Test: Modern History- 3 - UPSC MCQ

• Rural indebtedness and large-scale alienation of agricultural land to non-cultivating classes was a countrywide phenomenon in rural India during the last quarter of the 19th century. Faced with peasant uprisings in Bengal and Maharashtra the Government could not wait for a similar rebellion in Punjab before it would act. The communal complexion of the Punjab rural situation and the martial character of the Sikhs called for early effective action.
  • Following its annexation by the British in 1847, Punjab province witnessed several significant developments—individualization of property rights in land, fixation and rigorous collection of land revenue in cash, the introduction of a new legal-administrative system, construction of a road and railway network, canal-building activities and a colonization program, commercialization of agriculture and increased monetization of economic transactions.
  • These developments created a situation which, in turn, gave rise to two related problems –agricultural indebtedness and land transfer.
• As early as 1895 the Government addressed a circular to the provincial governments suggesting the advisability of imposing restrictions on the alienation of agricultural land. The famines of 1896-97 and 1899-1900 resulted in large-scale distress and brought the matter into sharp focus. The Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900 was passed "as an experimental measure " to be extended to the rest of the country if it worked successfully in Punjab.
  • The Act divided the Punjab population under three heads viz., the agricultural classes, the statutory agriculturist class (those who though not belonging to the agricultural class long settled interests in the land) and the rest of the population including the moneylenders.
  • Restrictions were imposed on the sale and mortgage of the land from the first category to the other two categories, though members of the second and third category could sell or mortgage land as they pleased.
  • The Punjab peasant was also given partial relief against the oppressive incidence of land revenue demand by the Government whereby the state land revenue demand was not to exceed 50% of the annual rental value of the land.
• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• The Pitt’s India Act, 1784 also called the East India Company Act, 1784 was passed by the British Parliament to correct the defects of the Regulating Act of 1773.
• Provisions:
  • This act resulted in dual control of British possessions in India by the British government and the Company with the final authority resting with the government.
  • A Board of Control consisting of six members was constituted to take care of civil and military affairs, and would include one of the Secretary of State (Board President), the chancellor of the exchequer and four privy councillors. Hence statement 1 is correct.
  • The Governor-General’s council’s strength was reduced to three from four members. One of the three would be the Commander-in-Chief of the British Crown’s army in India. Hence statement 3 is correct.
  • The orders of the board became binding on the Court of Directors, which was required to send all its letters and dispatches to the board for its perusal. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Tribal movements under British rule were the most frequent, militant, and violent of all movements. The land settlements of the British affected the joint ownership tradition among the tribals and disrupted their social fabric.
• The cause of the tribal violence was directed towards the money-lenders and traders who were seen as extensions of the colonial government. As agriculture was extended in a settled form by the Company government, the tribals lost their land, and there was an influx of non-tribals to these areas due to colonial revenue policies. The money lenders introduced in the tribal areas led to severe exploitation of the local tribals. They became bonded labourers under the new economic system. The tribal societies had a system of joint ownership of land which was replaced by the notion of private property. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Another common cause was the resentment against the imposition of laws by the ‘foreign government’ that was seen as an effort at destroying the tribal's traditional socio-economic framework. The Indian Forest Act of 1865 extended British colonialism's claim over forests in India. o Its main aim was an assertion of the monopoly of the British over the Indian forest land, and it gave the government undisputable power to regulate the forest and pastures. It enabled the Revenue and Forest Department to control the entire forest and grazing land. Some forests were classified as Reserved Forests for they produced timber that the British wanted. In these forests, people were not allowed to move freely, practice jhum cultivation, collect fruits, or hunt animals. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The Begar system of forced labour was introduced in tribal areas as well that had altered labour relations. An influx of Christian Missionaries was supported by the British. The reason behind intense tribal rebellion is that zamindars, the Police, the revenue, and the court alas have exercised a combined system of extortions, oppressive exactions, forcible dispossession of property, abuse, and personal violence, and a variety of petty tyrannies upon the tribals. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Under British rule, the functions and powers of the tribal chiefs changed considerably. They were allowed to keep their land titles over a cluster of villages and rent out lands as zamindars but they lost much of their administrative power and were forced to follow laws made by British officials in India.
  • They also had to pay tribute to the British, and discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the British. They lost the authority they had earlier enjoyed amongst their people and were unable to fulfill their traditional functions.
• All these reasons compelled tribals to rise against the British rulers.

