Modern Indian History Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 12)

The correct answer is Jagjit Singh Aurora. He accepted Niazi’s surrender at Dhaka’s Ramna Race Course, in one of the largest military surrenders since World War II.

The correct answer is a plebiscite of the state’s own people. Junagadh was resolved by a February 1948 referendum, unlike Hyderabad (settled by military action) or Kashmir (a contested accession signed under invasion).

The correct answer is prolonged legal proceedings and prosecutions. Formal investigations and court cases connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh violence continued well into the 21st century.

The correct answer is Rajiv Gandhi. He was sworn in as Prime Minister the same day his mother, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her own bodyguards.

The correct answer is the Akal Takht. The damage to this major Sikh religious structure during Operation Blue Star deeply angered many in the Sikh community, who saw it as an attack on their religious identity.

The correct answer is Maj. Gen. Kuldip Singh Brar. He commanded the 9th Infantry Division’s assault on the Golden Temple complex, under the overall coordination of Lt. Gen. Krishnaswamy Sundarji.

The Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885) under Dufferin led to the annexation of Upper Burma. After this war, the whole of Burma came under British rule as a province of British India until 1937.

A.O. Hume was a retired British civil servant who helped found the Indian National Congress in 1885. He believed Indians needed a peaceful outlet for their grievances to avoid violence, so he helped bring Indian leaders together to form the Congress.

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, during the Viceroyalty of Lord Dufferin (1884-1888). Its first session was held in Bombay, with Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee as its first president, and it was created with the help of A.O. Hume.

The Arms Act of 1878 made licences compulsory to carry firearms. It exempted Europeans, Anglo-Indians and the Kodavas. Repeal was a demand of the early Congress moderates.

The great Revolt of 1857 broke out just over a year after Canning took office in 1856. He had to suppress it, and the revolt led directly to the end of Company rule and the Government of India Act of 1858.

Lord Canning was the Governor-General when the Revolt of 1857 broke out, and he became the first Viceroy when the Government of India Act of 1858 transferred power from the East India Company to the British Crown. He served from 1856 to 1862.

Siyar-ul-Mutakherin was written by Ghulam Husain. It is an important contemporary source that describes the Battle of Plassey of 1757 and the fall of Bengal.

In Dual Government, the Company collected the revenue while the Nawab kept the duty of maintaining law and order. In practice the Company got the money but dodged responsibility, which caused great hardship and was later abolished.

In 1751, during the Second Carnatic War, Clive captured and bravely held the town of Arcot against a much larger enemy force. The victory broke the French-backed side and made Clive famous across India and Europe.

All three statements are correct: Sawai Jai Singh and Parshuram Bhau both supported widow remarriage, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned against the practice of Sati (which Bentinck later abolished in 1829).

The English Education Act of 1835, proposed by Bentinck on Macaulay’s advice, made English the language of instruction and redirected funds away from the old Oriental institutions – it did NOT continue fresh stipends to those institutions. So that statement is not correct.

The Subsidiary Alliance was meant to maintain a British army at the ally’s expense, keep India safe from Napoleonic danger, and establish British paramountcy – but securing a fixed income for the Company was not its aim (that belonged to the Permanent Settlement). So the statement about fixed income does not apply.

The Ryotwari Settlement was associated with Alexander Read and Thomas Munro in Madras – not Lord Cornwallis, who introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal. So the correct answer is 2 and 3 only.

Both statements are individually true: the Permanent Settlement was mostly confined to Bengal, and after 1810 falling agricultural prices hurt the Bengal zamindars. But Statement II does not explain why the settlement was rarely extended – so the correct answer is that both are true but II is not the explanation of I.

Statements 1, 2 and 3 are correct: zamindars’ troops were disbanded, jotedars were more powerful in the villages, and the Company protected women’s property. Statement 4 is wrong – it is the bargadars who are sharecroppers, not the adhiyars owning the land.

Lord Cornwallis, Governor-General of Bengal (1786-93), introduced the Permanent Settlement of Bengal in 1793, fixing the land revenue with the zamindars in perpetuity. Ripon, Clive and John Adam are different figures.

The correct statement is 2: the Permanent Settlement (1793, under Cornwallis) fixed the state’s revenue demand on zamindars in perpetuity. The Ryotwari Settlement – which exempted peasants in bad harvests – was introduced later by Munro in Madras, not under Cornwallis.

The 1879 Relief Act aimed to restrict the sale of land for indebtedness to outsiders (non-agriculturist moneylenders), protecting peasants from losing their land. It did not restore lands, give festival loans, or provide legal aid to insolvent peasants.

Both statements are correct: 19th-century peasants across India rose against moneylenders, and the May 1875 Supa (Poona) events – burning bahi khatas and attacking moneylenders – describe the Deccan Riots exactly.