Ancient and Early Medieval India
1. Q1. Which of the following is NOT a feature of Lothal?
Correct Answer: (B) Rectangular and circular fire altars for animal sacrifice
Explanation: Lothal is famous for its dockyard, a ship depiction on a seal, and evidence of agriculture. Fire-altar evidence is especially associated with Kalibangan.
2. Q2. Who was the propounder of the Ajivika sect?
Correct Answer: (C) Makkali Gosala
Explanation: Makkali Gosala was the principal founder or propounder of the Ajivika sect, one of the important heterodox traditions contemporary with Buddhism and Jainism.
3. Q3. The spies during the Sangam age were known as—
Correct Answer: (C) Orrars
Explanation: The Sangam literature refers to spies as Orrars, who functioned as intelligence agents of the rulers.
4. Q4. Lands during the post-Gupta period were classified on the basis of—
Correct Answer: (D) All of the above
Explanation: Land classification considered whether land was cultivated or uncultivated, irrigated or unirrigated, and the crops grown on it.
5. Q5. The Pallava-Chola style of architecture is commonly known as—
Correct Answer: (D) Dravida
Explanation: The Dravida style is the characteristic southern Indian temple tradition, marked by pyramidal vimanas and elaborate temple complexes.
6. Q14. A remarkable feature of the spread of landlordism was the growth of—
Correct Answer: (C) Sub-infeudation
Explanation: Sub-infeudation refers to the creation of successive layers of intermediaries between the ruler and the actual cultivator.
Medieval India
7. Q6. The largest standing army of the Sultanate directly paid by the state was created by—
Correct Answer: (B) Alauddin Khilji
Explanation: Alauddin Khilji maintained a large centrally paid army and introduced measures such as branding of horses and descriptive rolls to control the military establishment.
8. Q7. The Muslim kingdom of Golconda grew up on the ruins of the old Hindu kingdom of—
Correct Answer: (C) Warangal
Explanation: The Kakatiya kingdom centred on Warangal declined in the early 14th century, after which the region became a major centre of later Deccan states including Golconda.
9. Q8. Which did NOT form part of the contingents maintained by mansabdars?
Correct Answer: (B) Artillerymen
Explanation: Mansabdars maintained cavalry and other military personnel such as infantry, archers and musketeers, while heavy artillery was primarily under more central control.
10. Q9. The chief Dutch export from the Coromandel Ports was—
Correct Answer: (A) Textiles
Explanation: The Dutch East India Company obtained large quantities of cotton textiles from the Coromandel Coast for trade in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.
11. Q12. The Nawab of Awadh who was appointed Wazir of the Mughal Empire was—
Correct Answer: (B) Safdar Jang
Explanation: Safdar Jang succeeded Saadat Khan as Nawab of Awadh and was appointed Wazir of the Mughal Empire in 1748.
British Expansion and Social Reform
12. Q11. Who is known as the 'Plato of the Jat tribe'?
Correct Answer: (D) Surajmal
Explanation: Maharaja Surajmal of Bharatpur is remembered as the most capable Jat ruler of the eighteenth century and was compared to a philosopher-king because of his political wisdom.
13. Q13. After Bengal, the English secured rights of duty-free trade in the dominions of—
Correct Answer: (B) Nawab of Awadh
Explanation: The East India Company obtained important commercial privileges in Awadh after the political settlements that followed the Battle of Buxar and the Treaty of Allahabad.
14. Q16. The expansion of indigo, cotton, opium, tea and coffee cultivation benefited British planters and also—
Correct Answer: (C) Both zamindars and small merchants
Explanation: Commercialisation of agriculture created opportunities for some zamindars and merchants, although peasants often suffered from coercion and indebtedness.
15. Q15. When did the Company lose its monopoly of Indian trade, which was opened to other Britons?
Correct Answer: (A) 1813
Explanation: The Charter Act of 1813 ended the East India Company's trade monopoly in India, except for tea and trade with China.
16. Q10. Which was NOT one of the arrangements made by the English after the Third Anglo-Maratha War?
Correct Answer: (C) The Gaekwar entered into a subsidiary alliance
Explanation: The Peshwaship was abolished, Holkar was brought under subsidiary arrangements, and Satara was restored as a princely state under Pratap Singh. The Gaekwar's subsidiary alliance predated the Third Anglo-Maratha War.
17. Q17. Why did the Mahalwari Settlement fail to prevent the destruction of village communities?
Correct Answer: (B) Individual rights in land were recognized and guaranteed by the state
Explanation: By recognising individual proprietary rights and strengthening revenue intermediaries, the settlement weakened traditional collective village institutions.
