History & National Movement

Correct answer: (B) Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Naicker

The Self-Respect Movement was founded in 1925 by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Naicker in Tamil Nadu to promote rationalism and social equality.

Correct answer: (C) Ahmednagar

Chand Bibi was the regent of the Ahmednagar Sultanate and famously defended Ahmednagar fort against the Mughals.

Correct answer: (D) Lord Ripon

Lord Ripon repealed the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 (enacted by Lytton) in 1882.

Correct answer: (A) (a-2), (b-3), (c-1), (d-4)

Kot Diji was excavated by F.A. Khan (2), Harappa by Daya Ram Sahani (3), Kalibangan is associated with Luigi Pio Tessitori (1), and Mohenjodaro by Rakhal Das Banerjee (4), giving the match (a-2), (b-3), (c-1), (d-4).

Correct answer: (B) Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore pioneered the 'Rakhi Bandhan' festival on 16 October 1905 during the Partition of Bengal to promote Hindu-Muslim unity and protest the division.

Correct answer: (C) Mehrgarh

Mehrgarh (in present-day Balochistan, Pakistan) provides the earliest evidence of settled agriculture and Neolithic farming in the Indian subcontinent, dating back to around 7000 BCE.

Correct answer: (D) Bipin Chandra Pal

Bipin Chandra Pal, the fiery extremist leader, was hailed by Aurobindo Ghosh as 'the Prophet of Great Political Creed' for his advocacy of Swaraj.

Correct answer: (A) Gulbadan Begum

The Humayun-nama, a memoir of Emperor Humayun's life, was written by his half-sister Gulbadan Begum at Akbar's request.

Correct answer: (C) Rowlatt Act

The Rowlatt Act of 1919 gave the British government sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects without trial to repress political activity, provoking nationwide protest.

Correct answer: (B) Chakraborty Rajagopalachari

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) was the first and only Indian Governor-General of independent India, serving from 1948 to 1950.

Correct answer: (D) Pramathanath Mitra

Pramathanath Mitra (P. Mitra), a Calcutta barrister, founded the revolutionary Anushilan Samiti in 1902 in Bengal.

Correct answer: (B) Ilbari Turks, Khilji, Tughluq, Lodi

The correct chronological order of the Delhi Sultanate dynasties is Ilbari/Mamluk Turks (1206), Khilji (1290), Tughluq (1320) and Lodi (1451), so option B is right.

Correct answer: (B) Narmada valley

The earliest fossil of archaic Homo sapiens in India, the 'Narmada Man', was found at Hathnora in the Narmada valley.

Correct answer: (D) C. R. Das

Chittaranjan (C. R.) Das argued that Swaraj must be for the masses and not for the classes alone, stressing a broad-based, inclusive freedom struggle.

Correct answer: (C) Eran inscription

The Eran stone inscription of Bhanugupta (510 CE) in Madhya Pradesh carries the earliest epigraphic reference to the practice of Sati.

Correct answer: (A) 1905

The Carlyle Circular, forbidding students from participating in the Swadeshi/anti-partition agitation, was issued by R. W. Carlyle in 1905.

Correct answer: (D) Alauddin Hussein Shah

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's lifetime coincided with the reign of Alauddin Hussain Shah, the independent Sultan of Bengal (1494-1519).

Correct answer: (C) Mahatma Gandhi

'Hind Swaraj' (1909) was written by Mahatma Gandhi, setting out his ideas on self-rule and modern civilization.

Correct answer: (A) Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill famously derided Gandhi as a 'seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir' during the 1931 talks.

Correct answer: (B) 1918

The Montagu-Chelmsford Report proposing the reforms was published in 1918 (the reforms were later enacted through the Government of India Act, 1919).

Correct answer: (D) Dadabhai Naoroji

Dadabhai Naoroji, an early Congress leader and author of the Drain Theory, was popularly called the 'Grand Old Man of India'.

Correct answer: (B) Akbar

The Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri was built by Emperor Akbar around 1575 to commemorate his victory over Gujarat.

Correct answer: (C) Babur

Babur first used the Tulghuma (flanking/wheeling) battle tactic in India at the First Battle of Panipat (1526).

Correct answer: (A) 1931

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed on 5 March 1931, after which Gandhi suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement and agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference.

Correct answer: (A) Swami Sahajanand Saraswati

The All India Kisan Sabha was founded in 1936 at Lucknow with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati as its first president.

Correct answer: (D) Bisthi

'Vishti' (Bisthi) refers to forced or unpaid labour extracted by the state in ancient and early medieval India.

Correct answer: (A) Bhagwati Charan Vohra

'The Philosophy of the Bomb' (1930) was written by Bhagwati Charan Vohra as the HSRA's reply to Gandhi's condemnation of revolutionary violence.

