History MCQs for UPSC Prelims — January 2026
Q1. By 1882, the jute mills that had grown up in Bengal collectively employed in excess of how many workers?
- A. 2,000
- B. 20,000
- C. 200,000
- D. 2,000,000
Q2. By 1882, from just two mills in 1863, the number of jute mills operating in Bengal had risen to how many?
Q3. Consider the following statements comparing the jute industries of Dundee and Bengal:
1. Mechanised jute-yarn manufacture began at Dundee earlier than at Calcutta.
2. Bengal's jute mills were concentrated along the Hooghly river near Calcutta.
3. The jute textile industry of Bengal was the counterpart of the cotton textile industry of Ahmedabad.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Mechanised jute-yarn manufacture began at Dundee earlier than at Calcutta.
- Bengal's jute mills were concentrated along the Hooghly river near Calcutta.
- The jute textile industry of Bengal was the counterpart of the cotton textile industry of Ahmedabad.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. Consider the following statements regarding the origins of the mechanised jute industry in Bengal:
1. India's jute-processing industry began in 1855, with Calcutta becoming its major centre.
2. The first mill was set up on the Hooghly river, and jute-spinning machinery was brought from Dundee in Scotland.
3. Commercial jute-yarn manufacture had begun earlier at Dundee, in 1822.
4. The industry was stimulated by the Crimean War (1853–56), which cut off Egypt's supply of raw cotton to European mills.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- India's jute-processing industry began in 1855, with Calcutta becoming its major centre.
- The first mill was set up on the Hooghly river, and jute-spinning machinery was brought from Dundee in Scotland.
- Commercial jute-yarn manufacture had begun earlier at Dundee, in 1822.
- The industry was stimulated by the Crimean War (1853–56), which cut off Egypt's supply of raw cotton to European mills.
- A. 1 only
- B. 3 and 4
- C. 4 only
- D. 2 and 3
Q5. With reference to the 1926 Johnston–Sime report on the Calcutta jute industry, consider the following statements:
1. Shareholder gains for the decade equalled about £300 million sterling.
2. The return on invested capital was around 90% per annum.
3. The roughly 300,000 workers averaged only about £12.5 per annum in wages.
4. The report was authored solely by the Secretary of the Dundee Jute Workers Union.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- Shareholder gains for the decade equalled about £300 million sterling.
- The return on invested capital was around 90% per annum.
- The roughly 300,000 workers averaged only about £12.5 per annum in wages.
- The report was authored solely by the Secretary of the Dundee Jute Workers Union.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 3 only
- C. 2 and 3
- D. 4 only
Q6. The 1926 joint report by Mr. Johnston, M.P. and Mr. J. F. Sime, which documented that shareholders of the Calcutta jute industry had earned about £300 million sterling (roughly 90% per annum on capital), computed these staggering gains over the decade ending in which year?
- A. 1920
- B. 1922
- C. 1924
- D. 1926
Q7. Who among the following was appointed as the first Surveyor General of Bengal in 1767, an event regarded as the origin of the Survey of India?
- A. James Rennell
- B. Colin Mackenzie
- C. William Lambton
- D. George Everest
Q8. Who was the first Supreme Leader (rahbar) of the Islamic Republic of Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution?
- A. Ali Khamenei
- B. Ruhollah Khomeini
- C. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
- D. Mohammad Khatami
Q9. For how many years did the Iran-Iraq War, sparked by Iraq's invasion of western Iran along the Shatt al-Arab, continue before a UN-mediated ceasefire was accepted?
- A. 6 years
- B. 7 years
- C. 8 years
- D. 10 years
Q10. Mahatma Gandhi highlighted the virtues of Ponduru Khadi chiefly through which one of the following weekly journals that he edited?
- A. Young India
- B. Harijan
- C. Navajivan
- D. Indian Opinion
Q11. The single-spindle 'Gandhi Charkha' still traditionally used by Ponduru spinners is characterised by how many spokes?
Q12. 'Vande Mataram' was first sung at a Congress session in 1896 and was first raised as a political slogan of the Swadeshi/anti-partition agitation in 1905. How many years separate these two milestones?
- A. 6 years
- B. 9 years
- C. 12 years
- D. 15 years
Q13. With reference to the association of 'Vande Mataram' with the freedom struggle, which of the following are correctly identified?
1. Rabindranath Tagore — first sang 'Vande Mataram' at the 1896 Calcutta session of the Congress.
2. Bipin Chandra Pal — editor of the English daily 'Bande Mataram' launched in 1906.
3. Sri Aurobindo — joined the 'Bande Mataram' daily as joint editor.
4. Lala Lajpat Rai — composed the musical tune of 'Vande Mataram' for the Swadeshi movement.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Rabindranath Tagore — first sang 'Vande Mataram' at the 1896 Calcutta session of the Congress.
- Bipin Chandra Pal — editor of the English daily 'Bande Mataram' launched in 1906.
- Sri Aurobindo — joined the 'Bande Mataram' daily as joint editor.
