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Indian HistoryHardAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2019, GK

Who was the founder of Mahakali Pathshala in Calcutta?

  1. A.Her Holiness Mataji Maharani Tapaswini
  2. B.Sister Nivedita
  3. C.Madame Blavatsky
  4. D.Sarojini Naidu

Correct answer

A. Her Holiness Mataji Maharani Tapaswini

Explanation

The correct answer is A, Her Holiness Mataji Maharani Tapaswini. Mataji Tapaswini founded the Mahakali Pathshala in Calcutta in 1893 to give girls an education rooted in Indian tradition. Tapaswini was a woman ascetic from Maharashtra who settled in Calcutta and won the support of leading Bengali families for her school. Her school taught Sanskrit, religious texts, history and household skills alongside reading and writing, and it grew into a network of branches in Bengal and beyond. It is remembered as an early effort at women's education on national lines. Option B is wrong because Sister Nivedita, the Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda, opened her own girls' school in Baghbazar, Calcutta, in 1898. Option C is wrong because Madame Blavatsky co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875 and did not start this school. Option D is wrong because Sarojini Naidu was a poet and Congress leader, not the founder of this school. Exam tip: Mahakali Pathshala, Calcutta, 1893 = Mataji Tapaswini; Nivedita Girls' School, Baghbazar, 1898 = Sister Nivedita.

Practice Questions

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Q1.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2021, GKMedium

The call for 'renunciation of (all) voluntary associations with the (British) Government' was given during

  1. A.Non-Cooperation Movement.
  2. B.Civil Disobedience Movement.
  3. C.Quit India Movement.
  4. D.Protest against partition of Bengal.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Non-Cooperation Movement.

The Congress resolution on non-cooperation, passed at the special Calcutta session of September 1920 and confirmed at Nagpur in December 1920, called for the renunciation of all voluntary association with the British Government.

Q2.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2024, GKMedium

Consider the following events leading to the Indian Independence : 1. Lucknow Pact 2. Return of Subhash Chandra Bose to India 3. Cripps Mission 4. Naval Mutiny in Bombay Select the chronological sequence of these events (earliest to latest) from the code given below:

  1. A.4, 3, 2, 1
  2. B.3, 4, 2, 1
  3. C.1, 2, 3, 4
  4. D.2, 1, 3, 4
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1, 2, 3, 4

The events run from the Lucknow Pact of 1916, through Subhas Chandra Bose's return to India in the 1920s and 1930s, to the Cripps Mission of 1942 and the Naval Mutiny of 1946.

Q3.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2026, GKEasy

During the period 100 BCE - 200 CE, valuable evidence of India's maritime trade links has been identified from which of the following sites on the Coromandel Coast ?

  1. A.Arikamedu
  2. B.Tamralipti
  3. C.Bharukachcha
  4. D.Muchiri
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Arikamedu

Arikamedu, near Puducherry on the Coromandel Coast, has yielded clear evidence of trade with the Roman world between about the first century BCE and the second century CE.

Q5.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2022, GKHard

Which of the following terms were used in the Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period to denote a peasant ? 1. Raiyat 2. Asami 3. Muzarian 4. Majur Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A.1 and 2 only
  2. B.2 and 3 only
  3. C.1, 2 and 3 only
  4. D.1, 3 and 4 only
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1, 2 and 3 only

Raiyat, muzarian and asami were all used for the peasant in Mughal-period sources, while majur means a labourer. The Indo-Persian sources of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries most often called the peasant raiyat (plural riaya) or muzarian; the words kisan and asami also appear.