Correct answer: (C) Rashtrakuta

Arab travellers called the Rashtrakuta rulers 'Balhara' (from the title Vallabharaja), describing them as among the greatest kings of India.

Correct answer: (C) Gokhale

Gopal Krishna Gokhale founded the Servants of India Society in 1905 to train workers for national service.

Correct answer: (C) Lala Hardayal, America

The Ghadar Party was founded in 1913 at San Francisco (America) with Lala Hardayal as a key founder.

Correct answer: (A) Kakori Conspiracy Case

Ram Prasad Bismil was a leader of the 1925 Kakori train robbery (Conspiracy) Case and was hanged for it in 1927.

Correct answer: (D) Chandra Gupta-II

Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) destroyed the Western Kshatrapas (Sakas) and took the title Sakari.

Correct answer: (B) Gandhiji

'Navjivan' was a weekly journal in Gujarati started and edited by Mahatma Gandhi from 1919, used to spread his ideas on satyagraha and non-cooperation.

Correct answer: (A) Shamsuddin Iltutmish

Iltutmish, the Slave-dynasty Sultan, consolidated the Delhi Sultanate by organising the iqta system of land grants, the army, and introduced the silver tanka and copper jital currency.

Correct answer: (B) (d-4)

The Mallas ruled Kushinagar and Pava, whereas Kapilavastu (4) was the capital of the Sakyas, so pairing Mallas with Kapilavastu is the mismatch. (Pippalivana (1) is linked with the Moriyas.) Hence (d-4) is not properly matched.

Correct answer: (B) Vallabhbhai Patel

The 1928 Bardoli Satyagraha in Gujarat, a no-tax peasant movement against revenue hikes, was led by Vallabhbhai Patel, who earned the title 'Sardar' for its success.

Correct answer: (D) Gorakhpur

Chauri Chaura is in Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, where a mob burned a police station in Feb 1922, leading Gandhi to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Correct answer: (B) Selim

Abul Fazl, Akbar's chronicler and author of Akbarnama, was assassinated in 1602 by Bir Singh Bundela at the instigation of Prince Salim (later Jahangir).

Correct answer: (B) 1932

The Poona Pact between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, reserving seats for the Depressed Classes within a joint electorate, was signed in 1932.

Correct answer: (B) Debendranath Tagore

The Tattwabodhini Sabha was founded in Calcutta in 1839 by Debendranath Tagore to propagate Brahmo (Vedantic) ideas and reform.

Correct answer: (C) (d), (c), (a), (b)

Chronologically: Megasthenes (c.300 BCE, Maurya) → Fa Tsien/Faxian (c.400 CE, Gupta) → Hieun Tsang (7th c.) → Itsing (late 7th c.), i.e. (d),(c),(a),(b).

Correct answer: (C) Megasthenes

Megasthenes, the Greek envoy at Chandragupta Maurya's court, wrote in his Indica that there was no slavery in India.

Correct answer: (A) Antiochus II Theos

Asoka's Rock Edict XIII names Antiochus II Theos of Syria (Amtiyoka) among the Greek kings to whom he sent his message of dhamma.

Correct answer: (B) Dharmachakra Pravartana

Gautama Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath is called Dharmachakra Pravartana ('turning of the wheel of law'), in which he preached the Four Noble Truths.

Correct answer: (B) Congress session at Nagpur

The Non-Cooperation programme was formally adopted by the Indian National Congress at its Nagpur session in December 1920.

Correct answer: (D) Dara Sukoh

Prince Dara Shukoh, Shah Jahan's eldest son, had the Upanishads translated into Persian in his work 'Sirr-i-Akbar' (The Great Secret).

Correct answer: (B) Rajaraja I

The great Chola ruler Rajaraja I was known as Arulmozhi/Arumolivarman before he ascended the throne in 985 CE.

Correct answer: (A) Dadabhai Naoroji

Dadabhai Naoroji propounded the 'Drain of Wealth' theory in his book 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India', arguing that Britain was draining India's wealth.

Correct answer: (A) Harishena

The Allahabad Prasasti (Prayag Prashasti), eulogising Samudragupta, was composed by his court poet Harishena and inscribed on an Asokan pillar.

Correct answer: (D) Palas

Sandhyakar Nandi was the court poet of the Pala dynasty; he wrote the Ramacharitam, which simultaneously narrates the Ramayana and the reign of Pala king Ramapala.

Correct answer: (C) Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin Khalji was born free and rose through the Khalji family, so he was never a slave. Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Iltutmish and Balban were all former slaves of the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty.

Correct answer: (C) Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Bal Gangadhar Tilak coined the famous nationalist rallying cry 'Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it.' The other names are all revolutionaries but none is linked to this slogan.

