"Indian Freedom Struggle, 1885–1947" — Practice

Question 1

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 by:
(a) Allan Octavian Hume (b) Dadabhai Naoroji (c) Mahatma Gandhi (d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Accepted Answer

(a) Allan Octavian Hume.

W.C. Bonnerjee was its first president; the early 'Moderate' phase pursued constitutional methods rather than the mass mobilisation that came later under Gandhi.

Question 2

The Partition of Bengal (1905), carried out by Lord Curzon, directly triggered which movement?
(a) Swadeshi Movement (b) Non-Cooperation Movement (c) Civil Disobedience Movement (d) Quit India Movement

Accepted Answer

(a) Swadeshi Movement.

The boycott of British goods and promotion of indigenous industries marked a shift from Moderate petition-based politics toward direct mass action.

Question 3

The All-India Muslim League was founded in 1906 at:
(a) Dacca (b) Lucknow (c) Bombay (d) Lahore

Accepted Answer

(a) Dacca.

Initially loyalist toward British rule, it focused on protecting Muslim political interests separately from the Congress — a structural fact underpinning the later trajectory toward Partition.

Question 4

The Lucknow Pact (1916) is significant because it:
(a) was an agreement between the INC and Muslim League accepting separate electorates for Muslims (b) ended the practice of separate electorates entirely (c) led to the Partition of Bengal (d) was rejected by both the Congress and the League

Accepted Answer

(a) was an agreement between the INC and Muslim League accepting separate electorates for Muslims.

Facilitated by Muhammad Ali Jinnah (then within Congress), it also marked the reunification of the Moderate and Extremist factions at the same session.

Question 5

Gandhi's first satyagraha in India, the Champaran Satyagraha (1917), addressed the grievances of:
(a) indigo cultivators forced into exploitative contracts (b) mill workers seeking higher wages (c) peasants seeking revenue relief after crop failure (d) salt tax payers

Accepted Answer

(a) indigo cultivators forced into exploitative contracts.

This was in Bihar; the Kheda Satyagraha (1918, Gujarat) addressed revenue relief, and the Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918) addressed mill workers' wages — three distinct early satyagrahas.

Question 6

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919) occurred in the context of protests against which Act?
(a) the Rowlatt Act (b) the Government of India Act, 1919 (c) the Charter Act, 1853 (d) the Indian Councils Act, 1909

Accepted Answer

(a) the Rowlatt Act.

This Act allowed indefinite detention without trial; General Dyer's massacre of an unarmed crowd at Amritsar profoundly radicalised Indian public opinion, prompting Rabindranath Tagore to renounce his knighthood.

Question 7

The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) was called off by Gandhi following:
(a) the Chauri Chaura incident (b) the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (c) the Simon Commission's arrival (d) the Poona Pact

Accepted Answer

(a) the Chauri Chaura incident.

A violent mob attack on a police station in February 1922 led Gandhi, committed to strict non-violence, to call off the movement immediately, despite disappointing many nationalists.

Question 8

The Simon Commission (1927) provoked widespread protest primarily because:
(a) it had no Indian members (b) it proposed immediate Partition (c) it rejected the Nehru Report (d) it recommended separate electorates

Accepted Answer

(a) it had no Indian members.

'Simon, Go Back' became a rallying slogan; Lala Lajpat Rai died from injuries sustained during a lathi charge while protesting the Commission's visit to Lahore in 1928.

Question 9

The goal of Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) was declared at which INC session?
(a) Lahore Session, 1929 (b) Nagpur Session, 1920 (c) Lucknow Session, 1916 (d) Bombay Session, 1942

Accepted Answer

(a) Lahore Session, 1929.

With Jawaharlal Nehru as president, this session also led to 26 January 1930 being observed as the first Independence Day — the same date later chosen for the Constitution's enforcement in 1950.

Question 10

The Poona Pact (1932), between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, resulted in:
(a) reserved seats for Depressed Classes within the general/joint electorate (b) separate electorates for Depressed Classes (c) the abolition of all reserved seats (d) Ambedkar's resignation from public life

Accepted Answer

(a) reserved seats for Depressed Classes within the general/joint electorate.

This was a compromise replacing the Communal Award's proposal of fully separate electorates, which Gandhi had fasted against.

Question 11

Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly in 1929 as part of their association with:
(a) the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) (b) the Indian National Army (INA) (c) the Forward Bloc (d) the Ghadar Party

Accepted Answer

(a) the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).

The bomb was deliberately non-lethal, intended to court arrest and publicise their cause rather than cause casualties; Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were executed in 1931.

Question 12

Subhas Chandra Bose resigned as INC president in 1939 due to differences with Gandhi, and later founded:
(a) the Forward Bloc, and subsequently led the Indian National Army (b) the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (c) the Muslim League (d) the Servants of India Society

Accepted Answer

(a) the Forward Bloc, and subsequently led the Indian National Army (INA).

Bose had been twice elected INC president before this break; the INA, formed with Japanese support during WWII, fought unsuccessfully to liberate India militarily.

Question 13

The Cripps Mission (1942) was rejected by the Congress primarily because:
(a) it offered no immediate transfer of power and allowed provinces to opt out of a future union (b) it proposed immediate full independence with conditions (c) it was endorsed only by the Muslim League (d) it abolished separate electorates

Accepted Answer

(a) it offered no immediate transfer of power and allowed provinces to opt out of a future union.

The opt-out provision was seen as encouraging communal fragmentation, contributing to Congress's rejection of the offer.

Question 14

The Quit India Movement (1942), launched with the call 'Do or Die,' was characterised by:
(a) a largely spontaneous, leaderless uprising since top Congress leadership was immediately arrested (b) tight central coordination by Gandhi throughout its duration (c) full cooperation from the Muslim League (d) no British military response

Accepted Answer

(a) a largely spontaneous, leaderless uprising since top Congress leadership was immediately arrested.

This distinguishes it from Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience, which were more centrally directed by Gandhi throughout their course.

Question 15

Under the Mountbatten Plan and the Indian Independence Act, 1947, India and Pakistan became independent on:
(a) India: 15 August 1947; Pakistan: 14 August 1947 (b) both on 15 August 1947 (c) India: 26 January 1947; Pakistan: 15 August 1947 (d) India: 14 August 1947; Pakistan: 15 August 1947

Accepted Answer

(a) India: 15 August 1947; Pakistan: 14 August 1947.

This one-day difference is a frequently tested precise fact about the transfer of power.

Practice — "Indian Freedom Struggle, 1885–1947"

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