Modern Indian History : Important for Mains Exam

Modern Indian History : Important for Mains Exam

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  1. Consider the following statements with regard to the Battle of Plassey

1.It established East India Company as the most powerful force in Bengal.
2.The company got Diwani rights after the battle.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct

A) Only1
B) Only2
C) Both 1 and 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer-:A) Only1

Explanation:- Battle of Plassey was fought between Armies of Bengal and East India Company near Plassey in 1757. It established East India Company as the most powerful force in Bengal and paved the way for expansion of British Empire in India. Though the company did not get Diwani rights immediately after the battle but the foundation for the same was led through this battle as a puppet Nawab was put in place of real Nawab in Bengal who was supposed to pay a large amount of revenue to the company. The Puppet Nawab was also defeated in the Battle of Buxar in 1764 and then Mughal emperor appointed the Company as Diwan of Bengal. Diwani rights further expanded British trade in India as they were now no more required to bring gold from Britain. Their trade was being done from the revenue of Bengal. Thus, it further helped British to accumulate money and money acquired so led to consolidation of British empire in India.

  1. Which of the following Governor Generals introduced Subsidiary Alliance in India.

A) Robert Clive
B) Warren Hastings
C) Wellesley
D) Lord Dalhousie

Answer:-C) Wellesley

Explanation:- Wellesley: If we analyse the process of annexation of Indian states by the East India Company from 1757 to 1857, certain key aspects emerge. The Company rarely launched a direct military attack on an unknown territory. Instead, it used a variety of political, economic and diplomatic methods to extend its influence before annexing an Indian kingdom. After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the Company appointed Residents in Indian states. They were political or commercial agents and their job was to serve and further the interests of the Company. Through the Residents, the Company officials began interfering in the internal affairs of Indian states. They tried to decide who was to be the successor to the throne, and who was to be appointed in administrative posts. Sometimes the Company forced the states into a “subsidiary alliance”. According to the terms of this alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces. They were to be protected by the Company, but had to pay for the “subsidiary forces” that the Company was supposed to maintain for the purpose of this protection. If the Indian rulers failed to make the payment, then part of their territory was taken away as penalty. For example, when Richard Wellesley was Governor-General (1798-1805), the Nawab of Awadh was forced to give over half of his territory to the Company in 1801,as he failed to pay for the “subsidiary forces”. Hyderabad was also forced to cede territories on similar grounds.

  1. Which of the following states was not taken over by British under the Doctrine of Lapse.

A) Satara
B) Sambalpur
C) Udaipur
D) Awadh

Answer:-D) Awadh

Explanation:- Awadh was annexed by British on the issue of misgovernment not under the Doctrine of Lapse.

Lord Dalhousie :The final wave of annexations occurred under Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. He devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse. The doctrine declared that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would “lapse”, that is, become part of Company territory. One kingdom after another was annexed simply by applying this doctrine: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850),Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853) and Jhansi (1854). Finally, in 1856, the Company also took over Awadh. This time the British had an added argument – they said they were “obliged by duty” to take over Awadh in order to free the people from the “misgovernment” of the Nawab! Enraged by the humiliating way in which the Nawab was deposed, the people of Awadh joined the great revolt that broke out in 1857.

  1. ‘He was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1764, he was asked to remove corruption in Company administration but he was himself cross-examined in 1772 by the British Parliament which was suspicious of his vast wealth. Although he was acquitted, he committed suicide in 1774.’

In the obove text who is being referred to

A) Robert Clive
B) Warren Hastings
C) Wellesley
D) Lord Dalhousie

Answer:-A) Robert Clive

Explanation:- Robert Clive: After the Battle of Plassey the actual nawabs of Bengal were forced to give land and vast sums of money as personal gifts to Company officials. Robert Clive himself amassed a fortune in India. He had come to Madras (now Chennai) from England in 1743 at the age of 18. When in 1767 he left India his Indian fortune was worth £401,102. Interestingly, when he was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1764, he was asked to remove corruption in Company administration but he was himself cross-examined in 1772 by the British Parliament which was suspicious of his vast wealth. Although he was acquitted, he committed suicidein 1774.

Warren Hastings : When Warren Hastings went back to England in 1785, Edmund Burke accused him of being personally responsible for the misgovernment of Bengal. This led to an impeachment proceeding in the British Parliament that lasted seven years.

  1. Which of the following Governor Generals introduced a new policy of “paramountcy” in India.

A) Robert Clive
B) Warren Hastings
C) Wellesley
D) Lord Dalhousie

Answer:-B) Warren Hastings

Explanation:- Under Lord Hastings (Governor-General from 1813 to 1823) a new policy of “paramountcy”was initiated. Now the Company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme, hence its power was greater than that of Indian states. In order to protect its interests it was justified in annexing or threatening to annex any Indian kingdom.

  1. What did force British East India company to invade Afghanistan?

A) Fear of Russian invasion to India from North-West Asia.
B) To expand trade to Tibet
C) Expansion of trade from India to Afghanistan
D) Setting up of Afghanistan as major export destination

Answer:-A) Fear of Russian invasion to India from North-West Asia.

Explanation:- In the late 1830s the East India Company became worried about Russia. It imagined that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the north-west. Driven by this fear, the British now wanted to secure their control over the north-west. They fought a prolonged war with Afghanistan between 1838 and 1842 and established indirect Company rule there. Sind was taken over in 1843. Next in line was Punjab. But the presence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh held back the Company. After his death in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought with the Sikhkingdom. Ultimately, in 1849, Punjab was annexed.

  1. Who among the following led an armed force against the British East India Company?

A) Savitribai Phule
B) Ramabai
C) Rani Chennamma
D) None of the above

Answer:-C) Rani Chennamma

Explanation:- Kittur Chennamma (23 October 1778 – 2 February 1829) was an Indian freedom fighter and Rani of the Kittur, a former princely state in Karnataka. She led an armed force against the British East India Company in 1824 in defiance of the doctrine of lapse in an attempt to maintain Indian control over the region, but was defeated in the third war and died imprisoned. The one of the first female rulers to rebel against British rule, she has become a folk hero in Karnataka and symbol of the independence movement in India.

Savitribai Phule (3 January 1831 – 10 March 1897) was an Indian social reformer, educationalist, and poet from Maharashtra. She is regarded as the first female teacher of India. Along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, she played an important role in improving women’s rights in India. She is regarded as the mother of Indian feminism. Phule and her husband founded the first Indian girls’ school in Pune, at Bhide wada in 1848. She worked to abolish the discrimination and unfair treatment of people based on caste and gender. She is regarded as an important figure of the social reform movement in Maharashtra.

Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati (23 April 1858 – 5 April 1922) was an Indian social reformer, a pioneer in the education and emancipation of women in India. She was the first woman to be accorded the titles of Pandita as a Sanskrit scholar and Sarasvati after being examined by the faculty of the University of Calcutta. She was one of the 10 women delegates of the Congress session of 1889. In the late 1890s, She founded Mukti Mission at Kedgaon village, forty miles east of the city of Pune. The mission was later named Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission. In 1889 she opened Sharada Sadan in Mumbai.

Modern Indian History : Important for Mains Exam

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