August 16, 2022

Before 1857 & Revolt – History – WBCS Main Question Paper

By Sutirtha Datta WBCS Mains Question Paper 0 Comments

Contents

Before 1857 Revolt History WBCS Main Question Paper

Sepoy Revolt questions

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2021

5. Which of the following statements is not true of the Permanent Settlement?

(A) The settlement was introduced initially as a decennial settlement

(B) It gave rise to a market in land

(D) None of the above

11. According to which treaty were Tipu’s children held in Calcutta as security pending payment of compensation to the Company?

(A) Treaty of Madras

(B) Treaty of Mangalore

(D) Treaty of Trichinopolly

16. Which treaty brought the second Anglo-Mysore war to a close?

(A) Madras

(B) Seringapattanam

(D) Mangalore

18. Under the Ryotwari system, after how many years could there be a reassessment of revenue demand?

(A) 10 years

(B) 20 years

(D) Never

21. Of the death of which Maratha leader was it said, “with him departed all the wisdom in the Maratha State”?

(13 March 1800)

(A) Peshwa Madhav Rao

(B) Mahadaji Sindhia

(D) Yashwant Rao Holkar

29. Who among the following did not benefit territorially from the Treaty of Seringapatam?

(18 March 1792)

(A) The Company

(B) Hyderabad

(D) Bhonsle of Berar

42. Which of the following settlements was a result of the Holt Mackenzie surveys of the 1820s?

(UP, NW province, Central, Punjab)

(A) Taluqdari system

(B) Ryotwari system

(D) Mahalwari system

45. In which year was Satara, the family seat of the house of Shivaji, annexed by the British?

(A) 1835

(B) 1842

(D) 1854

76. Who was the only Governor-General of Bengal to be appointed twice to the office?

(A) Lord Clive

(B) Lord Cornwallis

(D) Lord Bentinck

84. Who was the only Governor-General Bengal to be impeached by the British Parliament

(1787 – 1795)

(A) Robert Clive

(B) Warren Hastings

(D) None of the above

92. In which year was the Treaty of Salbai signed?

(A) 1776

(B) 1782

(D) 1802

93. Why did Mir Qasim shift his capital from Murshidabad to Munger?

(A) Murshidabad was easily accessible from Calcutta by the riverine route.

(B) The defensive fortifications of Murshidabad were inadequate given Company’s fire power.

(D) All of the above

106. How did the British victory in Bengal help them prevail over the French in the Carnatic?

(A) Troops and resources from Bengal were made available in the Carnatic.

(B) Sir Eyre Coote, despatched by Clive, inflicted a crushing defeat on the French.

(D) Neither (A) nor (B)

121. Which of the following was not true of the Treaty of Madras, 1769?

(A) It was forced by Haidar after a victorious campaign against the combined forces of the Madras Council and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

(B) It entailed a defensive alliance between Mysore and the Company.

(D) None of the above

127. Where among the following places was Permanent Settlement not introduced?

(1 May 1793)

(A) Bengal

(B) Bihar

(D) Punjab

151. By which treaty was Gulab Singh given the kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir?

(26 Dec 1846)

(A) Treaty of Amritsar

(B) Treaty of Lahore

(D) Treaty of Jullundar

159. With the revenue settlement of which region was Montsuart Elphinstone associated?

(1818)

(A) Punjab

(B) Agra

(D) Awadh

162. Who was the editor of the Rast Goftar?

(A) Amir Ali

(B) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

(D) Dadabhai Naoroji

167. Which of the following were not coveted by Tipu Sultan?

(A) Coorg

(B) Guntoor

(D) None of the above

193. Which of the following was not true of the Treaty of Surat?

(A) It was concluded between Raghunath Rao and the Calcutta Council of the East India Company.

(B) The Company pledged military assistance to restore Raghunath Rao to power.

(D) The Company was to receive revenue collected from Surat and Broach.

198. Which Governor-General of Bengal set up the General Committee of Public Instruction to supervise Company’s expenditure in the realm of education?

