Practice Test: Modern History- 2 - UPSC MCQ

The great Gujarati poet, Zaverchand Kalidas Meghani, in a famous poem gave expression to the nationalist misgivings regarding the 2nd Round Table Conference. Addressing Gandhiji on the eve of his departure for London, he sang in the first line : ̳Chchello Katoro Jerno Aa : Pi Jayo Bapu!‘ (Even this last cup of poison, you must drink, Bapu!) Mahatma Gandhi spontaneously gave him the title of Raashtreeya Shaayar.

Harijan Sevak Sangh was founded by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji‘s Harijan campaign included a programme of internal reform by the Harijans: promotion of education, cleanliness and hygiene, giving up the eating of carrion and beef, giving up liquor and the abolition of untouchability among themselves. After the Poona Pact, Gandhiji decided to commence an ̳Untouchability Prevention Movement‘

 In 1928, Jawaharlal joined hands with Subhas Chandra Bose to organize the Independence for India League. Nehru developed a complex relationship with Gandhiji during this period. He criticized Gandhiji for refusing to recognize the conflict of the classes, for preaching harmony among the exploiters and the exploited, and for putting forward the theories of trusteeship by, and conversion of, the capitalists and the landlords. He headed the Lahore Session of the Congress in 1930. The Karachi Session of the Congress was held in March 31, 1931, under the presidentship of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

• By 1929, the government was deeply worried about the rapidly growing Communist influence in the National and Trade Union Movements.
• It decided to strike hard. In a sudden swoop, in March, 1929, it arrested 32 radical political and trade union activists, including three British Communists — Philip Spratt, Ben Bradley and Lester Hutchinson — who had come to India to help organize the Trade Union Movement.
• The basic aim of the government was to behead the Trade Union Movement and to isolate the Communists from the National Movement.
• The 32 accused were put up for trial at Meerut.
• The Meerut Conspiracy Case was soon to become a cause celebre.
• The defence of the prisoners was to be taken up by many nationalists, including Jawaharlal Nehru, M.A. Ansari and M.C. Chagla. Gandhiji visited the Meerut prisoners in the jail to show his solidarity with them and to seek their co-operation in the coming struggle.

• The All India Students Federation (AISF) is the first student organization of India. It was founded by the students in 1936.
• The Progressive Writers‘ Association was established in London in 1935 by the Indian writers and intellectuals, with the encouragement and support of some British literary figures. It was in the central London that a group of writers, including Mulk Raj Anand, Sajjad Zaheer and Jyotirmaya Ghosh drafted a manifesto which stated their aims and objectives.
• The All India States Peoples' Conference (AISPC) was a conglomeration of the political movements in the princely states of the British Indian Empire. In Bombay, in December 1927, the first session of the organization was held. (Nehru became its President in 1939).

The Nehru Report – As an answer to Lord Birkenhead‘s challenge, an All Parties Conference met in February, 1928, and appointed a Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Motilal Nehru to draft a Constitution. This was the first major attempt by the Indians to draft a Constitutional Framework for the country. The Committee included Tej Bahadur Sapru, Subhash Bose, M.S. Aney, Mangal Singh, Ali Imam, Shuab Qureshi and G.R. Pradhan as its members. The Report was finalized by August, 1928. The recommendations of the Nehru Committee were unanimous except in one respect – while the majority favoured the ―Dominion Status‖ as the basis of the Constitution, a section of it wanted ―Complete Independence‖ as the basis, with the majority section giving the latter section liberty of action. Main Recommendations – The Nehru Report confined itself to British India, as it envisaged the future link-up of British India with the princely states on a federal basis. For the Dominion it recommended:
(i) The Dominion Status on the lines of self-governing dominions as the form of government desired by the Indians (much to the chagrin of the younger, militant section – Nehru being prominent among them).
(ii) Rejection of separate electorates which had been the basis of the constitutional reforms so far. Instead, a demand for joint electorates with reservation of seats for the Muslims at the Centre and in the Provinces where they were in minority (and not in those where the Muslims were in majority, such as Punjab and Bengal) in proportion to the Muslim population there with a right to contest additional seats.
(iii) Linguistic provinces.
(iv) 19 fundamental rights, including equal rights for the women, right to form unions and universal adult suffrage.
(v) Responsible government at the Centre and in the Provinces.
(vi) Full protection to cultural and religious interests of the Muslims. (vii) Complete dissociation of the state from religion.

