History MCQs for UPSC Prelims — April 2026

Q1. With reference to the financing and budgeting of railways in colonial India, consider the following statements: 1. Under the guarantee system, the colonial government guaranteed a fixed rate of return to private British railway companies on their invested capital. 2. The Railway Budget was separated from the General Budget in 1924. 3. The Acworth Committee (1920-21) recommended the merger of the Railway Budget with the General Budget. Which of the statements given above are correct?

1. Under the guarantee system, the colonial government guaranteed a fixed rate of return to private British railway companies on their invested capital.
2. The Railway Budget was separated from the General Budget in 1924.
3. The Acworth Committee (1920-21) recommended the merger of the Railway Budget with the General Budget.

• A. 1 and 2 only
• B. 2 and 3 only
• C. 1 and 3 only
• D. 1, 2 and 3

Q2. The separation of the Railway Budget from the General Budget in 1924 was based on the recommendations of which one of the following committees?

• A. Acworth Committee
• B. Robertson Committee
• C. Mackay Committee
• D. Wedgwood Committee

Q3. With reference to the origin milestones of Indian Railways, consider the following statements: 1. The first passenger train of 1853 ran between Boribunder and Thane hauled by a locomotive named Falkland. 2. The first railway line in South India (1856) was operated by the Madras Railway Company. 3. The first railway line in North India (1859) connected Allahabad and Kanpur. 4. The inaugural 1853 train covered a distance of about 63 km between Bombay and Thane. Which of the statements given above are correct?

1. The first passenger train of 1853 ran between Boribunder and Thane hauled by a locomotive named Falkland.
2. The first railway line in South India (1856) was operated by the Madras Railway Company.
3. The first railway line in North India (1859) connected Allahabad and Kanpur.
4. The inaugural 1853 train covered a distance of about 63 km between Bombay and Thane.

• A. 1, 2 and 3
• B. 1 and 4 only
• C. 2, 3 and 4
• D. 1, 2 and 4

Q4. India's first passenger train of 16 April 1853, running between Bombay (Boribunder) and Thane, was operated by which one of the following railway companies?

• A. Great Indian Peninsula Railway
• B. East Indian Railway
• C. Madras Railway Company
• D. Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway

Q5. Systematic excavation at Pompeii commenced in 1748. Approximately how many years after the AD 79 eruption did this excavation begin?

• A. About 1,100 years
• B. About 1,400 years
• C. About 1,670 years
• D. About 1,900 years

Q6. According to standard accounts, the AD 79 eruption buried the city of Pompeii under a layer of compact volcanic material of approximately what thickness?

• A. 4 to 6 metres
• B. 15 to 18 metres
• C. 30 to 35 metres
• D. 50 to 55 metres

Q7. Which of the following ancient settlements was/were buried by the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius? 1. Herculaneum 2. Stabiae 3. Oplontis 4. Ostia Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. Herculaneum
2. Stabiae
3. Oplontis
4. Ostia

• A. 1 and 4 only
• B. 1, 2 and 3
• C. 2, 3 and 4
• D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q8. Consider the following year–milestone pairings in the evolution of India's insurance sector. Which one of the following is NOT correctly matched?

1. 1938 – Enactment of the Insurance Act as the principal supervisory statute
2. 1956 – Nationalisation of life insurance through the LIC Act
3. 1972 – Nationalisation of general insurance through GIBNA
4. 1999 – Opening of the sector to private players with an initial FDI cap of 74%

• A. 1 and 2
• B. 3 only
• C. 4 only
• D. 2 and 3

Q9. Which of the following are correctly identified as features of The Hindu newspaper?

1. It is an English-language daily.
2. It is published by the Hindu Group of Publications (Kasturi & Sons).
3. Under British rule it advocated independence in a moderate vein.
4. It was established as a daily newspaper in 1878.

• A. 1, 2 and 3
• B. 2, 3 and 4
• C. 1, 2 and 4
• D. 1, 3 and 4

Q10. Britain's 1925 return to the pre-war gold parity, defining the pound sterling as equal to 123.274 grains of gold, was adopted under which one of the following as Chancellor of the Exchequer?

• A. Winston Churchill
• B. John Maynard Keynes
• C. Ramsay MacDonald
• D. Stanley Baldwin

Q11. Which one of the following best defines a 'gold standard' as a monetary system?

• A. A system in which a currency's value is fixed to a set quantity of gold into which it is freely convertible
• B. A system in which the money supply is determined solely by the volume of foreign trade
• C. A system in which currency notes are backed entirely by government bonds
• D. A system in which exchange rates float freely against all other currencies

Q12. By how many percentage points did the US Federal Reserve raise the discount rate in August 1929, on the eve of the stock market crash?

• A. 1
• B. 2
• C. 3
• D. 5

Q13. The first successful powered flight (1903), a landmark achievement of the Second Industrial Revolution era, was carried out by which one of the following?