(1923)

(A) Lord Hastings

(B) Lord Amherst

(D) Charles Metcalfe

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2020

Which of the following statements about Henry Louis Vivian Derozio is incorrect?

(Hindu College, Kolkata)

(A) He was born in Calcutta in 1809.

(B) He taught at the Sanskrit College between 1826-1830.

(D) His followers were known as Derozians.

The Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded by

(1784)

(A) Ram Mohan Roy

(B) William Jones

(D) William Bentinck

The Peshwa accepted the Subsidiary Alliance with the British by

(1802)

(A) Treaty of Purandhar

(B) Treaty of Bassein

(D) Treaty of Surji Arjangaon

The Revolt of 1857 did not acquire much intensity in

(A) Delhi

(B) Awadh

(C) Bombay

(D) The Chambal region

Permission to the British to establish their trading centre at Surat was given by the Mughal Emperor

(1613)

(A) Babur

(B) Humayun

(D) Jahangir

The administrative consequence of the Revolt of 1857 was the transfer of power from

(A) East India Company to the British Crown.

(B) British Crown to the East India Company.

(D) British Crown to the Board of Directors.

The English East India Company ceased to be a trading company by which of the following legislations?

(A) Pitts India Act of 1784

(B) Charter Act of 1833

(D) Government of India Act, 1858

The revolt of the Khasis against the British was led by

(U Tirot Sing Syiem)

(A) Surendra Rai

(B) Titu Mir

(D) Utkot Sing

Which of the following reform movements was the first to be started in the 19th Century?

(20 Aug 1828)

(A) Prarthana Samaj

(B) Arya Samaj

(C) Brahmo Samaj

(D) Rama Krishna Mission

Which European power was the last to reach India?

(A) Portuguese

(B) The Dutch

(D) French

The treaty of Seringapatam is associated with the end of

(A) Second Anglo – Maratha war

(B) Third Anglo – Maratha war

(C) Third Anglo – Mysore war

(D) Fourth Anglo – Mysore war

Vasco da Gama, the sailor was a

(A) Portuguese

(B) American

(D) Italian

Universities in the Presidency towns in India were established in the year

(A) 1857

(B) 1858

(D) 1909

122. Tobacco was introduced into India by the

(A) Chinese

(B) Portuguese

(D) French

123. The modern iron and steel industry in India has its beginning in 1870 when Bengal Iron Works Company was established in

(A) Kulti

(B) Bishnupur

(D) None of the above

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2019

59. The chief Dutch export from the Coromandel Ports was

(A) Textiles

(B) Indigo

(D) Saltpeter

60. Which of the following is not one of the arrangements made by the English after defeating the Marathas in the third Anglo-Maratha war?

(A) The Peshwaship was abolished.

(B) Holkar was forced to enter into a subsidiary alliance.

(D) The small kingdom of Satara formed out of Peswa dominions was given to Pratap Singh.

63. After Bengal, the English secured the rights of duty free trade in the dominions of

(A) Raja of Benaras

(B) Nawab of Awadh

(D) The Jats of Bharatpur

64. A remarkable feature of the spread of landlordism was the growth of

(A) Aristocracy

(B) Capitalism

(D) Cultivation

65. When did the Company lose its monopoly of Indian trade which was thrown open to all Britons?

(A) 1813

(B) 1833

(D) 1793

66. The extension of the cultivation of indigo, cotton, opium, tea and coffee in India, besides benefitting the British planters, also benefited

(A) The Zamindars

(B) The small merchants

(D) The Indian Bankers

67. What was the primary reason for the failure of Mahalwari Settlement in checking the process of destruction of the village communities?

(A) It was introduced only as a temporary measure to be replaced ultimately by the rayatwari system

(B) Individual rights the land were recognized and guaranteed by the state.

(D) It met with severe opposition from certain sections of the village community.

