant a farman to EIC.

3. The company opened its first permanent factory in Surat.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-C

An English association or company to trade with the East was formed in 1599 under the auspices of a group of merchants known as the Merchant Adventurers.

•The company was granted a Royal Charter and the exclusive privilege to trade in the East by Queen Elizabeth on 31 December 1600 and was popularly known as the East India Company (EIC). From the beginning, it was linked with the monarchy: Queen Elizabeth was one of the shareholders of the company. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• In 1608 EIC decided to open a factory at Surat on the West coast of India and sent Captain Hawkins to Jahangir’s Court to obtain Royal favours. In 1613, Jahangir issued a farman permitting the English to establish a factory permanently at Surat. Therefore, EIC's first permanent factory was set up in Surat. Hence statement 2 is not correct and statement 3 is correct.

• From 1600 to 1757 the East India Company’s role in India was that of a trading corporation which brought goods or precious metals into India and exchanged them for Indian goods like textiles, spices, etc., which it sold abroad. Its profits came primarily from the sale of Indian goods abroad. Naturally, it tried constantly to open new markets for Indian goods in Britain and other countries. Thereby, it increased the export of Indian manufacturers and thus encouraged their production.

17.Consider the following statements regarding the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC):

1. Lala Lajpat Rai was the first general secretary of AITUC.

2. Jawaharlal Nehru and C.R. Das were associated with AITUC.

3. Decision to form a committee of Congressmen to assist AITUC was taken at the Gaya Session of INC in 1922.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-B

•Statement 1 is not correct: Lokamanya Tilak, who had developed a close association with Bombay work, was one of the moving spirits in the formation of the AITUC. In the first conference, Lala Lajpat Rai was elected as the President and V.M. Pawar was the first General Secretary.

•The manifesto issued to the workers by the AITUC urged them not only to organize themselves but also to intervene in nationalist politics: ‘Workers of India! . . . Your nation’s leaders ask for Swaraj, you must not let them, leave you out of the reckoning. Political freedom to you is of no worth without economic freedom. You cannot therefore afford to neglect the movement for national freedom. You are part and parcel of that movement. Lajpat Rai was among the first in India to link capitalism with imperialism and emphasize the crucial of the working class in fighting this combination.

• Statements 2 and 3 are correct: The Indian National Congress at its Gaya session in 1922 welcomed the formation of the AITUC and formed a committee consisting of prominent Congressmen to assist its work. Apart from Lajpat Rai, several of the leading nationalists of the time became closely associated with the AITUC. C.R. Das presided over its third and fourth sessions, and among the other prominent names were the of C.F. Andrews, J.M. Sengupta, Subhas Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Satyamurti.

18.Who among the following took up the defense of the accused in the Indian National Army (INA) trials at Red Fort?

1. Tej Bahadur Sapru

2. Bhulabhai Desai

3. Jawaharlal Nehru

4. K.N. Katju

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only

(b) 1 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer-D

•At the first post-War Congress session in September 1945 at Bombay, a strong resolution was adopted declaring Congress support for the Indian National Army (INA) cause. The defence of the INA prisoners was taken up by the Congress and Bhulabhai Desai, Tej Bahadur Sapru, K.N. Katju, Jawaharlal Nehru and Asaf Ali appeared in court at the historic Red Fort trials. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• The three INA generals arraigned for the first trial were P. K. Sehgal, Shah Nawaz Khan, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. The defense lost the case and the defendants were declared guilty, but the British sensing the popular mood found that there could be an uprising throughout the country and was forced to commute the sentences of the convicted trio and release them.

19.Where did Mahatma Gandhi make his first major public appearance after returning from South Africa in 1915?

(a) Allahabad University

(b) Banaras Hindu University

(d) Champaran

Answer-B

•On Gokhale’s advice, Gandhiji spent a year travelling around British India, getting to know the land and its people. His first major public appearance was at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in February 1916. Further, he was deeply convinced that none of these methods of political struggle were really viable; the only answer lay in Satyagraha. His reasons for not joining the existing political organizations are best explained by his belief that he could only join an organization or a movement that adopted non-violent Satyagraha as its method of struggle. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• When his turn came to speak, Gandhiji charged the Indian elite with a lack of concern for the labouring poor. Gandhiji’s speech at Banaras in February 1916 was, at one level, merely a statement of fact namely, that Indian nationalism was an elite phenomenon, a creation of lawyers and doctors and landlords. But, at another level, it was also a statement of intent – the first public announcement of Gandhiji’s own desire to make Indian nationalism more properly representative of the Indian people as a whole.

• Among the invitees to this event were the princes and philanthropists whose donations had contributed to the founding of the BHU. Also present were important leaders of the Congress, such as Annie Besant. Compared to these dignitaries, Gandhiji was relatively unknown. He had been invited on account of his work in South Africa, rather than his status within India.

20.With reference to the Santhal uprising consider the following statements:

1. Sido and Kanhu were the leaders of the uprising.

2. Zamindars joined hands with the tribals and attacked the colonial symbols of authority like police stations and railways. 3. Santhal tribals were helped by a large number of non-tribals in the revolt.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-A

•Among the numerous tribal revolts, the Santhal hool or uprising was the most massive. The Santhals, who live in the area between Bhagalpur and Rajmahal, known as Daman-i-koh, rose in revolt; made a determined attempt to expel the outsiders — the dikus — and proclaimed the complete ‘annihilation’ of the alien regime.

• The Santhals considered the dikus and government servants morally corrupt being given to beggary, stealing, lying and drunkenness. By 1854, the tribal heads, the majhis and parganites, had begun to meet and discuss the possibility of revolting. Stray cases of the robbing of zamindars and moneylenders began to occur.

• The Santhals believed that their actions had the blessings of God. Sido and Kanhu, the principal rebel leaders, claimed that Thakur (God) had communicated with them and told them to take up arms and fight for independence. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The leaders mobilized the Santhal men and women by organizing huge processions through the villages accompanied by drummers and other musicians. The leaders rode on horses and elephants. Soon nearly 60,000 Santhals had been mobilized. Forming bands of 1,500 to 2,000, but rallying in many thousands at the call of drums on particular occasions, they attacked the mahajans and zamindars and their houses, police stations, railway construction sites, the dak (post) carriers — in fact, all the symbols of diku exploitation and colonial power. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

• The Santhal insurrection was helped by a large number of non-tribal and poor dikus. Gwalas (milkmen) and others helped the rebels with provisions and services; lohars (blacksmiths) accompanied the rebel bands, keeping their weapons in good shape. Once the Government realized the scale of the rebellion, it organized a major military campaign against the rebels. It mobilized tens of regiments under the command of a major general, declared Martial Law in the affected areas and offered rewards of up to Rs. 10,000 for the capture of various leaders. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

21.Who among the following is associated with the Gujarati journal "Satya Prakash" that advocated widow remarriage?

(a) Vishnu Shastri Pandit

(b) Jagannath Shankar Seth

(d) Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Answer-C

•The Brahmo Samaj had the issue of widow remarriage high on its agenda and did much to popularise it.

• But it was mainly due to the efforts of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-91), the principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta, that the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856, was passed; it legalized the marriage of widows and declared issues from such marriages as legitimate.

•Vidyasagar cited Vedic texts to prove that the Hindu religion sanctioned widow remarriage.

• Jagannath Shankar Seth and Bhau Daji were among the active promoters of girls’ schools in Maharashtra.

• Vishnu Shastri Pandit founded the Widow Remarriage Association in the 1850s.

• Karsandas Mulji, a contemporary of Dadabhai Naoroji, was one of the pioneer Indian social reformers working for the cause of women's emancipation.

• In 1850s-60s, Mulji was a prominent member of the “Bombay intelligentsia” in conflict with the “merchant aristocracy” over social issues.

• Mulji’s place in Indian history as a reformer is due to the Maharaj libel case in 1862 which earned him the title of “a Reformer, a Martin Luther of the Banian Cast”.

• He started the Satya Prakash in Gujarati in 1852 to advocate widow remarriage. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

22.With reference to British India, which one of the following was the primary motive of the British government behind the introduction of land as private property?

(a) to protect cultivators right of ownership on land.

(b) to protect Government revenue by making land a saleable, mortgagable, and alienable commodity.

(d) to bring more forest land under cultivation for increasing agriculture

Answer-B

•Both the Zamindari and Ryotwari systems departed fundamentally from the traditional land systems of the country. The British created a new form of private property in land in such a way that the benefit of the innovation did not go to the cultivators.

• All over the country land was now made salable, mortgageable, and alienable. This was done primarily to protect the Government's revenue.

• If the land had not been made transferable or salable, the Government would find it very difficult to realize revenue from a cultivator who had no savings or possessions out of which to pay it. Now he could borrow money on the security of his land or even all part of it and pay his land revenue. If he refused to do so, the Government could and often did auction his land and realize the amount. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• The British by making land a commodity that could be freely bought and sold introduced a fundamental change in the existing land systems of the country. Due to this stability and the continuity of the Indian villages were shaken.

23.With reference to early colonialism in India, which of the following established urban trade centers lost their importance in the phase of the mid-eighteenth century after British political control in India?

(a) Surat, Masulipatnam and Dhaka

(b) Madras, Calcutta and Bombay

(d) Seringapatam, Hyderabad and Tanjore

Answer-A

• There was a gradual erosion in the power of the Mughals, it caused an eclipse of various cities associated with their rule. Delhi and Agra which were the capitals during the Mughal rule lost their political authority and grandeur.

• The emergence of urban centres brought many changes in the network of trade. For example, the Portuguese settled in Panaji in 1510 and the Dutch in Masulipatnam in 1605. The British came to Madras in 1639.

• During the 18th century, many new regional capitals emerged. They soon gained importance. Such powers were Lucknow, Hyderabad, Seringapatam, Poona (Pune), Nagpur, Baroda (Vadodara) and Thanjavur (Tanjore).