18. Q68. Henry Vivian Derozio was the founder of—
Correct Answer: (A) The Young Bengal Movement
Explanation: Derozio inspired a group of rationalist, free-thinking students at Hindu College who became known as Young Bengal.
19. Q28. Match the social reformers with their contributions.
Correct Answer: (D) Rammohan Roy–Abolition of Sati; Keshab Chandra Sen–Intercaste marriage and widow remarriage; Jyotiba Phule–Shuddhi/rejection of hereditary caste in the key; Dayanand Saraswati–Removal of untouchability
Explanation: This is the WBCS 2019 key. Note that the matching as printed is historically imperfect in places; for exam purposes, follow the official/accepted key while remembering the actual reform associations.
20. Q19. Which consequence of British rule did NOT affect the Muslim middle classes?
Correct Answer: (A) The tyranny of British indigo planters
Explanation: The WBCS key identifies indigo-planter oppression as the exception; the other measures directly affected the traditional Muslim landed and service classes.
21. Q87. Why was Gopal Hari Deshmukh popularly known as 'Lokhitwadi'?
Correct Answer: (C) He edited a monthly magazine called Lokhitwadi
Explanation: He wrote social and political reform essays under the name Lokhitwadi and advocated rationalism and social reform.
22. Q29. The precursor of the Indian National Congress was—
Correct Answer: (C) British Indian Association
Explanation: The British Indian Association, founded in 1851, was one of the important early political organisations that preceded the Congress. The Indian National Conference was another immediate precursor in the 1880s.
Early Nationalism
23. Q18. Who was the chief organiser of the Revolt of 1857 in Bihar?
Correct Answer: (B) Kunwar Singh
Explanation: Kunwar Singh, the zamindar of Jagdispur, became the principal leader of the revolt in Bihar and fought the British forces with considerable success.
24. Q91. Which European organisation in India launched agitation against the Ilbert Bill?
Correct Answer: (A) European Defence Association
Explanation: The European Defence Association mobilised European residents against the Ilbert Bill, which sought to allow Indian judges to try European British subjects.
25. Q30. The name 'Indian National Congress' was given by—
Correct Answer: (B) Dadabhai Naoroji
Explanation: This is the answer expected by the WBCS 2019 key. Some historical accounts discuss the naming process differently, so this is a useful exam-specific fact.
26. Q31. The first President of the Indian National Congress was—
Correct Answer: (B) W.C. Bonnerjee
Explanation: Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee presided over the first Congress session at Bombay in December 1885.
27. Q22. During the first twenty years of Congress, who served as President three times?
Correct Answer: (B) Dadabhai Naoroji
Explanation: Dadabhai Naoroji presided over the Congress in 1886, 1893 and 1906.
28. Q32. Who said that the Congress was 'tottering to its fall' and hoped to assist its peaceful demise?
Correct Answer: (C) Lord Dufferin
Explanation: Lord Dufferin was openly dismissive of the representative character and political significance of the early Congress.
29. Q78. Dadabhai Naoroji was elected to the British House of Commons as a member of the—
Correct Answer: (B) Liberal Party
Explanation: Naoroji entered the House of Commons in 1892 as the Liberal MP for Finsbury Central, becoming the first Asian to sit in the British Parliament.
30. Q73. Who ridiculed the idea of Swarajya in 1903 by saying that only mad men could think of independence?
Correct Answer: (A) Lord Curzon
Explanation: The remark reflected Curzon's imperial conviction that Indian independence was politically unrealistic.
Swadeshi, Home Rule and World War I
31. Q33. Arrange chronologically: Partition of Bengal; Varanasi Congress Session; Calcutta Congress Session; Muslim League foundation.
Correct Answer: (C) I, II, IV, III
Explanation: Partition of Bengal occurred in 1905; the Varanasi Congress session followed in 1905; the Muslim League was founded in December 1906; the Calcutta Congress session was held later in December 1906.
32. Q40. Match revolutionary organisations with their founders.
Correct Answer: (A) Anushilan–Barindra Ghosh; Abhinava Bharata–V.D. Savarkar; Ghadar–Lala Hardayal; HSRA–S.N. Sanyal and Bhagat Singh
Explanation: These organisations represented different phases of revolutionary nationalism from Bengal and Maharashtra to overseas Ghadar activism and the HSRA.
33. Q97. After the Partition of Bengal, the two new provinces were—
Correct Answer: (C) East Bengal and Assam
Explanation: The 1905 partition created the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam, while the remaining Bengal was reorganised.
34. Q35. The Calcutta Session of the INC marked a turning point because it—
Correct Answer: (C) Adopted resolutions on Boycott, Swadeshi, National Education and Self-Government
Explanation: The 1906 Calcutta session under Dadabhai Naoroji gave formal Congress recognition to the major Swadeshi-era political programme.
