Rise of Nationalism & Early Congress MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Correct answer: C - removal of disqualifications imposed on the Indian magistrates with regard to the trial of the Europeans

The Ilbert Bill of 1883, introduced during Lord Ripon's tenure, sought to remove the bar that prevented Indian magistrates and sessions judges from trying Europeans and British subjects in criminal cases, thereby placing Indian and European judges on an equal footing. It provoked fierce racial opposition from the European community and was eventually diluted. The other options describe the Arms Act, the Vernacular Press Act and tariff policy respectively, none of which is the subject of the Ilbert Bill. Hence option 3 is correct.

Correct answer: D - 1, 2 and 3

All three pairs are correct. Tej Bahadur Sapru, the eminent liberal lawyer and constitutionalist, presided over the All India Liberal Federation, the organization of the moderates after they left the Congress. K. C. Neogy sat in the Constituent Assembly, served in the first union cabinet and later chaired the first Finance Commission. P. C. Joshi was the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, holding the post from 1935 to 1947. With every pair matching, the answer is 1, 2 and 3.

Correct answer: A - Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I

National Handloom Day has been observed on 7 August every year since 2015, so Statement-I is correct. The Swadeshi Movement was formally launched at a meeting in Calcutta Town Hall on 7 August 1905 in protest against the partition of Bengal, so Statement-II is also correct. The government deliberately chose 7 August for Handloom Day to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement, which had championed indigenous handloom textiles against imported cloth, so Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I. The remaining options either break this explanatory link or wrongly reject a true statement.

Correct answer: B - 1 and 3 only

Radhakanta Deb was indeed the first President of the British Indian Association (1851), so pair 1 is correct. Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian Association in 1876, so pair 3 is correct. Pair 2 is wrong because Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty founded the Madras Native Association, not the Madras Mahajana Sabha (which was started by figures like P. Rangaiah Naidu and others in 1884). Therefore only pairs 1 and 3 are correctly matched.

Correct answer: D - 1, 2 and 3

All three were leading economic critics of British rule. Dadabhai Naoroji formulated the drain of wealth theory in 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'. G. Subramania Iyer, founder of The Hindu and Swadesamitran, persistently attacked colonial economic policy and championed Indian economic interests through his journalism. R. C. Dutt documented the ruin of Indian agriculture and handicrafts in his two-volume 'Economic History of India'. Since each of the three qualifies, every option that excludes any one of them is incorrect.

Correct answer: A - 1 only

Dadabhai Naoroji's most influential contribution was his 'Drain Theory', which systematically exposed how British rule was draining India's wealth and economically exploiting the country, set out in his work 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'; this gave the national movement a powerful economic critique, so statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 describes the work of figures who interpreted ancient texts to revive cultural pride, not Naoroji's contribution. Statement 3 reflects the priorities of social reformers, whereas Naoroji's defining work was economic, not a demand to eradicate all social evils before anything else. Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Correct answer: C - 1 and 3 only

Annie Besant launched the All India Home Rule League in 1916 (alongside Tilak's league), so statement 1 is correct. She also became the first woman President of the Indian National Congress at its 1917 Calcutta session, so statement 3 is correct. However, she was not the founder of the Theosophical Society, which was established in 1875 in New York by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel H. S. Olcott; Besant only later became its president. Hence only statements 1 and 3 are correct.

Correct answer: A - To agitate for Indian political reforms in the House of Commons

The Indian Parliamentary Committee, set up in 1893 by sympathisers like William Wedderburn and W. S. Caine, was meant to press for Indian political and administrative reforms within the British House of Commons, supporting the early Congress demands. It was not about admitting Indians into the imperial judiciary, nor about discussing Indian independence (a demand far beyond the moderate politics of the 1890s), nor about getting Indians elected to the British Parliament. Hence its purpose was to agitate for Indian political reforms in the House of Commons.