Punjab was annexed to British India in 1849 by which Governor-General?

The correct answer is D, the Treaty of Mandeshwar. The Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817 to 1818 was settled by a set of separate treaties with the Maratha houses, and the one with the Holkar chief of Indore was signed at Mandsaur, or Mandeshwar, in January 1818. It placed Holkar territory under the Company and ended Holkar independence. Option A is wrong because the Treaty of Purandar of 1665 was signed by Shivaji with Mirza Raja Jai Singh, long before the Company mattered in the Deccan. Option B is wrong because the Treaty of Gwalior of 1817 was signed with Daulat Rao Scindia, not with Holkar, and students often swap the two houses. Option C is wrong because the Treaty of Surat of 1775 was made with Raghunath Rao and actually began the First Anglo-Maratha War.

The correct answer is C, Tanaji Malusare. Tanaji led the night assault that recovered the fort of Kondana from the Mughal garrison in 1670 and was killed in the fighting. Shivaji is said to have mourned that the lion was gone though the fort was won, and the fort was renamed Sinhagad, the fort of the lion. Option A is wrong because Chimaji Appa was a brother of Peshwa Baji Rao I and is remembered for taking Vasai from the Portuguese in 1739, seventy years later. Option B is wrong because Baji Prabhu Deshpande died holding the pass of Pavan Khind in 1660 so that Shivaji could reach Vishalgad safely, a different episode that papers deliberately place among the options. Option D is wrong because Baji Pasalkar was an early companion from the Pune region and is not connected with Kondana.

The correct answer is D, Amatya. The Amatya, also called the Majumdar, kept the accounts of the kingdom and checked the income and expenditure of every district, which makes him the finance member of the eight. Option A is wrong because the Peshwa was the chief minister who looked after general administration and stood in for the ruler; under the later rulers the office swallowed the state, but it was never the finance department. Option B is wrong because the Sachiv, also called Surnavis or Shuru Nawis, handled royal correspondence and checked the wording of letters and grants. Option C is wrong because the Sumant, also called Dabir, was the minister for foreign affairs and dealt with envoys of other states. A useful way to hold this is to fix three pairs: Amatya with money, Sachiv with letters and Sumant with foreign states.

The correct answer is C, 1761. The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha army led by Sadashivrao Bhau, with Vishwasrao the Peshwa's son, and Ahmad Shah Abdali, also called Durrani, supported by the Rohillas and the Nawab of Awadh. The Marathas were defeated with very heavy losses, and Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao died within months. Option A is wrong because 1781 falls in the First Anglo-Maratha War, which ended in the Treaty of Salbai in 1782. Option B is wrong because by 1851 the Maratha confederacy had already been dissolved after 1818 and Punjab too had been annexed. Option D is wrong because 1831 belongs to the period of Company dominance and no Panipat battle was fought then. The three battles of Panipat are 1526, 1556 and 1761.

The correct answer is B, charities and religious affairs. The Panditrao was the ecclesiastical head in the Ashta Pradhan, fixing the dates of religious ceremonies, supervising grants to temples and learned men, and punishing offences against religious custom. Option A is wrong because foreign affairs belonged to the Sumant, also called the Dabir, who received and sent envoys. Option C is wrong because accounts and finance belonged to the Amatya or Majumdar, who audited district income and expenditure. Option D is wrong because justice was the work of the Nyayadhish, who decided civil and criminal cases on the basis of custom and the old law books. Note also that the Panditrao and the Nyayadhish were the two ministers who were not given a military command, unlike the other six members of the council.