Indian History

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

History Quiz - 1

Q. 1. Which Mughal Emperor had conferred the title of 'Raja' on Ram Mohan Roy?

(a) Shah Alam II

(b) Akbar II

(d) Bahadur Shah Zafar

Q. 2. Which organization was founded by Ram Mohan Roy and Debendranath Tagore in 1828?

(a) Brahmo Sabha

(b) Tattwabodhini Sabha

(d) None of these

Q. 3. Who had called Raja Ram Mohan Roy the Father of Modern India?

(a) Gopal Krishna Gokhale

(b) Mahatma Ghandhi

(d) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Q. 4. Who was the ruler of Delhi Sultanate when Guru Nanak was born?

(a) Khizr Khan

(b) Mubarak Shah

(d) Sikandar Lodhi

Q. 5. What was the capital of Mahajanapada of Anga?

(a) Ujjayini

(b) Champa

(d) Ayodhya

Q. 6. Who is the author of Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri?

(a) Muhammad Saleh

(b) Nizam-ud-din Ahmad

(d) Jahangir

Q. 7. Which Delhi Sultanate ruler introduced the system of auditing the accounts?

(a) Muhammad bin Tughlaq

(b) Sikandar Lodhi

(d) Balban

Q. 8. Which Delhi Sultanate ruler was a Sunni Muslim and ordered the idol at the Jwalamukhi temple at Nagarkot to be?

(a) Sikandar Lodhi

(b) Firuz Shah Tughlaq

(d) Qutab- d-din Aibak

Q. 9. Who was the founder of Lodhi Dynasty?

(a) Sikandar Lodhi

(b) Bahlol Lodhi

(d) Daulat Khan Lodhi

Q. 10. Which Delhi sultanate ruler transferred his capital from Delhi to Agra?

(a) Sikandar Lodhi

(b) Bahlol Lodhi

(d) Mubarak Khilji

Answers

Q-1-(b)

In 1830 Raja Ram Mohan Roy went to England as an envoy of the penultimate Mughal Emperor, Akbar II, to the court of King William IV. It was Akbar II, also known as Akbar Shah II, who gave him the title of Raja.

Q-2-(a)

The Brahmo Samaj was founded on 20 August, 1828 in Kolkata by Rammohan Roy and Debendranath Tagore

Q-3-(a)

Gopal Krishna Gokhale called Roy the ‘Father of Modern India’.

Q-4-(c)

Nanak was born on 15 April 1469 at Talwandi, near Lahore, then ruled by Lodi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. At that time Lodi dynasty was ruled by its founder Buhlul Lodi who was its ruler from 1451 to 1489.

Q-5-(b)

Situated in Bhagalpur district of Bihar, Champa was the capital of Anga, one of the 16 Mahajanapadas in the sixth century BC. It was of great commercial importance.

Q-6-(d)

Written in Persian, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (or Jahangirnama) is the autobiographical account of fourth Mughal Emperor Jahangir who ruled from 1605 to 1627.

Q-7- (b)

Sikandar Lodhi introduced the system of auditing of accounts and tightened the espionage system.

Q- 8- (a)

Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Q-9- (b)

Bahlul (also written as Buhlol, Bahlol and Buhlul) Khan Lodi was the founder of the Lodi dynasty, the last of the five dynasties, the combination of which is known as Delhi sultanate.

Q- 10- (a)

Sikandar Lodi, the second ruler of the Lodi dynasty, transferred his capital from Delhi to Agra.

Monday, August 23, 2021

History MCQs – Set 6 - Modern India

Q. 1. Who planted the 'Tree of Liberty' at Srirangapatnam?

(a) Tipu Sultan

(b) Hyder Ali

(d) Devraj

Q. 2. Which battle put an end to the French challenge to British supremacy in India?

(a) The Battle of Plassey

(b) The Battle of Buxar

(d) The Battle of Seringapatam

Q. 3. Who among the following had introduced the revenue collection method Ryotwari System in India?

(a) Thomas Munro

(b) Lord Cornwallis

(d) None of these

Q. 4. Where did Moplah Uprising break out in 1921?

(a) Andhra Pradesh

(b) Kerala

(d) Tamil Nadu

Q. 5. Who among the following was/were associated with the organization “Servants of India Society”?

(a) Gopal Krishna Gokhle

(b) Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar

(d) None of these

Q. 6. Who has authored the book 'The Light of Asia' ?

(a) Charles Wilkins

(b) Sir Edwin Arnold

(d) None of these

Q. 7. Who among the following leaders attended the inaugural meeting of Indian National Congress?

(a) Dadabhai Naoroji

(b) Kashinath Trimbak Telang

(d) All of the above

Q. 8. Who had taken potshots at Indian National Congress as representing only microscopic minority of the people?

(a) Lord Dufferin

(b) Lord Elgin

(d) Lord Hardinge

Q. 9. “(The Indian National) Congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my greatest ambitions while in India is to assist it to a peaceful demise.” To whom is this statement attributed?