68. Which of the following was the chief organizer of the Revolt of 1857 in Bihar?

(A) Amar Singh

(B) Kunwar Singh

(D) Imaduddin

69. Which of the following consequences of the British rule did not affect the Muslim middle classes?

(A) The tyranny of the British Indigo Planters

(B) The disbandment of the Nawab’s forces

(D) The resumptions of Imam’s lands which provided sustenance to the learned

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2018

92. Landholders’ Association was founded in the year ___

a) 1838

b) 1851

c) 1875

d) 1876

96. Rast Goftar was a newspaper established by

(1851)

a) Muhammad Ali

b) Zafar Ali Khan

c) Syed Agmathullah

d) Dadabhai Naoroji

110. What was the plausible reason for the English to take up additional fortifications of Calcutta?

a) To protect English trade from local disturbances

b) To protect themselves from the French on the occasion of ‘Seven Years War’

c) The English discounted like many others the chances of Siraj ud daula’s accession and hence paid scant respect to his authority

d) To strengthen their establishments in Bengal

111. Which one of the following conspirators against Siraj ud daulah was duped by a forged agreement paper by Robert Clive?

a) Mir Zafar

b) Khwaja Wazid

c) Rai Durlabh

d) Umi Chand

113. Arrange the following events related to Anglo-Mysore War in the proper chronological order and choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

i) Battle of Porto Novo

ii) Treaty of Mangalore

iii) Treaty of Madras

iv) Treaty of Seringapatam

a) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

b) (iii), (i), (ii), (iv)

c) (iv), (iii), (ii), (i)

d) (iii), (ii), (iv), (i)

114. Who was the last Governor General of Fort William in Bengal?

(1773-85)

a) Warren Hastings

b) Lord Cornwallis

c) Lord Bentinck

d) Viscount Canning

115. Assertion (A) : The Carnatic War has attained a celebrity in history which is not fully justified either by the immediate issues involved or by the incidents of the war itself.

Reason (R) : For nearly twenty years the Carnatic became the scene of a long drawn contest between French and the English which led to the ultimate overthrow of the French power in India with repercussions also in Bengal which produced unexpected and momentous results.

a) If the Assertion (A) is correct but Reason (R) is wrong.

b) If (A) is wrong but (R) is correct.

c) If both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) explains (A).

d) If both (A) and (R) are correct but (R) does not explain (A).

116. Which of the following statements is/are true about Regulating Act, 1773?

i) It introduced Parliamentary supervision over the company and modified its constitution both in England and in India.

ii) It made changes in the constitution of the Court of Directors.

iii) The Government of Bengal was vested in a Governor General and a council of 4 members.

iv) The Governor General in council could control the subordinate Presidencies of Bombay and Madras in matters relating to War and Peace.

a) (i) and (ii)

b) (ii) and (iii)

c) (iii) and (iv)

d) All of the above

118. Which of the following conditions didn’t prompt the making of Mahalwari Settlement?

a) To curb the refractory and oppressive nature of the Taluqdars.

b) Need to maximise revenue.

c) Protecting the rights of the present proprietors to ensure improvement of agriculture.

d) Influence of the Ricardian theory of Rent.

119. During the first century of British rule there were a series of ‘restorative rebellions’ started by disaffected local rulers. Arrange the following revolts in chronological order and choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

i) Paika rebellion led by Jagabandhu

ii) Poligar rebellion led by Kaltabomman

iii) Kittur uprising led by Queen Chennamma

iv) Travancore revolt led by Velu Thampi

a) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

b) (ii), (iii), (i), (iv)

c) (i), (iv), (ii), (iii)

d) (ii), (i), (iv), (iii)

120. Some of the peasant rebellion were participated exclusively by the tribal population. Arrange the following tribal movements chronologically by and choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

i) Gudem Rampa rebellion led by Alluri Sitaramaraju

ii) Kol rebellion led by Buddha Bhagat

iii) Hul rebellion led by Sidho and Kanho

iv) Thadoe Kuki movement led by Jadonang and his niece Gaidinilu

a) (ii), (iii), (i), (iv)

b) (i), (iv), (ii), (iii)

c) (i), (iii), (ii), (iv)

d) (ii), (i), (iv), (iii)

