BPSC CCE Prelims
Modern History Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Solved Previous Year Questions (PYQs) for Modern History in BPSC CCE Prelims in English & Hindi Medium.
Chapter Breakdown: Scroll →
Who was the President of the Indian National Congress at the Gaya Session of 1922?
Detailed Explanation:
Chittaranjan Das was elected President of the Indian National Congress at the Gaya Session in December 1922.
The session witnessed a major debate between Pro-Changers (led by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru), who favored entering legislative councils, and No-Changers (led by Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad), who opposed it; Das later resigned and formed the Swaraj Party in 1923.
Match List - I of social reformers with List - II of their societies and choose answer from the code given below:
| List – I | List-II |
| a. Brahma Samaj | i. Vishnu Shastri Pandit |
| b. Ramkrishna Mission | ii. Swami Vivekananda |
| c. Servants of India Society | iii. Raja Rammohan Roy |
| d. Vidhwa Vivah Samaj | iv. Gopal Krishna Gokhale |
Code:
Detailed Explanation:
a. Brahmo Samaj – iii. Raja Rammohan Roy: Founded in 1828 to promote monotheism and abolish social evils like sati.
b. Ramakrishna Mission – ii. Swami Vivekananda: Established in 1897 to carry forward Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's spiritual and social work.
c. Servants of India Society – iv. Gopal Krishna Gokhale: Founded in 1905 to train national missionaries for selfless service to India.
d. Vidhwa Vivah Samaj – i. Vishnu Shastri Pandit: Promoted widow remarriage in Maharashtra during the 19th century.
Correct matching: a-iii, b-ii, c-iv, d-i (Option 2)
Match the List -I of authors with List-II of the books on 1857 and choose answers from the code given below:
| List-I | List-II |
| a. V. D. Savarkar | i. The First War of Independence |
| b. S. N. Sen | ii. The Peasant and the Raj |
| c. Eric Stokes | iii. Civil Rebellion and in the Indian Mutinies |
| d. S.B. Chaudhuri | iv. Eighteen Fifty-Seven |
Code :
Detailed Explanation:
V. D. Savarkar authored The First War of Independence (i), a nationalist account of the 1857 rebellion.
S. N. Sen wrote Eighteen Fifty-Seven (iv), commissioned by the Government of India for the centenary.
Eric Stokes authored The Peasant and the Raj (ii), analyzing agrarian dimensions of the uprising.
S. B. Chaudhuri wrote Civil Rebellion in the Indian Mutinies (iii), focusing on civilian participation.
The correct matching is a-i, b-iv, c-ii, d-iii, corresponding to Option 3.
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Which of the following State was not annexed under Lord Dalhousie's Doctrine of Lapse?
Detailed Explanation:
Doctrine of Lapse was introduced by Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856) to annex princely states without a natural male heir.
Nagpur (1854) annexed after Raghuji III died heirless; Satara (1848) was the first major annexation; Sambhalpur (1849) annexed after death of ruler.
Jaipur maintained a legitimate hereditary succession and was never annexed – it remained a princely state under British suzerainty until 1947.
Who among the following is not associated with Azad Hind Fauz (INA)?
Detailed Explanation:
S. A. Dange was a prominent communist leader and founder member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), not associated with the Azad Hind Fauj (INA).
Prem Singh Sehgal, Shahnawaz Khan, and General Mohan Singh were all key INA officers who fought for Indian independence under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose; Sehgal and Khan faced the famous Red Fort Trials (1945-46).
Match List - I of Pre-Congress organisations with List - II of their leaders and choose answer from the codes given below:
| List – I | List - II |
| a. Indian Association | i. Dadabhai Naoroji |
| b. Madras Mahajan Sabha | ii. M. Viraraghavachariar |
| c. Bombay Presidency Association | iii. Justice Ranade |
| d. Poona Sarvjanik Sabha | iv. Surendranath Banerjee |
Code :
Detailed Explanation:
Indian Association (1876) was founded in Calcutta by Surendranath Banerjee – a-iv.
Madras Mahajan Sabha (1884) was established by M. Viraraghavachariar – b-ii.
Bombay Presidency Association (1885) was started by Dadabhai Naoroji – c-i.
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1870) was founded by Justice Ranade – d-iii.