The impact of the Socialist ideas on the National Movement was reflected in the Resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy passed by the Karachi Session of the Congress in 1931; the Resolutions on Economic Policy passed at the Faizpur Session in 1936; the Election Manifesto of the Congress in 1936; the setting up of a National Planning Committee in 1938; and the increasing shift of Gandhiji towards radical positions on economic and class issues.

The Social Welfare Reforms undertaken by the Congress Ministries in the brief period of 28 months’ rule in the Provinces during 1937-39 – Prohibition imposed in certain areas. Measures for the welfare of the Harijans taken – temple entry, use of public facilities, scholarships, an increase in their numbers in government services and police, etc. Attention given to the primary, technical and higher education, and to public health and sanitation. Encouragement given to Khadi through subsidies and other measures. Prison reforms undertaken. Encouragement given to the indigenous enterprises. Efforts taken to develop planning through the National Planning Committee, set up under the Congress President Subhash Bose in 1938.

In August, 1935, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act of 1935. The Act provided for the establishment of an All-India Federation to be based on the Union of the British Indian Provinces and the Princely States. The representatives of the States to the Federal Legislature were to be appointed directly by the Princes, who were to be used to check and counter the nationalists. The franchise was limited to about one-sixth of the adults. Defence and foreign affairs would remain outside the control of the Federal Legislature, while the Viceroy would retain special control over other subjects.

Major/Minor Parties in India –
(1) The Indian National Liberal Federation (in Bengal, the Moderate Party) was founded by Tej Bahadur Sapru and M. R. Jayakar.
(2) The Jamiat ul Ulama-i-Hind was founded by Maulana Mahmudal Hasan Shaikh-ul-Hind, of the Deoband School, a nationalist Muslim clergy.
(3) The Radical Democratic Party was founded by M. N. Roy. 

 The Firangi Mahal – The Firangi Mahal is a madrasa based in Lucknow. The Ulemas of the Firangi Mahal Abdul Bari supported the Ali brothers. They were the principal supporters of the Khilafat Movement. They had close relations with Gandhiji.

• The Labour Ministry (British Government) sent a three-member Mission, the Cabinet Mission, to India in March, 1946, to negotiate the terms of transfer of power. The Cabinet Mission was headed by Sir Pethick Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India and included Sir Stafford Cripps, now the President of the Board of Trade and First Lord Admiralty A. V. Alexander. The Mission had two main tasks—to discuss the principles and procedures of framing a new Constitution in order to grant independence to India and to form an Interim Government on the widest possible agreement among the political parties to facilitate the transfer of power. The Cabinet Mission rejected the idea of a sovereign Pakistan composed of six provinces. It offered, instead, a loose three-tiered federal structure for the Union of India, that was to include the Provinces and the Princely States.
• The Union Government at the top was to control defence, foreign affairs and communication, and have the necessary power to raise revenue to conduct such affairs. All other residual powers were to be vested in the Provincial Governments that were given the right to form groups. Each group again could have its own executive and legislature, and the freedom to decide on what provincial subjects to handle. A Constituent Assembly was to be elected by the newly formed Provincial Assemblies, in order to draft the Constitution for the whole of India. It was to meet first at the Union level and then split into three sections— Section A with the Hindu-majority provinces; Section B with the Muslim- majority provinces of the north-west; and Section C with Bengal and Assam.
• The Princely States were ensured sufficient representation in the Central Constituent Assembly. After the Constitution was drafted for all the three levels – the Union; Group; and the Province – a Province would have the right to move out of one group and into another. It could not, however, opt out of the Indian Union. There was a provision for the review of the Constitution after 10 years. While all this was being put in place, an Interim Government would carry on the work of everyday administration. India, declared Sir Pethick Lawrence, was to be independent soon and the Indians were to decide whether they wanted to stay within or move out of the British Commonwealth. Eventually, the Muslim League formally accepted the Cabinet Plan that had rejected its demand for a sovereign Pakistan. 