• The Sanyasis rose in rebellion after the great famine of 1770 in Bengal which caused acute chaos and misery. The Bengal famine of 1770 led peasants whose lands were confiscated, displaced zamindars, and disbanded soldiers, and poor to come together in a rebellion. They were joined by the Sanyasis (who were originally peasants) and Fakirs.
• However, the immediate cause of the rebellion was the restrictions imposed by the British upon pilgrims visiting holy places among both Hindus and Muslims. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Two famous Hindu leaders who supported them were Bhawani Pathak and a woman, Devi Choudhurani. They attacked English factories and seized their goods, cash, arms and ammunition. Maznoom Shah was one of their prominent leaders.
  • It was only after a prolonged action that Lord Warren Hastings (Governor-General of Bengal) could subdue the sanyasis. Equal participation of Hindus and Muslims characterized the uprisings. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Anandamath, a semi-historical novel by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, is based on the Sanyasi Revolt. Bankim Chandra also wrote a novel, Devi Chaudhurani, as he saw the importance of women too taking up the struggle against an alien rule that posed a threat to traditional Indian values. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Wellesley did not invent the Subsidiary System. The System existed long before him and was of an evolutionary growth. Dupleix (French) was perhaps the first who had lent European troops to the Indian princes at the expense of the latter. The English also adopted this System. Ever since the governorship of Clive, the System had been applied with more or less insight by almost every Governor and Governor-General of India.
• Wellesley's special contribution was that he greatly developed and elaborated the System and applied it in the case of almost every Indian state A typical Subsidiary Treaty was negotiated on the following terms and conditions: The Indian state was to surrender its external relations to the care of the Company and was to make no wars. It was to conduct negotiations with other states through the Company.
• A bigger state was to maintain an army within its territories commanded by the British officers for the 'preservation of public peace' and the ruler was to cede territory in full sovereignty for the upkeep of that force; a smaller state was required to pay tribute in cash to the Company. The state was to accept a British Resident at its head-quarters. The state was not to employ Europeans in its service without the consultation of the Company. The Company was not to interfere in the internal affairs of the state. The Company was to protect the Indian state against foreign enemies of 'every sort or kind'.

Swami Viveknanda –

• Born in Kolkata in 1863, he was known as Narendra Nath Datta in his pre-monastic life. He was a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Parmahansa and a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India. He pushed for national integration in colonial India, and his famous speech remains as the one that he gave in Chicago in 1893 (Parliament of the World Religions)
• He established a new monastic order in Baranagar in Kolkata and went to explore India. During his travels, he was deeply moved by appalling poverty and backwardness of the masses. He was the first religious leader who highlighted that real cause of India’s downfall was the neglect of masses and highlighted the immediate need to provide food and other necessities. He emphasised on improved methods of agriculture, village industries etc.
• According to him, the crux of problem of poverty in India was because of centuries of oppression, downtrodden masses had lost faith in their capacity to improve their lot. Therefore, it was necessary to infuse faith in their own capacities. Vivekanand believed that principle of Atman i.e. doctrine of potential divinity of soul, taught in Vedanta could ameliorate the condition of the poor people. Thus, the masses needed two kinds of knowledge: secular knowledge to improve their economic condition and spiritual knowledge to infuse in them faith in themselves.
• He formed the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.” In 1899, he established the Belur Math, which became his permanent abode. He also wrote books like Karma yoga, Jnana yoga, Raja Yoga etc.

Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1867 by Atmaram Pandurang in Bombay. This organisation became popular in Western India after M G Ranade joined it. The Samaj was different from the Brahmo Samaj of Bengal in that it was not as radical and took a cautious approach to the reformist programmes. For this reason, it was better received by the public as well. Prarthana Samaj did not ask its members to believe their caste and discard rituals. Manav Dharma Sabha was secret social reform movement founded in Surat in 1844 by Durgaram Mehta and Dadoba Pandurang. It was one of the earliest socio-religious reform movements in Gujarat. The goals of Manav Dharma Sabha were to expose the deceitful acts present in Chritianity, Islam and Hinduism. Manav Dharma Sabha developed 7 principles which reflected its core philosophy. They are:

1. There is one God, the creator of this universe.
2. All human beings belong to one fraternity.
3. Religion is one for all men, yet, if they follow several faiths each one believings in one's own, one is only following the bent of one's mind. Men should be judged by the qualities they have, and not by their lineage or caste.
4. Men should not act with discrimination.
5. The object of all action should be to win the grace of God.
6. All should be taught the importance of path of righteousness. Paramhansa Mandali was founded by Dadoba Pandurang and Bal Shastri Jambhekar in Bombay in 1849. (After he left Manav Dharma Sabha in Surat and came to Bombay). It was secret organisation. These principles denied polytheism of popular Hinduism, the caste system and the Brahmanical monopoly of knowledge. All members were required to take a pledge that they would abandon caste restrictions and take food and drink prepared by a member of a lower caste.