• In the mid-eighteenth century, commercial centres like Surat, Dhaka and Masulipatnam lost their importance. With the British becoming more powerful after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the trade shifted to cities like Madras, Calcutta and Bombay which had emerged as new economic capitals due to the trade activities of the East India Company. So these cities also became centres of colonial, political and administrative power. By the end of 1800, Madras, Calcutta and Bombay had become the biggest cities in India. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

• By the end of the eighteenth century, the land-based empires in Asia were replaced by the powerful sea-based European empires. It ushered in International trade, mercantilism and capitalism in the society.

24.With reference to Tripuri Session of Indian National Congress (1939), consider the following statements:

1. Govind Ballabh Pant moved a resolution expressing full confidence in the old Congress Working Committee.

2. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President after the resignation of Subhas Chandra Bose.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-C

In Tripuri Session of 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya, who was nominated by Gandhiji. After which the INC faced an internal crisis where Subhas faced ideological difference between many other leaders and also confronted with Gandhiji regarding to the initiation of a mass struggle against the British. Subhas Bose believed that the Congress was strong enough to start an immediate struggle, whereas Gandhiji said that the time was not right for a mass struggle.

• Govind Ballabh Pant moved a resolution at Tripuri expressing full confidence in the old Working committee, reiterating full faith in Gandhiji’s leadership of the movement and the Congress policies and asking Subhas Bose to nominate his Working Committee ‘in accordance with the wishes of Gandhiji. The resolution was passed by a big majority, but Gandhiji did not approve of the resolution and refused to impose a Working Committee on Subhas. He asked him to nominate a Committee of his own choice. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Bose continued his effort to win Gandhi’s confidence but did not succeed. Bose refused to nominate a new working committee. In the circumstances, Bose saw no option but to resign. He resigned from the president’s post in April 1939 after which he started his own party ‘Forward block’ within the Congress. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of INC after it. Hence statement 2 is correct.

25.In the context of temple entry movements during freedom struggle, who among the following was/were associated with Guruvayur temple entry movement?

1. Subramanian Tirumambu

2. P Krishna Pillai

3. A.K. Gopalan

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

•The struggle against untouchability and for the social and economic uplift of the depressed classes continued all over India after 1924 as a part of the Gandhian constructive programme. Struggle was most Intense m Kerala. Prodded by K Kelappan, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) took up the question of temple entry in 1931 during the period when the Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended. A vast campaign of public meetings was organized throughout Malabar. The KPCC decided to make a beginning by organizing a temple entry Satyagraha at Guruvayur on 1st November 1931.

• A jatha of sixteen volunteers, led by the poet Subramanian Tirumambu, who became famous as the ‘Singing Sword of Kerala,’ began a march from Cannanore in the north to Guruvayur on 21 October.

• The volunteers ranged from the lowliest of Harijans to the highest caste Namboodiris. The march stirred the entire country and aroused anti-caste sentiments. The 1st of November was enthusiastically observed as All-Kerala Temple Entry Day with a programme of prayers, processions, meetings, receptions and fund collections.

• The anti-untouchability movement gained great popularity. Many religious devotees transferred the offerings they would have made to the temple to the Satyagraha camp, feeling that the camp was even more sacred than the temple.

• The temple authorities also made arrangements. They put up barbed wire all around the temple and organized gangs of watchmen to keep the Satyagrahis out and to threaten them with beating.

• On 1 November, sixteen white khadi-clad volunteers marched to the eastern gate of the temple where their way was barred by a posse of policemen headed by the Superintendent of Police. Very soon, the temple servants and local reactionaries began to use physical force against the peaceful and non-violent Satyagrahis while the police stood by.

• For example, P Krishna Pillai and A.K. Gopalan, who were to emerge later as major leaders of the Communist movement in Kerala, were mercilessly beaten. The Satyagraha continued even after the Civil Disobedience Movement was resumed in January 1932 and all Congress Committees were declared unlawful and most of the Congressmen leading the Satyagraha were imprisoned.

26.Consider the following statements about Sadharan Brahmo Samaj:

1. Ananda Mohan Bose, Shibchandra Deb, and Umesh Chandra Datta were its founding members.

2. It accepted the doctrines of faith in a Supreme being and the belief that Vedas are infallible.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-A • In 1878, Keshab’s inexplicable act of getting his thirteen-year-old daughter married to the minor Hindu Maharaja of Cooch-Behar with all the orthodox Hindu rituals caused another split in Keshab’s Brahmo Samaj of India.

• Earlier, Keshab had begun to be considered an incarnation by some of his followers, much to the dislike of his progressive followers. Further, Keshab had begun to be accused of authoritarianism.

• After 1878, the disgusted followers of Keshab set up a new organization, the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.

• The Sadharan Brahmo Samaj was started by Ananda Mohan Bose, Shibchandra Deb, and Umesh Chandra Datta. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• It reiterated the Brahmo doctrines of faith in a Supreme being, one God, the belief that no scripture or man is infallible, and belief in the dictates of reason, truth, and morality. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

27.Which of the following Portuguese Viceroy,captured goa and domination over the entire Asian coast from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to Malacca in Malaya and Spice islands in Indonesia?

(a) Francisco De Almeida

(b) Alfonso de Albuquerque

(d) Vasco Da Gama

Answer-B

•Alfonso de Albuquerque served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515. He was the real founder of the Portuguese power in the East, a task he completed before his death. He secured for Portugal the strategic control of the Indian Ocean by establishing bases overlooking all the entrances to the sea.

• There were Portuguese strongholds in East Africa, off the Red Sea, at Ormuz; in Malabar; and at Malacca. The Portuguese, under Albuquerque, bolstered their stranglehold by introducing a permit system for other ships and exercising control over the major ship-building centers in the region. The non-availability of timber in the Gulf and Red Sea regions for ship-building also helped the Portuguese in their objectives.

• Albuquerque acquired Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 with ease; the principal port of the Sultan of Bijapur became “the first bit of Indian territory to be under the Europeans since the time of Alexander the Great”. An interesting feature of his rule was the abolition of sati. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

28.During colonial period, British economic policies completely changed the nature of Indian trade. In this context, which of the following were the chief exports of India by the end of 19th century?

1. Raw Cotton

2. Jute

3. Indigo

4. Silk

Select the correct answer using the code given below (

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1, 2 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer-D

•The East India Company in order to promote British manufacturers imposed a deliberate policy of free trade which was completely one sided. While the doors of India were open to foreign goods, Indian goods were subjected to high import duties in Britain. Also Indian hand made goods were unable to compete against the much cheaper prodcuts of British mills.

• These policies forced India to export raw materials like cotton and silk instead of manufactured products.

• Thus by the end of 19th century, Indian exports consisted primarily of raw cotton, jute, silk, oilseeds, wheat, hides and skins, indigo and tea • Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

29.With reference to the Shaurya Chakra Awards, consider the following statements:

1. Shaurya Chakra is the highest peacetime gallantry award. 2. Personnel of the Armed forces along with the civilian citizens are eligible for the award of Shaurya Chakra.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-B

•Recent context: President conferred 13 Shaurya Chakras, including six posthumous, to the personnel of the Armed Forces during Defence Investiture Ceremony.

• The award was Instituted on 4 Jan 1952 as Ashoka Chakra Class-III and renamed on 27 Jan 1967 as Shaurya Chakra and awarded for gallantry, otherwise than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.

• The Shaurya Chakra is India's third-highest peacetime gallantry award after the Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• The following categories of personnel shall be eligible for the award of Shaurya Chakra: Officers, men and women of all ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, of any of the Reserve Forces, of the Territorial Army, Militia, and of any other lawfully constituted forces. Members of the Nursing Services of the Armed Forces. Civilian citizens of either sex in all walks of life and members of Police forces including Central Para-Military Forces and Railway Protection Force. Hence statement 2 is correct.

30.Who among the following is associated with the slogan “one religion, one caste, one God for mankind”?

(a) Sri Narayana Guru

(b) Sahadaran Ayyapan

(d) E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker

Answer-A

• During the 1920s in South India, the non-brahmins organized the Self-Respect Movement led by E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker.

• There were numerous other movements demanding that the ban on the entry of lower castes into temples be lifted. Sri Narayana Guru in Kerala led a lifelong struggle against upper caste domination.

• Sri Narayana Guru coined the slogan “one religion, one caste, one God for mankind”, which his disciple Sahadaran Ayyapan changed into “no religion, no caste, no God for mankind”.

• Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

31.Consider the following statements with reference to the Lucknow session in 1916:

1. Lokmanya Tilak and Madan Mohan Malaviya played an important role in the Congress-League pact.

2. Death of Pherozeshah Mehta weakened the opposition from the Bombay group which led to the merger of extremists in Congress.

3. It was presided by Ambika Charan Mazumdar.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1 and 2 only

Answer-B

•The growing nationalist feeling in the country and the urge for national unity produced two historic developments at the Lucknow session of the India National Congress in 1916.

• Firstly, the two wings of the Congress were reunited. The old controversies had lost their meaning and the split in the Congress had led to political inactivity, The Lucknow Congress was the first united Congress since 1907. Tilak and his men were welcomed back into the Congress by the Moderate president, Ambika Charan Mazumdar of Lucknow session (1916). Hence statement 3 is correct.

• Efforts of Annie Besant and Tilak meet with success at the annual session of the Congress in December 1915 it was decided that the Extremists be allowed to rejoin the Congress. The opposition from the Bombay group had been greatly weakened by the death of Pherozeshah Mehta. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Secondly, at Lucknow, the Congress and the All India Muslim League sank their old differences and put up common political demands before the Government. The unity between the Congress and the League was brought about by the signing of the Congress League Pact, known popularly as the Lucknow Pact. The Lucknow Pact marked an important step forward in Hindu-Muslim unity.

• Both Tilak and Annie Besant had played a leading role in bringing about this agreement between the Congress and the League, much against the wishes of many important leaders, including Madan Mohan Malaviya. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

32.Consider the following statements

1. Import duties on British textile imports were removed

2. The Arms Act was enacted to disarm the people

3. Third Afghan war was started

4. Vernacular Press Act was implemented

Which of the following Viceroys was associated with the events given above?