E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker had joined the Justice Party in 1937.He had raised the demand for a separate ̳Dravidian state‘ in his presidential address in 1938. This was a direct reaction to the Gopalachari- led Congress government‘s move to introduce Hindi in Madras. The demand did not gather momentum till the time it was taken up by Naicker‘s close associate C. N. Annadurai in independent India. 

In April, 1944, C. Rajagopalachari, the veteran Congress leader, had advocated establishing a Post- War Commission to demarcate the adjacent districts of north- west and north-east India with the Muslim majority, hold a plebiscite among the adult inhabitants of these areas to decide if they wanted a separate Pakistan and finally, implement a scheme of co- operation needed to run essential services in case a separate Pakistan was created after the full transfer of power. Partition was, for Rajagopalachari, ̳by far the lesser evil than forcing the Muslim provinces to stay in‘. That way, the Congress could be assured of a strong centre and the League would probably fade ̳into oblivion‘ once the two Muslim majority provinces were separated. When Gandhi approached Jinnah for a settlement in accordance with the C. R. formula, Jinnah reiterated the demand for a full separation of all the six Muslim provinces and asserted that the separation could not be deferred till the full transfer of power. Some scholars hold a vital difference in perspective among the two leaders responsible for the breakdown of the talks. For Gandhi, the separation was ̳within the family‘ and required the retention of some elements of partnership, while for Jinnah ̳sovereignty‘ was essential and that could come only with total separation. 

• When the Japanese routed the Allies in south-east Asia, they took some 60,000 soldiers of the British Indian army prisoners. 20,000 of them agreed to switch sides and go to war against their former masters – the British, in the Indian National Army, under the command of Subhas Chandra Bose. After the Allies won the war, the INA (The Indian National Army) soldiers, once again, became prisoners – this time of the British. The military logic of the British India government was clear – they considered the INA joinees to be traitors, deserving of severe punishment. The furious, self-righteous government decided to make an example of the INA leaders by performing their court martial and treason trial – the first one was to take place in Delhi‘s iconic Red Fort, the same place from where Bose promised that INA would declare India‘s independence. Of the three INA Generals arraigned for the first trial were a Hindu (Prem Kumar Sehgal), a Muslim (Shah Nawaz Khan) and a Sikh (Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon).
• The cause of their defence was taken up by the Congress, whose leaders toured the country, mobilizing support for the soldiers awaiting the trial. Jawaharlal Nehru was among the defence lawyers. While the defence lost the case and the defendants were declared guilty, the British sensed the popular mood, including within the British India Army, which was far from unsympathetic toward the INA. This was a time when the Muslim League was on the threshold of winning Pakistan, by dividing the territory of British India along communal lines. Yet, the Indians, irrespective of religion, were united in feeling that the ruling power was out for vengeance and in heaping curses upon it. The government was forced to commute the sentences of the convicted trio and release them.

The Praja Mandal of the small princely state of Talcher, under the leadership of Pabitra Mohan Pradhan, took a very prominent part in the Quit India Movement. The Jatiya Sarkar or the National Government, established in Tamluk taluka in Midnapur in September, 1942, resisted ̳relentless repression‘ and lasted till late August, 1944. The ̳National Government‘ was composed of the members drawn from the Congress Sub- Divisional Committee and had ̳fewer than 1,000 full-time adherents‘. It, however, enjoyed tacit middle-class and peasant support, and managed to carry on several disruptive actions.

 The Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha had to politically fight during its formative years, the manoeuvres of the United Party, formed by the Zamindars and the planters of Bihar, with the blessings of the British Government. At the all India level, the Zamindars of Bihar, like the Maharaja of Darbhanga, had important links with the Hindu Mahasabha. The Hindu Mahasabha, apart from being a communal body, was against the abolition of landlordism. The landlords in Bihar represented conservative Hindu outlook and organized themselves.