Reforms under Lord Dalhousie –

• Dalhousie’s territorial acquisition transformed the map of India. His greatest achievement was the moulding of the new provinces into a modern centralized state. For the newly acquired territories, he introduced the centralized control called the “Non-Regulation System”.
• Under this system, a Commissioner was appointed for a newly acquired territory. In 1853, he penned his Railway Minute, formulating the future policy of railways in India. He started the “Guarantee System” by which the railway companies were guaranteed a minimum interest of 5% on their investments.
• The government retained the right of buying the railways at the end of the period of contract. The ports of India were thrown open to the commerce of the world. Free- trade principles were becoming a passion with the Englishmen of the mid-nineteeth century. The harbours of Karachi, Bombay and Calcutta were developed and a large number of light- houses were constructed.

• As the knowledge grew of the high profits earned by the Portuguese in Eastern trade, English traders too wanted a share. So, in 1599, a group of English merchants calling themselves the ‘Merchant Adventurers’ formed a company. On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter with rights of exclusive trading to the company named the ‘Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies’. Initially, a monopoly of 15 years was granted.
• Captain Hawkins arrived in the court of Jahangir in April 1609 itself. But the mission to establish a factory at Surat did not succeed due to opposition from the Portuguese, and Hawkins left Agra in November 1611. In 1611, the English had started trading at Masulipatnam on the south-eastern coast of India and later established a factory there in 1616.
  • It was in 1612 that Captain Thomas Best defeated the Portuguese in the sea off Surat; an impressed Jahangir granted permission to the English in early 1613 to establish a factory at Surat under Thomas Aldworth.
• In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe came as an accredited ambassador of James I to the court of Jahangir, staying on there till February 1619. Though he was unsuccessful in concluding a commercial treaty with the Mughal emperor, he was able to secure a number of privileges, including permission to set up factories at Agra, Ahmedabad, and Broach.
• In 1632, The Company got the golden Farman from the Sultan of Golconda, ensuring their trade's safety and prosperity.
• Other important events in the formative years of the company are
  • 1609 : William Hawkins arrives at Jahangir’s court.
  • 1616 : The Company establishes its first factory in the south in Masulipatnam.
  • 1639 : The Company gets the lease of Madras from a local king.
  • 1651 : The Company is given permission to trade at Hooghly (Bengal).
  • 1662 : The British King, Charles II, is given Bombay as dowry for marrying a Portuguese princess (Catherine of Braganza).
  • 1667 : Aurangzeb gives the English a Farman for trade in Bengal.
  • 1691 : The Company gets the imperial order to continue their trade in Bengal in lieu of payment of Rs 3,000 a year.
  • 1717 : The Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar issues a Farman, called the Magna Carta of the Company, giving the Company a large number of trade concessions.
  • Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• The education imparted in 18th-century India was still traditional which could not match with the rapid developments in the West. The knowledge was confined to literature, law, religion, philosophy, and logic and excluded the study of physical and natural sciences, technology and geography.
• Elementary education among the Hindus and the Muslims was quite widespread. The Hindu and Muslim elementary schools were called pathshalas and maktabs respectively. The education was confined to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Children from the lower caste sometimes attended the schools, but female presence was rare.
• Chatuspathis or Tols, as they were called in Bihar and Bengal, were the centres of higher education. Some of the famous centres for Sanskrit education were Kasi (Varanasi), Tirhut (Mithila), Nadia and Utkala. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
• Madrasahs were the institutions of higher learning for Persian and Arabic, Persian being the court language and learnt by the Muslims as well as the Hindus. Azimabad (Patna) was a famous centre for Persian education.

