UPSC 2019 Modern History Questions with Answers

Explanation

Swadeshi Movements were large-scale protests against the partition of Bengal. Later, the movement spread to other regions of the nation. New means of protest like processions, public meetings, and boycotts of imported goods were used.

Statement 1 is correct: Emphasis was placed on Self-Reliance (Atma Shakti), honour, social and economic regeneration of the villages. Swadeshi textile mills, banks, etc, were set up. At Tuticorin, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company. This gave a boost to indigenous artisans.

Statement 2 is correct: The National Council of Education, established in 1906, was created to organize and promote national education in India, with a particular emphasis on teaching in the vernacular languages.

Explanation

The Charter Act of 1813 renewed the East India Company’s charter for another 20 years, ending its monopoly on trade with India (except for trade in tea and opium with China). It also allocated funds for promoting education in India and acknowledged the need for social and economic reforms. It gave missionaries permission to travel to India was one of the key components of this law.

Statement 1 is correct: The Charter Act 1813 ended the trade monopoly of the East India Company except for the trade in tea, opium, and with China.

Statement 2 is correct: company’s territories in India came under the sovereignty of the British Government through this Act.

Statement 3 is incorrect: The revenue of India was controlled by the British parliament through Pitt’s India Act 1784.

Explanation

The Old World refers to the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, known to Europeans before the discovery of the Americas. The New World refers to the Americas, including North and South America, which were "discovered" by Europeans after Christopher Columbus’s voyages in the late 15th century. Tobacco, cocoa, and rubber were domesticated in the ‘New World’ and introduced into the ‘Old World’ through the European explorers in the late medieval or early modern era. The Columbian exchange was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.

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.