(a) Lord Dufferin

(b) Lord Elgin

(d) Lord Hardinge

Q. 10. Who had called Indian National Congress a 'begging institute'?

(a) Aurobindo Ghosh

(b) Bipin Chandra Pal

(d) Madan Mohan Malviya

Answers

Q. 1 – (a)

Tipu Sultan had planted the 'Tree of Liberty' at Srirangapatnam.

Q. 2 – (c)

The Battle of Wandiwash was a battle in India between the French and the British in 1760.

Q. 3 – (a)

The Ryotwari system was introduced in 1820 by Thomas Munro when he was governor of Madras. It was introduced in Madras (Chennai), Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorg provinces of British India.

Q. 4 – (b)

Mappila or Moplah Rebellion took place in the southern taluks of Malabar in Kerala in 1921. It as an armed uprising against British authority and Hindu landlords, called janmis , in Malabar, Kerala in 1921. The leader of the Moplah Rebellion was Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji. Moplah rioters were severely dealt with by the British authorities.

Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji was shot dead on January 20, 1922.

Q. 5- (a)

Gopal Krishna Gokhle had founded Servants of India Society in 1905. Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar

was a devout member of the Servants of India Society

Q. 6- (b)

Sir Edwin Arnold is the author of the book 'The Light of Asia' .

Q. 7- (d)

During the viceroyalty of Lord Dufferin the Indian National Congress (INC) was founded by A. O. Hume and S. N. Banerjee in 1885.

Q. 8- (a)

Lord Dufferin was the Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1884 to 1888.

Q. 9- (c)

In 1900 in a letter to the British Secretary of State, Lord Curzon wrote, “(The Indian National) Congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my greatest ambitions while in India is to assist it to a peaceful demise.” Curzon was the youngest Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905.

Q. 10- (a)

Aurobindo Ghosh was defended in the Alipur Bomb Conspiracy case by Cittaranjan Das who had founded the Swaraj Party.

History MCQs – Set 5 - Modern India

Q.1. In which year did the Deccan Riots take place?

(a) 1875

(b) 1880

(d) 1890

Q.2. Who was the leader of the Munda Rebellion of 1899?

(a) Jaipal Singh Munda

(b) Ram Dayal Munda

(d) Sidhu Murmu

Q.3. Who put forward the Drain of Wealth theory in his book ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’?

(a) Pherozeshah Mehta

(b) Dadabhai Naoroji

(d) Badruddin Tyabji

Q.4. During the tenure of which Governor General were the railways introduced in India?

(a) Lord Dalhousie

(b) Warren Hastings

(d) Lord Cornwallis

Q.5. Who was the first President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal?

(a) Sir William Jones

(b) Sir John Shore

(d) Sir John Anstruther

Q.6. Who established the Arya Samaj in 1875?

(a) Dayananda Sarasvati

(b) Ram Mohan Roy

(d) Swami Vivekanand

Q.7. In which battle was the Bengal Nawab Mir Qasim finally defeated by the English East India Company?

(a) Battle of Buxar

(b) Battle of Plassey

(d) Battle of Khajwah

Q.8. Which Sikh ruler signed the Treaty of Amritsar in 1809 with the British East India Company?

(a) Gulab Singh

(b) Ranjit Singh

(d) Dalip Singh

Q.9. In the eighteenth century Jagat Seth (Banker of the world) used to control the economy of which province?

(a) Rajashtan

(b) Deccan

(d) Gujarat

Q.10. Ghasiti Begum, Shaukat Jung, Rajballabh and Yar Latif Khan count among the sworn enemies of

(a) Shuja-ud-Daula

(b) Alivardi Khan

(d) Siraj-ud-daulah

Answers

Q. 1 - (a)

The farmers’ agitations that started in the Pune-Ahmednagar region of Maharashtra in 1875 were known as Deccan Riots. The uprising began due to usurious interest rates charged by the money lenders.

