History MCQs for UPSC Prelims — August 2026

Q1. The newspaper that runs the 'Hundred Years Ago' column, reprinting its own reports of exactly a century earlier, began publication in which year and in what form?

• A. In 1868, as a daily newspaper published from Calcutta
• B. In 1878, as a weekly newspaper published from Madras
• C. In 1889, as a weekly newspaper published from Madras
• D. In 1899, as a daily newspaper published from Bombay

Q2. With reference to the Vaikom Satyagraha, consider the following: 1. It was carried on during 1924–25 in the princely state of Travancore. 2. Vaikom lies in what is today the Ernakulam district of Kerala. 3. Its immediate demand was the right of the excluded communities to use the public roads around the temple rather than admission to the shrine itself. 4. It was begun by local leaders and the Indian National Congress, and was joined later by Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. It was carried on during 1924–25 in the princely state of Travancore.
2. Vaikom lies in what is today the Ernakulam district of Kerala.
3. Its immediate demand was the right of the excluded communities to use the public roads around the temple rather than admission to the shrine itself.
4. It was begun by local leaders and the Indian National Congress, and was joined later by Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar.

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

Q3. Consider the following statements comparing the Vaikom Satyagraha with the contemporaneous legislative attempt to secure a right of public pathway: 1. The Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924–25 was directed against a ban that barred the Ezhavas and other excluded communities from using the public roads surrounding a temple in the princely state of Travancore. 2. Unlike Vaikom, which was a popular agitation, the pathway measure of 1926 was a legislative one, moved in the Bombay Legislative Council to amend the Bombay District Municipalities Act. 3. Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar, who later founded the Self-Respect Movement, both associated themselves with the Vaikom agitation. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. The Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924–25 was directed against a ban that barred the Ezhavas and other excluded communities from using the public roads surrounding a temple in the princely state of Travancore.
2. Unlike Vaikom, which was a popular agitation, the pathway measure of 1926 was a legislative one, moved in the Bombay Legislative Council to amend the Bombay District Municipalities Act.
3. Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar, who later founded the Self-Respect Movement, both associated themselves with the Vaikom agitation.

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

Q4. Regarding the procedural objection raised when the pathway Bill came up in the Madras Legislative Council in 1926, consider the following: 1. Members objected that the Bill as altered was not circulated with the notice required by the Standing Orders. 2. The President of the Council admitted that the text had been changed and referred the question of the Standing Orders to the Chief Minister for decision. 3. A question was raised whether the Bill in its altered form required fresh previous sanction of the Governor-General. 4. The alterations complained of were those made in the Bill by the Select Committee. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. Members objected that the Bill as altered was not circulated with the notice required by the Standing Orders.
2. The President of the Council admitted that the text had been changed and referred the question of the Standing Orders to the Chief Minister for decision.
3. A question was raised whether the Bill in its altered form required fresh previous sanction of the Governor-General.
4. The alterations complained of were those made in the Bill by the Select Committee.

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

Q5. In the working of the provincial governments set up by the Government of India Act, 1919, the expression 'transferred subjects' denoted which one of the following?

• A. Subjects moved from the central to the provincial field by the division of administrative heads made under that Act
• B. Subjects placed with executive councillors appointed by the Crown, for which the Governor answered to the Secretary of State
• C. Subjects whose administration passed from the Governor of a province to the Governor-General in Council on his intervention
• D. Subjects placed with the Governor acting through ministers chosen by him from the elected members of the provincial legislature

Q6. Under the scheme of dyarchy introduced in the provinces by the Government of India Act, 1919, consider the following heads of administration: 1. Police 2. Public health 3. Irrigation 4. Land revenue Which of the above is/are correctly identified as 'reserved' subjects?