• Pair 1 is not correctly matched: The practice of Sati was prevalent in India from ancient times. Bentinck was greatly distressed when he received a report of 800 cases of Sati in a single year and that from Bengal. He determined to abolish this practice which he considered an offence against natural justice. Therefore, he became a crusader against it and promulgated his Regulation XVII on 4 December 1829 prohibiting the practice of Sati. Those who practiced Sati were made liable for punishment by law courts as accessories to the crime. The Regulation was extended to the Madras and Bombay Presidencies in 1830.
• Pair 2 is not correctly matched: Lord Ripon is known to have granted the Indians first taste of freedom by introducing the Local Self Government in 1882. His scheme of local self-government developed the Municipal institutions which had been growing up in the country ever since India was occupied by the British Crown.
• Pair 3 is correctly matched: Lord Hardinge I was the Governor General of India from 1844 to 1848. Following the footsteps of Lord William Bentinck, he suppressed Sati, and infanticide. He also suppressed the practice of human sacrifice among the Gonds tribe in Central India.

Cornwallis was better known as a ‘law giver’, than as an ‘administrator’. With the help of his colleague, George Barlow, Cornwallis prepared a comprehensive code, covering the whole field of administration, judicial, police, commercial and fiscal. This Code was based upon the Principle of Montesquieu, “the Separation of Powers”, which was popular in the West in the 18th century. In order to curb undue exercise of authority, Cornwallis made all officials answerable to the courts.

Policies of Warn Hastings –

• He abolished the system of Dastaks, or free passes and regulated the internal trade. The Dual System of Government was abolished by Warren Hastings in 1772 and Bengal was brought under direct control of the British.
• The Dual System was introduced by Robert Clive. Judicial system was re-organized. The highest civil court of appeal was called Sadar Diwani Adalat, which was to be presided over by the Governor and two judges recruited from among the members of his Council.
• Similarly, the highest appellate criminal court was known as Sadar Nizamat Adalat, which was to function under an Indian judge appointed by the Governor-in-Council.

The main causes for the Second Anglo- Mysore War were (1780-84) –

• The British failed to fulfill the terms of the Defensive Treaty with Haider, when he was attacked by the Marathas in 1771. There was an outbreak of hostilities between the English and the French (an ally of Haider) during the American War of Independence.
• The British captured Mahe, a French settlement within Haider’s territories. Haider Ali formed a grand alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas against the British in 1779. The Second Anglo-Mysore War came to an end by the Treaty of Mangalore in 1783.
• Accordingly, all conquests were mutually restored and the prisoners on both sides were liberated.

Saint Ramalinga –

• Saint Ramalinga was one of the foremost saints of Tamil Nadu in the nineteenth century. He was born in 1823 at Marudhur, near Chidambaram. He was the last son of his father, Ramayya Pillai and mother, Chinnammayar. Developing a deep interest in spiritual life, Ramalinga moved to Karunguli in 1858, a place near Vadalur where the Saint later settled down. His divine powers came to be recognised at the early age of eleven.
• In 1865, he founded the Samarasa Suddha Sanmargha Sangha for the promotion of his ideals of establishing a casteless society. He preached love and compassion to the people. He composed Tiru Arutpa. His other literay works include Manu Murai Kanda Vasagam and Jeeva Karunyam. His language was so simple as to enable the illiterate people to understand his teachings. In 1870, he moved to Mettukuppam, a place 3 miles away from Vadalur.
• There he started constructing the Satya Gnana Sabai in 1872. He introduced the principle that ‘God’ could be worshipped in the form of ‘Light’.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar –

1. Vidyasagar was instrumental in enactment of British law that enabled remarriage of widows. The abolition of Sati was done in 1829. (Ram Mohan played an important role in abolition of Sati).
2. Vidyasagar wrote the book 'Borno Parichay' which contributed to the development of modern Bengali script.

• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891) was one of the pillars of Bengal renaissance who managed to continue the social reforms movement that was started by Raja Rammohan Roy in the early 1800s. He was a great scholar and reformer, his ideas were a happy blend of Indian and Western thought.
• In 1841, at the age of twenty-one, Ishwar Chandra joined Fort William College as the Head Pandit in the Sanskrit department. The brilliant mind that he was, he soon became proficient in English and Hindi. After five years, in 1846, Vidyasagar left Fort William College and joined Sanskrit College as 'Assistant Secretary'.
• He was determined to break the priestly monopoly of scriptural knowledge, and for this, he opened the Sanskrit College to non-brahmins. He introduced Western thought in Sanskrit College to break the self-imposed isolation of Sanskritic learning.
• Vidyasagar started a movement in support of widow remarriage which resulted in the legalization of widow remarriage. He was also a crusader against child marriage and polygamy. He did much for the cause of women’s education. As government inspector of schools, he helped organize thirty-five girls’ schools many of which he ran at his own expense. As secretary of Bethune School (established in 1849), he was one of the pioneers of higher education for women in India.
• He wrote books ‘Upakramonika’ and ‘Byakaran Koumudi’, interpreting complex notions of Sanskrit grammar in easy legibleBengali language.
• He disseminated his ideals through regular articles he wrote for periodicals and newspapers. He was associated with prestigious journalistic publications like ‘Tattwabodhini Patrika’,‘Somprakash’, ‘Sarbashubhankari Patrika’ and ‘Hindu Patriot’.
• He challenged the Brahminical authorities and proved that widow remarriage is sanctioned by Vedic scriptures. He took his arguments to the British Authorities and his pleas were heard when the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act, 1856 or Act XV, 1856, was decreed on July 26, 1856. o He did not just stop there. He initiated several matches for the child or adolescent widows within respectable families and even married his son Narayan Chandra to an adolescent widow in 1870 to set an example.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

• Pair 1 is correctly matched: Jyotiba Phule (1827-1890), born in Satara, Maharashtra, belonged to the mali (gardener) community and organised a powerful movement against upper caste domination and brahminical supremacy. Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers’ Society) in 1873, with the leadership of the samaj coming from the backward classes. The main aims of the movement were (i) social service, and (ii) the spread of education among women and lower caste people.
• Pair 2 is not correctly matched: In order to better organize the campaign for the amelioration of the untouchables' condition, Gandhi set up a new body in October 1932. The All India Anti-Untouchability League was first named and later renamed the Harijan Sevak Sangh. Gandhi started publishing a weekly journal called "Harijan" on 11 February 1933 from Yerwada Jail during British rule.
• Pair 3 is not correctly matched: All India Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF), was the first all-India political party exclusively for Scheduled Castes. Dr. Ambedkar founded SCF in a national convention of the Scheduled castes held at Nagpur. It was presided by Rao Bahadur N. Shivraj, a renowned Dalit leader from Madras. An executive body of All India SCF was elected in the convention. Rao Bahadur N. Shivraj was elected president and P.N.Rajbhoj (Bombay) was elected general secretary.

The Indian National Congress (INC), founded in 1885, emerged as a pivotal organization in the struggle for Indian independence from British colonial rule. At the time of its inception, the INC articulated several key objectives that reflected the aspirations of the Indian people and the challenges they faced under British rule.

Promotion of feeling of national unity:

• The INC aimed to foster a sense of unity among the diverse communities and regions of India. India was a land of myriad cultures, languages, and religions, and the INC recognized the importance of transcending these differences to create a unified national identity. By promoting a shared sense of belonging and purpose, the INC sought to galvanize Indians in their quest for self-determination and freedom from colonial exploitation.

Eradication of social evils:

• Another crucial objective of the INC was to address the social injustices and inequalities prevalent in Indian society. This included advocating for reforms to abolish oppressive practices such as the caste system, untouchability, child marriage, and discrimination against women. The INC understood that the struggle for political freedom must be accompanied by efforts to achieve social justice and uplift the marginalized sections of society. By championing social reform initiatives, the INC sought to create a more equitable and inclusive society.

Indianization of public services:

• The INC recognized the need to end the dominance of British colonial administrators in India's public services and governance structures. Indianization of public services entailed the recruitment and promotion of Indians to key administrative positions in government, judiciary, and other institutions. This objective was crucial for empowering Indians to participate more actively in the decision-making processes that affected their lives and for asserting their rightful role in governing their own country. By advocating for Indianization, the INC aimed to diminish British control over India's administrative apparatus and pave the way for self-rule.

These objectives of the Indian National Congress at its inception reflected a comprehensive vision for India's future, encompassing not only political liberation from British rule but also social reform and the empowerment of the Indian people. Throughout its history, the INC remained committed to these ideals, adapting its strategies and priorities in response to changing circumstances while remaining steadfast in its pursuit of a free, united, and equitable India.

