Indian History multiple choice questions with answers and explanations, 20 per page, for SSC, Banking, UPSC, Railway and state exams.
1733 questions
François Bernier was physician to
The French doctor François Bernier served as physician to Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan's eldest son. Bernier reached India in 1658, in the middle of the war of succession among Shah Jahan's sons.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about the Rowlatt Act of 1919 :
1. It was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council.
2. Khilafat Committee was formed to oppose the Act.
3. While Gandhiji was arrested, the local leaders were allowed to continue the protest.
How many of the above statements is/are NOT correct ?
Statement 1 is correct, but statements 2 and 3 are not. The Rowlatt Act of March 1919, based on the Sedition Committee chaired by Justice S. A. T. Rowlatt, was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council even though every elected Indian member opposed it.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following in Congress represented the socialist view?
Acharya Narendra Dev was a founder and leading thinker of the Congress Socialist Party, the socialist group inside the Congress.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following eras in early India :
1. Shaka era 2. Kalachuri era 3. Vikrama era 4. Harsha era 5. Gupta era
Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of the above eras starting with the earliest ?
Arranged by the year each era begins, the order is Vikrama, Shaka, Kalachuri, Gupta and Harsha. The Vikrama era (Vikram Samvat) begins in 57 BCE and is still used in much of north and west India.
Read the full explanation →Who was the author of the book 'History of British India'?
The Scottish historian and philosopher James Mill published 'The History of British India' in three volumes in 1817. Mill wrote the work without ever visiting India or knowing an Indian language, and he judged Indian society as backward and in need of reform by British law and government.
Read the full explanation →"...the immediate ending of British rule in India is an urgent necessity..." was a resolution of
The words come from the Quit India Resolution passed by the All India Congress Committee in Bombay on 8 August 1942.
Read the full explanation →Who of the following rulers of medieval India gave permission to the Portuguese to build a fort at Bhatkal?
The Vijayanagara ruler, keen on a steady supply of Arabian and Persian horses through the Portuguese, allowed them to build a fort at Bhatkal on the Kanara coast.
Read the full explanation →In the Federation established by The Government of India Act of 1935, residuary powers were given to the
Section 104 of the Government of India Act, 1935 vested residuary powers in the Governor-General, who could assign a subject to either the Centre or a province.
Read the full explanation →With reference to medieval India, which one of the following is the correct sequence in ascending order in terms of size?
From smallest to largest, several parganas made a sarkar and several sarkars made a suba. Under the Mughals, especially after Akbar's reorganisation of 1580, the empire was divided into subas or provinces, each headed by a subedar with a diwan in charge of revenue.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following rulers of Vijayanagara Empire constructed a large dam across Tungabhadra River and a canal-cum-aqueduct several kilometres long from the river to the capital city?
He built a large dam on the Tungabhadra and a long canal-cum-aqueduct that brought its water to the capital, Vijayanagara.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following pairs:
1. Radhakanta Deb — First President of the British Indian Association
2. Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty — Founder of the Madras Mahajana Sabha
3. Surendranath Banerjee — Founder of the Indian Association
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
Radhakanta Deb headed the British Indian Association and Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian Association; pair 2 is wrong. The British Indian Association was formed in Calcutta in 1851 by the landed gentry of Bengal, with Raja Radhakanta Deb as its first president and Debendranath Tagore as secretary.
Read the full explanation →With reference to 8th August, 1942 in Indian history, which one of the following statements is correct?
The All India Congress Committee passed it at its Bombay session on 8 August 1942. The meeting was held at Gowalia Tank Maidan, now called August Kranti Maidan, in Bombay.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about town planning in British India in early 19th century is/are correct? 1. The funds for town improvement were also raised through public lotteries. 2. The threats of epidemics gave an impetus to town planning in the early decades of 19th century. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
In early nineteenth-century Calcutta, lotteries paid for town improvement, and the fear of disease pushed the British towards planning. After Lord Wellesley's Minute of 1803 on the need for town planning in Calcutta, many committees were set up to improve the city.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements : 1. The early Sikh Gurus were religious preachers and did not interfere in politics but Guru Arjan extended his good wishes for the rebel prince Khusrau. 2. Guru Arjan attempted to organize the finances by introducing the system of more or less compulsory 'spiritual tribute' to be collected by his agents called Masands. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Guru Arjan blessed the rebel prince Khusrau and also organised the community's finances through the masands. The first Sikh Gurus, from Guru Nanak onwards, were spiritual teachers who kept away from politics, and Akbar was friendly towards them.
Read the full explanation →Abdur Razzak, the traveler to Vijayanagar, had referred to the presence of a number of flower merchants in Vijayanagar and noted a particular flower that seemed as necessary as food to the people of that part. Which variety of flower was being referred to by Abdur Razzak ?
Abdur Razzak wrote that roses were sold everywhere in Vijayanagara and that the people could not live without them. Abdur Razzak Samarqandi was an ambassador sent by the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh of Persia.
Read the full explanation →The Junagarh inscription goes on to tell us that during the reign of Rudradaman, in the year 72 of the Saka era, there occurred a terrible storm. What would be the time in CE of the occurrence of that terrible storm ?
The Saka era began in 78 CE, so year 72 of that era is 72 + 78 = 150 CE.
Read the full explanation →The Famine Inquiry Commission appointed in 1944 to enquire into the Bengal famine of 1943 was headed by:
The Famine Inquiry Commission of 1944, under the former Chief Secretary of Bengal Sir John Woodhead, enquired into the Bengal famine of 1943 and held administrative failure, the loss of Burmese rice and the absence of a proper relief policy responsible for the deaths.
Read the full explanation →The Sedition Committee of 1918, whose report led to the passing of the Rowlatt Act, was headed by:
The Sedition Committee of 1918, appointed under the English judge Sir Sidney Rowlatt, examined revolutionary conspiracies in India and recommended special powers for the executive, which Parliament granted in the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly the Rowlatt Act, allowing detention without trial; Gandhi's Rowlatt Satyagraha followed.
Read the full explanation →Which commission's report led to the establishment of the first Public Service Commission in India in 1926?
The Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India of 1923–24, under Viscount Lee of Fareham, recommended rates of Indianisation for the services and the immediate setting up of a Public Service Commission; it was established in 1926 and became the Federal Public Service Commission under the Government of…
Read the full explanation →The Royal Commission on Labour in India, appointed in 1929, was chaired by:
John Henry Whitley, a former Speaker of the House of Commons, chaired the Royal Commission on Labour in India, which reported in 1931 on wages, hours, housing and the health of industrial workers; its findings lay behind the Factories Act, 1934, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and later labour…
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