The Cripps Mission: In March, 1942, a Mission, headed by Stafford Cripps, was sent to India with the constitutional proposals to seek Indian support for the war. Stafford Cripps was a left-wing Labourite, the leader of the House of Commons and a member of the British War Cabinet, who had actively supported the Indian National Movement. The main proposals of the Mission were as follows –
(1) An Indian Union with a Dominion Status would be set up. It would be free to decide its relations with the Commonwealth, and free to participate in the United Nations and other international bodies.
(2) After the end of the war, a Constituent Assembly would be convened to frame a new Constitution. The members of this Assembly would be partly elected by the Provincial Assemblies, through proportional representation and partly nominated by the Princes.
(3) The British Government would accept the new Constitution, subject to two conditions –

• Any province, not willing to join the Union, could have a separate Constitution and form a separate Union; and
• the new Constitution making body and the British Government would negotiate a Treaty to effect the transfer of power, and to safeguard racial and religious minorities.

(4) In the meantime, the defence of India would remain in the British hands and the Governor-General‘s powers would remain intact. Note: Stafford Cripps was a Labour Party member of the British War Cabinet, headed by the Conservative Party leader, Winston Churchill.

B.R. Ambedkar went to the USA on a scholarship by the Maharaja of Baroda, on the condition that Ambedkar would serve the Baroda state upon his return to India. The All India Depressed Classes League was formed in 1935, with Jagjivan Ram, a Dalit leader from Bihar, affiliated with the Congress, as the President. Dalit distrust of the Congress got reflected in the great success of Ambedkar‘s Independent Labour Party in Bombay – it won 13 out of 15 reserved seats and demonstrated the strength of Babasaheb‘s leadership.

The Rajah Moonje Pact – The Pact was signed between M. C. Rajah, who was a Dalit leader from Tamil Nadu and Moonje, who was the head of the Hindu Mahasabha. The Pact agreed on joint electorates and reservation of seats for the Dalits in India. It was a precursor of the Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar.

 Gandhi advanced a compromise formula – he sent an 11-point ultimatum to Irwin. If the 11 points were met by, Civil Disobedience would not be launched. The 11 points did not envisage any change in the political structure – they included 6 issues of general interest, related to reducing military expenditure and civil salaries, changes in the Arms Act and reform of the Central Investigation Department; three bourgeois demands, such as the lowering of the rupee–sterling exchange rate, protective tariff on foreign cloth and the reservation of coastal traffic for the Indian shipping companies; and two claims that directly touched the peasants, the reduction of land revenue by half and its subjection to legislative control, and the abolition of salt tax and government monopoly over salt.

The ̳Congress Muslims‘, such as Dr. Ansari, were unhappy, because there was no discussion of the Hindu- Muslim unity, a prime condition for any all-India Movement, and the Muslim League and the Muslim Conference dismissed the proposed Movement as a ploy to establish Hindu Raj. The Hindu Mahasabha and the Justice Party declared their opposition to Civil Disobedience, and the Sikhs and the Indian businessmen showed uncertainty.

In a passionate ̳Do or Die‘ speech delivered on the occasion, Gandhi stated that since this was going to be the final battle – a ̳fight to the finish‘ – ̳mere jail going‘ was not enough. ̳We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not leave to see the perpetuation of our slavery‘ The government also sequestered the AICC‘s (The All India Congress Committee) files and funds, and although the Congress, as a whole, was not outlawed, its National and Provincial Committees were banned and most of the members arrested. Gandhi was detained in the Agha Khan Palace in Poona and the others were sent to the Ahmednagar Fort. 

