Who among the following was responsible for demarcating the borders between India and Pakistan during the partition in 1947?
- A.Cyril Radcliffe
- B.Mortimer Durand
- C.Henry McMahon
- D.Arthur Balfour
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Cyril Radcliffe. Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer who had never been to India before, chaired the two Boundary Commissions, one for Punjab and one for Bengal, set up under the Indian Independence Act of 1947. He was given only about five weeks to divide the two provinces, and the award, known as the Radcliffe Line, was made public on 17 August 1947, two days after independence. The hurried line cut through villages, canals and railways and was followed by mass migration and violence. Option B is wrong because Sir Mortimer Durand drew the Durand Line of 1893 between British India and Afghanistan, which is now the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Option C is wrong because Sir Henry McMahon proposed the McMahon Line between India and Tibet at the Simla Convention of 1914. Option D is wrong because Arthur Balfour is known for the Balfour Declaration of 1917 on Palestine. Exam tip: Radcliffe 1947 India-Pakistan, Durand 1893 Afghanistan, McMahon 1914 China (Tibet).
Practice Questions
View allWhich of the following statements about the usage of the term 'barbarian' is/are correct? 1. It is derived from the Greek word 'barbaros' which means a non-Greek. 2. Romans used the term for the Germanic tribes, the Gauls and the Huns. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- A.1 only
- B.2 only
- C.Both 1 and 2
- D.Neither 1 nor 2
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The word barbarian comes from the Greek barbaros, a name for anyone who was not Greek, and the Romans later applied it to the peoples beyond their frontiers, such as the Germanic tribes, the Gauls and the Huns.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Nawab Wazir of Awadh in the 18th century?
- A.Nawab Safdarjung
- B.Nawab Saadat Ali Khan
- C.Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula
- D.Nawab Saadat Khan
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Saadat Khan, titled Burhan-ul-Mulk, was appointed governor of Awadh by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah in 1722 and founded the line of the Nawabs of Awadh.
Read the full explanation →The aristocrat Muqarrab Khan was a great favourite of which Mughal Emperor?
- A.Akbar
- B.Jahangir
- C.Farrukhsiyar
- D.Shah Alam
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Muqarrab Khan was a close companion of Jahangir from his days as Prince Salim and rose high in the nobility once Jahangir became emperor in 1605.
Read the full explanation →The important source for Akbar's reign, Tarikh-i-Akbari was written by which one of the following Persian language scholars?
- A.Arif Qandahari
- B.Bayazid Bayat
- C.Abdul Qadir Badauni
- D.Nizamuddin Ahmad
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Haji Muhammad Arif Qandahari, a noble who served under Bairam Khan and later Akbar, wrote the Persian chronicle Tarikh-i-Akbari. Akbar's reign is one of the best recorded in Indian history because many writers of his court left Persian accounts.
Read the full explanation →The class of Amar Nayakas in Vijayanagara is a reference to which of the following?
- A.Village Chieftains
- B.Senior Civil Servants
- C.Tributary Chiefs
- D.Military Commanders
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The amara-nayakas were military commanders to whom the Vijayanagara rulers gave territories to govern. Under the amara-nayaka system, a key political innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire, the king granted a commander an area of land called amaram.
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