(a) Lord Harding

(b) Lord Lytton

(d) Lord Dufferin

Answer-B

•Events during Lytton's Viceroyalty from 1876-80: o Most of the import duties on British textile imports were removed to please the textile manufacturers of Britain.

• Famine of 1876-78 affected Madras, Bombay, Mysore, Hyderabad, parts of central India, and Punjab; appointment of the Famine Commission under the presidency of Richard Strachey (1878).

•Royal Titles Act (1876), Queen Victoria assumed the title of ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’ or Queen Empress of India.

• The Second War against Afghanistan aroused vehement agitation against the heavy cost of this imperialist war, which the Indian Treasury was made to bear.

•The Arms Act of 1878, which disarmed the people, appeared to them as an effort to emasculate the entire nation.

•The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was condemned by the politically conscious Indians as an attempt to suppress the growing nationalist criticism of the alien government.

•The holding of the imperial Durbar at Delhi for the first time in 1877 at a time when the country was suffering from a terrible famine led people to believe

33.Consider the following statements regarding the Ghadar movement:

1. The first issue of Ghadar was published in the Urdu language.

2. The outbreak of the Second World War influenced the course of the Ghadar movement.

3. Shore Committee was set up to inquire about the Komgata Maru incident.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 3 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-C

• On 1 November 1913, the first issue of Ghadar, in Urdu was published, and on 9 December, the Gurmukhi edition. The name of the paper left no doubts as to its aim. Ghadar means Revolt. And if any doubts remained, they were to be dispelled by the captions on the masthead: ‘Angrezi Raj ka Dushman’ or ‘An Enemy of British Rule.’ On the front page of each issue was a feature titled Angrezi Raj Ka Kacha Chittha or ‘An Expose of British Rule.’ Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Finally, in 1914, three events influenced the course of the Ghadar movement: the arrest and escape of Har Dayal, the Komagata Maru incident, and the outbreak of the First World War. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• March 1914, the ship, Komagata Maru had begun its fateful voyage to Canada. Canada had for some rears imposed very strict restrictions on Indian immigration by means of a law that forbade entry to all, except those who made a continuous journey from India.

• When the ship arrived in Vancouver, it was not allowed into the port and was cordoned off by the police. To fight for the rights of the passengers, ‘Shore Committee was set up under the leadership of Husain Rahim, Sohan Lal Pathak, and Balwant Singh, funds were raised, and protest meetings were organized. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• Soon the Komagata Maru was forced out of Canadian waters. On landing at Budge Budge near Calcutta, the harassed and irate passengers, provoked by the hostile attitude of the authorities, resisted the police and this led to a clash in which eighteen passengers were killed, and 202 arrested. A few of them succeeded in escaping

34.After the retirement of Pherozeshah Mehta from the Imperial Legislative Council in 1901 due to bad health, he got elected in his place. He gained great fame for his budget speeches which used to be reported extensively by the newspapers and whose readers would wait eagerly for their morning copy. Balgangadhar Tilak, his lifelong political opponent, said at his funeral: "This diamond of India, this jewel of Maharashtra, this prince of workers, is taking eternal rest on the funeral ground. Look at him and try to emulate him.”

Which of the following personality is being described in the passage given above?

(a) D.E. Wacha

(b) M.G. Ranade

(d) Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Answer-D

•Pherozeshah Mehta retired from the Imperial Legislative Council in 1901 due to bad health. Gopal Krishna Gokhale got elected in his place, a thirty-five-year-old who had already made his mark as the Secretary of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and the editor of the Sudharak. In 1897, as a witness in London before the Royal Commission on Expenditure in India, Gokhale had outshone veterans like Surendranath Banerjea, D.E. Wacha, G. Subramaniya Iyer, and Dadabhai Naoroji. Gokhale was to prove a more than worthy successor to Mehta.

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an outstanding intellectual who had been carefully trained in Indian economics by Justice Ranade and G.V. Joshi.

• Gokhale gained great fame for his budget speeches which used to be reported extensively by the newspapers and whose readers would wait eagerly for their morning copy. He was to transform the Legislative Council into an open university for imparting political education to the people.

• His very first budget speech on 26 March 1902 established him as the greatest parliamentarian that India could produce.

• Gandhiji declared him his political guru. And Balgangadhar Tilak, his lifelong political opponent, said at his funeral: ‘This diamond of India, this jewel of Maharashtra, this prince of workers, is taking eternal rest on the funeral ground. Look at him and try to emulate him.”

• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

35.Consider the following statements with regards to the Indian Association of Calcutta:

1. It protested against the reduction of the age limit of candidates for the Indian Civil Service examination.

2. The association demanded the Indianisation of higher administrative posts.

3. It led a campaign in favor of the Indian Arms Act, 1878. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 1only

(d)1 and 2 only

Answer-D

The Indian Association of Calcutta (also known as the Indian National Association) superseded the Indian League and was founded in 1876 by younger nationalists of Bengal led by Surendranath Banerjea and Ananda Mohan Bose, who were getting discontented with the conservative and prolandlord policies of the British Indian Association.

• The Indian Association was the most important of pre-congress associations and aimed to “promote by every legitimate means the political, intellectual and material advancement of the people.”

• It set out to— o create a strong public opinion on political questions, and o unify Indian people in a common political program.

• It protested against the reduction of the age limit in 1877 for candidates of the Indian Civil Service examination. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• The association demanded simultaneous holding of civil service examinations in England and India and Indianisation of higher administrative posts. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• It led a campaign against the repressive arms act (1878) and the vernacular press act. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

36.Which one of the following statements is not correct with reference to the events leading up to Surat Split in Congress?

(a) The policy of the carrot and the stick was introduced by the British to isolate the Extremists.

(b) Lord Minto and John Morley, offered fresh reforms in the Legislative Councils in the beginning of 1906 and moderates agreed to cooperate with the Government.

(d) In Calcutta Congress in 1906, four compromise resolutions on the Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education, and Self-Government demands were passed.

Answer-C

• An alternative policy of weakening the nationalist movement was started by the British. Instead of sneering at the Moderates, the policy was to be that of ‘rallying’ them as John Morley, the new Secretary of State for India, put it in 1907. The new policy is known as the policy of the carrot and the stick. It may be described as a policy of repression-conciliation-suppression. The entire objective of the new policy was to isolate the Extremists. Hence option (a) is correct.

• The Government of India, headed by Lord Minto as Viceroy and John Morley as the Secretary of State, offered a bait of fresh reforms in the Legislative Councils and in the beginning of 1906 began discussing them with the Moderate leadership of the Congress. The Moderates agreed to cooperate with the Government and discuss reforms even while a vigorous popular movement, which the Government was trying to suppress, was going on in the country. The result was a total split in the nationalist ranks. Hence option (b) is correct.

• The main public leaders of the two wings, Bal Gangadhar Tilak (of the Extremists) and Gokhale (of the Moderates) were mature politicians who had a clear grasp of the dangers of disunity in the nationalist ranks. When it came to the crunch, Tilak had to go with the more extreme leaders like Aurobindo Ghosh. Hence option (c) is not correct.

• Matters nearly came to a head at the Calcutta Congress in 1906 over the question of its Presidentship. A split was avoided by choosing Dadabhai Naoroji, who was respected by all the nationalists as a great patriot. Four compromise resolutions on the Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education, and SelfGovernment demands were passed. Hence option (d) is correct.

37.With reference to the British expansionist policy, arrange the following events in chronological order starting from the earliest event:

1. Annexation of Sindh

2. Annexation of Punjab

3. Annexation of Jhansi

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1-2-3

(b) 1-3-2

(d) 2-1-3

Answer-A

•The Battle of Miani between a British force of about 2,800 troops under Sir Charles Napier and a host of more than 20,000 followers of the amirs (chiefs) of Sindh ended in a British victory and the annexation of most of Sindh.

• Complaints had been made against the amirs’ attitude toward the British during the First AngloAfghan War (1839–42). Instead of leaving the settlement to the British resident, the British gave full civil and military powers to Napier in September 1842.

•Napier forced on the amirs an onerous new treaty and provocatively seized and razed the desert fortress of Imamgarh. A popular upsurge then led to open war. At Miani the British prevailed. The army of the amirs was scattered, and Sindh was annexed in February 17, 1843.

• Sikh Wars, (1845–46; 1848–49), two campaigns fought between the Sikhs and the British. They resulted in the conquest and annexation by the British of Punjab in northwestern India.

• The first war was precipitated by mutual suspicions and the turbulence of the Sikh army. The Sikh state in the Punjab had been built into a formidable power by the maharaja Ranjit Singh, who ruled from 1801 to 1839. Within six years of his death, however, the government had broken down in a series of palace revolutions and assassinations.

•By 1843 the ruler was a boy—the youngest son of Ranjit Singh—whose mother was proclaimed queen regent. Actual power, however, resided with the army, which was itself in the hands of panchs, or military committees. Relations with the British had already been strained by the refusal of the Sikhs to allow the passage of British troops through their territory during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–42).

•Having determined to invade British India under the pretext of forestalling a British attack, the Sikhs crossed the Sutlej River in December 1845. They were defeated in the four bloody and hard-fought battles of Mudki, Firozpur, Aliwal, and Sobraon. The British annexed Sikh lands east of the Sutlej and between it and the Beas River; Kashmir and Jammu were detached, and the Sikh army was limited to 20,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. A British resident was stationed in Lahore with British troops.

• The Second Sikh War began with the revolt of Mulraj, governor of Multan, in April 1848 and became a national revolt when the Sikh army joined the rebels on September 14. Indecisive battles characterized by great ferocity and bad generalship were fought at Ramnagar (November 22) and at Chilianwala (Jan. 13, 1849) before the final British victory at Gujrat (February 21). The Sikh army surrendered on March 12, 1848, and Punjab was then annexed.

38. Consider the following statements regarding the financial creditors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in India:

1. Financial creditors are those creditors who have provided goods or services to the corporate debtor.

2. Only financial creditors can initiate the corporate insolvency resolution process.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-D

•Financial creditors under IBC shrink to 33%. It was 39.3 percent as of March 2021, and as high as 46 percent till March 2020, according to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) data.

