Advent of Europeans MCQs for UPSC Prelims

29 practice questions on Advent of Europeans from the Modern History section of the UPSC Prelims syllabus. 29 come with a written explanation and 3 are actual previous year questions. Try the sample set below - the answer stays hidden until you ask for it.

6 Easy 19 Medium 4 Hard 3 from past papers

Sample questions

Q1
Previous year question medium

The staple commodities of export by the English East India Company from Bengal in the middle of the 18th century were

  1. A Raw cotton, oil-seeds and opium
  2. B Sugar, salt, zinc and lead
  3. C Copper, silver, gold, spices and tea
  4. D Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium

In mid-18th century Bengal the English East India Company's principal export staples were cotton textiles, raw silk, saltpetre (a key ingredient for gunpowder and much sought in Europe) and opium, making (d) correct. Raw cotton and oil-seeds (a) were not the defining Bengal exports of this period, and zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold (b, c) were largely items India imported or that came via other regions rather than Bengal exports. Tea exports from India belong to a much later, 19th-century phase. Hence (d) best captures the Bengal trade basket of the time.

Q2
Previous year question medium

With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements: 1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers. 2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate. 3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. A 1 and 2 only
  2. B 2 and 3 only
  3. C 1 and 3 only
  4. D 1, 2 and 3
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - 2 and 3 only

Albuquerque seized Goa in 1510 from the Adil Shahi Sultanate of Bijapur, so statement 2 is correct. In 1639 Francis Day obtained the site of Madras on lease from Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka, a local chief representing the Vijayanagara ruler, where Fort St George was built, so statement 3 is correct. The Dutch factories on the Coromandel coast, such as Pulicat and Masulipatnam, came up in the early seventeenth century under grants from the Golconda Sultanate and local nayakas, long after the Gajapati kingdom had collapsed, so statement 1 is incorrect. Hence 2 and 3 only.

Q3
Previous year question hard

In the first quarter of seventeenth century, in which of the following was/were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located? 1. Broach 2. Chicacole 3. Trichinopoly Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A 1 only
  2. B 1 and 2
  3. C 3 only
  4. D 2 and 3
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A - 1 only

In the first quarter of the seventeenth century (1600 to 1625), the English East India Company established its early western Indian factories around Surat, including Broach (Bharuch), so statement 1 is correct. Chicacole and Trichinopoly were in the south and the Company's presence there developed much later in the century, so statements 2 and 3 are wrong for this early period. Hence only Broach had a factory in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.

Q4
medium

With reference to the trading rights of European powers in early modern India, the term 'farman' as obtained by the English East India Company from Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1717 primarily granted which of the following?

  1. A The right to mint its own coins bearing the Mughal emperor's name across all Mughal mints
  2. B Duty-free trade in Bengal and the right to issue dastaks for the movement of goods
  3. C Sovereign political authority over the city of Calcutta and its surrounding parganas
  4. D Monopoly over the spice trade of the Malabar coast displacing the Dutch
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - Duty-free trade in Bengal and the right to issue dastaks for the movement of goods

The 1717 farman from Farrukhsiyar, sometimes called the 'Magna Carta' of the Company in India, granted the English East India Company duty-free trade in Bengal in return for an annual payment, plus the privilege to issue dastaks (passes) exempting goods from inland duties. Abuse of these dastaks by private traders was a major friction point leading up to the Battle of Plassey. It did not confer sovereignty or mint rights across Mughal territory.

Q5
medium

The first joint-stock trading company to establish a permanent trading factory on the Indian mainland at Surat in the early seventeenth century was the:

  1. A English East India Company
  2. B Dutch East India Company (VOC)
  3. C French East India Company
  4. D Danish East India Company
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A - English East India Company

The English East India Company established its first factory on the Indian mainland at Surat in 1613, after Captain Hawkins and later Sir Thomas Roe's mission secured Mughal permission. The Dutch VOC concentrated more on the spice trade of the eastern archipelago and on coastal Indian factories somewhat differently. The French East India Company was founded only in 1664, decades later. The Danish company operated chiefly from Tranquebar and Serampore and never established the Surat factory.

Q6
easy

The Portuguese trading settlement that served as the capital of their Estado da India (State of India) in the East was located at:

  1. A Goa
  2. B Surat
  3. C Hooghly
  4. D Masulipatnam
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A - Goa

Goa, captured by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, became the administrative and commercial capital of the Portuguese Estado da India in the East. Surat was a major Mughal port where the English and Dutch established factories, not a Portuguese capital. Hooghly was a later Portuguese settlement in Bengal but not the capital and was destroyed by Shah Jahan in 1632. Masulipatnam was an English and Dutch trading centre on the Coromandel coast, not Portuguese.

Q7
hard

Consider the following pairs of early European trading posts and the powers that established them: 1. Tranquebar - Danish 2. Chinsurah - Dutch 3. Mahe - French With reference to the above, how many pairs are correctly matched?

  1. A Only one pair
  2. B Only two pairs
  3. C All three pairs
  4. D None of the pairs
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - All three pairs

Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) on the Coromandel coast was the principal Danish settlement. Chinsurah in Bengal was a Dutch settlement (later ceded to the British in 1825). Mahe on the Malabar coast was a French possession. All three pairs are correctly matched.

Q8
medium

With reference to the Anglo-French rivalry in the Carnatic, consider the following statements: 1. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle restored Madras to the English in exchange for Louisbourg in North America. 2. The recall of Dupleix to France was prompted by the French East India Company's concern over mounting financial losses from his political ambitions. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A 1 only
  2. B 2 only
  3. C Both 1 and 2
  4. D Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), ending the War of Austrian Succession in Europe and the First Carnatic War in India, returned Madras (captured by La Bourdonnais in 1746) to the English, with the French regaining Louisbourg. Dupleix was recalled in 1754 because the Compagnie des Indes, alarmed by the heavy expenditure his interventionist policy entailed without commensurate commercial returns, replaced him with Godeheu, who concluded a treaty with the English.

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