1. Police
2. Public health
3. Irrigation
4. Land revenue

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

Q7. With reference to the Right of Pathway Bill discussed in the Madras Legislative Council in 1926, consider the following: 1. It took the form of an amendment to the Madras District Municipalities Act, 1920. 2. The Select Committee's report on the Bill was presented by Mr. Saldanha. 3. Its principles were the same as those of an earlier private member's Bill introduced by Mr. Veerian. 4. It confined the right of public pathway to persons assessed to property tax within the municipality. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. It took the form of an amendment to the Madras District Municipalities Act, 1920.
2. The Select Committee's report on the Bill was presented by Mr. Saldanha.
3. Its principles were the same as those of an earlier private member's Bill introduced by Mr. Veerian.
4. It confined the right of public pathway to persons assessed to property tax within the municipality.

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

Q8. The Bill debated in the Madras Legislative Council in 1926 proposed to guarantee a right of public pathway to all classes of people over roads and streets maintained by which authority?

• A. The district board constituted for the area concerned
• B. The municipality within whose limits the road or street lay
• C. The Public Works Department of the Presidency Government
• D. The Revenue Department working under the Board of Revenue

Q9. The municipal law enacted for the Madras Presidency in 1920, which survives today as the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920, bears which serial number among the Acts of that year?

• A. Act II of 1920
• B. Act IV of 1920
• C. Act V of 1920
• D. Act XI of 1920

Q10. In 2021, while quashing the sedition First Information Report registered against journalist Vinod Dua, the Supreme Court held that he was entitled to protection in terms of the safeguards laid down in which one of the following judgments?

• A. Romesh Thappar v State of Madras (1950)
• B. Brij Bhushan v State of Delhi (1950)
• C. Kedar Nath Singh v State of Bihar (1962)
• D. Maneka Gandhi v Union of India (1978)

Q11. Which one of the following statements about the composition and first appearance of Vande Mataram is correct?

• A. It first appeared in the novel Anandamath in 1882, and was reprinted only later in the journal Bangadarshan.
• B. It was written in the 1870s but remained unpublished until Rabindranath Tagore set it to music and sang it in 1896.
• C. It first appeared in the journal Bangadarshan in 1875, several years before it was carried in the novel Anandamath.
• D. It was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay for the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress at which Tagore first sang it.

Q12. Consider the following statements about Vande Mataram: 1. It was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875. 2. The novel in which it appears, Anandamath, was published as a standalone book in 1882. 3. It is expressly named in the Constitution of India as the National Song of India. 4. On 24 January 1950 the President of the Constituent Assembly made a statement concerning its status. Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

1. It was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875.
2. The novel in which it appears, Anandamath, was published as a standalone book in 1882.
3. It is expressly named in the Constitution of India as the National Song of India.
4. On 24 January 1950 the President of the Constituent Assembly made a statement concerning its status.

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

Q13. In accounts of the origin of Vande Mataram, the term 'Bangadarshan' refers to which one of the following?

• A. The standalone edition, brought out in 1882, of the novel in which the song appears
• B. The literary journal in which the novel containing the song first appeared in serialised form
• C. The musical setting given to the song by Rabindranath Tagore for a session of the Indian National Congress
• D. The statement made by the President of the Constituent Assembly in 1950 on the status of the song

Q14. Which one of the following best describes the Cauvery agreement that took effect on 18 February 1924?

• A. An arrangement of fixed fifty-year duration under which Mysore could impound water at Kannambadi and Madras could raise a reservoir at Mettur
• B. The award of the Court of Arbitration presided over by Sir Henry D. Griffin, adopted between the two governments without any departure from it
• C. The first understanding between Mysore and Madras regulating the taking up of new irrigation works across their common rivers
• D. An award made under the Government of India Act by which princely Mysore surrendered its irrigation rights over the river to the Madras Presidency in perpetuity

Q15. During the first century of English settlement, which one of the following best describes Bombay's standing relative to Calcutta and Madras?