• Dadabhai Naoroji, reverentially remembered as the Grand Old Man of India, was an Indian political leader and was associated with the Indian National Congress since from its inception.
• Soon after graduation in 1845, he became the first Indian to be appointed Professor at Elphinstone. In 1867 he founded the East India Association in London, one of the predecessor organisations of the Indian National Congress with the aim of putting across the Indian point of view before the British public. In 1875 he was elected a Member of the Municipal Corporation, Bombay. In 1876 he resigned and left for London. He was appointed as Justice of the Peace in 1883, started a newspaper called 'Voice of India' and was elected to the Bombay Municipal Corporation for the second time. In 1885 he joined the Bombay Legislative Council. He also founded Dnyan Prakas Mandali and found Girls High school at Bombay.
• In 1885, when the Bombay Presidency Association came into being, he was elected as one of its Vice - Presidents. At the end of the same year, he took a leading part in the founding of the Indian National Congress and became its President thrice in 1886, 1893 and 1906.
• He was a firm believer in Parliamentary democracy. He is known in the history of Indian economic thought for his pioneering work in assessing India's national income. He was the first Asian to be a British MP in 1892. He stood several times for election to the House of Commons, facing considerable racism each time, finally being selected in 1892. During his time in the House of Commons Naoroji devoted his time towards improving the situation in India and campaigned for Indian independence. He was assisted in duties as an MP by Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the future Muslim nationalist and founder of Pakistan. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Dadabhai Naoroji was conscious of the numerous benefits like modern education that the Indians derived from the British rule in India. He pledged "loyalty to the backbone" to the British crown and "the permanent continuance" of the British rule in India (Calcutta session, 1886). Hence statement 1 is correct.
• In his many writings and speeches and especially in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901), Naoroji argued that India was too highly taxed and that its wealth was being drained away to England. He was a founding member of the London Indian Society which was superseded by East India Association, and became vocal in promoting Indian rights in regard to the ICS and trade.

• Aravipuram Movement was launched by Sri Narayana Guru on Shivaratri day of 1888. It was a reaction against Brahmanic supremacy and the caste system. Hence, statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is not correct.
• Sri Narayana Guru defied the religious restrictions traditionally placed on the Ezhava community and consecrated an idol of Shiva at Aravipuram.
• The Aravipuram Pratistha was a historic event, because a member of a lower caste, forbidden from entering the temple, had himself consecrated the Shiva image in a temple.
• Millions saw Sri Narayana Guru as a saint, seer, philosopher, poet and social reformer. Education and organisation were amongst his many slogans for freedom and strength. He held that the essence of all religions is one and the same, and advocated the comparative study of all faiths.
• The organisation which he set up to maintain and manage the institutions he had founded later became known as Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (Society for the Propagation of Sri Narayana Guru’s Tenets).

• In Tamil Nadu, the earliest expressions of opposition to the British rule took the form of localized rebellions and uprisings. Chief among these was the revolt of the Palayakkarars (Poligars) against the East India Company. 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. In most cases, the Palayakkarars gave little attention to perform their duties and were interested in increasing their own powers.
• With their numerical strength, extensive resources, local influence and independent attitude, the Palayakkarars came to constitute a powerful force in the political system of south India. They 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 and rebelled.

Causes of the Great Revolt of 1857 –

• Social Causes: The Englishmen showed an arrogant attitude towards the Indians. Indiscriminate assaults on Indians by Englishmen became quite common. Also, a general alarm was raised among the Hindus and the Muslims by the activities of the Christian missionaries. The educational institutions established by the missionaries inculcated western education and culture in the place of oriental learning. The native population felt that they were losing their social identity.
• Economic Causes: The huge drain of wealth, the destruction of its industry and increasing land revenue had become the common features of the latter half of the eighteenth century. The East India Company, after attaining political power, used it to fund the growth of British trade and commerce at the cost of Indians. The British damaged the Indian trade and manufacture by imposing a high tariff in Britain against Indian goods and by encouraging, by all means, the import of British goods to India. In England, the ruin of the old handloom weavers was accompanied by the growth of the machine industry. But in India, the ruin of millions of artisans and craftsmen was not accompanied by any alternative growth of new industrial forms. Another important cause of the Sepoys’ dissatisfaction was the order that abolished the foreign allowance or Batta when they served in the foreign territories.

