GK SET-1 : Indian History & Culture Part-E

No.	Question	Answer
601	Who was the first Governor General of Bengal?	Warren Hastings.
602	What was the most important difference between the British and other conquerors of India?	Previous invaders became an integral part of India, whereas the British always maintained their own identity.
603	Who was the Maratha general who repeatedly fought against die British during die 1857 revolt and later kept harassing the British with guerrilla warfare till he was betrayed by Mansingh and hanged by the British?	TatiaTope.
604	When was the Champaran Agitation launched?	The Champaran agitation was launched in the Champaran district of Bihar. It was against the English landlords who used to force the peasants, to cultivate indigo. When synthetic indigo was discovered they began to force the peasants to pay them compensation for not growing indigo any longer.
605	Which area did the Japanese hand over to the Azad Hind Government?	Andaman and Nicobar islands.
606	Where did Mahatma Gandhi establish his first ashram in India?	At Sabarmati, Ahmedabad.
607	Who popularised the Young India Journal?	Mahatma Gandhi.
608	Why did Mahatma Gandhi spin cloth daily?	To emphasise the dignity of labour and the value of self-reliance. Gandhi once said that from among the activities he was engaged in, khadi and uplift of the scheduled castes was the most important to him.
609	Why was the Akali movement started?	To remove corrupt mahants from the Gurudwaras.
610	What was the unique mode of protest of the population of Chirala (in present day Andhra Pradesh) against the British?	The whole town refused to pay the municipal tax and moved out of the village.
611	What was the Chauri Chaura incident?	A crowd angered by police firing set Fire to a police station killing many policemen.
612	What was the impact of the Chauri Chaura incident on the Freedom struggle?	Gandhiji suspended the struggle because he felt people had yet to understand the concept of non-violence.
613	Where was the decision to suspend the agitation taken?	Bardoli in Gujarat.
614	Who founded the Swarajya party?	Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru.
615	To which country did Subhas Chandra Bose escape to carry on the Freedom Struggle?	Germany. He escaped from Calcutta (Kolkata) and travelled through Peshawar, reaching Kabul via Jalalabad. From there he went to Russia (with an Italian passport) and then to Berlin from Moscow.
616	Who is the father of the Indian Chemical Industry?	Prafulla Chandra Ray.
617	After Delhi fell to the British during the revolt of 1857 what brutal act did the British officer Hodson commit?	He shot dead the sons of Bahadur Shah at point blank range.
618	Who passed a resolution declaring Sati illegal and punishable by the courts?	William Bentinck.
619	Who led the rebellion of the Koyas (tribals of the West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh) against the British?	Alluri Sitarama Raju.
620	When was Bengal first partitioned by the British, leading to wide-spread agitation?	In 1905.
621	Who did the soldiers, who rebelled in Meerut, declare as the Emperor of India?	The soldiers set out for Delhi from Meerut where they were joined by the local infantry. Here they proclaimed Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India.
622	Who led the revolt at Lucknow?	Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh.
623	Who founded the Arya Samaj?	Swami Dayananda Saraswati in 1875.
624	What did Swami Dayananda Saraswati regard as infallible?	The Vedas. He considered them to be the fountain of knowledge.
625	Madam H.P. Blavatsky and Colonel H.S Olcott founded the headquarters of this society at Adyar, Madras. Which society was this?	The Theosophical Society.
626	Who was the first Indian to be elected to the leadership of the Communist International?	M.N.Roy.
627	Who threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly?	Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt (on April 9, 1929).Their aim in throwing a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly was, as their leaflet pointed out, "to make the deaf hear". Not to hurt anyone.
628	Which British general defeated Haider Ali?	EyreCooteinJuly 1781.
629	He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. He was sentenced to death for his role in the Kakori train conspiracy. He composed the revolutionary song, "Sarfaroshi ki tamana ab hamare dil mein hai....." Name him.	Ram Prasad Bismil. (1897-1927).
630	Who became the Peshwa after the Battle of Panipat?	Madhav Rao. After the death of Balaji Baji Rao.
631	Which Mughal Emperor became a pensioner of the Marathas in 1771?	ShahAlam.
632	When was the Poona Pact signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar?	In 1932.
633	When did Mahatma Gandhi arrive in India from South Africa?	1915 (January).
634	Who was the Viceroy who was assassinated by a convict when he visited the Andamans?	Lord Mayo.
635	When was the "Quit India" Resolution passed?	August 8, 1942, in Goculdas Tejpal Auditorium in Bombay.
636	Who was the only Indian ruler who never alied himself with the British to fight against other Indian rulers?	Tipu Sultan.
