History MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Q1. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Large hoards of Roman coins, mainly of early emperors, have been found in peninsular India.
  2. Rome paid for much of its trade with India in gold, rather than balancing it with an equivalent flow of Roman goods.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q2. With reference to the stagflation experienced by many advanced economies in the 1970s, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It combined high inflation with slow output growth.
  2. It strengthened the case that governments could permanently lower unemployment by tolerating somewhat higher inflation.
  3. It weakened Keynesian demand management, because stimulating demand to revive growth risked adding to inflation that was already high.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 only

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. In his concluding speech to the Constituent Assembly, B.R. Ambedkar urged that the methods of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha be abandoned.
  2. In the same speech, Ambedkar warned that in politics, bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and eventual dictatorship.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. With reference to the views of M.K. Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar on extra-constitutional methods of resistance, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. In his speech to the Constituent Assembly in November 1949, Ambedkar held civil disobedience to be legitimate in independent India so long as it remained strictly non-violent.
  2. Ambedkar's objection to satyagraha rested on the availability of constitutional methods, not on a claim that such methods had never been justified.
  3. Gandhi adopted the term 'satyagraha' in place of 'passive resistance' to convey a force born of truth and non-violence.
  • A. 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q5. Several principles invoked in BIMSTEC's Delhi Declaration echo India's Panchsheel of 1954. Which one of the following was NOT among the five principles of Panchsheel?

  • A. Mutual non-aggression against each other
  • B. Equality and mutual benefit in relations
  • C. Mutual non-interference in internal affairs
  • D. Mutual aid against external aggression

Q6. Consider the following facts: the idea and the name of the Asian Games came out of a 1947 conference of Asian countries in New Delhi; the proposal was made by G.D. Sondhi, India's member on the International Olympic Committee; and the first Games, held in New Delhi in 1951, had athletes from 11 nations. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above?

  1. India sought a role in building ties among Asian nations in the years around the end of colonial rule.
  2. The Asian Games were conceived as a rival to the Olympic movement led by the International Olympic Committee.
  3. Every Asian nation that was independent by 1951 sent athletes to the first Asian Games.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 only

Q7. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. The Asian Games were conceived as an expression of unity among Asian nations in the period following the Second World War and decolonisation.
  2. The first Asian Games were held in New Delhi because India was then the only independent nation in Asia.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q8. Consider the following: The Charyapadas are mystic songs composed by Buddhist Siddhacharyas between roughly the 8th and 12th centuries. They are claimed as the earliest literary specimens of both Assamese and Bengali, and they are closely related to the Magadhan group of languages. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above?

  1. Assamese and Bengali passed through a common early stage of development.
  2. Buddhist religious communities contributed to early literary production in the eastern vernaculars.
  3. By the 8th century, Assamese and Bengali had already become fully distinct, separately standardised languages.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 only

Q9. With reference to the British capture of Delhi in 1803 and the Second Anglo-Maratha War, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. The war followed the Peshwa's acceptance of a British subsidiary force under a treaty concluded after he sought British help.
  2. Under the subsidiary arrangement, the Indian ruler agreed to conduct his foreign relations in consultation with the British.
  3. In the settlement that followed Lord Lake's campaign in upper India, the Mughal emperor passed under British protection.
  4. The British victory at Delhi in 1803 ended an uprising that had been carried on in the city in the name of the Mughal emperor.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 2 and 3 only

Q10. With reference to the Lal Dora system in Delhi's villages, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It marked off the inhabited area of a village from the agricultural land lying around it.
  2. Properties inside the Lal Dora line were entered in the same revenue record of rights that covered the village's agricultural holdings.
  3. The absence of documented title inside such areas has hindered owners in obtaining bank loans and building plan approvals.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q11. With reference to the international monetary system after Bretton Woods, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The classical Bretton Woods system effectively ended in 1971, when the US dollar's link to gold was abandoned.
  2. Since the Second Amendment to the IMF's Articles of Agreement, members have been required to peg their currencies to the Special Drawing Right.
  3. Once par values were abandoned, the IMF's balance of payments lending was confined to its developing-country members.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q12. In 1926 the British War Office decided to issue soldiers razors with throw-away blades instead of open blades that had to be honed. As an episode in industrial history, what does this change best illustrate?