• A. It was the least valuable of the three to the Company, its trade kept small by Maratha control of the hinterland
• B. It was the busiest of the three, handling the bulk of the Company's opium consignments bound for the China market
• C. It stood first among the three as the seat of the Governor-General from 1772, when the chief offices were shifted from Murshidabad
• D. It was the earliest of the three to be fortified, its Fort St. George dating from the settlement of 1639–40

Q16. With reference to the Calcutta foreign-trade returns for July 1926, consider the following statements: 1. Imports of cotton goods rose from about Rs. 218 lakh to about Rs. 304 lakh. 2. Measured against the same month of the previous year, exports registered an improvement. 3. Imports rose over the preceding month, from about Rs. 5.74 crore to about Rs. 8.03 crore. 4. Every month of that year had recorded a rise in imports over the month preceding it. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. Imports of cotton goods rose from about Rs. 218 lakh to about Rs. 304 lakh.
2. Measured against the same month of the previous year, exports registered an improvement.
3. Imports rose over the preceding month, from about Rs. 5.74 crore to about Rs. 8.03 crore.
4. Every month of that year had recorded a rise in imports over the month preceding it.

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

Q17. Consider the following statements contrasting the commodity streams of colonial Indian trade: 1. Raw jute leaving Calcutta went chiefly to the mills of Dundee, whereas Indian raw cotton was shipped eastward to China. 2. Calcutta's jute mills, unlike Bombay's cotton mills, were from the outset controlled largely by Indian-owned managing agencies. 3. Indigo and raw silk were among the Bengal commodities in which the East India Company had built a profitable trade before jute manufacturing took root. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. Raw jute leaving Calcutta went chiefly to the mills of Dundee, whereas Indian raw cotton was shipped eastward to China.
2. Calcutta's jute mills, unlike Bombay's cotton mills, were from the outset controlled largely by Indian-owned managing agencies.
3. Indigo and raw silk were among the Bengal commodities in which the East India Company had built a profitable trade before jute manufacturing took root.

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

Q18. With reference to the commodities of colonial India's export trade, consider the following statements: 1. Opium grown in India, over whose cultivation in Bengal the East India Company held a monopoly, was exported to China. 2. The tea that Britain bought in China was paid for by India's exports of opium and cotton to China. 3. Jute and jute manufactures alone accounted for the entire export earnings of Calcutta throughout the nineteenth century. 4. Tea never figured among the commodities exported from India in the colonial period. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. Opium grown in India, over whose cultivation in Bengal the East India Company held a monopoly, was exported to China.
2. The tea that Britain bought in China was paid for by India's exports of opium and cotton to China.
3. Jute and jute manufactures alone accounted for the entire export earnings of Calcutta throughout the nineteenth century.
4. Tea never figured among the commodities exported from India in the colonial period.

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

Q19. With reference to the effect of the Crimean War (1853–56) on the jute trade, consider the following statements: 1. The war cut off Russia's supply of raw hemp to the jute mills of Scotland. 2. It thereby stimulated the export of raw jute from Calcutta to Dundee. 3. The jute industry that grew in Bengal is regarded as that region's counterpart to Bombay's cotton industry. 4. India's own jute-processing industry had already been established two years before the war broke out. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. The war cut off Russia's supply of raw hemp to the jute mills of Scotland.
2. It thereby stimulated the export of raw jute from Calcutta to Dundee.
3. The jute industry that grew in Bengal is regarded as that region's counterpart to Bombay's cotton industry.
4. India's own jute-processing industry had already been established two years before the war broke out.

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

Q20. In the decades following the Crimean War, how many jute mills had come up in Bengal by 1882?

• A. About 10
• B. About 20
• C. About 35
• D. About 50

Q21. Consider the following statements about the founding of Calcutta by the English East India Company: 1. Job Charnock, an agent of the Company, established a trading post at Sutanati in 1690. 2. Kalikata and Gobindapore were the two other villages that grew together with it into the city. 3. The Indian merchants who had settled these villages had migrated from the silted-up port of Satgaon, situated downstream of the site. 4. The site was protected by the Hugli River on its eastern side and by salt lakes on its western side. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

1. Job Charnock, an agent of the Company, established a trading post at Sutanati in 1690.
2. Kalikata and Gobindapore were the two other villages that grew together with it into the city.
3. The Indian merchants who had settled these villages had migrated from the silted-up port of Satgaon, situated downstream of the site.
4. The site was protected by the Hugli River on its eastern side and by salt lakes on its western side.

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

Q22. When the Calcutta Port Trust commenced operations in October 1870, with how many jetties did it begin?