637	Who were the signatories to the treaty of Seringapatam (Srirangapatnam)?	Tipu Sultan and the British.
638	What were the important clauses of the treaty of Seringapatam?	Tipu Sultan had to cede about half his territories to the English and also pay Rs.330 lakhs as indemnity. His two sons were also kept as hostages.
639	What was the Wood's Despatch? What is its significance?	Sir Charles Wood sent an educational despatch that formed the basis of the subsequent development of university education in India. Based on the principles outlined in Wood's Despatch three universities were established in India in Calcutta (Kolkata}, Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai).
640	Who were the Siddhis?	They were people of Abyssinian descent who were put in charge of important forts like Raigarh, Dabhol and Ratnagiri by Aurangzeb. They were a maritime power and constant source of problems for the Marathas.
641	He was a revolutionary, who was arrested by the British in the Maniktala bomb conspiracy. In 1910, he went to Pondicherry and led a life of a spiritualist. Who was he?	Aurobindo Ghosh.
642	Who founded the Benaras Hindu University?	Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya in 1916.
643	He entered politics with the Kheda Satyagraha. In 1922 he played a leading role in the Bardoli Satyagraha. He was Independent India's first home minister. Name him.	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
644	Who succeeded Peshwa Baji Rao?	Peshwa Baji Rao was succeeded by Balaji Baji Rao.
645	Who was the Peshwa during the third battle of Panipat?	Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao.
646	Who founded the Tattvabodhini Sabha? Later he became a great leader of the Brahmo Samaj movement.	Debendranath Tagore, father of Rabindranath Tagore.
647	What was the Komagata Maru episode?	The Komagata Maru was a Japanese vessel that was hired to take a large number of Punjabis to Canada. The passengers were not allowed to disembark and they therefore made their way back to India. The Komagata Maru on return, docked at Budge-Budge near Calcutta. The British ordered the passengers to go to Punjab in a special train. Those who wanted to go to Calcutta refused to do so and were fired upon, leaving eighteen dead and twenty nine not being accounted for.
648	After the Revolt, Bahadur Shah II was arrested and deported to a city outside modern India. Name the city.	Rangoon.
649	Who was the French Governor General who helped Muzzafar Jung become the Nizam of Hyderabad?	Dupleix.
650	How do we better know Narendranath Datta?	Swami Vivekananda.
651	Muazzam, Aurangazeb's son, succeeded him to the throne of Delhi. On ascension he assumed a royal title. What was the title?	Bahadur Shah.
652	Ranjit Singh was appointed the governor of Kabul at the age of 19. Who appointed him?	ZamanShah.
653	Who was the 18th century Hindu ruler who performed two Asvamedha sacrifices?	Sawai Jai Singh of Amber.
654	The English obtained the royal Farman from the Nawabs of Bengal in 1717. There was one privilege in the Farman that was to prove an irritant. What was the privilege?	The freedom to export and import goods in Bengal without paying customs duties.
655	Who was the judge who found Raghunath Rao Peshwa, guilty of murder and said, "No penalty other than death is prescribed for such a crime"?	Ram Shastri Prabhune.
656	Who did General Hugh Rose refer to as "the only man among the rebels"?	Rani Lakshmibai.
657	Who were the adversaries in the battle of Wandiwash?	The British and the French. The supremacy of the British was thoroughly established as the consequences of this battle.
658	What was the result of the battle of Wandiwash?	The British under Eyre Coote comprehensively routed the French
659	Who coined the slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan"?	Lal Bahadur Shastri. The slogan became immensely popular and was soon on the lips of almost every Indian.
660	Who said the following and in what context ".... in the sky of India, serene as it is, a small cloud might arise, at first no bigger than a man's hand but which growing larger and larger, may at last threaten to burst and overwhelm us with ruin."	Lord Canning. He was referring to the situation in India just prior to he Revolt of 1857.
661	The first Round Table Conference was a result of a suggestion by an Englishman to the then British Prime Minister. Who was the Britisher?	Sir John Simon (Chairman of the Simon Commission)
662	Who was the sole representative of the Congress at the second Round Table Conference?	Mahatma Gandhi.
663	Who was the first President of the Indian National Congress?	Womesh Chandra Banerji.
664	Who was the first Indian woman President of the Indian National Congress?	Sarojini Naidu.
665	When did Mahatma Gandhi become the President of the Indian National Congress?	1924.
666	Who was the President of the Congress in 1947 at the time of Independence?	Rajendra Prasad.
667	Who died fighting the police at Alfred Park in Lucknow?	Chandrashekhar Azad. He shot himself with the last bullet that he had been left with.