• Like Lord William Bentinck, Lord Ripon was a champion of education of the Indians. Ripon wanted to review the working of the educational system on the basis of the recommendations of the Wood’s Despatch. For further improvement of the system, Ripon appointed a Commission in 1882, under the chairmanship of Sir William Hunter.
• The Commission came to be known as the Hunter Commission. The Commission recommended for the expansion and improvement of the elementary education of the masses. The Commission suggested two channels for the secondary education - one was literary education leading up to the Entrance Examination of the university and the other preparing the students for a vocational career. The Commission noted the poor status of women education.
• It encouraged the local bodies in the villages and towns to manage the elementary education. This had resulted in an extraordinary rise in the number of educational institutions in India. Note: Lord Wood’s Despatch (1854) – For the first time, this highlighted the need for introducing vocational education at the secondary school stage.

Ilbert Bill Agitation (1884) —

• Lord Ripon wanted to remove two kinds of law that had prevalent in India. According to the system of law, a European could tried only by a European Judge or a European Magistrate. The disqualification was unjust and it was sought to cast a needless discredit and dishonour upon the Indian-born members of the judiciary. C.P. Ilbert, Law Member, introduced a Bill in 1883 to abolish this discrimination in judiciary. But the Europeans opposed this Bill strongly. T
• hey even raised a fund Of one lakh fifty thousand rupees and established an organization called the Defence Association. They also suggested that it was to end the English rule in India than to allow the English to be subjected to the Indian Judges and Magistrates.
• The press in England joined the issue. Hence, Ripon amended the Bill to satisfy the English in India and England. The libert Bill controversy helped the cause of Indian nationalism. The libert Bill controversy is a high watermark in the history of Indian National Movement.
• Ripon was totally disillusioned and heartbroken, and he tendered his resignation and left for England. The immediate result Of this awakening Of India was the birth of the Indian National Congress in 1885, the very next year of Ripon's departure.

• The Governor-Generalship of Lord Hastings witnessed not only territorial expansion, but also the progress of administration. He approved the Ryotwari System of land revenue introduced in the Madras Presidency by Sir Thomas Munroe. In the sphere Of judiciary, the Cornwallis Code was improved. The Police System of Bengal was extended to other regions. The importance of Indian Munsiffs had increased during his administration.
• The separation of judicial and revenue departments was not rigidly followed. Instead, the District Collector acted as the Magistrate. Hastings had also encouraged the foundation of the vernacular schools by the missionaries and others. In 1817, Hindu College was established at Calcutta by the public for the teaching of English and Western Science. Hastings was the patron of this college. He encouraged the freedom of the press and abolished the censorship introduced in 1799. The Bengali weekly, Samachar Darpan, was started in 1818 by Marshman, a Serampore missionary.

• The Gorkhas wrested control of Nepal from the successors of Ranjit Malla of Bhatgaon in 1760. They began to expand their dominion beyond the mountains. They found it easier to expand in the southern direction, as the north was well defended by the Chinese.
• In 1801, the English annexed Gorakhpur which brought the Gorkhas’ boundary and the Company’s boundary together. The conflict started due to the Gorkhas’ capture of Butwal and Sheoraj in the period of Lord Hastings (1813-23). The war ended in the Treaty of Sagauli, 1816 which was in favor of the British. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
• The Treaty of Sagauli established the boundary line between Nepal and colonial India and was signed between the east India company and the King of Nepal following the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16. o The signatory for Nepal was Raj Guru Gajraj Mishra and the signatory for the Company was Lieutenant Colonel Paris Bradsaw.
• As per the treaty,
  • Nepal accepted a British resident.
  • Nepal ceded the districts of Garhwal and Kumaon, and abandoned claims to Terai.
  • Nepal also withdrew from Sikkim.
• This agreement brought many advantages to the British: o
  • The British empire now reached the Himalayas;
  • It got better facilities for trade with Central Asia;
  • It acquired sites for hill stations, such as Shimla, Mussoorie and Nainital; and
  • The Gorkhas joined the British Indian Army in large numbers.

Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal (1773). He transformed the East India Company from a trading organization into a great military and naval power. He established full-scale British civil administration in India.

In what was to be the most constructive period of his administration, from 1772 to 1774, Hastings detached the machinery of the central government from the Nawab’s court and brought it to the British settlement in Calcutta under direct British control, remodeled the administration of justice throughout Bengal, and began a series of experiments aimed at bringing the collection of taxation under effective supervision.

