211. Which religious reformer of Western India was known as ‘Lokhitwadi’ ?
Correct Answer:-A ( Gopal Hari Deshmukh )
Description:- Gopal Hari Deshmukh was a social reformer from Maharashtra, India. At age 25, Deshmukh started writing articles aimed at social reform in Maharashtra in the weekly Prabhakar under the pen name Lokhitawadi. In the first two years, he penned 108 articles on social reform. That group of articles has come to be known in Marathi literature as Lokhitawadinchi Shatapatre.
212. Who was the first Governor– General of Bengal?
Correct Answer:-B ( Warren Hastings )
Description:- Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor- General of Bengal in 1773. He was the first Governor- General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.
213. Which scripture was called his ‘mother’ by Gandhiji ?
Correct Answer:-C ( Bhagwat Gita )
Description:- Gandhi called the Gita his ‘mother,’ and his ‘spiritual reference book.’ It has seemed contradictory to many that a scripture that affirms the duty to kill is the basis for nonviolence. Gandhi explained that the story is not meant to be taken literally. Its meaning is that in order to reach self actualization, we must ‘kill’ what is most dear to us; i.e., shed our personal attachments.
214. The Quit India Movement was launched in 1942 in the month of
Correct Answer:-C ( August )
Description:- The Quit India Movement, or the August Movement (August Kranti) was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi’s call for immediate independence.
216. Who was the first English President of the Indian National Congress ?
Correct Answer:-A ( George Yule )
Description:- George Yule was a Scottish merchant in England and India who served as the fourth President of the Indian National Congress in 1888, the first non-Indian to hold that office. He was founder of George Yule & Co. of London, and headed Andrew Yule & Co., of Calcutta. He served as Sheriff of Calcutta and as President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.
217. Which one of the following personalities is known as ‘Grand Old Man of India’ ?
Correct Answer:-B ( Dadabhai Naoroji )
Description:- Dadabhai Naoroji, of Bombay Parsee origin, is the ‘Grand Old Man of India’ and the ‘Father of Indian Nationalism’ who worked with perseverance and unshakeable faith towards the goal of Swaraj was the first Indian to claim self-government for his people. Dadabhai Naoroji was also the first Indian to show that India was being drained of its wealth under the British rule and thus was fast succumbing to poverty. He played a key role in founding the Indian National Congress in 1885 and was associated with the organisation till his death.
218. The pledge for ‘Poorna Swaraj’ was taken at the Congress Session of
Correct Answer:-B ( Lahore )
Description:- In December 1929, the Congress held its annual session at Lahore. Jawaharlal Nehru was the president at this session. In this session, the Congress declared ‘Purna Swaraj’ or Complete Independence as its ultimate goal. It asked all Congressmen and nationalists not to participate in elections to the legislatures and to resign from the legislatures. It was decided that 26 January would be henceforth observed as the Independence Day every year. To achieve the aim of complete independence, the Congress decided to launch another mass movement – the Civil Disobedience Movement.
219. Who was the founder of the ‘Servants of India Society’ ?
Correct Answer:-A ( G.K. Gokhale )
Description:- The Servants of India Society was formed in Pune, Maharashtra, on June 12, 1905 by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who left the Deccan Education Society to form this association. Along with him were a small group of educated Indians, as Natesh Appaji Dravid, Gopal Krishna Deodhar and Anant Patwardhan who wanted to promote social and human development and overthrow the British rule in India. The Society organized many campaigns to promote education, sanitation, health care and fight the social evils of untouchability and discrimination, alcoholism, poverty, oppression of women and domestic abuse.
220. Mahatma Gandhi was profoundly influenced by the writings of
Correct Answer:-D ( Leo Tolstoy )
Description:- When Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi started to practice law in South Africa as a young barrister in the 1890s, he was confronted with glaring racial discrimination as well as various other injustices. It was then that he began to develop his satyagraha philosophy of nonviolence, through which he would later lead India to independence. Perhaps the most profound influence on Gandhi at this time were the ideas and living example of the Russian author Leo Tolstoy who, in the last year of his life, became Gandhi’s mentor on nonviolence. By directly influencing Mahatma Gandhi with this idea through his work The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy has had a huge influence on the nonviolent resistance movement to this day.
221. Who is rightly called the ‘Father of Local Self Government’ in India ?
Correct Answer:-B ( Lord Ripon )
Description:- Lord Ripon is known as the father of local selfgovernment in India. The advent of Lord Ripon (1880- 84) marked a new chapter in the history of local selfgovernment in India. Before him, the condition of the local bodies was far from satisfactory. There was hardly any trace of election, much less of independent authority, and no specific powers were granted to local authorities. Lord Ripon, in 1882 issued a comprehensive resolution, recommending the removal of all the existing defects in the local bodies and also making them the instruments of political education.