  • A. The putting-out system moving craft production into rural households
  • B. Standardised mass production making a skill-dependent tool cheap and uniform
  • C. Import substitution replacing a foreign-made good with a domestically produced one
  • D. Mercantilist rules directing colonial raw materials towards the imperial centre

Q13. With reference to the replacement of the straight (open) razor by the safety razor with a disposable blade, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A straight razor is kept in service by honing its edge, whereas a safety-razor blade is removed and discarded once dull.
  2. Like the straight razor, the safety-razor blade depended on individual hand-finishing by skilled craftsmen to get its edge.
  3. The disposable-blade design became commercially workable only after a method was found to mass-produce blades from sheet metal.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q14. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. By the end of the Second World War, India owed Britain large sterling balances for military stores and equipment that Britain had supplied to it.
  2. During the Second World War, India shipped large quantities of military stores and wheat to Britain and to various war fronts.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q15. Consider the following facts about an early safety-razor company: its first sale, in 1903, was 51 razors and 168 blades; by the end of 1904 it had produced 90,000 razors and 12,400,000 blades; it sold its razors below cost; and its blades were meant to be thrown away once dull. Which of the following inferences can be validly drawn from these facts?

  1. The company relied on repeat purchases of blades, rather than a one-time sale of razors, for its profits.
  2. The company must have made an overall loss in 1904, since each razor was sold below cost.
  3. Each razor sold by 1904 was bundled with a fixed pack of more than a hundred blades.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q16. Sport & Pastime, the magazine brought out by The Hindu Group and used by its Library Department to cross-check dates of cultural events in Madras, ran for approximately how many years before it ceased publication?

  • A. About 11 years
  • B. About 21 years
  • C. About 31 years
  • D. About 41 years

Q17. With reference to the growth of British power centred on Madras, consider the following: 1. 'Madras' was the shortened name of a fishing village, Madraspatnam, at which the East India Company built its fort and factory. 2. Between 1668 and 1749 the Company expanded the territory under its control around Fort St George. 3. By about 1801 the last of the local rulers had been shorn of his powers, and Madras became the administrative and commercial capital of southern India. 4. Fort St George acquired the status of a Presidency only after the Company had become master of southern India. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. 'Madras' was the shortened name of a fishing village, Madraspatnam, at which the East India Company built its fort and factory.
  2. Between 1668 and 1749 the Company expanded the territory under its control around Fort St George.
  3. By about 1801 the last of the local rulers had been shorn of his powers, and Madras became the administrative and commercial capital of southern India.
  4. Fort St George acquired the status of a Presidency only after the Company had become master of southern India.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1 and 4

Q18. Consider the following statements regarding the early history of Madras and Fort St George: 1. Permission to build a fort at Madraspatnam was obtained by the English East India Company from the raja of Chandragiri in 1639. 2. Fort St George was recognised as a Presidency by 1652. 3. The site was preferred largely because it lay nearer the weaving centres from which goods were obtained for export to Persia and the East Indies. 4. The city's name was officially changed from Madras to Chennai by the Government of India in 1947. Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

  1. Permission to build a fort at Madraspatnam was obtained by the English East India Company from the raja of Chandragiri in 1639.
  2. Fort St George was recognised as a Presidency by 1652.
  3. The site was preferred largely because it lay nearer the weaving centres from which goods were obtained for export to Persia and the East Indies.
  4. The city's name was officially changed from Madras to Chennai by the Government of India in 1947.
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 1, 3 and 4
  • D. 4 only

Q19. Consider the following instances relating to United States attempts at territorial acquisition connected with Denmark or the Arctic: 1. The purchase of the Danish West Indies from Denmark in 1917 for about $25 million 2. President Harry Truman's offer of about $100 million to Denmark for Greenland in 1946 3. The purchase of Alaska from Denmark in 1867 for about $7.2 million 4. The proposal to buy Greenland made during Donald Trump's first term in 2019, rejected by Denmark Which of the above are correctly identified?

