Prominent Personalities in Modern History: UPSC Previous Year Questions (Modern History)

Explanation

Option (a) is incorrect: The Indian tricolour was designed by Pingali Venkayya, who was a freedom fighter and was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Pingali Venkayya had designed the flag of India and presented it to Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 during the session of the All India Congress Committee in Vijayawada.

Option (b) is incorrect: Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramaiah, a member of the working committee was one of the key leaders of Quit India Movement. His contributions were largely at the national level rather than being confined to any one location like Madanapalle.

Option (c) is correct: The National Anthem was created by Rabindra Nath Tagore and it was originally called ‘Bharat Bhagya Bidhata’. The Anthem was first sung at the annual session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta on December 27, 1911. Rabindranath Tagore translated the National Anthem from Bengali to English in Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh.

Option (d) is incorrect: The Theosophical Society was founded by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in New York in 1875. In 1882, the headquarters of the Society were established in Adyar, near Madras (now Chennai) in India.

Explanation

"Songs from Prison" is a collection of ancient Indian religious lyrics translated into English by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. During his imprisonment in Yeravda Jail, Poona, in 1934, Gandhi undertook the task of translating these spiritual texts to make them accessible to a broader audience. His work reflects a deep engagement with spirituality and an effort to share the essence of Indian religious thought with the Englishspeaking world.

Explanation

Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar, originally from Maharashtra but residing in Bengal, was aligned with the ideas of Aurobindo Ghosh. He published Desher Katha in 1904, which sold over 15,000 copies before it was banned by the colonial authorities in 1910. Deuskar is also credited with introducing the Shivaji festival in Bengal. Additionally, he is believed to be the first to use the term ‘swaraj’ in a modern political context, in his 1902 pamphlet on Shivaji.

Statement 1 and 2 are correct: In overwhelming detail, the book "Desher Katha" summarised the work of M. G. Ranade and D. Naoroji in a popular idiom and warned in its concluding chapter against the colonial state’s "hypnotic conquest of the mind". "Desher Katha" had an immense repercussion in Bengal, captured the mind of young Bengal and assisted more than anything else in the preparation of the Swadeshi Movement.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Deuskar uses the word ‘desh’ in the context of the whole country.

Explanation

Gopal Baba Walangkar (1840-1900) was also known as Gopal Krishna, born into a family of the untouchable Mahar caste in Maharashtra. Gopal Baba Walangkar developed a racial theory to explain the oppression and also published the first journal targeted at the untouchable people. Vital-Vidhvansak (Destroyer of Brahmanical or Ceremonial Pollution), published in 1888 by Walangkar, was among the first journals targeted at the Dalit community, started publishing in 1888. He also wrote articles for Marathi-language newspapers such as Sudharak and Deenbandhu, as well as composed couplets in Marathi that were intended to inspire the people.

Explanation

Pair 1 is correctly matched: On 30 September, 1932, Mahatma Gandhi founded the All India Anti Untouchability League, to remove untouchability in society. This league for social transformation resonated throughout the nation, including in Bihar, where enthusiastic support was seen.

Pair 2 is correctly matched: Sahajanand Saraswati, a prominent peasant leader, was the first President of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), founded in 1936 in Lucknow. The organization aimed to address the issues faced by peasants and advocate for agrarian reforms.

Pair 3 is correctly matched: The Self-Respect Movement was started by E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker in Tamil Nadu in 1925 with the aim of destroying the contemporary Hindu social order in its totality and creating a new, rational society without caste.

Explanation

Pair 1 is correctly matched: All India Liberal Federation was founded by Surendra Nath Banarjea and some of its prominent leaders were Tej Bahadur Sapru, V. S. Srinivasa Sastri and M. R. Jayakar. Tej Bahadur Sapru was one of the presidents of Indian National Liberal Federation. It advocated for gradual constitutional progress and dominion status for India.

Pair 2 is correctly matched: K.C. Neogy was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, a member of the first Cabinet of independent India and the chairman of the first Finance Commission of India.

Pair 3 is correctly matched: Puran Chand Joshi was an early leader of the communist movement in India. He served as the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1935 to 1947, playing a crucial role in shaping the party’s direction during a formative period.

Explanation

The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), established in 1948, is one of the prominent trade union organizations in India. Founded by notable leaders such as Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanujam, and G.G. Mehta, HMS aimed to represent the interests of Indian workers and promote their rights and welfare. The organization played a vital role in advocating for labor reforms, improving working conditions, and securing fair wages for workers across various industries.

Explanation

Lala Lajpat Rai was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was the INC’s president at the 1920 Calcutta Special Session. In 1921, he founded Servants of the People Society, a non-profit welfare organisation, in Lahore. He also wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji, and Shrikrishna. He led a non-violent march in protest against the Simon Commission and was brutally assaulted by the police. He succumbed to a heart attack later, with the assault likely contributing to his weakened condition.

Explanation

Neeldarpan was a Bengali play written in 1860 by Dinabandhu Mitra. It depicted the plight of indigo farmers under British rule, particularly the oppressive system imposed by British planters. The play was later translated into English by Michael Madhusudan Dutt and became influential in the Indigo Revolt In 1863, Satyendranath Tagore became the first Indian to clear the Indian Civil Services (ICS) Examination. He was the elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore and worked towards administrative and social reforms. Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875 in Bombay. It aimed to promote Vedic knowledge and social reform, rejecting idol worship and advocating for women’s education. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandamath, a Bengali novel in 1882. It featured the famous song Vande Mataram, which later became an important slogan in the Indian freedom movement.

Explanation

Pair 1 is correctly matched: Raja Radhakanta Deb was the first President of the British Indian Association while Debendranath Tagore was its secretary. The British Indian Association was one of the earliest political organizations in India, formed by merging the Landholders’ Society and the Bengal British India Society.

Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty (1806-1868) was a merchant, social reformer, and political leader from Madras. However, he did not found the Madras Mahajan Sabha. The Madras Mahajan Sabha (1884) was founded by M. Veeraraghavachari, P. Rangaiah Naidu, G. Subramania Iyer and others.

Pair 3 is correctly matched: Surendranath Banerjee (1848-1925) was a nationalist leader and one of the early political activists in India. He founded the Indian Association in 1876 in Calcutta. The Indian Association played a crucial role in mobilizing Indians against British policies and was a precursor to the Indian National Congress.