222. Which Governor General is associated with Doctrine of Lapse?
Correct Answer:-B ( Lord Dalhousie )
Description:- The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy purportedly devised by Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General for the East India Company in India between 1848 and 1856. According to the Doctrine, any princely state or territory under the direct influence of the British East India Company (the dominant imperial power in the subcontinent), as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System, would automatically be annexed if the ruler was either ‘manifestly incompetent or died without a direct heir’.
223. India attained ‘Dominion Status’ on
Correct Answer:-B ( 15th August, 1947 )
Description:- Independence coincided with the partition of India, in which the British Indian Empire was divided along religious lines into two new states—the Dominion of India (later the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Bangladesh); the partition was accompanied by violent communal riots. The Dominion of India, also known as the Union of India, was a predecessor to modern-day India and an independent state that existed between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Although it was transformed into the Republic of India by promulgation of the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, the term ‘Union of India’ (or simply ‘the Union’) is still used by the Indian judicial system.
224. What is Gandhi’s definition of Rama Raj ?
Correct Answer:-C ( The greatest good of all )
Description:- In post-colonial India, Ram Rajya as a concept was first mooted by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji announced that Ram Rajya would be brought once Independence arrived. When he was asked about the ideal state, he talked about Ram Rajya. By using the Ram Rajya slogan, Gandhiji implied an ideal Rajya where values of justice, equality, idealism, renunciation and sacrifice were practised. On the subject of Ram Rajya, Gandhi wrote on February 26, 1947, ‘Let no one commit the mistake of thinking that Ram Rajya means a rule of Hindus. My Ram is another name for Khuda or God. I want Khuda Raj which is the same thing as the Kingdom of God on Earth.’ Obviously this meant an ideal society where everybody follows a code of righteous living, lives content and happy and meet their essential needs. Ram Rajya according to many scholars meant that the state (Rajya) was the sole legitimate power, which imposes limits upon its exercise of power, either for the greater happiness of the people, or to evade a greater tyranny that could be caused by moral outrage or self-righteousness.
225. Who among the following was the first to sign the ‘Instruments of Accession’ ?
Correct Answer:-B ( The Dewan of Travancore )
Description:- The Instrument of Accession was a legal document created in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British suzerainty to join one of the new dominions of India or Pakistan created by the Partition of British India. When United Kingdom accepted demands for a partition and announced its intention to quit India, the king of Travancore, Chithira Thirunal, issued a declaration of independence on June 18, 1947. The declaration was unacceptable to the Government of India; many rounds of negotiation were conducted among the Diwan, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, and the Indian representatives. In July 23, 1947 they decided in favour of the accession to the Indian Union, pending approval by the king. An assassination attempt on the Diwan by the Communists on the July 25, 1947 caused to hasten the accession of Travancore state to the Indian Union
226. The decline of Indian Handicrafts industry in the 19th century was attributed to
Correct Answer:-D ( All of the above )
Description:- Tha major causes of decline in handicrafts in India during the British rule were: (i) disappearance of court culture; (ii) adverse influence of British rule on tastes and habits; (iii) competition from European manufacturers; (iv) one way free trade policy of the British; (v) exploitation of craftsmen by merchants, etc.
227. Why was the Simon Commission boycotted by the Indians?
Correct Answer:-A ( It did not include any Indian as a member )
Description:- The Simon commission was boycotted by Indians because they felt insulted and hurt that a committee appointed to decide the future of India did not include even one Indian.
228. Who among the following started the first newspaper in India?
Correct Answer:-D ( James A. Hickey )
Description:- The first major newspaper in India—The Bengal Gazette—was started in 1780 under the British Raj by James Augustus Hickey.
229. English education was introduced in India by
Correct Answer:-C ( Lord Macaulay )
Description:- Macaulay was Secretary to the Board of Control under Lord Grey from 1832 until 1833. After the passing of the Government of India Act 1833, he was appointed as the first Law Member of the Governor- General’s Council. He went to India in 1834. He served on the Supreme Council of India between 1834 and 1838. He introduced English education in India through his famous minute of February 1835. He called an educational system that would create a class of anglicized Indians who would serve as cultural intermediaries between the British and the Indians.
230. Name the important French possession in India.
Correct Answer:-B ( Pondicherry )
Description:- Pondicherry is a Union Territory of India formed out of four enclaves of former French India and named for the largest, Pondicherry. The French East India Company set up a trading centre at Pondicherry in 1674. This outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India. The French acquired Mahe in the 1720s, Yanam in 1731, and Karaikal in 1738.