  1. The purchase of the Danish West Indies from Denmark in 1917 for about $25 million
  2. President Harry Truman's offer of about $100 million to Denmark for Greenland in 1946
  3. The purchase of Alaska from Denmark in 1867 for about $7.2 million
  4. The proposal to buy Greenland made during Donald Trump's first term in 2019, rejected by Denmark
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q20. Consider the following statements about Vande Mataram: 1. It appeared first in the literary journal Bangadarshan several years before it was carried in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel Anandamath. 2. The tune to which it was rendered at the Indian National Congress session of 1896 at Calcutta was set by Rabindranath Tagore. 3. The committee on whose recommendation the Congress in 1937 confined the national song to the first two stanzas included both Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It appeared first in the literary journal Bangadarshan several years before it was carried in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel Anandamath.
  2. The tune to which it was rendered at the Indian National Congress session of 1896 at Calcutta was set by Rabindranath Tagore.
  3. The committee on whose recommendation the Congress in 1937 confined the national song to the first two stanzas included both Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q21. With reference to Bastar and the colonial-era record on it, consider the following: 1. Bastar acceded to the Union of India on 1 January 1948 and was placed within Madhya Pradesh in 1956. 2. Bastar became a district of Chhattisgarh when that state was created in 2000. 3. The Bhumkal of 1910, led by Gunda Dhur along with the state's diwan, arose from forest-reservation policies that barred tribal communities from customary forest use. 4. The 1872 census returned Bastar, excluding Kanker, at 13,062 sq. miles, and its enumeration of the region is regarded as a model of accuracy for tribal tracts. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. Bastar acceded to the Union of India on 1 January 1948 and was placed within Madhya Pradesh in 1956.
  2. Bastar became a district of Chhattisgarh when that state was created in 2000.
  3. The Bhumkal of 1910, led by Gunda Dhur along with the state's diwan, arose from forest-reservation policies that barred tribal communities from customary forest use.
  4. The 1872 census returned Bastar, excluding Kanker, at 13,062 sq. miles, and its enumeration of the region is regarded as a model of accuracy for tribal tracts.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 4 only

Q22. Under which colonial statute were large numbers of nomadic, pastoral and forest-dwelling communities registered and placed under police surveillance as hereditary offenders, a designation lifted only when the statute was repealed on 31 August 1952?

  • A. The Scheduled Districts Act of 1874, which set apart tracts from ordinary law
  • B. The Indian Forest Act of 1878, which classified and reserved forest tracts
  • C. The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, which provided for notification of whole communities
  • D. The Thagi and Dakaiti suppression legislation of the 1830s, aimed at organised gangs

Q23. The Tarikh-i-Firishta was composed for the ruler of which one of the Deccan Sultanates, the court its author entered in 1589 and after whose patron it takes its alternative title?

  • A. Golconda, under the Qutb Shahi rulers of the Krishna-Godavari doab
  • B. Bijapur, under the Adil Shahi ruler who reigned from 1579 to 1626
  • C. Ahmadnagar, under the Nizam Shahi rulers of the upper Godavari country
  • D. Bidar, under the Barid Shahi rulers of the central Deccan plateau

