Who was the first Indian to be selected for the Indian Civil Service?
- A.Satyendranath Tagore
- B.Surendranath Banerjee
- C.Romesh Chunder Dutt
- D.Anandamohan Bose
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Satyendranath Tagore, the elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore, who qualified in 1863 and became the first Indian member of the Indian Civil Service at a time when the examination was held only in England.
Option B, Surendranath Banerjee, cleared the examination a few years later and was among the earliest Indians in the service, but he was dismissed from it and turned to nationalist politics, founding the Indian Association; that story makes him a strong distractor. Option C, Romesh Chunder Dutt, also entered the service in the same early group and is remembered for his economic writing on British rule, in particular the drain of wealth argument. Option D, Anandamohan Bose, was the first Indian wrangler at Cambridge, a different academic first altogether, and is placed here to catch that confusion.
Read the full article: First in India: Men and Women in Office, Science and Sport
Practice Questions
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