Modern Indian History MCQs

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Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1901) was a distinguished Indian scholar, social reformer and author, sometimes called a Father of renaissance of Western India. He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress . He established the “Widow Marriage Association” in 1861 to encourage and popularize it Ranade founded the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha in 1870, to represent the Government, the aspiration of the people. Known to be the mentor and political guru of famous freedom fighters Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He was against caste system, untouchability and was a strong supporter of widow-remarriage.

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K.M. Panikkar was an Indian scholar, journalist, historian, administrator and diplomat. He wrote that between 1765-1772, British had “established a robber state where, without reference to the rights of the others, they freely plundered and looted under the cover of thier rights”.

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The regulating act of 1773 established a supreme court at Fort William, Calcutta. This Supreme Court consisted one Chief Justice and three other regular judges or Puisne Judges. Sir Elijah Imphey was the first Chief Justice of this Supreme Court.

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The Saya San rebellion was a revolt that took place in Burma (now known as Myanmar) in the 1930s. It was led by Saya San, a traditional healer and astrologer who claimed to be a reincarnation of the ancient Burmese king Anawrahta. Saya San and his followers, who were primarily from the Karen ethnic group, launched a rebellion against the British colonial government in Burma in December 1930. The rebellion was fueled by a variety of grievances, including discontent with British rule, frustration with the erosion of traditional Karen culture, and opposition to the forced labor practices of the colonial government.
The Saya San rebellion was largely unsuccessful and was suppressed by the British military within a few months. Saya San was captured and sentenced to death, and many of his followers were also arrested and imprisoned. The rebellion had a lasting impact on Karen politics and helped to increase support for the Karen independence movement.

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During the Lucknow session of Indian National Congress in 1916, the Congress and Muslim League together started demanding common reforms to the government. Since the year 1906, Muslim league had been demanding separate electorate for them. Through the Lucknow Pact, the Congress and Muslim League agreed to allow representation to religious minorities in the provincial legislatures.

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Siege of Madras refers to an important event during the 7 years war when the British and French were fighting in India for their supremacy. It was a seize of the Madras which was divided into Black Town and White town at that time. The Black town refereed to the area populated by the Indian Natives and White town referred to the area populated by British around St. Fort George. The French invaded the black town which remained unprotected. Here, they looted the houses of the natives. They advanced towards the White Town where they are resisted by the British Forces. The French were led by Thomas Arthur, Lally. When additional British force arrived Madras, the French withdrew and this was a huge setback to French.

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The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda, a spiritual leader and disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, in 1897. Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in the introduction of the Hindu philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world, and he is considered one of India’s foremost national heroes. After the death of his guru, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, in 1886, Swami Vivekananda traveled to the United States and delivered a historic speech at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893, which helped to spread the teachings of Ramakrishna and the Ramakrishna Mission throughout the world. The Ramakrishna Mission is a spiritual organization that is dedicated to the promotion of the values of harmony, tolerance, and compassion, and it operates a number of charitable, educational, and social service programs in India and around the world.

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In 1616 AD, the Danish East India company established their first factory at Tranquebar in Tamilnadu (1620) and Serampur in Bengal (1676). In India, Serampur was their headquaters. Though, they failed to strengthen themselves in India and finally in the beginning of 19th century, they sold all their settlements to the British and went back to their country.

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The Treaty of Srirangapatanam (1792) was signed between Tipu Sultan and Lord Cornwallis, that ended the Third Anglo- Mysore war. As per the treaty, Tipu Sultan had to surrendered half of his territories and had to pay a huge war indemnity.

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The Doctrine of Lapse was implemented by Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General for the East India Company in
India between 1848 and 1856. As per the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’, if any ruler of a princely state died without a natural heir, the
states’ authority will pass to the British East India Company.
Under the terms of the doctrine of lapse, the Company annexed many princely states viz. Satara (1848), Jaipur and Sambalpur (Odisha) (1849), Nagpur and Jhansi (1854), Tanjore and Arcot (1855), Udaipur (Chhattisgarh) and Oudh (1856).