Q24. Consider the following statements comparing pre-British and British treatment of the Gonds of central India: 1. Gondwana, the traditional homeland of the Gonds, lies broadly in the country between the Narmada and the Godavari. 2. Raids and evasion of tribute by Gonds had been treated as political acts by pre-British regimes, but were recast as crimes under British rule. 3. The whole of the Gond country passed under direct British authority in a single settlement made immediately after the war of 1817–18, after which no Gond raja continued to rule anywhere. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Gondwana, the traditional homeland of the Gonds, lies broadly in the country between the Narmada and the Godavari.
  2. Raids and evasion of tribute by Gonds had been treated as political acts by pre-British regimes, but were recast as crimes under British rule.
  3. The whole of the Gond country passed under direct British authority in a single settlement made immediately after the war of 1817–18, after which no Gond raja continued to rule anywhere.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q25. The Gond zamindaris of central India that the British took over for revenue purposes after the war of 1817–18 had, until that point, mostly formed part of the dominions of which power?

  • A. The nizams of Hyderabad, holding the tracts south of the Godavari
  • B. The Scindias of Gwalior, holding the tracts north of the Narmada
  • C. The Holkars of Indore, holding the western Malwa uplands
  • D. The Bhonsle rajas of Nagpur, whose seat collapsed early in that war

Q26. Consider the following statements about Henry Harpur Spry's account of Bastar and its relation to earlier writing on the region: 1. Spry, an East India Company official, wrote that the people of Bastar sacrifice and eat their fellow creatures. 2. Spry's claim was built on material supplied by an officer of the Bengal Artillery who had charge of the Chhattisgarh territories, rather than on Spry's own observation. 3. Spry departed from the earlier English translation of the Tarikh-i-Firishta by identifying the Bastar ruling house as Rajput rather than Gond. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Spry, an East India Company official, wrote that the people of Bastar sacrifice and eat their fellow creatures.
  2. Spry's claim was built on material supplied by an officer of the Bengal Artillery who had charge of the Chhattisgarh territories, rather than on Spry's own observation.
  3. Spry departed from the earlier English translation of the Tarikh-i-Firishta by identifying the Bastar ruling house as Rajput rather than Gond.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q27. The colonial claim that the people of Bastar 'sacrifice and eat their fellow creatures' rests on two men — Henry Harpur Spry, who wrote it down, and the Company officer whose report he relied on. Between the two of them, how many visits to Bastar are evidenced?

  • A. None
  • B. One
  • C. Two
  • D. Four

Q28. The English rendering of Firishta's chronicle, in whose annotation the ruler of Bastar came to be labelled a 'Gond', was made by John Briggs, who served as an officer of which one of the following?

  • A. The Bengal Artillery, then supervising the Chhattisgarh territories
  • B. The Bombay Engineers, then attached to the Deccan Residency
  • C. The Madras Army, in which he rose to general officer rank
  • D. The Bengal Native Infantry, then posted in the Saugor territories

Q29. Consider the following statements regarding the Persian chronicle Tarikh-i-Firishta and its nineteenth-century English translation: 1. The English translation carries the narrative of the chronicle down to A.D. 1612. 2. The description of the Bastar Raja as a 'Gond' occurs in the Persian original of the chronicle itself, and not in any apparatus added by its English translator. 3. Because the translator's identification was accepted as settled, every later British account of Bastar rested exclusively on first-hand observation in the region. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The English translation carries the narrative of the chronicle down to A.D. 1612.
  2. The description of the Bastar Raja as a 'Gond' occurs in the Persian original of the chronicle itself, and not in any apparatus added by its English translator.
  3. Because the translator's identification was accepted as settled, every later British account of Bastar rested exclusively on first-hand observation in the region.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q30. Which one of the following was the principal consideration behind fixing India's standard time at a half-hour rather than a whole-hour offset from Greenwich?

  • A. It was a midpoint between the two whole-hour zones proposed for India, adopted in place of a two-zone scheme
  • B. It corresponded to the local mean time of Calcutta, then the capital of British India, which was retained as the national standard
  • C. It matched the timetable reference already used by the railways at Bombay, which was extended to the whole of British India
  • D. It was fixed so as to keep India's clocks aligned with the standard meridian adopted by neighbouring Nepal