121. Ho and Munda tribesmen were from

a) Chotanagpur

b) Araballi hills

c) Sahayadri hills

d) None of the above

123. Arrange the following armed resistance in the nineteenth century against the colonial rule in chronological order and choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

i) Satara disturbance (1844)

ii) Gadkari rebellion (1844)

iii) Revolt of Rao Bharamal (1819)

iv) Rebellion of Birabhadra Raju (1827)

a) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

b) (iii), (iv), (ii), (i)

c) (iv), (i), (ii), (iii)

d) (i), (iv), (iii), (ii)

124. In many of the peasant revolt religion played an important role. Who among the following was the leader of the Fakirs leading the Sannyasi-Fakir uprising in Bengal?

(1763-1800)

a) Tipu Shah

b) Karim Shah

c) Majanun Shah

d) Golam Masum

125. Match List I with List II and choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

List IList II

A) Pagalpanthi uprisingi) Chirag Au

B) Tanqah-i-Muhammadiyaii) Haji Shariatullah

C) Faraiji movementiii) Karam Shah

D) Shah-i-Madariv) Mir Nisar

a) (A)–(ii), (B)–(i), (C)–(iv), (D)–(iii)

b) (A)–(iii), (B)–(iv), (C)–(ii), (D)–(i)

c) (A)–(ii), (B)–(iii), (C)–(iv), (D)–(i)

d) (A)–(ii). (B)–(i), (C)–(iii), (D)–(iv)

126. Who among the following was the founder of Wahabi movement in India?

a) Waliullah

b) Shah Muhammad Hossein

c) Muhammad Abdul Wahab

d) Syed Ahmed of Rai Bareilly

127. Titu Mir defeated ___, the Indigo Planter.

a) Okenelly

b) Davis

c) Thornton

d) Alexander

128. Who among the following was the leader of the Faraijis?

(Faraizi movement – 1820-60)

a) Duddu Miyan

b) Titu Mir

c) Karim Shah

d) Majnu Fakir

129. The first sign of revolt led by Titu Mir was a raid on zamindar __

a) Ramrarn Chakraborty

b) Kaliprasanna Mukhopadhyay

c) Debnath Roy

d) Krishnadeva Roy

130. The first Indian ruler who joined the Subsidiary Alliance was

(1798)

a) Nawab of Oudh

b) Nizam of Hyderabad

c) Peshwa Baji Rao II

d) King of Travancore

131. Arrange according to the chronological order the following kingdoms annexed by Daihousi as per the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’.

i) Baghat

ii) Sambhalpur

iii) Satara

iv) Jhansi

a) (i), (iii), (ii), (iv)

b) (iv), (i), (ii), (iii)

c) (iii), (ii), (i), (iv)

d) (i), (iv), (ii), (iii)

132. Some of the army regiments have revolted several times before 1857. Vellore mutiny took place in the year

a) 1805

b) 1806

c) 1807

d) 1810

133. Arrange the following sepoy mutinies in the chronological order and choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

i) Vellore Mutiny

ii) 47 Native Infantry Mutiny

iii) Sholapur Mutiny

iv) Sindh 34th Native Infantry Mutiny

a) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

b) (i), (iv), (ii), (iii)

c) (iv), (iii), (ii), (i)

d) (iv), (i), (ii), (iii)

134. Mangal Pandey, a sepoy of 34th Native infantry stationed at Barrackpore mutinied on

a) 21 March, 1857

b) 29 March, 1857

c) 23 May, 1857

d) 22 June, 1857

135. Match important centres of the Revolt of 1857 with their leaders and choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

A) Bakht Khani) Jhansi

B) Tantia Topeii) Kanpur

C) Hazrat Mahaliii) Delhi

D) Lakshmibaiiv) Lucknow

a) (A)–(i), (B)–(ii), (C)–(iv), (D)–(iii)

b) (A)–(iii), (B)–(ii), (C)–(iv), (D)–(i)

c) (A)–(ii), (B)–(iii), (C)–(iv), (D)–(i)

d) (A)–(iii), (B)–(iv), (c)–(ii), (D)–(i)