On May 12, 1875, the uprising began in the village of Supa in Poona district. The farmers attacked houses and shops of the money lenders.

Q. 2 - (c)

Munda Rebellion was led by Birsa Munda in the region south of Ranchi in 1899-1900.

Q. 3 - (b)

A critic of British economic policy in India, Dadabhai Naoroji was known for his enunciations of the Drain Theory in his paper, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.

Q. 4 - (a)

The first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853 was started during the governor generalship of Lord Dalhousie who is known as the "Father of Indian Railways".

Q. 5 - (a)

Sir William Jones is the first president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, founded in 1784. In 1789, William Jones translated Kalidasa’s Sakuntala. He followed it by translating Gita Govinda and the law-book of Manu which was published posthumously in 1794 under the title Institutes of Hindoo law.

Q. 6 - (a)

Original name of Dayananda Sarasvati was Mula Sankara. He was the founder of the Arya Samaj in 1875.

Q. 7 - (a)

Battle of Buxar was fought on 22nd October in 1764 between the English and the combined armies of Mir Qasim ( the nawab of Bengal), Shuja-ud-Daula ( the nawab of Awadh) and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. The battle resulted in the defeat of the allied forces.

Q. 8 - (b)

The Treaty of Amritsar was signed in 1809 between the Sikh Empire founder Ranjit Singh and Charles T. Metcalfe, representing the British East India Company.

Q. 9 - (c)

In the eighteenth century Jagat Seth (Banker of the world) used to control the economy of the province of Bengal.

Q. 10 - (d)

Ghasiti Begum was the eldest sister of the mother of Siraj-ud-daulah while Shaukat Jung was his cousin.

Sunday, August 22, 2021

History MCQs – Set 4 - Modern India

Q. 1. Who was the leader of the Revolt of 1857 in Assam?

(a) Maniram Dewan

(b) Dev Kanta Baruah

(d) Kushal Konwar

Q. 2. Who among the following tribal leaders was called Father of the World and regarded as an incarnation of God?

(a) Birsa Munda

(b) Sidhu Murmu

(d) Nanak Bhil

Q. 3. Which Indian historian had said about the Revolt of 1857: “On the whole, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that so-called First National War of Independence is neither First, nor National, nor a war of independence.”

(a) Jadunath Sarkar

(b) D. N. Jha

(d) R.C. Majumadar

Q. 4. Who led the Revolt of 1857 in Bihar?

(a) Kunwar Singh

(b) Mangal Pandey

(d) Nana Saheb

Q. 5. Which among the following was the first to sign the Subsidiary Alliance Treaty with the British?

(a) Tanjore

(b) Hyderabad

(d) Awadh

Q. 6. Which British Governor- General applied the policy of Subsidiary Alliance to expand the power and influence of the East India Company?

(a) Lord Dalhousie

(b) Warren Hastings

(d) Lord Cornwallis

Q. 7. Who was the leader of the Narkelberia Uprising in Barasat in Bengal?

(a) Syed Mir Nisar Ali or Titu Mir

(b) Haji Shariatullah

(d) None of the above

Q. 8. Name the system of land revenue settlement introduced in Bengal in 1793?

(a) Permanent Settlement

(b) Ryotwari system

(d) Mahalwari system

Q. 9. Who wrote the play Neeldarpan which describes the oppression of the indigo planters on the indigo cultivators?

(a) Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay

(b) Dinabandhu Mitra

(d) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Q. 10. The newspaper edited by Harish Chandra Mukherjee used to publish the demands to reform indigo cultivation. What was the name of the newspaper?

(a) Indian Mirror

(b) Samvad Kaumudi

(d) Hindu Patriot

Answers

Q. 1- (a)

Maniram Dutta Baruah, famously known as Maniram Dewan (17 April 1806 – 26 February 1858), along with Piyali Barua, was publicly hanged at Jorhat jail for waging war against the British during the revolt of 1857. He comes lauded as India’s first tea planter.

Q. 2- (a)

Contribution of Birsa Munda to Indian freedom struggle is immense. Known as ‘Dharti Abba’ or 'Father of the Earth', he was born on November 15, 1875 in the Ulihatu village of Kunti district in Jharkhand. This tribal leader died in Ranchi Jail on June 9, 1900, at the age of 24.