- Lala Lajpat Rai — composed the musical tune of 'Vande Mataram' for the Swadeshi movement.
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 1 and 4 only
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 4
Q14. With reference to the origin of 'Vande Mataram', consider the following statements:
1. It first appeared in the periodical Bangadarshan before it was incorporated into a novel.
2. The novel Anandamath, into which the song was later woven, was published as a standalone book in 1882.
3. Anandamath was originally written in Sanskrit, whereas the song 'Vande Mataram' was composed in Bengali.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- It first appeared in the periodical Bangadarshan before it was incorporated into a novel.
- The novel Anandamath, into which the song was later woven, was published as a standalone book in 1882.
- Anandamath was originally written in Sanskrit, whereas the song 'Vande Mataram' was composed in Bengali.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q15. In which one of the following was 'Vande Mataram' first published, before it was later incorporated into a novel?
- A. Bangadarshan
- B. Anandamath
- C. Bande Mataram (English daily)
- D. Amrita Bazar Patrika
Q16. The legendary mariner Kaundinya, after whom the vessel is named, is traditionally credited with establishing the ruling dynasty of which ancient Southeast Asian kingdom?
- A. Srivijaya
- B. Funan
- C. Champa
- D. Khmer Empire
Q17. Comparing the Twenty-Point Programme with the regular Five Year Plans, consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Twenty-Point Programme was announced after the proclamation of the Internal Emergency in 1975.
- Unlike the medium-term Five Year Plans, it emphasised immediate measures against inflation, hoarding and black-marketing.
- It was promulgated as a constitutional amendment under Article 368.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q18. During the Internal Emergency, the 'Twenty-Point Programme' is best described as which one of the following?
- A. An economic programme announced in 1975 aimed at curbing inflation, hoarding, smuggling and tax evasion while improving the condition of the poor
- B. A land-reform statute exclusively redistributing all surplus land to landless agricultural labourers
- C. A twenty-year industrial licensing framework administered by the Planning Commission
- D. A package of constitutional amendments enacted to extend the life of the Lok Sabha
Q19. Swami Vivekananda passed away in 1902. At what age did he die?
- A. 35 years
- B. 39 years
- C. 42 years
- D. 49 years
Q20. Swami Vivekananda delivered his celebrated 1893 address at the World's Parliament of Religions, which was convened as part of which one of the following events?
- A. The Great Exhibition, London
- B. The World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago
- C. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis
- D. The Panama–Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco
Q21. Who was the first Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), under whom Operation Flood was launched?
- A. Verghese Kurien
- B. Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel
- C. Amrita Patel
- D. H. M. Patel
Q22. During Phase I of Operation Flood, approximately how many of India's premier milksheds were linked with consumers in the four metropolitan cities?
Q23. Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex is credited with laying the intellectual groundwork for which numbered 'wave' of feminism, the one catalysed by Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963)?
- A. The first wave
- B. The second wave
- C. The third wave
- D. The fourth wave
Q24. Consider the following statements about Simone de Beauvoir's works:
1. She Came to Stay (1943) was her first novel.
2. The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947) was published before her first novel, She Came to Stay.
3. The Mandarins (1954) won the Prix Goncourt.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- She Came to Stay (1943) was her first novel.
- The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947) was published before her first novel, She Came to Stay.
- The Mandarins (1954) won the Prix Goncourt.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q25. In Simone de Beauvoir's first novel She Came to Stay (L'Invitée, 1943), the philosophical problem of 'the Other' refers to which of the following?
- A. The fundamental conflict between one individual consciousness and another, each being a predator to the other
- B. The alienation of a worker from the product of labour
- C. The subconscious repository of repressed childhood memory
- D. The gap between a signifier and the object it names
Q26. At which institution did Simone de Beauvoir pass the elite agrégation in philosophy in 1929?
- A. The Sorbonne (University of Paris)
- B. The École Normale Supérieure
- C. The Collège de France
- D. The University of Lyon
Q27. With reference to Simone de Beauvoir's success in the 1929 agrégation in philosophy, consider the following statements:
1. She placed second in the agrégation, with Jean-Paul Sartre placing first.
2. She passed the agrégation while studying at the Sorbonne in Paris.
3. She first met Sartre only after both had begun teaching in lycées.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- She placed second in the agrégation, with Jean-Paul Sartre placing first.
- She passed the agrégation while studying at the Sorbonne in Paris.
- She first met Sartre only after both had begun teaching in lycées.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q28. Which single sentence is regarded as the central, defining thesis of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex?
- A. "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."
- B. "Man is condemned to be free."
- C. "Each consciousness seeks the death of the other."
- D. "Hell is other people."
Q29. In The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir mobilised the core concepts of which single philosophical school to argue that womanhood is wholly a social construction rather than a biological given?
- A. Existentialism (the concept of freedom)
- B. Structuralism
- C. Logical positivism
- D. Utilitarianism
Q30. Electric traction on Indian Railways began with the running of India's first electric train in which year?
- A. 1925
- B. 1853
- C. 1947
- D. 1969