History · Civics Polity

Modern Indian History

8,125 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

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'.

Multiple choice

Who wrote Glimpses of World History?

  1. G.K.Galbraith

  2. Jawaharlal Nehru

  3. H.G.Wells

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

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote 'Glimpses of World History' while he was in prison between 1930 and 1933. The book is a collection of 196 letters written to his young daughter, Indira Gandhi, to introduce her to world history.

Multiple choice

When was our National Anthem sung for the first time?

  1. December 27, 1911

  2. May 18, 1914

  3. October 27, 1912

  4. July15, 1921 at Amritsar
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The Indian National Anthem, 'Jana Gana Mana', was first sung on December 27, 1911, at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. It was written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore.

Multiple choice

Who was known as Frontier Gandhi?

  1. Liyakat Ali

  2. Mohammedali Jinnah

  3. Ghan Abdul Gaffar Khan

  4. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (spelled Ghan in the options) was known as 'Frontier Gandhi' due to his close association with Mahatma Gandhi and his commitment to non-violence in the North-West Frontier Province. He founded the Khudai Khidmatgar movement.

Multiple choice

Who composed 'Vande Mataram'?

  1. Mahatma Gandhi

  2. Aurobindo Ghosh

  3. Bankimchandra Chatterjee

  4. Rabindranath Tagore
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

'Vande Mataram' was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the 1870s and was later included in his 1882 novel 'Anandamath'. It played a vital role in the Indian independence movement and is now the National Song of India.

Multiple choice

The great movement of 1942, was called

  1. Satyagraha Movement

  2. Quit India

  3. Non-Cooperation Movement

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

The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Movement, was launched by Mahatma Gandhi at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee on 8 August 1942. It demanded an immediate end to British rule in India and featured the famous 'Do or Die' slogan.

Multiple choice

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in the year

  1. 1949

  2. 1948

  3. 1947

  4. 1950
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse in the compound of Birla House in New Delhi. This tragic event occurred just a few months after India gained independence from British rule.