Significant events during the tenure of Warren Hastings:

Regulating Act of 1773

• Act of 1781, under which the powers of jurisdiction between the governor-general-in-council and the Supreme Court at Calcutta, were clearly divided.

The First Rohilla War of 1774.

• It is a conflict in which Warren Hastings helped the nawab of Oudh defeat the Rohillas by lending a brigade of the East India Company’s troops.
• The Rohillas were Afghans who had entered India in the 18th century during the decline of the Mughal Empire and gained control of Rohilkhand

The First Maratha War in 1775–82 and the Treaty of Salbai in 1782. Second Mysore War in 1780–84.

Revolt of Chait Singh, the Maharaja of Benaras in 1781, which led to Hastings’ impeachment in England.
 

Foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784).

• Asiatic Society of Bengal, scholarly society founded on Jan. 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies.
• Vellore Mutiny, took place on July 10, 1806, by sepoys (Indian troops employed by the British) at Vellore (now in Tamil Nadu state, southern India).

The incident began when the sepoys broke into the fort where the many sons and daughters of Tippu Sultan of Mysore and their families had been lodged since their surrender at Seringapatam in 1799 during the fourth Mysore War. The mutiny, though encouraged by the Mysore princes, was basically caused by resentment at new British regulations that ordered changes in headgear and shaving style and the prohibition of ornaments and caste marks for the Indian troops. Little effort was made by the British to reassure the men or listen to their grievances, which included the belief that the regulations were detrimental to the religious practices of both Hindus and Muslims. There were also complaints about the sepoys’ pay. Sir George Hilaro Barlow served as Acting Governor-General of India from the death of Lord Cornwallis in 1805until the arrival of Lord Minto in 1807.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• Subsidiary Alliance was basically a treaty between the British East India Company and the Indian princely states, by virtue of which the Indian kingdoms lost their sovereignty to the English. It also was a major process that led to the building of the British Empire in India.
• Features of the Subsidiary Alliance Treaty: 
• An Indian ruler entering into Subsidiary Alliance with the British had to dissolve his own armed forces and accept British forces in his territory.
  • He also had to pay for the British army’s maintenance. If he failed to make the payment, a portion of his territory would be taken away and ceded to the British. In return, the British would protect the Indian state against any foreign attack or internal revolt.
  • The British promised non-interference in internal affairs of the Indian state but this was rarely kept. The Indian state could not enter into any alliance with any other foreign power.
  • He could also not employ any other foreign nationals other than Englishmen in his service. The idea was to curb the influence of the French. The Indian state could also not enter into any political connection with another Indian state without British approval. The Indian ruler, thus, lost all powers in respect of foreign affairs and the military. He virtually lost all his independence and became a British ‘protectorate’. A British Resident was also stationed in the Indian Court.
• The Indian princes who accepted the subsidiary system were: the Nizam of Hyderabad (September 1798 and 1800), the ruler of Mysore (1799), the ruler of Tanjore (October 1799), the Nawab of Awadh (November 1801), the Peshwa (December 1801), the Bhonsle Raja of Berar (December 1803), the Sindhia (February 1804), the Rajput states of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Macheri, Bundi and the ruler of Bharatpur (1818). The Holkars were the last Maratha confederation to accept the Subsidiary Alliance in 1818. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 in Bombay. The first session of the Indian National Congress was attended by 72 delegates and presided over by Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee. However, there emerged several theories regarding the formation of INC. W.C. Bonnerjee popularized the view that the idea of the Indian National Congress was a product of Lord Dufferin's brain, that he suggested it to Mr Hume who undertook to work it out. Dufferin's idea was to have a political organisation through which the Government could ascertain the real wishes of the people and thus save the administration from any possible political outburst in the country. It is believed that such a view was popularised to prevent the INC from attracting official wrath.
• The Safety Valve theory advocates that A. O. Hume a retired British official formed the Congress with the idea that it would prove to be a ‘safety valve’ for releasing the growing discontent of the Indians. To this end, he convinced Lord Dufferin not to obstruct the formation of the Congress. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Many leaders including Lala Lajpat Rai believed in the Safety Valve theory. Lala Lajpat Rai maintained that the Indian National Congress was organised to serve as a 'safety valve' for the growing unrest in the country and strengthen the British Empire. According to him the redress of political grievances and political advance of India was only a by-product and of secondary importance. Hence statement 2 is not correct.