Q. 3- (d)

“On the whole, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that so-called First National War of Independence is neither First, nor National, nor a war of independence.” This statement was made by R.C. Majumadar In his book The Sepoy Mutiny and the Revolt of 1857.

Q. 4- (a)

A Rajput zamindar, Kunwar Singh was a leader during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Born at Jagdishpur village in Bihar in 1777, he died on 26 April, 1858 of the wounds he sustained during the fight with the British forces.

Q. 5- (b)

The Indian states and rulers who entered into Lord Wellesley’s Subsidiary Alliance System were Mysore, Hyderabad, Tanjore, Berar, Awadh, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Macheri, Bundi, and the Peshwa. Of them, the Nizam of Hyderabad was the first Indian ruler to sign the Subsidiary Alliance Treaty with the British in 1798.

Q. 6- (c)

The British Governor- General Lord Wellesley had applied the policy of Subsidiary Alliance to expand the power and influence of the East India Company.

Q. 7- (a)

Syed Mir Nisar Ali or Titu Mir had led the Narkelberia Uprising in 1831.

Q. 8- (a)

Zamindari System was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793 through the Permanent Settlement Act.

Q. 9- (b)

Dinabandhu Mitra is known for his novel Nil Darpan (The Mirror of Indigo) which describes the oppression of the indigo cultivators at the hands of indigo planters, leading to the Indigo Revolt in Bengal in 1859.

Q. 10- (d)

Harish Chandra Mukherjee was the founding editor of the Hindu Patriot through which he exposed the atrocities on the indigo planters.

History MCQs – Set 3 - Modern India

Q.1. In which city was Mahatma Gandhi assassinated on 30 January, 1948?

(a) Delhi

(b) Bombay

(d) Allahabad

Q.2. Who was the Prime Minister of Britain when India became independent?

(a) Clement Attlee

(b) Winston Churchill

(d) Ramsay MacDonald

Q.3. In which year did Burma (Myanmar) cease to be a part of India?

(a) 1924

(b) 1935

(d) 1937

Q.4. How many volunteers had accompanied Mahatma Gandhi on the famed Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha starting on March 12, 1930?

(a) 76

(b) 77

(d) 79

Q.5. Name the city where Satyagraha Sabha was formed by Gandhi in 1919 to protest against the Rowlatt Act.

(a) Bombay

(b) Lahore

(d) Ahmedabad

Q.6. Who among the following was a source of inspiration to Gandhi?

(a) Tolstoy

(b) Lenin

(d) None of the above

Q.7. Who among the following was the Governor-General of India during the Sepoy Mutiny, also known as Indian Mutiny by the British?

(a) Lord Dalhousie

(b) Lord Ellenborough

(d) Lord Auckland

Q.8. Who was the commander-in-chief of the army of Bahadur Shah Zafar during the Revolt of 1857?

(a) General Bakht Khan

(b) Khan Bahadur Khan Rohilla

(d) Ahmadullah Shah

Q.9. Who declared eleven year old Birjis Qadr the Nawab of Oudh after the exile of Wajid Ali Shah to Calcutta during the Revolt of 1857?

(a) Begum Hazrat Mahal

(b) Begum Zeenat Mahal

(d) Abadi Bano Begum

Q.10. Where did Kuka movement take place with a view to overthrowing the British rule?

(a) Odisha

(b) Bihar

(d) Punjab

Answers:

Q. 1- (a)

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Vinayak Godse on 30 January 1948 in the compound of Birla House in New Delhi.

Q. 2- (a)

Clement Attlee was the Prime Minister of Britain when India became independent. He belonged to the Labour Party.

Q. 3- (d)

Britain had separated Burma province from India in 1837 and made it a crown colony.

Q. 4- (c)

78 volunteers had accompanied Mahatma Gandhi on the famed 24-day Dandi March which lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930. This march on foot covered 240 miles (390 km). It is also called Salt Satyagraha.

Q. 5- (a)

Gandhiji founded Satyagraha Sabha in 1919 at Bombay to protest against the Rowlatt Act.

Q. 6 - (a)

The Kingdom of God is Within You written by Leo Tolstoy greatly influenced Gandhi.

Q. 7 - (c)

Lord Canning was the Governor-General of India during the Sepoy Mutiny. Under the Government of India Act 1858 the position of Governor General of India was changed to that of Viceroy of India. The first Viceroy of India was Lord Canni

Q. 8 - (a)

General Bakht Khan was the commander-in-chief of the army of Bahadur Shah Zafar during the Revolt of 1857.