16th August, 1946 had been set as the day for ̳Direct Action‘ by the Muslim League, a day that was to mark the formal commencement of the fight for Pakistan by means of a nation-wide hartal, protests and demonstrations. The ̳Direct Action‘ day witnessed the ̳Great Calcutta Killing‘. The day had been declared a holiday by the Muslim League Ministry, headed by H. S. Suhrawardy. It had also organized a huge public rally at the Ochterlony Monument in central Calcutta. Suhrawardy had promised the crowd immunity from police interference.

• Raised in a land-owning family of modest means, Prasad was a graduate of the Calcutta Law College. He practised at the Calcutta High Court and, in 1916, transferred to the Patna High Court and founded the Bihar Law Weekly. In 1917, he was recruited by Gandhi to help in a campaign to improve the conditions of the peasants exploited by the British indigo planters in Bihar. He gave up his law practice in 1920 to join the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Becoming an active journalist in the nationalist interest, he wrote for Searchlight in English, founded and edited the Hindi weekly Desh (―Country‖), and started his lifelong campaign to establish Hindi as the national language. In September, 1946, Prasad was sworn in as the Minister for Food and Agriculture in the Interim Government preceding full independence. From 1946 to 1949, he presided over the Indian Constituent Assembly and helped to shape the Constitution. He was unanimously elected the President in 1950 and, after the first general election (1952), was chosen by an overwhelming majority of the new Electoral College. In 1957, he was elected to a third term.

• The earliest expressions of opposition to British rule in Tamil Nadu came in the form of revolt of Poligars (Palayakkarar) during the 18th century and which continued throughout till 1805. The Palayakkarar system had evolved with the extension of Vijayanagar rule into Tamil Nadu. Each Palayakkarar was the holder of a territory or Palayam (usually consisting of a few villages), granted to him in return for military service and tribute. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The problem started in 1781, when the Nawab of Arcot gave the management and control of Tinneveli and the Carnatic Provinces to the East India Company. This arrangement caused resentment among the poligars who had, for long considered themselves as independent sovereign authorities within their respective territories. The Palayakkarars regarded themselves as independent, sovereign authorities within their respective Palayams, arguing that their lands had been handed down to them across a span of sixty generations. Such claims were brushed aside by the East India Company.
• Among the Palayakkarars, there were two blocs, namely the Western and the Eastern blocs. The Western bloc had Marava Palayakkarars and the Eastern bloc had Telugu Palayakkarars. Puli Thevar of Nerkkattumseval headed the former and Kattabomman of Panchalamkuruchi led the latter. These two Palayakkarars refused to pay the kist (tribute) to the Nawab of Arcot and rebelled against the Company and the Nawab. Hence, the issue of payment of tribute was the root cause of rebellions.
• Yusuf Khan was the military commander employed by the British and the Nawab to curb the revolt of poligars.The poligar rebellions were led by Palayakkars like Kattabomma Nayak who was the playakkarar of Panchalankurichi, Puli Thevar of Nerkkattumseval and Marudu Pandyan of Sivaganga. However, the rebellions were violently crushed by the British and the Palayakkarar (poligari) system was replaced by the Zamindari system. Hence statement 2 is not correct. 

• The Age of Consent Act, 1891, also known as Act X of 1891, was legislation enacted in British India in 1891 which raised the age of consent for sexual intercourse for all girls, married or unmarried, from ten to twelve years in all jurisdictions, its violation subject to criminal prosecution as rape. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.
• While an 1887 case in a Bombay high court of a child bride Rukhmabai renewed discussion of such a law it was the death of an eleven-year-old Bengali girl Phulmoni Dasi in 1889 that drove intervention by the British. The act was passed in 1891.
• Behramji M. Malabari (1853- 1912) spoke vigorously against child marriage and widow remarriage among Hindus. It was his efforts that led to the Age of Consent Act regulating the age of consent for females.
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak opposed the Age of Consent Bill. His objection was mainly that such reforms must come from people governing themselves and not under an alien rule.
• The Age of Consent Act was signed in 1891 during the viceroyship of Lord Lansdowne.

From 1878 onwards, the Government of India undertook a number of large-scale military expeditions outside India’s frontiers and its armed forces were used in some of the wars waged by the British Government in Asia and Africa.