35. Q36. Who were designated as Neo-Nationalists?
Correct Answer: (A) Extremists
Explanation: The assertive nationalist leaders such as Tilak and his associates were described in some contemporary and later writings as Neo-Nationalists.
36. Q34. The immediate cause of the Surat Split was—
Correct Answer: (B) The election of the President of the INC
Explanation: The dispute over the Congress presidency, especially the choice of Rash Behari Ghosh, intensified the conflict between Moderates and Extremists and led to the Surat split.
37. Q44. Who is regarded as the 'Mother of Indian Revolution'?
Correct Answer: (D) Madam Bhikaji Rustom Cama
Explanation: Bhikaji Cama became an important international face of Indian revolutionary nationalism and was closely associated with expatriate revolutionary networks.
38. Q82. Who first unfurled the precursor of the Indian National Flag?
Correct Answer: (A) Madam Bhikaji Cama
Explanation: Bhikaji Cama unfurled an early version of an Indian nationalist flag at the International Socialist Congress at Stuttgart in 1907.
39. Q23. Aurobindo Ghosh was brilliantly defended by—
Correct Answer: (A) Chittaranjan Das
Explanation: Chittaranjan Das defended Aurobindo Ghosh in the Alipore Bomb Case and delivered a celebrated closing address.
40. Q88. Madan Lal Dhingra murdered Curzon Wyllie, who was an—
Correct Answer: (A) Adviser to the Secretary of State for India
Explanation: Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie was a political aide and adviser connected with the India Office establishment.
41. Q41. Match epithets: Tilak, C.F. Andrews, Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai.
Correct Answer: (B) Lokmanya; Dinabandhu; Mahamana; Punjab Kesari
Explanation: These are standard nationalist sobriquets: Tilak–Lokmanya, Andrews–Dinabandhu, Malaviya–Mahamana, and Lajpat Rai–Punjab Kesari.
42. Q39. Arrange: transfer of capital to Delhi; Hardinge bombing; First World War; Gandhi's arrival in India.
Correct Answer: (D) II, I, III, IV
Explanation: The capital was transferred in 1911, Hardinge was bombed in 1912, World War I began in 1914, and Gandhi returned to India in 1915.
43. Q74. Which British King visited India and held the magnificent Delhi Durbar?
Correct Answer: (B) George V
Explanation: George V and Queen Mary visited India in 1911. The Delhi Durbar of 1911 announced the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
44. Q98. The brain behind the bomb attack on Viceroy Lord Hardinge in Delhi in December 1912 was—
Correct Answer: (A) Rasbehari Bose
Explanation: Rasbehari Bose was the principal organiser behind the 1912 attempt on Lord Hardinge during the transfer of the capital to Delhi.
45. Q38. Match the leaders with their papers: Abul Kalam Azad, Pherozeshah Mehta, Annie Besant and Gandhi.
Correct Answer: (A) Al-Hilal; Bombay Chronicle; New India; Young India
Explanation: Al-Hilal was associated with Azad, Bombay Chronicle with Pherozeshah Mehta's nationalist circle, New India with Annie Besant, and Young India with Gandhi.
46. Q75. Which Muslim organisation advocated cooperation with Congress during the First World War?
Correct Answer: (D) Deoband Movement
Explanation: The Deoband ulema, particularly through anti-colonial initiatives, supported Hindu-Muslim cooperation against British rule.
47. Q77. Which Indian prince actively participated in the revolutionary movement in India and abroad?
Correct Answer: (A) Raja Mahendra Pratap
Explanation: Raja Mahendra Pratap supported revolutionary diplomacy abroad and was associated with the Provisional Government of India formed in Kabul in 1915.
48. Q37. The INC became both 'Indian' and 'National' in reality as well as in name at the—
Correct Answer: (C) Lucknow Session, 1916
Explanation: The Lucknow session brought together wider political forces, including the Congress-League understanding and the reunion of Moderates and Extremists.
49. Q76. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was given the epithet 'Lokmanya' during the—
Correct Answer: (C) Home Rule Movement
Explanation: Tilak's popularity expanded dramatically during the Home Rule movement, when the title Lokmanya became widely associated with him.
50. Q99. The historic Lucknow Session of the Congress was presided over by—
Correct Answer: (C) Ambika Charan Majumdar
Explanation: Ambika Charan Mazumdar presided over the 1916 Lucknow session, famous for the Congress-League Pact and the reunion of Congress factions.
51. Q42. Which was NOT a result of the Home Rule Movement of Tilak and Besant?
Correct Answer: (B) The Home Rule campaign virtually ousted the Moderates from the political field
Explanation: The Home Rule movement broadened nationalist politics and helped prepare the way for the Lucknow reunion; it did not simply eliminate the Moderates.