Correct matching: a-iv, b-ii, c-i, d-iii.
Which Indian leader for the first time used the 'safety-valve theory to attack the Moderates in the Congress?
Detailed Explanation:
Lala Lajpat Rai was the first Indian leader to use the Safety-Valve Theory to criticize the Moderates in the Indian National Congress.
The theory, proposed by W.C. Bonnerjee and A.O. Hume, suggested that the Congress was created by the British to act as a safety valve to release anti-British sentiments peacefully and prevent another 1857-like uprising.
Lala Lajpat Rai used this theory in his criticism to argue that the Moderates were serving British interests rather than genuinely fighting for Indian independence.
At which Viceroy was a bomb thrown on the occasion of his state entry into Delhi?
Detailed Explanation:
Lord Hardinge was the target of a bomb attack on 23 December 1912 during his ceremonial state entry into Delhi on an elephant.
The attack was carried out by revolutionaries including Rash Behari Bose as a protest against the transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi and British rule; Hardinge was wounded but survived.
Who got an opportunity to become Professor of Indian Philosophy in the University of California in 1911?
Detailed Explanation:
Har Dayal was offered the position of Professor of Indian Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1911.
He resigned from this academic position in 1913 to focus on revolutionary activities, co-founding the Ghadar Party in San Francisco to mobilize overseas Indians against British colonial rule.
Name the Principal of M.A.O. College, Aligarh, who encouraged Muslim Communalism in the last decades of the 19th Century?
Detailed Explanation:
Theodore Beck served as Principal of M.A.O. College, Aligarh from 1883 onwards and actively promoted Muslim separatism in the late 19th century.
He discouraged Muslims from joining the Indian National Congress and advocated maintaining a separate political identity loyal to the British, strengthening the Aligarh school's communal politics.
'The Young India', a Nationalist paper, was started by
Detailed Explanation:
Mahatma Gandhi started the English weekly 'Young India' in 1919 from Ahmedabad.
The paper became a powerful platform for promoting non-violence, Satyagraha, and nationalist ideas during the freedom struggle, with Gandhi serving as its editor until 1932.
Which of the following was not one of the features of the Government of India Act, 1935?
Detailed Explanation:
The Government of India Act, 1935 introduced three major constitutional features: Reconstruction of the Governor-General's Executive Council to include Indian representatives, Provincial Autonomy granting self-government to provinces in transferred subjects, and Proposal for an All-India Federation combining British Indian provinces and princely states.
"Appraisal of the Act of 1935" refers to evaluating or reviewing the Act itself, which was not a feature of the Act but rather an external analytical process. The Act was a constitutional framework, not a self-assessment mechanism.
The political strategy Struggle-Truce-Struggle or S-T-S came into prominence with a call for
Detailed Explanation:
The Struggle-Truce-Struggle (S-T-S) strategy was formulated by Mahatma Gandhi during the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22).
The strategy involved phases of active struggle (satyagraha), followed by temporary truce (negotiations), and resumption of struggle if demands were not met. This tactical approach came into prominence specifically with the Khilafat issue, where Gandhi used it to build Hindu-Muslim unity and pressure the British government regarding the Turkish Caliphate.
During the Quit India Movement, parallel ‘National Government’ was established at many places. Which is not correctly matched?
Detailed Explanation:
✅ Option 2 – Correct: Prati Sarkar was established in Satara (Maharashtra) under Y.B. Chavan during the Quit India Movement (1943-1946).
✅ Option 3 – Correct: Praja Mandal operated in Talcher (Orissa) as a parallel government structure.
✅ Option 4 – Correct: Jatiya Sarkar was set up in Tamluk (Bengal) under Satish Chandra Samanta in December 1942.
❌ Option 1 – Incorrect: Rajyati Sarkar was actually established in Bardoli (Gujarat), not in Kheda.
What was the chief economic foundation of the triangular commerce between India, China, and England?
Detailed Explanation:
The triangular trade between Britain, India, and China (18th–19th century) relied on opium as its economic cornerstone.
Britain cultivated opium in Bengal and Bihar, exported it to China (where it was sold illegally), and used the profits to purchase Chinese tea and silk without draining British silver reserves. This system bypassed Britain's trade deficit with China and funded colonial expansion, ultimately leading to the Opium Wars (1839–1842, 1856–1860).