"Modern India — Company Rule to 1857" — Practice

Question 1

The Battle of Plassey (1757) was fought between the East India Company and:
(a) Siraj-ud-Daulah, Nawab of Bengal (b) Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal (c) Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor (d) Tipu Sultan

Accepted Answer

(a) Siraj-ud-Daulah, Nawab of Bengal.

Robert Clive's victory, aided by the betrayal of Siraj's own commander Mir Jafar, was the first decisive step in establishing British political control in Bengal.

Question 2

Compared to the Battle of Plassey, the Battle of Buxar (1764) is considered more decisive because:
(a) it defeated a genuine coalition of three powers rather than a single, internally compromised ruler (b) it was fought with a larger British army (c) it directly resulted in the Doctrine of Lapse (d) it ended the Mughal Empire entirely

Accepted Answer

(a) it defeated a genuine coalition of three powers rather than a single, internally compromised ruler.

Buxar defeated the combined forces of the Bengal Nawab, the Awadh Nawab, and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, unlike Plassey's victory which depended significantly on Mir Jafar's betrayal.

Question 3

The East India Company obtained Diwani (revenue collection) rights over Bengal, Bihar and Odisha through:
(a) the Treaty of Allahabad, 1765 (b) the Battle of Plassey, 1757 (c) the Regulating Act, 1773 (d) the Doctrine of Lapse

Accepted Answer

(a) the Treaty of Allahabad, 1765.

This treaty followed the Company's victory at Buxar and formally began Company territorial and fiscal administration in India, alongside a nominal 'Dual Government' with the Mughal emperor.

Question 4

The Regulating Act of 1773 created which of the following?
(a) the office of Governor-General of Bengal (b) the Board of Control in London (c) open competitive examinations for the ICS (d) the Secretary of State for India

Accepted Answer

(a) the office of Governor-General of Bengal.

Warren Hastings became the first holder of this office; the Act also established a Supreme Court at Calcutta, marking the first step of British Parliament's oversight over Company affairs.

Question 5

Which Charter Act ended the East India Company's remaining commercial functions entirely, making it purely an administrative body?
(a) Charter Act, 1833 (b) Charter Act, 1813 (c) Charter Act, 1853 (d) Regulating Act, 1773

Accepted Answer

(a) Charter Act, 1833.

The 1813 Act had earlier ended the Company's trade monopoly (except tea and China trade); the 1833 Act went further, ending all commercial activity and centralising legislative power in the Governor-General of India.

Question 6

The Permanent Settlement, introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793, fixed land revenue permanently with:
(a) zamindars, who became landowners (b) individual cultivators (ryots) (c) the village as a collective unit (d) the East India Company's own officials

Accepted Answer

(a) zamindars, who became landowners.

This contrasts with the Ryotwari system (settlement with individual cultivators) and the Mahalwari system (settlement with the village as a unit).

Question 7

The Ryotwari system of land revenue settlement, associated with Thomas Munro, was chiefly implemented in:
(a) Madras and Bombay Presidencies (b) Bengal, Bihar and Odisha (c) North-Western Provinces and Punjab (d) Awadh only

Accepted Answer

(a) Madras and Bombay Presidencies.

Unlike the Permanent Settlement (Bengal/Bihar/Odisha) or the Mahalwari system (North-Western Provinces/Punjab), Ryotwari settled revenue directly with individual cultivators, subject to periodic revision.

Question 8

The Drain of Wealth theory was articulated by:
(a) Dadabhai Naoroji, in 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India' (b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy (c) Swami Dayananda Saraswati (d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Accepted Answer

(a) Dadabhai Naoroji, in 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'.

Published in 1901, this work systematically argued that India's wealth was being unrequitedly transferred to Britain through unequal trade, Home Charges, and repatriated profits.

Question 9

The Brahmo Samaj, founded in 1828, was established by:
(a) Raja Ram Mohan Roy (b) Swami Dayananda Saraswati (c) Swami Vivekananda (d) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

Accepted Answer

(a) Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

Founded in Bengal, it promoted monotheism and opposed idol worship, sati, and caste rigidity; Roy is often called the 'Father of Modern India.'

Question 10

The Arya Samaj, founded in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, is distinctively associated with which slogan/movement?
(a) 'Back to the Vedas' and the Shuddhi (reconversion) movement (b) Practical Vedanta and social service (c) Modern education for Muslims (d) Study of Hindu philosophy through Theosophy

Accepted Answer

(a) 'Back to the Vedas' and the Shuddhi (reconversion) movement.

This distinguishes it from the Brahmo Samaj (monotheism, no Shuddhi emphasis) and the Ramakrishna Mission (practical Vedanta, founded later by Vivekananda).

Question 11

The Doctrine of Lapse, a significant contributing cause of the 1857 revolt, was implemented under which Governor-General?
(a) Lord Dalhousie (b) Lord William Bentinck (c) Lord Cornwallis (d) Lord Canning

Accepted Answer

(a) Lord Dalhousie.

This policy annexed princely states lacking a natural male heir, disallowing adopted heirs — used to annex Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur and others, generating deep resentment.

Question 12

The immediate trigger for the sepoy mutiny at Meerut in May 1857 was:
(a) the greased cartridges for the new Enfield rifle (b) the annexation of Awadh (c) the Doctrine of Lapse (d) the Age of Consent Act

Accepted Answer

(a) the greased cartridges for the new Enfield rifle.

Cartridges greased with animal fat (believed to be cow and pig fat) had to be bitten open before loading, offending both Hindu and Muslim sepoys — though deeper political, economic, social and military causes explain the revolt's wider scale.

Question 13

During the 1857 revolt, Rani Lakshmibai led resistance in:
(a) Jhansi (b) Kanpur (c) Lucknow (d) Bihar

Accepted Answer

(a) Jhansi.

Other regional leaders included Nana Sahib and Tantia Tope (Kanpur), Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow/Awadh), and Kunwar Singh (Bihar); Bahadur Shah II was accepted as the nominal overall leader at Delhi.

Question 14

Which of the following regions notably did NOT join the 1857 revolt, with Sikh regiments there actively fighting for the Company?
(a) Punjab (b) Awadh (c) Delhi (d) Jhansi

Accepted Answer

(a) Punjab.

Recently defeated in the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1849), Punjab's Sikh soldiers notably fought FOR the British in 1857 rather than joining the revolt, which was concentrated instead in North and Central India.

Question 15

The Mahalwari land revenue system, associated with Holt Mackenzie, settled revenue with:
(a) the village (mahal) as a collective unit (b) individual cultivators only (c) zamindars as permanent landowners (d) the East India Company directly

Accepted Answer

(a) the village (mahal) as a collective unit.

Implemented chiefly in the North-Western Provinces and Punjab, this represented a middle path between the Permanent Settlement (zamindar-based) and the Ryotwari system (individual cultivator-based), with joint responsibility shared among the village community.

Practice — "Modern India — Company Rule to 1857"

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