• Throughout the 19th century, the British Government was convinced that the extension of Russian influence over Central Asia constituted a real threat to its Indian domains. This had led Britain to first invade Afghanistan in 1839 with disastrous consequences. In 1876, the specter of Russian interference appeared once more when the Emir of Afghanistan, Sher Ali, was visited by a Russian diplomatic mission. When he then refused to accept a British envoy, the Viceroy of India, Lord Lytton, decided to act.
  • Viceroy Lytton decided to launch the Second Anglo-Afghan War on November 21, 1878, with a British invasion. Sher Ali fled his capital and country, dying in exile early in 1879. The British army occupied Kabul, as it had in the first war, and a treaty signed at Gandamak on May 26, 1879, recognized Sher Ali's son, Yaʿqūb Khan, as emir. He subsequently agreed to receive a permanent British embassy at Kabul. In addition, he agreed to conduct his foreign relations with other states in accordance “with the wishes and advice” of the British government.
• King Thibaw Min of Burma attempted to strengthen himself with the help of foreign powers. In January 1855, Burma signed a trade treaty with France. British had the monopoly over the trade in Burma and, in no case, were they prepared to share it with the French.
  • The English traders, therefore, put pressure on the English government to annex Burma to the British Empire. The English government could not reject the demand of its trading community as it had sufficient control over the politics of the country. Thus by the end of 1885, the British attacked and annexed Burma.
• In 1903 Curzon decided to send a military expedition into Tibet led by Col. Francis Younghusband. A brigade of Gurkhas and Tommies went over the Nathu La into the Chumbi valley and advanced unhindered till Xigatse.
  • A Tibetan military force met them there but offered what can only be described as passive resistance at a place called Guru near Gyantse. Not a shot was fired back as the British Indian troops rained bullets on them killing thousands. From Xigatse, Younghusband made a leisurely march into Lhasa.
  • The British got the Tibetans to agree to end their isolation and having extracted trade concessions withdrew in 1904, the way they came. In 1907 Britain and Russia formally agreed that it was in their interests to leave Tibet “in that state of isolation from which, till recently, she has shown no intention to depart.”
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer. 

• After the second Anglo-Maratha war, the Marathas made one last attempt to rebuild their old prestige. The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
• Marathas wanted to retake all their old possessions from the English. They were also unhappy with the British resident's interference in their internal matters. The chief reason for this war was the British conflict with the Pindaris whom the British suspected were being protected by the Marathas. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The Peshwa was defeated at Khirki, Bhonsle at Sitabuldi, and Holkar at Mahidpur. Some important treaties were signed. These were:
  • June 1817, Treaty of Poona, with Peshwa. o November 1817, Treaty of Gwalior, with Sindhia.
  • January 1818, Treaty of Mandsaur, with Holkar.
• In June 1818, the Peshwa finally surrendered and the Maratha confederacy was dissolved. The peshwaship was abolished. Peshwa Bajirao became a British retainer at Bithur, near Kanpur. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The territories annexed from the Pindaris became the Central Provinces under British India.
• This war led to the end of the Maratha Empire. All the Maratha powers surrendered to the British.This was one of the last major wars fought and won by the British. With this, the British controlled most parts of India barring Punjab and Sindh directly or indirectly. 

• The government of India set up a famine commission under Sir George Campbell after the Orissa famine of 1866-67. His report is considered as the first detailed report on the famine relief policy.
• During the period of Lord Lytton, a Strachey Commission of 1880 was created to develop a general strategy and principles to deal with the famines. The Strachey Commission came out with the recommendation on whose basis a Famine Code was developed.
  • It was appointed after the famine of 1876-78 which affected Madras, Bombay, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.
• When the people were dying out of starvation and diseases, a MacDonnell Commission was appointed for investigation of the 1899-1900 famine, by Lord Curzon in 1901 which submitted its report in the same year. This commission came out with a “Moral Strategy”, distribution of advances and loans to the peasants and setting up a Famine Commissioner in the famine-affected provinces
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.