136. The Revolt of 1857 in Bareilly was led by

a) Bahadur Shah II

b) Kunwar Singh

c) Khan Bahadur Khan

d) Firoz Shah

137. Who among the following British officers died during the seige of Residency at Lucknow?

a) Havelock

b) John Nicholson

c) Henry Lawrence

d) Colin Campbell

138. Arrange the following places witnessing the sepoy revolts according to chronological order

i) Delhi

ii) Bareilly

iii) Kanpur

iv) Meerut

a) (i), (iv), (ii), (iii)

b) (iv), (i), (iii), (ii)

c) (iv), (i), (ii), (iii)

d) (iv), (ii), (i), (iii)

139. When British army started pushing back the revolting Indian soldiers several commanders played leading role in claiming back the flash points. Among the following pairs find out the incorrect match

a) Delhi – James Neill

b) Kanpur – Sir Hugh Wheeler

c) Lucknow – Sir Cohn Campbell

d) Jhansi – Sir Hugh Rose

140. Who was the founder of Tatwabodhini Sabha?

(1839)

a) Rammohan Roy

b) Devendranath Tagore

c) Dwarakanath Tagore

d) Kesav Chandra Sen

143. Who established Calcutta Madrasa?

(1781)

a) Warren Hastings

b) William Bentinck

c) Lord Cornwallis

d) Lord Wellesley

144. Sanskrit College at Calcutta was established on

a) 1823

b) 1824

c) 1825

d) 1826

145. Atmiya Sabha was founded by

(1815)

a) Raja Rammohan Roy

b) Devendranath Tagore

c) Kesav Chandra Sen

d) Dayananda Saraswati

146. Who among the following played an instrumental role in the formation of Calcutta School Book Society?

(1817)

a) Radhakanta Dev

b) Raja Rammohan Roy

c) Dwarakanath Mitra

d) Madanmohan Tarkalankar

147. Who was the first editor of Tarwabodhini Patrika?

(1843)

a) Rammohan Roy

b) Devendranath Tagore

c) Akshay Kumar Dutta

d) Harish Chandra Mukherjee

148. Who among the following was not a proponent of Anglicism?

(Orientalist)

a) William Jones

b) Thomas Babington Macauley

c) Holt Mackenjie

d) Charles Thevelyan

193. A brilliant and patriotic Anglo-Indian teacher, Henry Vivian Derozeo, was the founder of:

(A) The Young Bengal Movement

(B) The Indian National Union

(D) The British India Association

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2017

45. The Battle of Panipat (1761) resulted in the defeat of

(A) The Marathas

(B) Ahmad Shah Abdali

(D) Nadir Shah

47. Who among the following gave official sanction to the education of girls in India ?

(A) William Bentinck

(B) Hardinge I

(D) Lord Canning

50. From which of the following countries did Tipu Sultan seek help to expel the British from India ?

(A) France

(B) Turkey

(D) All of the above

51. Calcutta (Shibpur) Engineering College was established in the year

a) 1817

b) 1854

c) 1855

d) 1856

59. Which of the following was not a storm-center of the Revolt of 1857 ?

(A) Madras

(B) Arrah

(D) Bareilly

68. Which Governor General created the Covenanted Civil Service of India, which came to be known as Indian Civil Service from 1861 onward ?

(A) William Bentinck

(B) Lord Wellesley

(D) Warren Hastings

80. Which Mughal ruler became the unifying symbol of the Revolt of 1857 ?

(A) Bahadur Shah I

(B) Bahadur Saha Jafar

(D) None of the above

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2016

29. Who gave Bombay to Charles II of England as a dowry gift for his marriage with Catherine of Braganza ?

(A) Spanish

(B) Portuguese

(D) Danes

30. Where did the so called ‘Black Hole Tragedy’ take place ?

(A) Calcutta

(B) Dacca

(D) Murshidabad

31. When was the ‘Double Government’ Consisting of the Court of Directors and the Board of Control, treated at the Home Government level ?

