British Rule In India — Part 2 MCQs with Explanations

The United East Indian Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie; VOC), referred to by the British as the Dutch East India Company, was originally established as a chartered company in 1602, when the Dutch government granted it a 21-year monopoly on Dutch spice trade.

The new proletariat class which emerged in India on account of the British economic policies, consisted of Money lenders, Landlords, Traders.

At Qasim Bazar in Bengal was the East India Company given permission to trade and build a factory by the Mughals in 1651. East India Company established a factory at Qasim Bazar by the permission Mughals in 1651.

The August Offer was a proposal made by the British government in 1940 promising the expansion of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India to include more Indians, the establishment of an advisory war council, giving full weight to minority opinion, and the recognition of Indians' right to frame their own constitution (after the end of the war). The Congress rejected the August Offer. Nehru said, “Dominion status concept is dead as a door nail.” Gandhi said that the declaration had widened the gulf between the nationalists and the British rulers.

Jatin Das, while fasting in the prison, written to the British governor, The individual must die so that the nation may live. Today, I must die so that India may win freedom and glory.

Cornwallis realised that in order to consolidate the British rule in India, it was very important to organise the civil services. Civil Services was started by Lord Cornwallis and hence he is called the “Father of Indian Civil Service”.

Churchill said that the Charter did not apply to India, for he had 'not become His Majesty's first minister to preside over the liquidation of the British empire'.

As per the Rowlatt act the govemment had the power to arrest any person without showing any reason, the acts were threat to the civil liberties. Later, this act became the reason for occurrence of Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy.

In 1756, the British formally declared war against France. In addition, Spanish attempts to aid France in the Americas had failed, and France also suffered defeats against British forces in India. The Seven Years' War ended with the signing of the treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris in February 1763.

Lord Mountbatten: Last Viceroy of India (1947-1948) Lord Mountbatten served as last Viceroy of India from 12 February 1947 – 15 August 1947; and then first Governor General of Free India from 15 August 1947 – 21 June 1948. During his tenure, India got independence in the form of two dominions of India Pakistan.

British Parliament brought the Government of India Act, 1858, which made the following changes: i. Transferred powers from the East India Company to the Crown. ii. A member of British Parliament was made secretary of state of India to exercise powers on behalf of the Crown and was responsible to the British Parliament. iii. The Governor General for India was provided with an Executive Council, whose decision he was empowered to override.

At that time, Lord Hardinge was the Governor General of the British held territories in India, and he was the one that shifted the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.

Till the end of the 17th Century the growth of the executive and legislative powers of the East India Company depended on Crown.

The Battle of Porto Novo was fought on 1 July 1781 between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore and British East India Company in the place called Porto Novo (now known as Parangipettai) on the Indian subcontinent, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The British force, numbering more than 8,000 under the command of Sir Eyre Coote defeated a force estimated at 40,000 under the command of Hyder Ali.

The naval Battle of Swally, also known as Battle of Suvali, took place on 29–30 November 1612 off the coast of Suvali (anglicised to Swally) a village near the Surat city (now in Gujarat, India) and was a victory for four English East India Company galleons over four Portuguese galleons and 26 barks (rowing vessels with no armament).

Dadabhai Naoroji was elected to the British house of commons from the Finsbury Central Constituency in the elections of 1892 by a narrow margin of 3 votes by defeating Fredrick Thomas Penton. Being a subject of the British crown (Being a citizen of British India) he was allowed to take part in the election.

The first Indian to contest an election to the British House of Commons was Womesh Chandra Banerjee.

Nil Darpan (The Indigo Mirror) is a Bengali play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1858–1859. The play was published in Dhaka in 1860, under a pseudonym of the author. The play was essential to Nil Vidroha, better known as the Indigo Revolt of February–March 1859 in Bengal, when farmers refused to sow indigo in their fields to protest against exploitative farming under the British Raj.

The Treaty of Lahore was signed on 9 March 1846 after the First Sikh War. After the defeat of the Sikhs at the Battle of Sobraon the British were able to march into Lahore without any further battles. After the British reached the city of Lahore the treaty was signed.

Emperor Farrukhsiyar issued the British East India Company such a farman in 1717. It allowed the Company to live and trade for free in Mughal India except for an annual payment. They were also given the right to issue dastak or trade permits to transfer goods, which the officials largely used for their own gains.

Lord Irwin was the Governor General and Viceroy of India (1926-1931). On April 3, 1926 Lord Irwin was appointed 30th Viceroy and Governor-General of India. This was the most tumultuous period for the politics of India.

Max Muller

Thomas Babington Macaulay was the secretary to the Board of control of India during the British rule. He was the secretary under Lord Grey from 1832 to 1833. He is known for his Minute on Indian Education which came out in February 1835. He wanted to teach English to the people of India and not Sanskrit or Persian.

I. Appointment of the Simon Commission - November 1927 II. Formation of the first Labour Government in Britain - January 1924 III. Submission of the Nehru report - August 1928 IV. Inauguration of the First Round Table Conference - November 1930

Secretary of State is also deemed as Political Head of India. The post was created in Charter Act of 1858. The first Secretary of state was Lord Stanley.

Naoroji published Poverty and un-British Rule in India in 1901. It analysed the nature of the British rule in India.

The British Governor- General Lord Curzon shown great interest in the preservation of ancient monuments.

When the East India Company was established India was ruled by a Mughal Emperor.

Shivaram Hari Rajguru (24 August 1908 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian revolutionary from Maharashtra, known mainly for his involvement in the assassination of a British Raj police officer.

As part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation to Britain of British and other Allied forces in Europe from 26 May to 4 June 1940. After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940.

Lord Linlithgow (1936 – 1944) was the viceroy of India during Quit India Movement. The Quit India Movement (also known as the August Movement) was a civil disobedience movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8,1942 in Mumbai for complete independence

This event also started the process of transforming the British East India Company from a group of merchants, to an organization with military force. In 1614, King James I of England sent a diplomat, Sir Thomas Roe, to visit the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, and negotiate a trade treaty.

The Subsidiary Alliance System was "Non-Intervention Policy" used by Lord Wellesley who was the Governor-General (1798-1805) to establish British Empire in India. According to this system, every ruler in India had to accept to pay a subsidy to the British for the maintenance of British army.

The doctrine of lapse was an annexation policy applied by the British East India Company in India until 1858. The policy is most commonly associated with Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General of the East India Company in India between 1848 and 1856.

Treaty of Amritsar (1809) The Treaty of Amritsar of 1809 was an agreement between the British East India Company and Ranjit Singh, the Sikh leader who founded the Sikh empire.

Bengal British India Society founded in Calcutta on 20 April 1843, was the Second political public association to be formed in British India, the first being the zamindari association (1837).

Government of India Act 1858 was passed on August 2, 1858. Its provisions called for the liquidation of the British East India Company (who had up to this point been ruling British India under the auspices of Parliament) and the transference of its functions to the British Crown.

The East India Association was founded by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1866, in collaboration with Indians and retired British officials in London. It superseded the London Indian Society and was a platform for discussing matters and ideas about India, and to provide representation for Indians to the Government.

Satyendranath Tagore became first Indian who cracked I.C.S. or Indian Civil Service examination.

The Regulating Act ( May 3, 1773): In 1765, after the battle of Buxer the East India Company got the Diwani ( Right to collect Revenue) of Bengal , Bihar and Orissa. The Governor General was assisted by four councilors. Their tenure of office was fixed for 5 years.