Q. 9. - (a)

Begum Hazrat Mahal was one of the important leaders of the Revolt of 1857. She was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the ruler of Oudh, who was deposed by the British in 1856 and sent to exile in Calcutta. She led the revolt at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.

Acting as a regent of her eleven year old son Brijis Qadr, she ruled Awadh and under her tutelage the administration was reorganized.

Q. 10. - (d)

Initially started as a religious movement with a view to reforming the Sikh religion by purging it of the degenerate features, Kuka movement, founded in 1840 in the Western Punjab, turned into a political struggle against the British. The founder of Kuka movement was Bhagat Jawahar Mal.

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Faraizi Movement

Starting as a religious (communal) movement, Faraizi Movement in course of time became a struggle against the landlords (who were mostly Hindus) who oppressed the common people and farmers and British colonists. Founded by Haji Shariatullah, the movement began with a call to the Muslims to perform their obligatory duties (Fard) enjoined by Allah with a view to purging the religion of the un-Islamic rites which he considered were contrary to the teachings of the Qu’ran.

Haji Shariatullah was born in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh) in 1781.

After Haji Shariatullah’s death in 1840, the mantle of leadership was passed on to his son Muhsinuddin Ahmed, more popularly known as Dudu Miyan. Under Dudu Miyan, the movement became agrarian in character. After his death in 1862, the movement began to lose steam and ultimately died down.

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Kushinagar: Where the Buddha Breathed his last

Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Kushinagar is one of the world's most sacred sites of Buddhism. Kushinagar’s claim to fame lies in being the place where Buddha breathed his last, the event known in the Buddhist tradition as paranibbana (Mahaparinirvana) which is considered to have taken place in 483 BC.

Kushinagar has an antiquity of centuries. Buddha himself declared Kushinagar as one of the four most sacred places. However, unlike Sravasti, Champa, Rajagraha, Saketa, Kausambi and Varanasi, Kusinagar was not an important city during Buddha’s time. This can be ascertained form Buddha’s disciple Ananda’s regret that his master chose to die in so small town as Kusinagar.

Kusinagar was visited by the Buddha several times before his death.

Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana came at the age of eighty. After spending the last rainy season of life near the city of Vaishali, he and his followers reached the town of Pava where he took a meal at the house of his lay disciple, Cunda. Soon after he was attacked by blood dysentery but he continued his journey till he reached the outskirts of Kushinagar town where he laid himself down under a sal tree and that night he attained Mahaparinirvana (Final Blowing- out). His last words were: “All composite things decay. Strive diligently!”

After paying homage to the remains of the Buddha, his sorrowing followers cremated his body. His relics were distributed among various claimants including the Magadhan ruler Ajatashatru.

Ananda was with the Buddha at the time of latter's death.

Places to see in Kushinagar

Mahaparinirvana Temple / Wikimedia Commons

Mahaparinirvana Temple

The Mahaparinirvana Temple is home to a 6.10 meter long fifth century AD statue of the reclining Buddha. The idol is made of the sandstone of Chunar, about 25 miles south-west of Varanasi.

Nirvana Stupa

Discovered by Carlyl in 1876, the huge brickwork Nirvana Stupa stands behind the Mahaparinirvana Temple at a height of 2.74 meters. A copper vessel bearing an inscription in Brahmi script states that Buddha's relics had been placed here.

Ramabhar Stupa

1.5 km away from Mahaparinirvana Temple, the Ramabhar Stupa marks the spot where the Buddha was cremated. Rising to a height of 15 meters, the Stupa is referred to as 'Mukut-Bandhan Chaitya' in ancient Buddhist texts.

Other places of attractions in and around Kushinagar are Japanese Temple, Chinese Temple, Kushawati Temple and Kushinagar Museum.

How to Reach Kushinagar

Air: Nearest major airport to Kushinagar is at Varanasi which is connected by flights from major cities in India. Varanasi is 260 km away from Kushinagar. Other airports close to Kushinagar are at Gorakhpur and Lucknow which are 53 km and 252 km away respectively from Kushinagar.

Rail: Kushinagar does not have a Railway Station. The nearest railheads are at Deoria and Gorakhpur which are 35 km and 53 km away from Kushinagar. Gorakhpur railway station is well connected by rail with all the major railway stations in India.

Road: Situated on National Highway No. 28, Kushinagar is well connected with important places in Uttar Pradesh by frequent bus services.