• About financial creditors (FCs) o It is defined under IBC 2016 as a creditor to whom a financial debt such as a loan/debt security is owed by the corporate debtor. Hence statement 1 is not correct. Whereas an operational creditor (OCs) is a creditor who has provided goods or services to the corporate debtor, including employees, and payable to central or state governments.

• Any person whether he/she is a financial creditor, operational creditor or the corporate debtor itself may initiate corporate insolvency resolution. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• FC(s) is/are part of the Committees of Creditors (CoC). CoC is mandated under IBC and empowered to take key decisions, including decisions on haircuts (the total claims minus the amount of realization/amount of the claims) for creditors, that are binding on all stakeholders, including those dissenting.

39.Consider the following statements regarding Indian national congress??

1.At the first session of the INC (1885), Surendranath Banerjea and other leaders of Bengal merged their forces with those of the Indian National Congress.

2. Dadabhai Naoroji presided over the Calcutta session of Congress in 1886.

3. Kadambini Ganguli, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University addressed the third session of the INC in 1887

Which of the statements given above is/are

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 1 only

(d) 2 and 3 only

Answer-C

•Surendranath Banerjea and many other leaders of Bengal had not attended the first session of the National Congress as they were busy with the Second National Conference at Calcutta.

• In 1886, Surendranath Banerjea and other leaders of Bengal merged their forces with those of the National Congress whose second session met in Calcutta in December 1886 under the president-ship of Dadabhai Naoroji. Hence statement 1 is not correct and 2 is correct. o From the Calcutta session, the National Congress became ‘the whole country's Congress’. Its delegates, numbering 436, were elected by different local organizations and groups.

• In 1890, Kadambini Ganguli, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University addressed the 6th Congress session. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

40.Consider the following statements with regards to the changes in the Army after the revolt of 1857:

1. It moved the Company’s European troops to the services of the Crown.

2. The proportion of Europeans to Indians in the army was raised and fixed at one to two in the Bengal army.

3.All higher post reserved for Europeans.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

•The major changes introduced after 1857 were: o The Army Amalgamation Scheme, 1861 moved the Company’s European troops to the services of the Crown. Hence statement 1 is correct.

•Further, the European troops in India were constantly revamped by periodical visits to England, sometimes termed the ‘linked-battalion’ scheme. The proportion of Europeans to Indians in the army was raised and fixed at one to two in the Bengal army and two to five in the Madras and Bombay armies. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• All Indian artillery units, except a few mountain batteries, were made defunct. o All higher posts in the army and the artillery departments were reserved for the Europeans. Hence statement 3 is correct. o Until the first decade of the twentieth century, no Indian was considered fit to deserve the king’s commission.

•A new English recruit was considered superior to an Indian officer holding the viceroy’s commission. o In the wake of the transfer of power from the British East India Company to the British Crown, a section of European forces employed under the Company resented the move that required the three Presidency Armies to transfer their allegiance from the defunct Company to the Queen, as in the British Army. This resentment resulted in some unrest termed White Mutiny.

41.Women were at the forefront during the Quit India Movement of 1942. In this context, who among the following was/were actively associated with Quit India Movement?

1. Aruna Asaf Ali

2. Sucheta Kripalani

3. Usha Mehta

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

•The Quit India Movement marked a new high in terms of popular participation in the national movement and sympathy with the national cause in earlier mass struggles, the youth were in the forefront of the struggle.

• Students from colleges and even schools were the most visible element, especially in the early days of August. Women especially, college and school girls, played a very important role.

•Aruna Asaf Ali and Sucheta Kripalani were two major women organizers of the underground, and Usha Mehta an important member of the small group that ran the Congress Radio. • Workers were prominent as well, and made considerable sacrifice by enduring long strikes and braving police repression in the streets.

42. Consider the following statements regarding Dadabhai Naoroji:

1. He organized the East India Association in London in 1866. 2. He was elected president of the Indian National Congress thrice.

3. He attended International Socialist Congress in 1904 and put forward the demand for complete independence.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 2 and 3 only

(b) 1 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-C

•In 1866, Dadabhai Naoroji organized the East India Association in London to discuss the Indian question and to influence British public men to promote Indian welfare. Later he organized branches of the Association in prominent Indian cities. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Born in 1825, Dadabhaj devoted his entire life to the national movement and soon came to be known as the Grand Old Man of India.

• He was also India’s first economic thinker. In his book Poverty and Un-British Rule on economics, he showed that the basic cause of India’s poverty lay in the British exploitation of India and the drain of its wealth.

• Dadabhai was honored by being thrice elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1886, 1893, and 1906. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• While until the end of the 19th century, Indian nationalists confined their political demands to a share in political power and control over the purse, by 1905 most of the prominent nationalists were putting forward the demand for some form of self-government. Here again, Dadabhai Naoroji was the most advanced.

• Speaking on the drain at the International Socialist Congress in 1904, he put forward the demand for ‘selfgovernment’ and treatment of India ‘like other British Colonies.” Hence statement 3 is not correct.

• A year later in 1905, in a message to the Benares session of the Indian National Congress, Dadabhai categorically asserted: ‘Self-government is the only remedy for India’s woes and wrongs.’

•And, then, as the President of the 1906 session of the Congress at Calcutta, he laid down the goal of the national movement as “self-government or Swaraj,” like that of the United Kingdom or the Colonies.’

43.Who among the following were associated with the Chittagong Group, a revolutionary group that emerged in the Bengal region in 1920s?

1. Surya Sen

2. Pritilala Waddedar

3. Lokenath Baul

4. Kalpana Dutt Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only

(b) 2, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer-D

•Surya Sen gathered around himself a large band of revolutionary youth including Anant Singh, Ganesh Ghosh, and Lokenath Baul. They decided to organize a rebellion, on however small a scale, to demonstrate that it was possible to challenge the armed might of the British empire in India. Hence options 1 and 3 are correct.

• The group had planned to occupy two main armories in Chittagong to seize and supply arms to the revolutionaries to destroy telephone and telegraph lines and to dislocate the railway link between Chittagong with the rest of Bengal. The raid was conducted in April 1930 and involved 65 activists under the banner of the Indian Republican Army - Chittagong Branch. The raid was successful.

• There was large-scale participation of young women especially under Surya Sen. These women provided shelter, carried messages, and fought with guns in hand. Prominent women revolutionaries in Bengal during this phase included Pritilata Waddedar, who died conducting a raid; Kalpana Dutt who was arrested and tried along with Surya Sen and given a life sentence; Santi Ghosh and Suniti Chandheri, school girls of Comilla, who shot dead the district magistrate. (December 1931); and Bina Das who fired point-blank at the governor while receiving her degree at the convocation (February 1932). Hence options 2 and 4 are correct.

• Compared to the old revolutionary terrorists, as also Bhagat Singh and his comrades, the Chittagong rebels made an important advance. Instead of an individual’s act of heroism or the assassination of an individual, theirs was a group action aimed at the organs of the colonial state. The Chittagong IRA cadre included many Muslims like Sattar, Mir Ahmad, Fakir Ahmad Mian, and Tunu Mian and got massive support from Muslim villagers around Chittagong.

44.With reference to the administrative policy

Consider the following statements regarding of the education system in British India, 'Downward Filtration Theory' aims to (a) spend the money in educating a few persons from the upper and middle classes so that they would radiate education and modern ideas among masses.

(b) impart oriental education on religious lines with localized content and languages for the masses.

(d) support cause of women education so they can spread

Answer-A

modern ideas and education into their families.

The famous Lord Macaulay’s Minute 1835 settled the row in favour of Anglicists against orientalists and recommended that the limited government resources were to be devoted to teaching Western sciences and literature. The government soon made English the medium of instruction in its schools and colleges and opened a few English schools and colleges instead of a large number of elementary schools, thus neglecting mass education.

• The British planned to educate a small section of upper and middle classes, thus creating a class “Indian in blood and color but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect” who would act as interpreters between the government and masses and would enrich the vernaculars by which knowledge of Western sciences and literature would reach the masses. This was called the ‘downward filtration theory. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

• Modern ideas, if not education, did filter down to the masses, though not in a form desired by the rulers, but through political parties, press, pamphlets, public platforms, etc. Modern education only helped this process by making available the basic literature on physical and social sciences to nationalists, thus stimulating their capacity to make social analysis—otherwise, the content, structure, and curricula of modern education served colonial interests.

45.Consider the following statements regarding Simon Commission:

1. All the members of the commission were Englishmen.

2. It recommended dominion status for British India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-A

•The catalyst to the new phase of the movement was provided when the British government appointed Indian Statutory Commission, popularly known after the name of its chairman, as Simon Commission, to go into the question of further constitutional reforms. All the members of this commission were Englishmen. This announcement was greeted by a chorus of protest from all Indians. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• The call for a boycott of the Commission was endorsed by the Liberal Federation led by Tej Bahadur Sapru. The Hindu Mahasabha and the section of the Muslim League under Jinnah supported the call for boycott. It was the Indian National Congress, however, that turned the boycott into a popular movement. The Congress had resolved on the boycott at its annual session in December 1927 at Madras, and in the prevailing excitable atmosphere, Jawaharlal Nehru had even succeeded in getting passed a snap resolution declaring complete independence as the goal of the Congress.

46.Consider the following statements with regard to the ‘Queen’s Proclamation’ issued on November 1, 1858:

1. It was by this proclamation that the governor-general acquired the additional title of ‘Viceroy’.

2.The hedferth to recognize the paramountcy of the British Crown.

3. The proclamation promised all Indians, equal opportunities in government services irrespective of race or creed.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1 November 1858 declared that thereafter India would be governed by and in the name of the British Monarch through a Secretary of State.

• The assumption of the Government of India by the sovereign of Great Britain was announced by Lord Canning at a durbar at Allahabad in the ‘Queen’s Proclamation’ issued on November 1, 1858.

