Who developed the idea that “means justify the ends”?
(a) Kautilya
(b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
(c) Swami Dayanand Saraswati
(d) Mahatma Gandhi
Solution: (d)
Gandhi firmly believed that the means always justify the end. So he chose only good means to drive away the British from India. He never resorted to violence. He said, “For me it is enough to know the means. Means and end are convertible terms in my philosophy of life”.
Provincial Autonomy was one of the important features of the Act of
(a) 1935
(b) 1919
(c) 1909
(d) 1858
Solution: (a)
The Act of 1935 provided for the establishment of an All India Federation and a new system of government for the provinces on the basis of provincial autonomy. The federation was to be based on union of the provinces of British India and the princely states. There was to be a bicameral federal legislature in which the states were given disproportionate weight age. Moreover, the representatives of the states were not to be elected by the people, but appointed directly by the rulers.
In violation of the Salt Laws, Gandhiji started a movement called
(a) Non-Cooperation movement
(b) Swadeshi Movement
(c) Civil Disobedience Movement
(d) None of the above
Solution: (c)
The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, began with the Dandi March on March 12, 1930. The Salt Satyagraha was the next significant non-violent protest against the British, after the Non-Cooperation movement of 1920-22 and India’s First War of Independence 1857. It was a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly in colonial India, and triggered the wider Civil Disobedience Movement. This was the most significant organized challenge to British authority since the Non-cooperation movement of 1920–22, and directly followed the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence by the Indian National Congress on January 26, 1930.
The first to come and last to leave India were
(a) the Portuguese
(b) the French
(c) the English
(d) the Dutch
Solution: (a)
The first Portuguese encounter with India was on May 20, 1498 when Vasco da Gama reached Calicut on Malabar Coast. The Portuguese State of India was established in 1505 as a viceroyalty of the Kingdom of Portugal, six years after the discovery of a sea route between Portugal and India, to serve as the plenipotentiary governing body of a string of Portuguese fortresses and colonies overseas. At the time of British India’s independence in 1947, Portuguese India included a number of enclaves on India’s western coast, including Goa proper, as well as the coastal enclaves of Daman and Diu, and the enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which lie inland from Daman. The territories of Portuguese India were sometimes referred to collectively as Goa. Portugal lost the last two enclaves in 1954, and finally the remaining three in December 1961, when they were taken by India after military action
Who was the last Governor-General of India?
(a) Sir Cripps
(b) Lord Mountbatten
(c) C. Rajagopalachari
(d) Sir Attlee
Solution: (c)
C. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India from 1948 to 1950. Later he was Union Home Minister from 1951 to 1952 and as Chief Minister of Madras state from 1952 to 1954. In 1959, he resigned from the Indian National Congress and founded the Swatantra Party, which stood against the Congress in the 1962, 1967 and 1972 elections. Rajaji was instrumental in setting up a united Anti-Congress front in Madras state under C. N. Annadurai, which swept the 1967 elections.
The First Victory & Governor General of British India was
(a) Lord Dalhousie
(b) Sir John Lawrence
(c) Warren Hastings
(d) Lord Canning
Solution: (d)
Lord Canning was the first Viceroy of India. The title of Viceroy was created in 1858 after the mutiny of 1857. Before 1858, East India Company was ruling large parts of India and the head of administration of the East India Company was called Governor General. This office was created in 1773. The title Governor General had administrative control over the British Provinces of India (Punjab, Bengal, Bombay, Madras, United Provinces etc.). After the mutiny of 1857, the British Government took control of the administration from East India Company. To reflect the Governor General’s role as representative from the monarch, the term Viceroy of India was applied to him. The title remained in existence from 1858 till 1947. Lord Caning was Governor General of India from 1856 to 1858 and Viceroy of India from 1858 to 1862.
The First Viceroy of the Portuguese in the East was
(a) Albuquerque
(b) Joa de Castro
(c) Francisco de Almedia
(d) Nuno da Cunha
Solution: (c)
The Portuguese State of India was established in 1505 as a viceroyalty of the Kingdom of Portugal, six years after the discovery of a sea route between Portugal and India, to serve as the plenipotentiary governing body of a string of Portuguese fortresses and colonies overseas. The first viceroy was Francisco de Almeida, who established his headquarters in Cochin. Subsequent Portuguese governors were not always of vice-roy rank. After 1510, the capital of the Portuguese viceroyalty was transferred to Goa.
Mahatma Gandhi’s remark, “A post-dated cheque on a crumbling bank” is regarding the proposals of
(a) Simon Commission
(b) Cripps Mission
(c) Cabinet Mission
(d) Wavel Plan
Solution: (b)
Early in 1942, Sir Stafford Cripps, a member of the War Cabinet of Winston Churchill, was sent to make a definite offer to India on behalf of the British Government. The proposals gave a severe blow to Indian unity as the provinces could not opt to join the federation and this tantamounted to the acceptance of Pakistan in principle. Secondly, it was felt that the interests of the people of the Indian states were ignored as the Indian States would be represented by the representatives nominated by their rulers. No limit was set for the actual grant of Dominion Status. Since the very foundation of the British Empire seemed to be uncertain at that moment of World War, the long-term offer of Dominion Status was, as Gandhiji re marked, a ‘post-dated cheque on a failing bank.’
Which one of the following is incorrectly matched?
(a) Columbus – 1492
(b) Vasco de Gama – 1498
(c) Magellan – 1520
(d) Balboa – 1530
Solution: (d)
Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World. He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa Maria la Antigua del Darién in present-day Panama in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas.
Who was popularly known as ‘Nana Saheb”?
(a) Baji Rai I
(b) Balaji Baji Rao
(c) Balaji Vishwanath
(d) Madhav Rao
Solution: (b)
Nanasaheb Peshwa, also known as Balaji Baji Rao, was the son of Bajirao from his marriage with Kashibai and one of the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He contributed heavily to the development of the city of Pune, India. He was appointed as Peshwa by Chattrapati Shahu himself. Nanasaheb lost his cousin, Sadashivrao Bhau (the son of Chimaji Appa), and his eldest son, Vishwasrao, at the [Third Battle of Panipat]