231. As per provisions of the Charter Act of 1833, a Law Commission (for consolidating, codifying and improving Indian laws) was constituted under the Chairmanship of
Correct Answer:-C ( Lord Macaulay )
Description:- The first Law Commission was established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 under the Chairmanship of Lord Macaulay which recommended codification of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and a few other matters. Thereafter, the second, third and fourth Law Commissions were constituted in 1853, 1861 and 1879 respectively.
232. Who was the first Indian to become member of British Parliament ?
Correct Answer:-D ( Dadabhai Naoroji )
Description:- Dadabhai Naoroji was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons between 1892 and 1895, and the first Asian to be a British MP. Elected for the Liberal Party in Finsbury Central at the 1892 general election, he was the first British Indian MP. He refused to take the oath on the Bible as he was not a Christian, but was allowed to take the oath of office in the name of God on his copy of Khordeh Avesta. In Parliament, he spoke on Irish Home Rule and the condition of the Indian people. In his political campaign and duties as an MP, he was assisted by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the future Muslim nationalist and founder of Pakistan.
233. According to Gandhiji, which of the following are the major means of Satyagraha ? (a) Non-cooperation (b) Strike (c) Demonstration (d) Civil disobedience
Correct Answer:-B ( a and d are correct )
Description:- Gandhi’s main tactic in his fight against the British was what he called Satyagraha, which means ‘Soul- Force’ or ‘The power of truth’. Gandhi developed Satyagraha as the practical extension of ahimsa and love; it meant standing firmly behind one’s ideals, but without hatred. Satyagraha took the form of civil disobedience and non-cooperation with evil. Civil disobedience involved breaking a specific law if it was believed to be unjust, and then facing the consequences. The other element of Satyagraha, non-cooperation with evil, consisted of pulling out all support for an unjust system, such as the British rule of India.
234. Hardayal, an intellectual giant, was associated with
Correct Answer:-B ( Ghadar Movement )
Description:- Lala Har Dayal was a Indian nationalist revolutionary who founded the Ghadar Party in America. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple living and intellectual acumen inspired many expatriate Indians living in Canada and the USA to fight against British Imperialism during the First World War.
235. The credit of discovering the sea route of India goes to the
Correct Answer:-C ( Portuguese)
Description:- Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India. After decades of sailors trying to reach India with thousands of lives and dozens of vessels lost in shipwrecks and attacks, Gama landed in Calicut on the 20 May, 1498. This discovery was very impactful and paved the way for the Portuguese to establish a long lasting colonial empire in Asia.
236. The song ‘Jana-Gana-Mana’ composed by Rabindra Nath Tagore was first published in January 1912 under the title of
Correct Answer:-C ( Bharat Vidhata )
Description:- Jana Gana Mana was first published under the title ‘Bharat Vidhata’ in the Tatvabodhini Patrika, the official organ of Maharishi Devendranath Tagore’s Brahmo Samaj in January 1912. The song was subtitled Brahmo-Sangeet. However, the English translation of the original in Bengali was published earlier, on December 28, 1911, in the Bengalee. Much later, it was included in Tagore’s Dharma Sangeet, a collection of religious hymns.
237. On imprisonment in 1908 by the Brities, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was sent to
Correct Answer:-D ( Mandalay )
Description:- On 30 April 1908, two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzaffarpur, in order to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed some women travelling in it. Tilak, in his paper Kesari, defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or self-rule. The Government swiftly arrested him for sedition and was sent to Mandalay, Burma from 1908 to 1914. While in the prison he wrote the most-famous Gita Rahasya.
238. The Civil Disobedience Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi in
Correct Answer:-B ( 1930)
Description:- The Civil Disobedience Movement led by M K Gandhi, in the year 1930 was an important milestone in the history of Indian Nationalism. On the historic day of 12th March 1930, Gandhi inaugurated The Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March, where he broke the Salt Laws imposed by the British Government.
239. At which place in Bengal was the East India Company given permission to trade and build a factory by the Mughals in 1651?
Correct Answer:-B ( Qasim Bazar )
Description:- The first factory in the interior of Bengal was established in 1651 at Hughli. This was followed by other factories at Patna and Qasim Bazar. The correct answer of this question should be Hughli, but since the option is not given, the correct answer will be Qasim Bazar. Calcutta was established by Job Charnock, in late 17th century.
240. Who gave the slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ ?
Correct Answer:-C ( Bhagat Singh )
Description:- Inquilab Zindabad is an Urdu phrase which translates to ‘Long Live the Revolution!’It was a revolutionary chant during the British rule over India. It was popularized in the activities of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association by socialist revolutionaries such as Ashfaqulla Khan, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad, who used it to urge future generations to endorse and support the political party’s rebellious actions. Bhagat Singh’s call, Inquilab Zindabad! became the war-cry of the fight for freedom.