• It was by this proclamation that the governor-general acquired the additional title of ‘Viceroy’. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Many of the promises made in that proclamation appeared to be of a positive nature to the Indians. As per the Queen’s proclamation, the era of annexations and expansion had ended and the British promised to respect the dignity and rights of the native princes.

• The Indian states were henceforth to recognize the paramountcy of the British Crown and were to be treated as parts of a single charge. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• The people of India were promised freedom of religion without interference from British officials.

• The proclamation also promised equal and impartial protection under the law to all Indians, besides equal opportunities in government services irrespective of race or creed. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• It was also promised that old Indian rights, customs, and practices would be given due regard while framing and administering the law.

47.With reference to Quit India Movement, consider the following statements:

1. The failure of the Cripps Mission was one of the main reasons behind the announcement of the movement.

2. The movement called for action from people of both British India and the Princely States.

3. The movement received support from the Communist Party of India. Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-A

•The failure of the Cripps Mission paved the way for a full-fledged confrontation between the British and the Congress. As a result Congress announced the Quit India campaign in August 1942 and refused to help the British in the war effort, and the British imprisoned the entire Congress leadership in return. Hence statement 1 is correct.

•The Quit India Movement made clear that now there was no distinction to be made between the people of British India and the States: every Indian was to participate in this mass struggle The meeting of the All India State Peoples Conference (AISPC) was convened along with the Congress session at Bombay that announced the commencement of the Movement. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• The Communist Party of India, following the involvement of Russia in the war in December 1941, did not support Quit India movement because of their “Peoples’ War” Strategy, Other parties like Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha were also against it. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

48.With reference to the Constituent Assembly, consider the following statements:

1. More than 70% of the members of the Constituent Assembly were from the Congress party.

2. B.R. Ambedkar moved the ‘Objectives Resolution’ in the Constituent Assembly.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-A

•The members of the Constituent Assembly were chosen on the basis of Provincial elections of 1946. Apart from the members sent by the provinces of the British India, it also had representatives from the Princely States and the Muslim League chose to boycott the early sittings making it effectively a oneparty show as 82 per cent of the members of the Assembly were members of the Congress Party. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• “The Objectives Resolution” was introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru in the very first session of the Constitution Assembly; these resolutions were the considered as the aspirations of constitutional forefathers and it is the preamble of aspirations, which the constitution makers sought to achieve after the independence in the form of a new India. And these resolutions were framed as the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

49.With reference to the company administration in British India, consider the following statements regarding the 'Board of Control':

1. It was introduced through the Pitts India Act 1784.

2. It was established to guide and control the work of the Court of Directors.

3. It had powers to appoint and dismiss officials of East India Company.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-A

The Pitt’s India Act of 1784 gave the British government a large measure of control over the Company’s affairs. The Company became a subordinate department of the State. The Company’s territories in India were termed ‘British possessions’. The act clearly subordinated the Bombay and Madras presidencies to Bengal in all questions of war, diplomacy, and revenues.

• It constituted a department of state in England, also known as the Board of Control, whose purpose served to control the policy of the Court of Directors, introducing the Dual System of Government.

• The government’s control over the Company’s affairs was greatly extended. A Board of Control consisting of the chancellor of the exchequer, a secretary of state, and four members of the Privy Council (to be appointed by the Crown) were to exercise control over the Company’s civil, military, and revenue

50.Consider the following statements with regards to the Theosophical Movement:

1. The first headquarters of the theosophical movement in India was set up at Adyar, on the outskirts of Madras.

2. The movement rejected the Hindu beliefs in reincarnation and karma.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-A

•Theosophical Movement: o A group of westerners led by Madame H.P. Blavatsky (1831- 1891) and Colonel M.S. Olcott, who was inspired by Indian thought and culture, founded the Theosophical Society in New York City, United States in 1875. o In 1882, they shifted their headquarters to Adyar, on the outskirts of Madras (at that time) in India.

Hence statement 1 is correct. o Society believed that a special relationship could be established between a person’s soul and God by contemplation, prayer, revelation, etc. o It accepted the Hindu beliefs in reincarnation and karma and drew inspiration from the philosophy of the Upanishads and Samkhya, yoga, and Vedanta schools of thought. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• It aimed to work for the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or colour. The society also sought to investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man. o The Theosophical Movement came to be allied with the Hindu renaissance.

•(At one time it allied with the Arya Samaj too.) It opposed child marriage and advocated the abolition of caste discrimination, uplift of outcastes, and improvement in the condition of widows. o In India, the movement became somewhat popular with the election.

51.With reference to Morley-Minto Reforms, consider the following statements:

1. The Secretary of State declared in the British Parliament that the main objective of these reforms was to establish self-governing institutions.

2. Big landlords and British capitalists were not completely prohibited from the election of members of the Imperial Legislative Council.

3. The reforms introduced the system of separate electorates for Muslims.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-B

•The viceroy, Lord Minto, and the Secretary of State for India, John Morley worked out a set of measures that came to be known as the Morley- Minto (or Minto-Morley) Reforms that translated into the Indian Councils Act of 1909.

• Morley openly declared in Parliament: ‘If it could be said that this chapter of reforms led directly or necessarily up to the establishment of a Parliamentary system in India, I, for one, would have nothing at all to do with it.’

52.Consider the following statements in the context of Annie Besant:

1. She came to India to work for the Theosophical Society.

2. She launched a campaign through her two papers, New India and Commonweal.

3. She set up her Home Rule League headquarters in Mumbai.

4. She became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 and 4 only

(d) 3 and 4 only

Answer-C

•Annie Besant, already sixty-six in 1914, had begun her political career in England as a proponent of Free Thought, Radicalism, Fabianism, and Theosophy, and had come to India in 1893 to work for the Theosophical Society. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• In early 1915, Annie Besant launched a campaign through her two papers, New India and Commonweal, and organized public meetings and conferences to demand that India be granted selfgovernment on the lines of the White colonies after the War. From April 1915, her tone became more peremptory and her stance more aggressive. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Annie Besant had gone ahead with the formal founding of her League in September 1916. Most of the work was carried on by Annie Besant and her lieutenants — Arundale, C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar, and B.P. Wadia — from her headquarters at Adyar. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

• Annie Besant was the first woman President of the Indian National Congress. She presided over the 1917 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The president of the 1916 Lucknow session was Ambica Charan Mazumdar. Hence statement 4 is correct.

53.Which of the following was/were the consequences of the Anglo-Nepal war of 1814?

1. Nepal accepted a British resident.

2. Nepal was given to Sikkim.

3. British obtained better facilities to trade with Central Asia.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1 and 3 only

Answer-D

•The British desire to extend their Indian empire to its natural geographical frontier brought them into conflict with Kingdom of Nepal. In October 1814 a border clash between the border police of two countries led to open war.

• The war ended in the Treaty of Sagauli in 1816, which was in favour of the British.

As per the treaty : Nepal accepted a British resident. o Nepal ceded the districts of Garhwal and Kumaon, and abandoned claims to Terai.

• Nepal also withdrew from Sikkim. o It ceded the districts of Garhwal and Kumaon and abandoned claims to Tarai areas.

• This agreement brought many advantages to the British: o British empire now reached the Himalayas; o It got better facilities for trade with Central Asia .

• It acquired sites for hill stations, such as Shimla, Mussoorie, and Nainital; and the Gorkhas joined the British Indian Army in large numbers.

• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

54.Consider the following passage:

He was a Brahmo social reformer from Bengal. He set up a Workingmen’s Club in 1870 and brought out a monthly journal called Bharat Sramjeebi, with the primary idea of educating the workers.

Who among the following is being described in the above-given passage?

(a) Jogesh Chandra Chattopadhyay

(b) Benoy Basu

(d) Chittaranjan Das

Answer-C

•Sasipada Banerjee was a social worker and leader of the Brahmo Samaj who is remembered as a champion of women's rights and education and as one of the earliest workers for labor welfare in India. He was the founder of several girls' schools, a widow's home.

• Banerjee became involved in the social reform movement in Bengal through the Brahmo Samaj which he joined in 1861.

He set up a Workingmen’s Club in 1870 and brought out a monthly journal called Bharat Sramjeebi (Indian Labour), with the primary idea of educating the workers.

• Banerjee was a member of the Temperance movement in India and was a close associate of Mary Carpenter whom he first met during her visit to India in 1866.

• Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

55.Consider the following statements regarding the Vernacular Press Act, 1878 :

1. It was directed only against Indianlanguage newspapers.

2. It provided for the confiscation of the printing press and other materials of a newspaper if the Government believed that it was publishing seditious materials.

It was repealed in 1881 by Lord Lytton. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-B

•Indian newspapers began to find their feet in the 1870s. They became highly critical of Lord Lytton’s administration, especially regarding its inhuman approach towards the victims of the famine of 1876-77.

• As a result, the Government decided to make a sudden strike at the Indian language newspapers, since they reached beyond the middle-class readership. The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was directed only against Indian-language newspapers. It was conceived in great secrecy and passed at a single sitting of the Imperial Legislative Council. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The Act provided for the confiscation of the printing press, paper and other materials of a newspaper if the Government believed that it was publishing seditious materials and had flouted an official warning. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Indian nationalist opinion firmly opposed the Act. The first great demonstration on an issue of public importance was organized in Calcutta on this question when a large meeting was held in the Town Hall. Various public bodies and the Press also campaigned against the Act. Consequently, it was repealed in 1881 by Lord Ripon.

Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

56.Consider the following statements regarding 18. the Lahore Session (1929) of the Indian National Congress (INC):

1. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was elected as the President of the Indian National Congress.

2. In this session, INC had authorized the Congress Working Committee to launch a programme of civil disobedience including non-payment of taxes.

3. In this Session, INC passed the resolution declaration. for the 'Purna Swaraj'

Which of the statements given above are correctly matched? (a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-B

•Statement 1 is not correct: At the end of December 1929, Congress held its annual session in the city of Lahore. The meeting was significant for the election of Jawaharlal Nehru as President, signifying the passing of the baton of leadership to the younger generation. Only three out of eighteen Provincial Congress Committees had wanted Jawaharlal Nehru as president but recognizing the appositeness of the occasion, and the upsurge of the youth who had made such a glorious success of the Simon Boycott, Gandhiji supported and was decisive in electing Nehru as the President.