(A) 1853

(B) 1833

(D) 1784

51. The conquered people were to be ruled by their own laws and British rule had to “Legitimize itself in an Indian Idiom”. This was the Fundamental principle of

(A) Evangelicalism

(B) Orientalism

(D) Mercantilism

63. Which of the following organizations, according to Sumit Sarkar, “left little distinctive or permanent on the plane of religion and philosophy” in 19th Century India ?

(A) Brahmo Samaj

(B) Ramakrishna Mission

(D) Young Bengal

70. Which of the following Classes did not participate in the Revolt of 1857 ?

(i) Money lenders

(ii) Merchants

(iii) Modern intelligentsia

(iv) Old Zamindars

(v) Urban based absentee landlords

Choose the answers from codes gjven below :

(A) (i), (ii), (iv) and (v)

(B) (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v)

(D) (i), (ii), (iii), and (v)

76. Jonathan Duncan founded the Sanskrit College in 1792 at

(A) Allahabad

(B) Varanasi

(D) Madras

83. To justify one of their colonial policies, the British continued with the “Downward Filtration Theory” That colonial policy was on-

(A) Education

(B) Industry

(D) De-industrialization

103. Which of the following statements is / are correct ?

(Fort William College – 1800)

(A) Fort William College was closed in 1802.

(B) In 1805 the East India College was established at Heartford near London.

(D) All of the above

107. Who was mainly responsible for introducing the Ryotwari system in Madras ?

(A) Macartney

(B) Elphinstone

(D) John Lawrence

124. By whom was the new imperial policy of “Paramountcy” initiated ?

(A) Lord Wellesley

(B) Lord Cornwallis

(D) Warren Hastings

125. Which of the following statements about Tipu Sultan is not correct ?

(A) His reign represented a discontinuity in 18th Century Indian politics, as his kingship was rooted firmly in a strong regional tradition.

(B) In a symbolic gesture to proclaim his independence, he issued coins without any reference to the Mughal emperor.

(D) He never sought a sanad from the Ottoman Khalifa to legitimise his rule.

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2015

102. Lord Macaulay was associated with

(A) Reforms in the army

(B) Abolition of Sati

(D) Permanent settlement

134. Which of the following results of the Zamindari System was not an advantage to the British ?

(A) Creation of political allies

(B) Minimisation of revenue administrative expenditure

(D) Provision of financial security

135. Which of the following pairs are correctly matched ?

(A) Banaras – Sir Colin Campbell

(B) Jhansi – Sir Hugh Rose

(D) Lucknow – Major General Havelock

136. Indenture regulations which bound the artisans of Eastern India to sell their products exclusively to the English company from the Late 18th Century were known as

(A) Dadni

(B) Damdupat

(D) Kamiya

137. Who among the following Britishers were associated with the introduction of Mahalwari System ?

(A) R. M. Bird

(B) Sir John Lawrence

(D) Sir Alexandar Cunningham

142. Which of the following is not one of the causes responsible for the rise of money lenders in British India ?

(A) New revenue policy

(B) New legal system

(D) Commercialization of agriculture

150. Which region in India provided the best quality saltpeter and opium to the Europeans ?

(A) Coromondal

(B) Gujrat

(D) Malabar

151. When and by whom were the Portuguese driven out of Hugli in Bengal ?

(A) 1625 – Shaista Khan

(B) 1631 – Qasim Khan

(D) 1666 – Prince Shuja

152. What was the early capital of the portuguese in India ?

(A) Goa

(B) Cochin

(D) Cannanore

WBCS Main Question Paper – 2014

77. Vidyasagar has been described as “Traditional Moderniser” by historian

(A) Ramesh Chandra Majumder

(B) Binoy Ghosh

(D) Jadunath Sarkar

82. Which of the following towns was chosen as the head quarter of the Wahabi Movement in 1826 ?

(A) Kandahar

(B) Quetta

(C) Peshawar

(D) Charsadda

83. A leading British parliamentarian and politician who admitted that the Revolt of 1857 was ‘a national revolt’ and not a military mutiny was :

(A) David George

(B) William Hilderband

(D) George Bingsley