• A. Two
• B. Four
• C. Six
• D. Eight

Q23. At which one of the following places in Bengal was India's first jute mill set up in 1855, using spinning machinery imported from Scotland?

• A. Serampore, the former Danish settlement on the Hooghly
• B. Rishra, in the Hooghly district north of Calcutta
• C. Budge Budge, downstream of Calcutta on the Hooghly
• D. Kanchrapara, in the North 24 Parganas district

Q24. Consider the following statements comparing the jute industries of Dundee and Calcutta: 1. Commercial manufacture of jute yarn began at Dundee several decades before India's own jute-processing industry came into being. 2. The machinery with which India's jute spinning began was brought out from Dundee to Bengal. 3. Calcutta had displaced Dundee as the world's largest jute manufacturing centre by 1900, the year by which it was already processing about three-quarters of the world's jute. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. Commercial manufacture of jute yarn began at Dundee several decades before India's own jute-processing industry came into being.
2. The machinery with which India's jute spinning began was brought out from Dundee to Bengal.
3. Calcutta had displaced Dundee as the world's largest jute manufacturing centre by 1900, the year by which it was already processing about three-quarters of the world's jute.

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

Q25. Within the Lancashire cotton district, the rapid nineteenth-century expansion of Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham rested chiefly on their specialisation in which branch of the industry?

• A. Cotton spinning
• B. Bleaching, dyeing and calico printing
• C. Broking and warehousing of imported raw cotton
• D. Manufacture of textile machinery for export

Q26. According to the archival report reprinted by The Hindu on 17 August 2026, which body launched the scheme fixing "basic" minimum prices for standard-quality American cotton yarns, with Manchester Exchange salesmen instructed to quote its list prices?

• A. The Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the district's association of merchants and shippers
• B. The Federation of Master Cotton Spinners' Associations, London, acting for the spinning employers
• C. The Liverpool Cotton Association, the trade body governing raw-cotton dealings
• D. The Royal Exchange, Manchester, on whose floor yarn and cloth were bought and sold

Q27. Manchester came to matter less as a cotton-manufacturing centre than as the commercial and financial nucleus of the trade, on whose floor the yarn and cloth of the entire industry was bought and sold. Which institution is being referred to?

• A. The Royal Exchange, Manchester, whose old trading floor is the largest room in Europe
• B. The Royal Exchange, London, rebuilt as the City's principal commercial meeting place
• C. The Manchester Ship Canal Company, incorporated to carry the district's trade to the sea
• D. The New York Cotton Exchange, the leading market for the American cotton crop

Q28. In the context of colonial India, the agitation launched in 1905 in which Surendranath Banerjea called for a boycott of Manchester cotton and Liverpool salt is best described as which one of the following?

• A. An anti-colonial agitation stressing self-sufficiency, promoting goods made in the country and boycotting British products
• B. A campaign by Indian mill owners for repeal of the countervailing excise duty imposed on cloth woven in Indian mills
• C. An agitation by Lancashire operatives for tariff protection of their yarn against competition from Indian mills
• D. A colonial government programme to expand exports of Indian handicraft cloth to markets in Britain and China

Q29. With reference to the growth of the cotton textile industry in western India in the nineteenth century, consider the following: 1. Ahmedabad's first cotton mills were opened in 1859–61. 2. With the opening of cotton mills in the mid-nineteenth century, Ahmedabad became India's largest inland industrial centre. 3. By 1860 Ahmedabad had become the largest cotton market in India. 4. The American Civil War cut off supplies of cotton from the American South to British mills, and mill owners turned to western India for their raw material. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. Ahmedabad's first cotton mills were opened in 1859–61.
2. With the opening of cotton mills in the mid-nineteenth century, Ahmedabad became India's largest inland industrial centre.
3. By 1860 Ahmedabad had become the largest cotton market in India.
4. The American Civil War cut off supplies of cotton from the American South to British mills, and mill owners turned to western India for their raw material.

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

Q30. In which year was the first spinning and weaving mill of the Indian cotton textile industry established in Bombay?

• A. 1817
• B. 1857
• C. 1877
• D. 1897