• Statement 2 is correct: The first task that the Congress set itself and the Indian people in the New Year was that of organizing all over the country, on 26 January, public meetings at which the Independence Pledge would be read out and collectively affirmed. This programme was a huge success, and in villages and towns, at small meetings and large ones, the pledge was read out in the local language and the national flag was hoisted. The Lahore Congress of 1929 had authorized the Working Committee to launch a programme of civil disobedience including non-payment of taxes. It had also called upon all members of legislatures to resign their seats.

• Statement 3 is correct: Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose and Satyamurthi, backed by a large number of delegates, pressed for the acceptance of ‘Purna Swaraj’ or complete independence as the goal of the Congress and on 19 December 1929, INC passed the historic 'Purna Swaraj' - (total independence) resolution.

57.With reference to the Indigo revolt of 185960, consider the following statements :

1.Indigo ryots formed groups called lathyals to revolt against the planters.

2. Christian Missionaries extended active support to Indigo ryots.

3. The Indigo Commission enquiring into the system of Indigo production held the planters guilty.

Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 only

(d) 1 and 3 only

Answer-B

•One of the most militant and widespread of the peasant movements was the Indigo Revolt of 1859-60. From the beginning, indigo was grown under an extremely oppressive system that involved great loss to the cultivators. The indigo planters, nearly all Europeans, compelled the tenants to grow indigo which they processed in factories set up in rural (mofussil) areas. The planters forced the peasants to take a meager amount as advance and enter into fraudulent contracts.

• Since the enforcement of forced and fraudulent contracts through the courts was a difficult and prolonged process, the planters resorted to a reign of terror to coerce the peasants. Kidnapping, illegal confinement in factory godowns, flogging, attacks on women and children, carrying off cattle, looting, were some of the methods used by the planters. They hired or maintained bands of lathyals (armed retainers) for the purpose. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• In practice, the planters were also above the law. With a few exceptions, the magistrates, mostly European, favoured the planters. The discontent of indigo growers in Bengal boiled over in the autumn of 1859 when their case seemed to get Government support. Misreading an official letter and exceeding his authority, Hem Chandra Kar, Deputy Magistrate of Kalaroa, published on 17th August a proclamation to policemen that ‘in case of disputes relating to Indigo Ryots, they (ryots) shall retain possession of their own lands and shall sow on them what crops they please, and the Police will be careful that no Indigo Planter nor anyone else is able to interfere in the matter.

•The news of Kar’s proclamation spread all over Bengal, and peasants felt that the time for overthrowing the hated system had come. The beginning was made by Digambar Biswas and Bishnu Biswas, ex-employees of a planter, they gave up indigo cultivation.

58.Who among the following leaders were associated with the revolt of 1857?

1. Nana Saheb

2. Khan Bahadur Khan

3. Begum Hazrat Mahal

4. Bakht Khan

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer-D

Storm Centres and Leaders of the Revolt

• At Delhi the nominal and symbolic leadership belonged to the Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, but the real command lay with a court of soldiers headed by General Bakht Khan who had led the revolt of Bareilly troops and brought them to Delhi.

• Emperor Bahadur Shah was perhaps the weakest link in the chain of leadership of the revolt. His weak personality, old age and lack of leadership qualities created political weakness at the nerve centre of the revolt and did incalculable damage to it.

• At Kanpur, the natural choice was Nana Saheb, the adopted son of the last peshwa, Baji Rao II. He was refused the family title and banished from Poona, and was living near Kanpur. Nana Saheb expelled the English from Kanpur, proclaimed himself the peshwa, acknowledged Bahadur Shah

59.Consider the following statements regarding the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj party also known as the Swaraj party:

1. Swaraj party was formed after the defeat of the Council-entry proposals at the Gaya session of the Indian National Congress.

2. Motilal Nehru was elected as the President of the Swaraj Party.

Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-B

•After the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922, a new line of political activity, which would keep up the spirit of resistance to colonial rule, was advocated by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru. They suggested that the nationalists should end the boycott of the legislative councils, enter them, expose them as ‘sham parliaments’ and as ‘a mask which the bureaucracy has put on,’ and obstruct ‘every work of the council.’

• Statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is not correct: C.R. Das as the President of the Congress and Motilal as its Secretary put forward this program of ‘either mending or ending’ the councils at the Gaya session of the Congress in December 1922. Another section of the Congress, headed by Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad and C. Rajagopalachari, opposed the new proposal which was consequently defeated. Das and Motilal resigned from their respective offices in the Congress and on 1 January 1923 announced the formation of the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party better known later as the Swaraj Party. The adherents of the council entry program came to be popularly known as ‘pro-changers’ and those still advocating boycott of the councils as ‘no-changers.’ Das was the President and Motilal was one of the Secretaries of the new party. The adherents of the council-entry programme came to be popularly known as ‘pro-changers’ and those still advocating boycott of the councils as ‘no-changers.’

60.Which of the following statements are correct with respect to the Cabinet Mission?

1. It was sent to India in 1946 to discuss the terms for the transfer of power to Indians.

2. It proposed a federation of the provinces and the States, with the federal center controlling only defense, foreign affairs, and communication.

3. Both Indian National Congress and Muslim League rejected the Cabinet Mission plan.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-A

•Cabinet Mission was a high-powered mission sent in February 1946 to India by the Atlee Government, It comprised Sir Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade, V Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty. It was sent to negotiate with the Indian leaders the terms of the transfer of power to Indians. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Major recommendations: o It recommended an undivided India. There shall be a Union of India. It will deal with the defense, foreign affairs, and communications. It also restricted Communal representation.

• All the members of the Interim cabinet would be Indians and there would be minimum interference by the Viceroy. o Formation of the constituent assembly on the democratic principle of population

• It recognized India’s right to cede from the Commonwealth o There was to be a federation of the provinces and the States, with the federal center controlling only defense, foreign affairs, and communications. The union would have the powers necessary to raise the finances to manage the subjects. All subjects other than the Union subjects and all the residuary powers would be vested in the provinces.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

61.Mahatma Gandhi was arrested many times during the course of freedom struggle. In this context, consider the following statements :

1. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1922 for writing articles in Young India which were termed seditious.

2. He pleaded guilty of charges against him during the trial.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-C

•The echoes of Tilak's famous trial and imprisonment in 1908 were to be heard again in 1922. Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak's political successor, was tried in 1922 for the same offence of sedition under the same Section 124A for his articles in Young India. Mahatma Gandhi was arrested near Sabarmati Ashram for writing three articles in Young India.

• When the Judge told him that his offence was similar to Tilak’s and that he was giving him the same sentence of six years’ imprisonment Gandhiji replied: ‘Since you have done me the honor of recalling the trial of the late Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, I just want to say that I consider it to be proudest privilege and honor to be associated with his name.” • The only difference between the two trials was that Gandhiji had pleaded guilty to the charges. This was also a measure of the distance the national movement had travelled since 1908. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment. Gandhiji was released from Yervada prison on 5 February, 1924 unconditionally after an operation on 12 January, 1924

• Hence, both statements are correct.

62.Gandhiji attended which of the following Round Table Conferences (RTC)?

1. First RTC

2. Second RTC

3. Third RTC

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) None

Answer-C

•The Indian National Congress (INC) did not take part in either the first Round Table Conference or the Third Round Table Conference, but it did take part in the Second Round Table Conference with Mahatma Gandhi as its representative. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

• The second Round Table Conference was held in London from September 7, 1931 to December 1, 1931. At the conference, Gandhiji claimed that Congress represent all people of India against imperialism. However, the other delegates did not agree to this view.

• There was a deadlocked on the question of the minorities. Muslims, Depressed classes, Christians and Anglo-Indians demanded separate electorates. To bolster their demand, they all came together in a ‘Minorities’ Pact’.

• Gandhiji was against the move by the minorities to making all constitutional progress conditional on the issue of separate electorates. He said that untouchables are hindus and hence, should not be treated as a minority. Similarly, he discarded the idea of any separate electorate for muslims or any other minority.

• Princely states were not too enthusiastic about a federation, especially after the possibility of the formation of a Congress government at the centre with substantial role of elected members.

63.Police was one of the key pillars of colonial rule in India which of the following established a system of thanas, each headed by a daroga and a superintendent of police (SP) at the head of a district?

(a) Lord Cornwallis

(b) Sir John Shore

(d) Lord Amherst

Answer-A

The third pillar of British rule was the police whose creator was Cornwallis. He relieved the Zamindars of their police functions and established a regular police force to maintain law and order.

• In this respect, he went back to and modernised the old Indian system of thanas. This put India ahead of Britain where system of police had not developed yet.

• He organised a regular police force to maintain law and order by establishing a system of thanas (circles) in a district under a daroga (an Indian) and a superintendent of police (SP) at the head of a district.

• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

64.The Indian nationalists raised the slogan ‘no taxation without representation’ against which of the following acts?

(a) Government of India Act, 1919

(b) Government of India Act, 1935

(d) Indian Councils Act of 1861

Answer-C

The nationalist agitation forced the Government to make some changes in legislative functioning by the Indian Councils Act of 1892.

• The number of additional members of the Imperial and Provincial Legislative Councils was increased from the previous six to ten to ten to sixteen.

• A few of these members could be elected indirectly through municipal committees, district boards, etc., but the official majority remained.

• The members were given the right to discuss the annual budget but they could neither vote on it nor move a motion to amend it.

• They could also ask questions but were not allowed to put supplementary questions or to discuss the answers.

• The ‘reformed’ Imperial Legislative Council met, during its tenure till 1909, on an average for only thirteen days in a year, and the number of unofficial Indian members present was only five out of twenty- four.

• The nationalists were totally dissatisfied with the Act of 1892. They saw in it a mockery of their demands.