668	Who signed the Treaty of Salbai?	The Marathas and the English in 1782. The treaty established beyond dispute, the dominance of the British as the controlling factor in Indian politics.
669	What was the result of the Treaty of Salbai?	Though the English did not gain materially, it gave them peace with the Marathas for 20 years, thereby enabling them to fight other enemies such as the French and Tipu Sultan.
670	Who was the chief minister of Peshwa Baji Rao II?	Nana Fadnavis. He was responsible for preserving the Maratha confederacy. He also resisted British interference in Maratha affairs.
671	What is the meaning of the word "Satyagraha"?	Satyagraha consists of two words : Satya (truth) and agraha (insistence). The term was coined by Mahatma Gandhi.
672	Who started the Home Rule movement?	Annie Besant. At the Congress session held in Kolkata in 1917, the demand for home rule was made eloquent by Ms. Annie Besant, the President of the session.
673	Who formulated the two nation theory?	M.A.Jinnah.
674	Over which area did the Asaf Jahis rule?	The state of Hyderabad as it then was.
675	Where did Aurobindo Ghosh begin to live after renouncing an active political life?	In Pondicherry from 1910 till the end 1950.
676	Which was the first state of India to be formed on the basis of language?	Andhra Pradesh.
677	Who was Gopal Ganesh Agarkar?	He was a social reformer of Maharashtra. He was the founder editor of Kesari, but later concentrated on a new newspaper he started called Sudharak.
678	Who was Kanaklata Barua?	Kanaklata Barua played an important role in the freedom struggle. She was shot dead while holding the congress flag during the Quit India movement.
679	Who led the Santhals who were armed with only bows and arrows?	BirsaMunda.
680	A prominent Naga fighter she spent eighteen years in prison for her role in the freedom struggle. Who was she?	Gidalyu Rani who led the Nagas. She was released in 1949.
681	When did the Naval Mutiny break out?	February 1946
682	He was born in 1889 at Allahabad. He was sent to England for studies and returned to India in 1912. He made his first appearance on the Congress platform as a delegate in 1912 at the Bankipore session. In 1923 he was elected General Secretary of the Congress. Who was he?	Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
683	Who were the adversaries at the Battle of Plassey?	The British fought Siraj-ud-Daulah the Nawab of Bengal.
684	In the Battle of Plassey, a major part of Siraj-ud-Daulah's army did not take part in the fighting. Why was this?	Mir Jafar and Rai Durlabh who commanded a major portion of the army had turned traitors and did not join in the battle.
685	Who were the only two leading men of Siraj-ud-Daulah's court who took active part in the Battle of Plassey?	Mir Madan and Mohan Lal.
686	Who was raised to the throne of Bengal after the Battle of Plassey?	Mir Jafar.
687	Who succeeded Mir Jaffar to the throne of Bengal?	Mir Kasim, his son-in-law.
688	Who devised the system of "Subsidiary Alliances"?	Lord Wellesley. By using Subsidiary Alliances Lord Wellesley saw to it that the Indian princes remained helpless and would soon be unable to govern their territory without the help of the British army.
689	How did Tipu Sultan die?	He died fighting the English on May 4, 1799?
690	What role did the Chapekar brothers play in the Freedom struggle?	Damodar Chapekar along with his two brothers, Vasudev and Balakrishna, fired at Rand and then disappeared in the dark. They were arrested later and were hanged.
691	He worked throughout his life for the uplift of the 'untouchables'. He was the law minister in the interim government. He was the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly's Drafting Committee. Who was he?	Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
692	Which day was fixed as the first Independence Day?	31st December 1929.
693	When was the Indian Tri-colour (saffron, white and green) hoisted for the first time?	December 31, 1929. At the Congress session.
694	If anyone wanted to meet Mahatma Gandhi on the 6lh of April 1930, where would they have needed to go?	To Dandi. On this day Gandhiji breached the salt law.
695	Who organised the society of Khudai Khidmatgars (servants of god)?	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.
696	Why did Subhas Bose resign from the Presidentship of the Congress in 1939?	He did so because of opposition from Gandhiji.
697	Which party did Subhas Bose found?	Forward Bloc.
698	Who was responsible (as President of the "Committee of Public Instruction") for the introduction of English education in India?	Thomas Babington Macaulay.
