UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — How red moved through empires, trade networks, and industrial factories
Q1. Under whose mentorship at the Royal College of Chemistry, London, did William Henry Perkin accidentally synthesise mauveine — the first commercial synthetic dye — in 1856?
- A. August Wilhelm von Hofmann
- B. Justus von Liebig
- C. Friedrich Wöhler
- D. Robert Wilhelm Bunsen
Q2. Which Spanish colonial institution operationalised and monopolised the trans-Atlantic cochineal trade from Mexico to Europe in the 16th–17th centuries?
- A. Casa de Contratación
- B. Consejo de Indias
- C. Real Audiencia
- D. Cámara de Castilla
Q3. Consider the following items historically traded as dye sources across empires:
1. Cochineal — a scale insect raised on prickly-pear cactus in Mesoamerica
2. Kermes — a scale insect of the Mediterranean used before cochineal
3. Madder — a plant whose roots yield the colourant alizarin
4. Woad — a plant whose leaves yield a natural red colourant
Which of the above are correctly identified as natural sources of RED (crimson/scarlet) dye?
- Cochineal — a scale insect raised on prickly-pear cactus in Mesoamerica
- Kermes — a scale insect of the Mediterranean used before cochineal
- Madder — a plant whose roots yield the colourant alizarin
- Woad — a plant whose leaves yield a natural red colourant
- A. 1 and 3 only
- B. 2 and 4 only
- C. 1, 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q4. Which one of the following was the first commercially manufactured synthetic organic dye, triggering the coal-tar dye revolution in 19th-century Europe?
- A. Mauveine
- B. Synthetic alizarin
- C. Synthetic indigo
- D. Magenta (fuchsine)
Q5. In the context of the historic red-and-purple dye trade, the expression 'born in the purple' (Porphyrogenitus) originally referred to which of the following?
- A. Imperial lineage signified by Tyrian purple robes — a dye reserved by Roman/Byzantine law for the ruling family
- B. A Spanish colonial title given to heirs born in viceregal Mexico where cochineal was produced
- C. The crimson cochineal-dyed cloak worn by British army officers commissioned during the Napoleonic Wars
- D. A medieval European guild rank awarded only to master dyers who could produce madder-based reds