• The Councils were still impotent; despotism still ruled. They now demanded a majority for non-official elected members with the right to vote on the budget and, thus, on the public purse. • They raised the slogan ‘no taxation without representation.’ Gradually, they raised their demands. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

65.Which one of the following statements is/are correct with reference to the Swadeshi Movement?

1. The big zamindars of Bengal remain loyal to the British by not supporting the Swadeshi movement.

2. Indian National Congress supported the Swadeshi movement in Banaras Session by extending the movement to the rest of India and transforming it into a mass struggle. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-D

•The Swadeshi Movement had its genesis in the anti-partition movement which was started to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal.

•The attempt, at that time in the words of Lord Curzon, the Viceroy (1899-1905) was to ‘dethrone Calcutta’ from its position as the ‘centre from which the Congress Party is manipulated throughout Bengal, and indeed which the Congress Party centre of successful intrigue’ and ‘divide, the Bengali speaking population.’

• Risley, the Home Secretary to the Government of India, was more blunt. He said on 6 December 1904: ‘Bengal united, is power, Bengal divided, will pull several different ways.

• In December 1903, the partition proposals became publicly known, and immediate and spontaneous protest followed. Surendranath Banerjea, Krishna Kumar Mitra, Prithwishchandra Ray and other leaders launched a powerful press campaign against the partition proposals through journals and newspapers like the Bengalee, Hitabadi and Sanjibani.

• Vast protest meetings were held in the town hail of Calcutta in March 1904 and January 1905, and numerous petitions (sixty-nine memoranda from the Dacca division alone), some of them signed by as many as 70,000 people were sent to the Government of India and the Secretary of State. Even, the big zamindars who had hitherto been loyal to the Raj joined forces with the Congress leaders who were mostly intellectuals and political workers drawn from journalism, law and other liberal professions. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

66.With the advent of British power in India, which of the following is not correct regarding subsidiary alliance in India?

(a) Indian rulers would have to agree to posting of British Resident at his court.

(b) Indian rulers have to take administrative decisions with the advice of British Resident.

(c) Allying rulers of the Indian state was compelled for permanent stationing of British force within his territory with payment of maintainance.

(d) Indian rulers would not employ European in his service without approval of British government.

Answer-B

•The subsidiary alliance system was used by Lord Wellesley, who was governor-general from 1798to 1805, to build an empire in India. Under the system, the allying Indian state’s ruler was compelled to accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.

• Dupleix was the originator of the practice of a subsidiary alliance in India. He placed a French army at Hyderabad at the expense of the subahdar.

• The Indian ruler had to agree to the posting of a British resident in his court. The Indian ruler could not employ any European in his service without the prior consultation with the Company. Nor could he go to war or negotiate with any other Indian ruler without consulting the governor-general. In return for all this, the British would defend the ruler from his enemies and adopt a policy of non-interference in the internal matters of the allied state. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• One of the objectives behind Wellesley’s strengthening of the subsidiary alliance system was to keep the French from reviving and expanding their influence in India. Around this time, the fear of Napoleon’s expedition towards the East was very real for the British who felt that the French could attack the western coast of India from their colony of Mauritius.

• Wellesley’s policy of subsidiary alliance was, in fact, an extension of the ring-fence system which sought to reduce the Indian states into a position of dependence on the British government.

67.With reference to the period at the end of the eighteenth century, the terms haoladars, gantidars, or mandals were refers to

(a) a group of officials responsible for law and order in urban area.

(b) a group of rich peasants in the villages.

(d) a group of lathyals positioned by Zamindars in villages.

Answer-B

•The British conquered Bengal first and then they reordered its rural society and established a regime of land rights and revenue system. The first revenue collection system was introduced in Bengal and Bihar. It was known as the Permanent settlement by Lord Cornwallis.

• As per this system, the zamindars and taluqdars were recognised as estate owners and were given revenue collection responsibility. They had to collect land revenue from farmers, pass on the share fixed by British to them and keep the rest. Since the revenue rate were permanent they were kept high. It was argued that as they couldn't be increased the subsequent loss to British had to be overcome initially. The British felt this system would benefit British, Zamindars who would invest in the land to improve its productivity as it would increase their share and farmers too. But the system was a big failure.

• The jotedars were rich farmers who cultivated land directly became more powerful under this system. Jotedar was a class of rich peasants who were most powerful in North Bengal. They were known in different areas as haoladars, gantidars, bargadars and mandals. They resisted payment of rent to zamindars as they were happy to see them in trouble. The jotedars also bought most the land auctioned of a defaulting zamindar. Jotedars soon possessed thousand acres of land and became powerful in the rural society. The zamindars couldn't get relief from the judicial process too as it was overburdened. So their influence decreased.

• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

68.Consider the following statements with respect to the Factory Act of 1881 and the Factory Act of 1891:

1. The Factory Act 1881 primarily dealt with the problem of child labor.

2. The Factory Act of 1891 regulated the working hours of men.

3. These two Acts did not apply to the British-owned tea and coffee plantations.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-B

•The government of India which was generally pro-capitalist took some half-hearted measures to mitigate the sorry state of affairs in modern factories, many of which were owned by Indians.

• The manufacturers of Britain constantly put pressure on the government to pass factory laws. They were afraid that cheap labour would enable Indian manufacturers to outsell them in the Indian market.

• The first Factory Act was passed in 1881. This primarily dealt with the problem of child labour. Hence, statement 1 is correct. o employment of children under 7 years of age prohibited o working hours restricted to 9 hours per day for children o children to get four holidays in a month

69.The British army defeated Tipu Sultan in a brief but fierce war in 1799 thus putting an end to the ambitions of the Mysore state. In this context, which of the following was/ were the consequence(s) of this war?

1. All the territories of Mysore were given nizam of Hyderabad.

2. Mysore was restored to the descendants of the original Rajas from whom Haidar Ali seized power.

3. Subsidiary alliance was imposed on the new Mysore State. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-C

The East India Company, which ruled huge tracts of the subcontinent, recognised that Tipu's powerful army was one of the greatest threats to their expansion in India. It fought three wars against Tipu and his father, Hyder Ali, between 1767 and 1792.

• The threat from Mysore was finally removed on 4 May 1799, when the British - supported by the army of their Indian ally, the Nizam of Hyderabad - stormed and captured Tipu's capital, Seringapatam, after a month-long siege. Tipu was killed in the fighting, and with his death the Fourth Mysore War (1799) ended.

• After the war nearly half of Tipu's dominions were divided between the British and their ally, the Nizam. The reduced Kingdom of Mysore was restored to the descendants of the original rajas from whom Haidar Ali had seized power. Hence statement 1 is not correct and statement 2 is correct.

• A special treaty of subsidiary alliance was imposed on the new Raja by which the GovernorGeneral was authorised to take over the administration of the state in case of necessity. Mysore was in fact made a complete dependency of the company.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

70.Consider the following statements regarding the 28 months Congress rule (1937-39) in provinces:

1. Congress abolished the zamindari system.

2. The passage of a tenancy act gave hereditary rights to statutory tenants in Agra and Oudh.

3.Yusuf Meherally, a Socialist leader, was prosecuted by the Madras Government for making an inflammatory speech.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-B

•Statement 1 is not correct: The Congress could not attempt a complete overhaul of the agrarian structure by completely eliminating the zamindari system. This, for two reasons. According to the constitutional structure of the 1935 Act, the provincial Ministries did not have enough powers to do so. They also suffered from an extreme lack of financial resources, for the lion’s share of India’s revenues was appropriated by the Government of India. The Congress Ministries could also not touch the existing administrative structure, whose sanctity was guarded by the Viceroy’s and Governor’s powers.

• Statement 2 is correct: In U.P. a tenancy act was passed in October 1939 which gave all statutory tenants both in Agra and Oudh full hereditary rights in their holdings while taking away the landlord’s right to prevent the growth of occupancy. The rents of hereditary tenants could be changed only after ten years, while restrictions were placed on the rights of landlords to enhance rents even after this period. The basic system of landlordism was,not affected. Furthermore, it was, in the main, statutory and occupancy tenants who benefited. The interests of the sub-tenants of the occupancy tenants were overlooked. Agricultural labourers were also not affected.

• Statement 3 is correct: There were, however, certain blemishes on the Congress ministerial record in this respect. In July 1937, Yusuf Meherally, a Socialist leader, was prosecuted by the Madras Government for making an inflammatory speech in Malabar, though he was soon let off. In October 1937, the Madras Government prosecuted S.S. Batliwala, another Congress Social leader, for making a seditious speech and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment.

71.Pabna district is epicentre of agrarian unrest in East Bengal from 1870s to 1880s. In this context consider the following statements:

1. Zamindars efforts to prevent the tenants from acquiring occupancy rights under Act X of 1859 was one of the main causes of unrest.

2. Legal resistance was one of the main forms of struggle. zamindari system.

3. The unrest was aimed at abolition of 4. Surendranath Banerjea campaigned for the rights of tenants in Bengal. Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 2 and 3 only

(b) 1, 2 and 3 only

(d) 1 and 4 only

Answer-C

•Large parts of East Bengal were engulfed by agrarian unrest during the 1870s and early 1880s. The unrest was caused by the efforts of the zamindars to enhance rent beyond legal limits and to prevent the tenants from acquiring occupancy rights under Act X of 1859. o This they tried to achieve through illegal coercive methods such as forced eviction and seizure of crops and cattle as well as by dragging the tenants into costly litigation in the courts. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The peasants were no longer in a mood to tolerate such oppression. In May 1873, an agrarian league or combination was formed in Yusufshahi Parganah in Pabna district to resist the demands of the zamindars.

• The league organized a rent- strike — the ryots were to refuse to pay the enhanced rents — and challenged the zamindars in the courts. Funds were raised from the ryots to meet the costs. The struggle gradually spread throughout Pabna and then to the other districts of East Bengal.

• Everywhere agrarian leagues were organized, rents were withheld and zamindars fought in the courts. The main form of struggle was that of legal resistance. There was very little violence — it only occurred when the zamindars tried to compel the ryots to submit to their terms by force. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• In the course of the movement, the ryots developed a strong awareness of the law and their legal rights and the ability to combine and form associations for peaceful agitation.