52. Q26. Mahatma Gandhi first experimented with his technique of Satyagraha in India in—
Correct Answer: (C) Ahmedabad Mill Strike
Explanation: The WBCS 2019 key expects Ahmedabad. Gandhi's first major Indian satyagraha campaigns also included Champaran in 1917 and Kheda in 1918, so this question should be remembered as exam-specific.
53. Q92. The second split in the Congress in 1918 took place over the issue of—
Correct Answer: (D) Both the Lucknow Pact and the Montagu Declaration
Explanation: The WBCS key identifies both issues as contributing to the 1918 conflict within Congress politics.
Gandhian Era and Revolutionary Nationalism
54. Q93. A Public Service Commission was first established in India by—
Correct Answer: (C) Government of India Act, 1919
Explanation: The Government of India Act of 1919 provided for the establishment of a Public Service Commission; the first Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926.
55. Q20. The first session of the All India Trade Union Congress was presided over by—
Correct Answer: (C) Lala Lajpat Rai
Explanation: Lala Lajpat Rai presided over the inaugural AITUC session in Bombay in 1920.
56. Q89. On the day Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement, which national leader died?
Correct Answer: (B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Explanation: Tilak died on 1 August 1920, the day the Non-Cooperation Movement was formally launched.
57. Q94. Who killed Michael O'Dwyer, former Governor of Punjab?
Correct Answer: (B) Sardar Udham Singh
Explanation: Udham Singh assassinated Michael O'Dwyer in London in 1940, holding him responsible for the political climate associated with the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy.
58. Q100. The Congress decided to raise a Swaraj Fund of one crore rupees for—
Correct Answer: (B) Memorial of Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Explanation: The Tilak Swaraj Fund was launched in 1921 to commemorate Tilak and finance the nationalist movement.
59. Q80. Who founded the Jat Pat Torak Mandal?
Correct Answer: (B) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Explanation: The organisation aimed at breaking caste barriers and promoting social equality; the WBCS key identifies Ambedkar as the answer.
60. Q49. After the Gaya Session of 1922, Motilal Nehru and C.R. Das formed the—
Correct Answer: (B) Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party
Explanation: The Swarajists sought entry into legislative councils to obstruct colonial policies from within.
61. Q86. The Vaikom Satyagraha was launched in 1924 for—
Correct Answer: (A) Opening the temple roads/approaches to low-caste Hindus
Explanation: The Vaikom Satyagraha challenged caste-based restrictions on access to public roads surrounding the Vaikom temple in Travancore.
62. Q52. Who was NOT hanged in the Kakori Train Dacoity Case?
Correct Answer: (D) Surya Sen
Explanation: Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Roshan Singh were executed in the Kakori case. Surya Sen belonged to the Chittagong revolutionary movement.
63. Q55. Who murdered Saunders in Lahore?
Correct Answer: (D) Raj Guru
Explanation: Rajguru was one of the principal participants in the assassination of J.P. Saunders in 1928, carried out in retaliation for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
64. Q43. Jatin Das, who died after a long hunger strike, had been arrested in connection with the—
Correct Answer: (C) Lahore Conspiracy Case
Explanation: Jatin Das was imprisoned in the Lahore Conspiracy Case and died after a 63-day hunger strike in September 1929.
65. Q45. Who presided over the Lahore Session of the INC that passed the Purna Swaraj resolution?
Correct Answer: (B) Jawaharlal Nehru
Explanation: Nehru presided over the Lahore session of December 1929, where Purna Swaraj was adopted as the Congress objective.
66. Q46. Who prepared the famous Purna Swaraj Declaration?
Correct Answer: (C) Motilal Nehru
Explanation: The WBCS key attributes the preparation of the declaration to Motilal Nehru; the resolution was adopted at Lahore under Jawaharlal Nehru.
67. Q50. The Meerut Conspiracy Case related to members of the—
Correct Answer: (D) Communist Party of India
Explanation: The Meerut case targeted communist and trade-union activists and became an important episode in the colonial campaign against communism.
68. Q56. Why did Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly and court arrest?
Correct Answer: (D) All of the above
Explanation: The HSRA intended the act as a dramatic political protest, designed to make its message heard rather than to cause mass casualties, and the two revolutionaries deliberately surrendered.
69. Q57. For how many days did Jatin Das fast before his death?
Correct Answer: (B) Sixty-three days
Explanation: Jatin Das died on 13 September 1929 after a 63-day hunger strike protesting prison conditions.
70. Q83. The Nehru Committee Report received a 'decent burial' at the—
Correct Answer: (C) Lahore Session
Explanation: The Lahore Congress of 1929 rejected the constitutional compromise represented by the Nehru Report and moved toward the demand for complete
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