History · Civics Polity

Modern Indian History

7,703 Questions

Modern Indian History covers the colonial period, the freedom struggle, and key political movements. It includes questions on important leaders, the Indian National Congress, and social reforms. Mastering these questions is vital for clearing competitive government exams.

Indian freedom struggleIndian National CongressFamous historical leadersSocial reform movementsColonial administration

Modern Indian History Questions

Multiple choice

With what first name was Gandhi born?

  1. Tipu

  2. Mohandas

  3. Sonu

  4. Small wonder
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Gandhiji was born with the first name 'Mohandas'. His full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 'Tipu', 'Sonu', and 'Small wonder' are incorrect and not related to Gandhi's birth name.

Multiple choice

When was the Gandhi - Irwin Pact signed?

  1. March 7, 1932

  2. March 15, 1935

  3. March 5, 1931

  4. March 17, 1937
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed on March 5, 1931, between Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin. This pact ended the Civil Disobedience Movement and allowed Gandhi to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London. The other years (1932, 1935, 1937) are incorrect.

Multiple choice

What was Gandhi's full name?

  1. Mohanlal Kasturba Gandhi

  2. Mohanlal Karamchand Gandhi

  3. Mohanlal Kasturba Gandhi

  4. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Gandhiji's full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 'Karamchand' was his father's name, following traditional naming conventions. The options with 'Mohanlal' or 'Kasturba' are incorrect - Kasturba was his wife's name, not part of his name.

Multiple choice

Whom did Gandhi marry?

  1. Kamala

  2. Kasturba

  3. Kasturi

  4. Kamini
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Gandhiji married Kasturba Makhanji Kapadia in 1883 when he was 13 years old. She was known as Kasturba Gandhi after marriage. 'Kamala', 'Kamini', and 'Kasturi' are incorrect - Kasturi is a Hindi word meaning musk, not his wife's name.

Multiple choice

Identify the Viceroy who wrote home these words after his first meeting with Gandhiji: "Mr Gandhi's religious and moral views are, I believe, admirable, but I confess that I find it difficult to understand the practice of them in politics."

  1. Lord Mountbatten

  2. Lord Reading

  3. Lord Irwin

  4. Lord Dalhousie
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Lord Reading (Viceroy of India 1921-1926) wrote this quote expressing his difficulty in reconciling Gandhiji's moral-spiritual political approach with conventional colonial administration. The quote reflects the British establishment's struggle to understand Gandhi's unique blend of religion and politics.

Multiple choice

The differences with Gandhiji led Subhas Chandra Bose to resign the Presidentship of the Indian National Congress in 1939. Leaving the Congress he formed a new party called __________________.

  1. Indian National Party

  2. National Indian Congress

  3. Forward Bloc

  4. Freedom Bloc
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Subhas Chandra Bose resigned as Congress President in 1939 after differences with Gandhiji over his uncompromising stance against the British during WWII. He formed the Forward Bloc in May 1939 to unite all radical anti-imperialist forces within the country, aiming for complete independence through more aggressive means.

Multiple choice

In which Year PTI was established?

  1. 1902

  2. 1922

  3. 1941

  4. 1947
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

PTI (Press Trust of India), India's premier news agency, was established in 1947, the year of India's independence. It was founded to create an independent news agency for India.

Multiple choice

The Mumbai High Court was set up in

  1. 1832

  2. 1862

  3. 1889

  4. 1901
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The Bombay High Court was established in 1862 during British colonial rule, following the Indian High Courts Act of 1861. It has jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Mumbai was formerly called Bombay until 1995.

Multiple choice

Jana Gana Mana, our National Anthem, was sung for the first time in

  1. 1947

  2. 1950

  3. 1906

  4. 1911
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Jana Gana Mana, composed by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911, was first sung publicly on December 27, 1911, at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. It was adopted as India's National Anthem on January 24, 1950, by the Constituent Assembly. The song originally written in Bengali takes approximately 52 seconds to sing.

Multiple choice

Who composed our National Anthem?

  1. Rabindranath Tagore

  2. Muhammad Iqbal

  3. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

  4. Sri Aurobindo
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Rabindranath Tagore composed Jana Gana Mana in Bengali in 1911, originally titled Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata. It was translated into English as Morning Song of India. Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Muhammad Iqbal wrote Saare Jahan Se Achha, while Bankim Chandra Chatterjee composed Vande Mataram.

Multiple choice

Mother Teresa was born in

  1. 1910

  2. 1905

  3. 1900

  4. 1920
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Mother Teresa was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910. She later moved to India and founded the Missionaries of Charity, dedicating her life to helping the poor.

Multiple choice

Balance of power theory was propounded by

  1. Harsha

  2. Akbar

  3. Shivaji

  4. Chanakya
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, propounded the 'Mandala' theory in his work Arthashastra. This theory is an early conceptualization of the balance of power, describing how a state should manage its relations with neighbors and their allies to ensure security.

Multiple choice

“MK launched a sabotage campaign against the government.” What does the word 'sabotage' stands for?

Direction: Read the following passage and the question.

In 1961, Nelson Mandela co-founded and became the first leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), also known as MK, a new armed wing of the ANC. Several years later, during the trial that would put him behind bars for nearly three decades, he described the reason for this radical departure from his party’s original tenets: “[I]t would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle. ”Under Mandela’s leadership, MK launched a sabotage campaign against the government, which had recently declared South Africa a republic and withdrawn from the British Commonwealth. In January 1962, Mandela traveled abroad illegally to attend a conference of African nationalist leaders in Ethiopia, visit the exiled Oliver Tambo in London and undergo guerilla training in Algeria. On August 5, shortly after his return, he was arrested and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison for leaving the country and inciting the 1961 workers’ strike. The following July, police raided an ANC hideout in Rivonia, a suburb on the outskirts of Johannesburg, and arrested a racially diverse group of MK leaders who had gathered to debate the merits of a guerilla insurgency. Evidence was found implicating Mandela and other activists, who were brought to stand trial for sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy. Mandela and seven other defendants narrowly escaped the gallows and were instead sentenced to life imprisonment during the so-called Rivonia Trial, which lasted eight months and attracted substantial international attention. In a stirring opening statement that sealed his iconic status around the world, Mandela admitted to some of the charges against him while defending the ANC’s actions and denouncing the injustices of apartheid. He ended with the following words: “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

  1. flourishing

  2. development

  3. destruction

  4. creation

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Option 3 is correct here as sabotage means ' to destroy or wreck a cause'.