• Though peasant discontent smoldered till 1885, many of the disputes were settled partially under official pressure and persuasion and partially out of the zamindar‘s fear that the united peasantry would drag them into prolonged and costly litigation. o Many peasants were able to acquire occupancy rights and resist enhanced rents.

72.Consider the following statements regarding Federation of Indian Chambers Commerce and Industry (FICCI) : of

1. It was formed in 1927 with representation from Bombay region only.

2. G.D. Congress's Birla and Purshottamdas were instrumental in its formation

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-B

Large parts of East Bengal were engulfed by agrarian unrest during the 1870s and early 1880s. The unrest was caused by the efforts of the zamindars to enhance rent beyond legal limits and to prevent the tenants from acquiring occupancy rights under Act X of 1859. o This they tried to achieve through illegal coercive methods such as forced eviction and seizure of crops and cattle as well as by dragging the tenants into costly litigation in the courts. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• In the course of the movement, the ryots developed a strong awareness of the law and their legal rights and the ability to combine and form associations for peaceful agitation.

73.With reference to Indian National Army (INA), consider the following statements:

1. The idea of INA was first conceived by Mohan Singh.

2. It had two headquarters, one in Rangoon and the other in Singapore.

3. One of the battalions of INA accompanied Japanese Army in the Imphal Campaign.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3 38.

Answer-D

•The idea of the INA was first conceived in Malaya by Mohan Singh, an Indian officer of the British Indian Army, he went to the Japanese for help to start an army with the prisoners of war. This initiative received great support from the Japanese Army and from the ethnic Indian population of South-East Asia. But later disagreements emerged between Mohan Singh and Japanese Army Command regarding the autonomy of the Indian National Army and the way Indians were treated by the Japanese soldiers, and later led to the disbandment and the arrest of Mohan Singh. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Bose went to Singapore and set up the Provisional Government of Free India on 21 October, 1943. The Provisional Government then declared war on Britain and the United States, and was recognised by the Axis powers and their satellites. He set up two INA headquarters, in Rangoon and in Singapore, and began to reorganize the INA. Recruits were sought from civilians, funds were gathered from Indian’s all over the world which was managed by a separate bank (Azad Hind Bank). He also set up 4 Brigades in the army and named them after Gandhi, Nehru, Chandrasekhar Azad and Himself. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• One INA battalion commanded by Shah Nawaz was allowed to accompany the Japanese Army to the Indo-Burma front and participate in the Imphal campaign. But the discriminatory treatment which included being denied rations, arms and being made to do menial work for the Japanese units, completely demoralized the INA men. The failure of the Imphal campaign, and the steady Japanese retreat thereafter, quashed any hopes of the INA liberating the nation. Hence statement 3 is correct.

74. In the context of the freedom struggle, consider the following statements regarding the Bombay Plan :

1. It was drafted during the 28 months of Congress rule in 1937-39 period.

2. J.R.D. Tata and John Mathai were among the signatories of the plan.

3. The plan advocated partial nationalisation.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-C

• During World War II several economic plans were devised for future Independent India, the most important being the Bombay Plan of 1944-45 drawn up by the big three of the Indian capitalist world -— J.R.D. Tata, G.D. Birla and Sri Ram. This plan visualized far-reaching land reforms, a large public sector and massive public and private investment. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• The signatories of the plan were Purshottamdas Thakurdas, J.R.D. Tata, G.D. Birla, Ardeshir Dalal, Sri Ram, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, A.D. Shroff and John Mathai. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The Bombay Plan seriously took up the question of rapid economic growth and equitable distribution, even arguing for the necessity of partial nationalization, the public sector, land reform and a series of workers’ welfare schemes. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The basic assumption made by the Bombay planners was that the plan could be implemented only by an independent national Government.

75.With reference to the Swami Dayanand, which of the following are his popular beliefs?

1. Support the notion of 'Karma' and soul transmigration

2. Study of western sciences for the development of young generation

3. Infallibility of Vedic knowledge

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

•Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824-83) founded the Arya Samaj in 1875. He was a Sanskrit expert who had never studied English. He issued the slogan, "Back to the Vedas."

• Believes in the infallibility of the Vedas and regards them as the ultimate source of all truth and knowledge. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• It was believed that post-Vedic books such as Puranas were to blame for the contamination of the Vedic religion.

• Opposes God's idolatry and reincarnation idea, but supports the notion of 'Karma' and soul transmigration. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Dayanand also rejected the doctrine of fate/destiny Niyati.

• Believes in a single God who does not have a physical existence.

• Rejects Brahmanical domination over Hindu spiritual and social life. Brahmins' claim to be conduits between man and God is condemned.

• Supported the Four Varna System, however, it should be based on merit rather than birth.

• Everyone has an equal position in the spiritual and social lives of Hindus.

• Study of western Sciences for the development of the young generation was strongly supported.

76.Consider the following statements regarding the

the Khilafat movement:

1. Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali were the leaders of the Khilafat agitation.

2. The purpose of the movement was to pressure the British government to preserve the authority of Khalifa over the Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman empire.

3. Khilafat agitation became part of the Non-Cooperation movement.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer-D

•In 1920 the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa. People were furious about this as they had been about the Jallianwala massacre. Also, Indian Muslims were keen that the Khalifa be allowed to retain control over Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire.

• The Indian Muslims were incensed when they discovered that their loyalty had been purchased during the War by assurances of generous treatment of Turkey after the War - a promise British statesman had no intention of fulfilling. The Muslims regarded the Caliph of Turkey as their spiritual head and were naturally upset when they found that he would retain no control over the holy places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire, the jazirat-ul-Arab (Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Palestine). The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, now wished to initiate a full-fledged movement. Hence statements 1 and 2 are correct.

• The Congress supported the movement and Mahatma Gandhi sought to conjoin it to the Non Cooperation movement. Gandhiji, who had been in close touch with the Khilafat leaders for quite some time, and was a special invitee to the Khilafat Conference in November 1919, had all along been very sympathetic to their cause, especially because he felt the British had committed a breach of faith by making promises that they had no intention of keeping. In February 1920, he suggested to the Khilafat Committee that it adopt a programme of non-violent non-cooperation to protest the Government’s behaviour. On 9 June 1920, the Khilafat Committee at Allahabad unanimously accepted the suggestion of non-cooperation and asked Gandhiji to lead the movement. The movement was launched formally on 1 August 1920. Hence statement 3 is correct.

77. The Ilbert Bill Controversy of 1883 was related to:

a) Salt monopoly of the British

b) Criminal jurisdiction of European judges over Indians

c) Criminal jurisdiction of Indian judges over Europeans

d) Education policy in India

Answer: (c) Criminal jurisdiction of Indian judges over Europeans

Explanation: The Ilbert Bill (1883) proposed by Viceroy Lord Ripon sought to empower Indian judges to try cases involving European defendants in criminal cases. This created massive opposition from the European community in India, leading to the bill being significantly modified.

78. Which of the following newspapers was NOT associated with Mahatma Gandhi?

a) Harijan

b) Indian Opinion

c) Young India

d) Kesari

Answer: (d) Kesari

Explanation: While Harijan, Indian Opinion (in South Africa), and Young India were all associated with Gandhi, Kesari was published by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Gandhi used these newspapers to spread his ideas of non-violence and civil disobedience.

79. The 'Doctrine of Lapse' was introduced during the Governor-Generalship of:

a) Lord William Bentinck

b) Lord Dalhousie

c) Lord Canning

d) Lord Wellesley

Answer: b) Lord Dalhousie

Explanation: The Doctrine of Lapse was introduced by Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856). Under this doctrine, if an Indian ruler died without a natural heir, his kingdom would be annexed by the British. This led to the annexation of several states including Satara, Jhansi, and Nagpur.

80. The first woman president of the Indian National Congress was:

a) Sarojini Naidu

b) Annie Besant

c) Nellie Sengupta

d) Aruna Asaf Ali

Answer: b) Annie Besant

Explanation: Annie Besant became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress in 1917 at the Calcutta session. She was also known for her role in the Home Rule Movement and the Theosophical Society.

81. The Swarajist Party was formed by:

a) C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru

b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal

c) Annie Besant and Madan Mohan Malaviya

d) M.K. Gandhi and Sardar Patel

Answer: a) C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru

Explanation: The Swaraj Party was formed in 1923 by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru after the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement. They advocated for entering the legislative councils to obstruct the government from within.

82. Which of these events occurred first?

a) Champaran Satyagraha

b) Kheda Satyagraha

c) Ahmedabad Mill Strike

d) Non-Cooperation Movement

Answer-a) Champaran Satyagraha

Explanation: The Champaran Satyagraha (1917) was Gandhi's first civil disobedience movement in India, followed by the Ahmedabad Mill Strike and Kheda Satyagraha in 1918, and the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920.

83. The Poona Pact (1932) was signed between:

a) Gandhi and Ambedkar

b) Congress and Muslim League

c) British Government and Congress

d) Moderates and Extremists

Answer: a) Gandhi and Ambedkar

Explanation: The Poona Pact was signed between Gandhi and Ambedkar on September 24, 1932, modifying the Communal Award. It provided for reserved seats for depressed classes within the general electorate instead of separate electorates.

84. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 provided for:

a) Creation of two dominions

b) Partition of Bengal

c) Integration of princely states

d) Creation of constituent assembly

Answer: a) Creation of two dominions

Explanation: The Indian Independence Act of 1947 provided for the creation of two independent dominions - India and Pakistan - effective from August 15, 1947. It also provided for the end of British paramountcy over princely states.

85. The Peasant Movement in Telangana (1946-1951) was led by:

a) Communist Party of India

b) Indian National Congress

c) Forward Bloc

d) Praja Socialist Party

Answer: a) Communist Party of India

Explanation: The Telangana Peasant Movement (1946-1951) was led by the Communist Party of India against the feudal lords of the Telangana region and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was one of the largest peasant movements in Indian history.

UPSC Prelims MOCK Test 2026 Modern History

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