Correct answer: (A) Assassination of British official W.C. Rand by Chapekar Brothers

The first assassination of a British official after 1857 was the killing of W. C. Rand (the Plague Commissioner of Pune) by the Chapekar brothers in 1897. Saunders (1928), Wyllie (1909) and Jackson (1909) all came later.

Correct answer: (B) Dharmapala

The Vikramshila monastery (mahavihara), a great Buddhist centre of learning in present-day Bihar, was founded by the Pala king Dharmapala. Devapala was his successor.

Correct answer: (C) Tiger

The flag of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) carried a leaping/springing tiger, symbolising Tipu Sultan's spirit of armed resistance.

Correct answer: (B) A Peasant movement

The Eka (Unity) Movement of 1921-22 was a peasant movement in Awadh (Hardoi, Bahraich, Sitapur) protesting high rents and oppression by landlords, initially linked with the Congress-Khilafat agitation.

Correct answer: (C) William Jones

The Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded in Calcutta in 1784 by Sir William Jones, the orientalist and jurist, to promote study of Asian history, culture and languages.

Correct answer: (B) Irish

Bengal revolutionaries drew inspiration chiefly from the Irish revolutionary/nationalist movement (e.g., Sinn Fein and the secret-society model), whose struggle against British rule offered a template for armed nationalism.

Correct answer: (C) Bahadur Shah II

Bahadur Shah II (Zafar), the last Mughal emperor, was reigning during the 1857 Revolt and was proclaimed its symbolic leader by the sepoys at Delhi; he was later exiled to Rangoon.

Correct answer: (C) Civil Disobedience Movement

Gandhi's Dandi Salt March (12 March-6 April 1930), breaking the salt law, inaugurated the Civil Disobedience Movement, in which people openly defied colonial laws.

Correct answer: (D) Turkey

The Khilafat Movement (1919-24) protested the dismemberment of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire after WWI and sought to preserve the Ottoman Sultan-Caliph's authority over Islamic holy places; its agenda thus centred on Turkey.

Correct answer: (D) 1857

The University of Calcutta was established on 24 January 1857, making it one of the first three modern universities in India (along with Bombay and Madras) set up under Wood's Despatch.

Correct answer: (A) Fazlul Haque

A. K. Fazlul Haque, the peasant leader and first Prime Minister of undivided Bengal, was popularly titled 'Sher-e-Bangla' (Tiger of Bengal) for his championing of Bengal's rural masses.

Correct answer: (D) Akbar

Akbar introduced the Ain-i-Dahsala (Dahsala or Zabti system) in 1580, a land-revenue system devised by Raja Todar Mal that fixed revenue by averaging produce and prices over the preceding ten years.

Correct answer: (A) V. D. Savarkar

V. D. Savarkar, imprisoned in the Cellular Jail (Andaman), submitted several mercy petitions to the British seeking his release, a fact often cited in debates about his role.

Correct answer: (A) A. O. Hume, about Indian National Congress

The 'safety valve' theory holds that retired British civil servant A. O. Hume founded the Indian National Congress (1885) as a safety valve to let off rising Indian discontent peacefully; Hume was the Congress's key organiser and first General Secretary.

Correct answer: (A) a sermon read in the name of the ruler at Friday prayers.

In medieval Islamic polity the Khutba was the sermon delivered at Friday congregational prayers in the ruler's name; having the khutba read in one's name was, along with the sikka (coinage), a mark of sovereignty.

Correct answer: (C) Iltutmish

Iltutmish, the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty sultan, introduced the Iqta system, assigning revenue-collection territories (iqtas) to nobles in lieu of salary. He also introduced the silver tanka and copper jital coins.

Correct answer: (B) Bramhabandhab Upadhyay

Brahmabandhab Upadhyay was the editor of the fiery nationalist Bengali daily 'Sandhya', which spread Swadeshi and anti-Partition sentiment during the 1905 movement.

Correct answer: (B) Iqtiaruddin Bin Baktiar Khilji

Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji conquered Bengal around 1204 CE, defeating the Sena ruler Lakshman Sena and establishing Muslim rule in the region.

Correct answer: (B) Ranajit Guha

The Subaltern Studies school of historiography, which focused on history 'from below' (peasants, tribals, the marginalised), was founded and led by Ranajit Guha in the early 1980s.

Correct answer: (C) Muhammad Bin Tughlaq

The Moroccan traveller Ibn Batuta visited India during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq (14th century), who even appointed him a qazi of Delhi; he recorded his travels in the Rihla.

Correct answer: (A) Munda uprising

'Ulgulan' (the Great Tumult) refers to the Munda rebellion led by Birsa Munda (1899-1900) in the Chotanagpur region against British land and forest policies.