699	Whom did Ahmed Shah Abdali serve as a general before proclaiming himself king?	Nadir Shah. Ahmed Shah Abdali proclaimed himself king of Afghanistan after Nadir Shah's assassination.
700	What was the title adopted by Ahmed Shah Abdali when he crowned himself ruler of Afghanistan?	Durr-i-Durran, 'The pearl of the age.' His clan came to be known as Durrani.
701	What were the Morley Minto reforms?	In 1909, the reforms introduced by Morley and Minto provided for the association of qualified Indians with the Government of India to a greater extent in deciding public queries.
702	Who did the Marathas decisively defeat in the Palkhed campaign of 1727-28?	The Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad. This campaign ensured that the Nizam's attempt at challenging Maralha supremacy failed.
703	Which French Governor has been given the credit of using Indian Sepoys in his army?	Dupleix.
704	Who handed over the leadership of the Independence Movement in East Asia to Subhas Chandra Bose?	Rash Behari Bose (on July 4, 1943).
705	What was the slogan adopted by the Muslim League at its Karachi Session in 1943?	Divide and Quit.
706	Who is Subramania Bharati?	A Tamil poet and nationalist of the early 20th Century.
707	Who was the Viceroy at the time of Indepenence?	Lord Louis Mountbatten.
708	Who was hired by a group of Porbandar Muslims (who were working in Natal, South Africa) as their lawyer in!893?	M.K. Gandhi.
709	Where did Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose set up the provisional government of free India?	In Singapore. It had been renamed Shonan. Subhas Chandra Bose regularly addressed Indians from Shonan Radio.
710	Who gave the first call for the freedom struggle in 1857?	Mangal Pandey.
711	Who was the freedom fighter who led the Ramoshis of Maharashtra?	Vasudev Balwant Phadke.
712	He was popularly known as Sher-1-Punjab. He founded the weekly "The People". He died due to the injuries he received from a brutal lathi charge by the police when protesting against the Simon Commission. Who was he?	LalaLajpatRai.
713	Who initiated the celebration of the Ganapati Festival and the Shivaji Jayanti as social activities to awaken the people?	Lokamanya Tilak.
714	What was the slogan that electrified the nation when Bengal was partitioned?	Bande Mataram.
715	What was the Poona Pact?	The pact between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar. This pact was against the separate electorates announced by the British.
716	What was the Act which granted partial autonomy to the Provinces?	Government of India Act of 1935.
717	Who was the Governor General of India who added the maximum extent of Indian territories to the East India Company?	Lord Dalhousie
718	Who was the Governor General of India when the Revolt of 1857 broke out?	Lord Canning
719	Which Act passed by the British was termed the Gagging Act?	The Vernacular Press Act, 1878. This Act empowered a magistrate to stop a publisher from publishing anything that would create disaffection against the government.
720	Who was responsible for the partition of Bengal in 1905?	Lord Curzon.
721	During whose Viceroyalty was the capital changed from Calcutta to Delhi?	Lord Hardinge (in 1912).
722	What was the Khilafat movement?	The Sultan of Turkey, who was the Caliph, was deposed after World War I. The Khilafat Movement was launched in India to defend the prestige of the Caliph.
723	Her real name was Madeleine Slade. She was a devoted follower of Gandhiji. What was the name given to her by Gandhiji?	MeeraBehn.
724	The British created the Kingdom of Satara out of the Peshwa's lands. Who was it given to?	A descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
725	To which party did Chandrashekar Azad belong?	Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
726	Who was the leader, whose death led Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru to assassinate the British police officer Saunders?	Lala Lajpat Rai.
727	In April 1930, the revolutionary Surya Sen led an activity. What was it?	He organised an armed raid on the government armoury at Chittagong.
728	Who were executed on March 23, 1931?	Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru in Lahore prison.
729	In 1927, the British Government appointed the Indian Statutory Commission. How was it popularly known as?	Simon Commission.
730	What was interesting about Jawaharlal Nehru taking over the Presidentship of the Indian National Congress at the Lahore session of 1929?	He succeeded his father Motilal Nehru.
731	At which session was a resolution passed which declared "Poorna Swaraj" (total freedom) as the Congress objective?	At the session held at Lahore, 1929.
732	Who conceived of the idea of setting up the Indian National Congress?	Allan Octavian Hume.
733	What did Mahatma Gandhi describe as a post-dated cheque?	The Cripps offer of Independence.
734	Who was the admiral who recreated the Maratha navy almost single handed?	Kanhoji Angrey (also spelt Angria).

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