• A. The Wright brothers
• B. Henry Ford
• C. Thomas Edison
• D. Karl Benz

Q14. Which of the following are correctly identified as industries or developments associated with the Second Industrial Revolution?

1. A large-scale electrical industry driven by breakthroughs in electricity
2. The petroleum industry
3. The steel industry
4. The spinning jenny

• A. 1, 2 and 3
• B. 1, 2 and 4
• C. 2, 3 and 4
• D. 1, 3 and 4

Q15. The moving assembly-line method of mass production in the early 20th-century US automobile industry was first operationalised at the manufacturing plant of which one of the following companies?

• A. Ford Motor Company
• B. General Motors Corporation
• C. Chrysler Corporation
• D. Studebaker Corporation

Q16. Who among the following is regarded as the first female teacher and headmistress of modern India?

• A. Savitribai Phule
• B. Pandita Ramabai
• C. Fatima Sheikh
• D. Begum Rokeya

Q17. With reference to the works of Jyotirao Phule, consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. Gulamgiri drew a parallel between the condition of India's lower castes and the slavery of African Americans.
2. Shetkaryacha Asud dealt chiefly with the exploitation of peasants and cultivators.
3. Both these works were originally written in English.

• A. 1 and 2 only
• B. 1 and 3 only
• C. 2 and 3 only
• D. 1, 2 and 3

Q18. Comparing Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. Jyotirao Phule was born earlier than Savitribai Phule.
2. Savitribai Phule outlived Jyotirao Phule.
3. Both Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule were conferred the title 'Mahatma'.

• A. 1 and 2 only
• B. 1 and 3 only
• C. 2 and 3 only
• D. 1, 2 and 3

Q19. With reference to Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

1. Jyotirao Phule was born on 11 April 1827.
2. Savitribai Phule is regarded as India's first female teacher.
3. Jyotirao Phule was conferred the title 'Mahatma' in 1888.
4. Savitribai Phule died in 1857.

• A. 1 only
• B. 4 only
• C. 2 and 3
• D. 3 and 4

Q20. Consider the Satyashodhak Samaj, the Arya Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj and the Brahmo Samaj. How many of these four reform organisations were founded during the 1870s?

• A. Only one
• B. Only two
• C. Only three
• D. All four

Q21. The Brahmo Samaj was founded in 1828 and the Satyashodhak Samaj in Pune later in the 19th century. How many years separate the founding of the two societies?

• A. 45 years
• B. 40 years
• C. 47 years
• D. 55 years

Q22. The women's section of the Satyashodhak Samaj, founded by Jyotirao Phule in 1873, was headed by which one of the following?

• A. Savitribai Phule
• B. Tarabai Shinde
• C. Pandita Ramabai
• D. Ramabai Ranade

Q23. India's first passenger train (1853) ran from Bori Bunder (Bombay) to which one of the following?

• A. Thane
• B. Kalyan
• C. Pune
• D. Panvel

Q24. By whose conferral did Jyotirao Phule receive the title 'Mahatma' in 1888?

• A. Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar
• B. Vithal Ramji Shinde
• C. Mahadev Govind Ranade
• D. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar

Q25. The following figures are often placed within the non-Brahmin, anti-caste emancipatory tradition associated with Jyotirao Phule's legacy. Which of the above is/are NOT correctly placed in that tradition?

1. B. R. Ambedkar, who acknowledged Phule as one of his gurus
2. E. V. Ramasamy 'Periyar'
3. Narayana Guru
4. Raja Ram Mohan Roy

• A. 4 only
• B. 1 only
• C. 2 and 3
• D. 3 and 4

Q26. The title of Jyotirao Phule's 1881 work 'Shetkaryacha Asud' translates most closely to which one of the following?

• A. The Cultivator's Whipcord
• B. Slavery
• C. The Book of True Religion
• D. Society of Truth Seekers

Q27. Which one of the following is regarded as Jyotirao Phule's foremost anti-caste work, in which he explicitly drew a parallel between caste oppression in India and Negro slavery in America?

• A. Gulamgiri
• B. Shetkaryacha Asud
• C. Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Pustak
• D. Trutiya Ratna

Q28. By 1851, Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule were jointly running how many girls' schools in Pune?

• A. Three
• B. One
• C. Five
• D. Seven

Q29. Consider the following initiatives, each attributed to Jyotirao Phule's social and educational work: Which of the above is/are NOT correctly attributed to him?

1. Starting India's first school for girls at Bhide Wada, Pune, in 1848
2. Opening night schools for adult working people
3. Establishing a home to shelter infants and prevent female infanticide
4. Founding the Brahmo Samaj to campaign for widow remarriage in Bengal

• A. 1 and 2
• B. 3 only
• C. 4 only
• D. 2 and 4

Q30. Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule opened India's first girls' school in 1848, and Jyotirao founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873. How many years separated these two milestones?

• A. 25 years
• B. 21 years
• C. 27 years
• D. 30 years