Correct answer: (A) Tolstoy

Gandhiji was deeply influenced by Leo Tolstoy, especially his book 'The Kingdom of God is Within You'; the two corresponded, and Gandhi named Tolstoy Farm in South Africa after him.

Correct answer: (C) Matangini Hazra

Matangini Hazra was a Gandhian who died during the Quit India Movement (1942), not an armed revolutionary. Bina Das, Santi-Suniti and Kalpana Datta all belonged to militant/revolutionary nationalism.

Correct answer: (D) Lord Irwin

Lord Irwin was the Viceroy/Governor-General when Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement with the Dandi Salt March in 1930; the Gandhi-Irwin Pact followed in 1931.

Correct answer: (B) 1911

The 1905 Partition of Bengal was annulled in 1911 (announced at the Delhi Durbar), following sustained Swadeshi and anti-Partition agitation; the capital was also shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.

Correct answer: (D) Dadabhai Naoroji

Dadabhai Naoroji, the pioneer economist and thrice Congress President who authored the 'Drain of Wealth' theory, is popularly called the 'Grand Old Man of India'. He was also the first Indian elected to the British House of Commons.

Correct answer: (D) 23rd March 1940

The Pakistan Resolution (Lahore Resolution), demanding separate states for Muslims, was adopted by the Muslim League at its Lahore session on 23rd March 1940, moved by A.K. Fazlul Haque.

Correct answer: (B) Syed Mir Nasar Ali

Titumir, leader of the Barasat/Narkelberia peasant uprising against zamindars and the British (famous for his bamboo fort), had the original name Syed Mir Nisar Ali.

Correct answer: (C) 1931

New Delhi, designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker after the capital shifted from Calcutta in 1911, was formally inaugurated by Viceroy Lord Irwin in 1931.

Correct answer: (A) 78 A.D.

The Saka era (Sakabda), India's national calendar era, began in 78 A.D., traditionally attributed to the Kushana ruler Kanishka's accession.

Correct answer: (B) Harisena

The Allahabad (Prayag) Pillar Inscription, or Prayag Prashasti, glorifying Samudragupta's conquests, was composed by his court poet Harisena. Samudragupta is its subject, not its author.

Correct answer: (A) A rank or office

In the Mughal administrative (mansabdari) system, 'mansab' literally means a rank or office; a mansabdar's rank fixed his status, pay and the number of troops he had to maintain.

Correct answer: (D) Rashbihari Bose

Rashbehari Bose, who had escaped to Japan, founded and organised the Indian Independence League abroad, laying the base later handed over to Subhas Chandra Bose and the INA.

Correct answer: (B) His charka (spinning wheel)

The charka (spinning wheel) was Gandhi's chief symbol of the freedom struggle, embodying self-reliance (swadeshi), khadi, and dignified non-violent resistance to British economic domination.

Correct answer: (A) Anil Seal

Irfan Habib, Nurul Hasan and Athar Ali are associated with the Aligarh School of history; Anil Seal belongs to the Cambridge School (known for the 'imperialism as a matter of local collaboration' interpretation), so he is the odd one out.

Correct answer: (B) Dadabhai Naoroji

'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India' was written by Dadabhai Naoroji, who used it to develop his famous 'Drain of Wealth' theory showing how colonial rule impoverished India by draining its resources to Britain.

Correct answer: (C) Santhal rebellion

Sidhu (Sidho) and Kanhu (Kanho) Murmu were the brothers who led the Santhal Rebellion (Santhal Hool) of 1855-56 against oppressive zamindars, moneylenders and British authorities in the Rajmahal hills region.

Correct answer: (D) Sister Nivedita

As per the official key, Sister Nivedita is credited with designing an early Indian national flag; her flag featured a vajra (thunderbolt) symbol and the words 'Bande Mataram'.

Correct answer: (D) A decree to prevent nationalist protests amongst students in educational institutions during the Partition of Bengal.

The Carlyle Circular (1905), issued by R.W. Carlyle, threatened to withdraw grants and affiliation from schools and colleges whose students took part in the anti-Partition (Swadeshi) agitation, aiming to suppress nationalist protest among students.

Correct answer: (D) Alluri Sitha Rama Raju

The Rampa Rebellion of 1922-24 in the Godavari agency of Andhra was led by Alluri Sitarama Raju, who organised tribal (Koya) fighters in a guerrilla revolt against British forest laws before being captured and killed.

Correct answer: (D) The Vijayanagara Empire

The Nayankara system was a military-administrative arrangement of the Vijayanagara Empire, under which chiefs called Nayakas were granted amaram (revenue-yielding land) in return for maintaining troops and horses for the king. It is a hallmark of South Indian medieval polity, not of the Cholas or Marathas.