UPSC Prelims 2012
Modern History Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Detailed Explanation:

Mahatma Gandhi began a fast unto death on 20 September 1932 at Yerwada Jail to protest the Communal Award announced by British PM Ramsay MacDonald in August 1932.

The Award provided separate electorates for Depressed Classes (Dalits), which Gandhi opposed as he feared it would permanently divide Hindu society and hinder social integration; the fast ended with the Poona Pact (24 September 1932) between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, replacing separate electorates with reserved seats within joint electorates.

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Statement 1 – Correct: The Government of India Act, 1919 introduced dyarchy in the provinces, dividing subjects into Reserved (controlled by Governor and Executive Council) and Transferred (controlled by elected Indian ministers).

❌ Statement 2 – Incorrect: Separate communal electorates for Muslims were introduced by the Morley-Minto Reforms (Government of India Act, 1909), not the 1919 Act.

✅ Statement 3 – Correct: The 1919 Act introduced provincial legislative devolution through bicameralism at the Centre and expanded provincial legislatures with greater legislative powers.

Detailed Explanation:

The Congress ministries resigned in October 1939 as a protest against Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's unilateral decision to declare India a belligerent in World War II without consulting Indian representatives.

❌ Statement 1 – Incorrect: Congress had formed ministries in 8 out of 11 provinces after the 1937 elections, and the inability to form ministries elsewhere was not a reason for resignation.

❌ Statement 2 – Incorrect: While a left-wing faction existed, it did not make ministry functioning impossible; ministries were working effectively until the war declaration.

❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: Communal disturbances were not widespread in these provinces at the time of resignation; the sole reason was the war declaration issue.

Detailed Explanation:

The Rowlatt Act (1919), officially the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, empowered the British government to imprison suspects without trial and conduct trials using summary procedures without juries.

It aimed to suppress nationalist and revolutionary activities post-World War I by curtailing civil liberties, leading to widespread protests including the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919).

Detailed Explanation:

National Social Conference was founded in 1887 by M.G. Ranade and Raghunath Rao because the Indian National Congress decided to focus on political issues and not include social reforms in its deliberations.

The Conference met annually as a subsidiary convention of INC at the same venue, advocated inter-caste marriages, and opposed kulinism and polygamy.

Detailed Explanation:

❌ Statement 1 – Incorrect: The Peasants and Workers Party of India was founded in 1947 by Keshavrao Jedhe and others in Maharashtra, not by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

✅ Statement 2 – Correct: All India Scheduled Castes Federation was established by Dr. Ambedkar in 1942 to fight for the rights of the Dalit community.

✅ Statement 3 – Correct: The Independent Labour Party was founded by Dr. Ambedkar in 1936 in Bombay and contested the 1937 elections.

Detailed Explanation:

❌ Statement 1 – Incorrect: Assessment of land revenue based on nature of soil and quality of crops was introduced by Sher Shah Suri and later refined by Akbar's Ain-i-Dahsala system under Todar Mal, not by the English.

❌ Statement 2 – Incorrect: Use of mobile cannons in warfare was introduced to India by the Mughals, particularly Babur at the First Battle of Panipat (1526), not by the English.

❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: Cultivation of tobacco and red chillies was introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th–17th centuries as these crops came from the Americas (New World), not by the English.

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Under the Ryotwari Settlement, peasants (ryots) paid land revenue directly to the Government, eliminating intermediaries like zamindars.

✅ Statement 2 – Correct: The Government issued Pattas (land ownership documents) to ryots, recognizing them as proprietors of land.

✅ Statement 3 – Correct: Lands were surveyed and assessed individually before taxation, with rates varying based on soil quality and crop type.

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Brahmo Samaj opposed idolatry and promoted worship of a formless, monotheistic God.
✅ Statement 2 – Correct: It rejected the need for a priestly class and advocated individual interpretation of religious texts based on reason and conscience.
❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: Brahmo Samaj did not uphold the doctrine of Vedic infallibility; it believed in the supremacy of reason and rationality over scriptural dogma.

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Dadabhai Naoroji exposed economic exploitation through his Drain of Wealth Theory, demonstrating how Britain drained India's resources via trade imbalances, unrequited exports, home charges, and pensions paid abroad.

❌ Statement 2 – Incorrect: Swami Vivekananda and cultural revivalists interpreted ancient Indian texts to restore self-confidence, not Naoroji.

❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: Naoroji focused on political and economic reforms and demanded Indian representation in governance; social reform was not his primary emphasis.

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Statement 1 – Correct: The Lahore Session (1929), presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, passed the historic Purna Swaraj resolution declaring complete independence as the goal, and 26th January 1930 was fixed as Independence Day.

❌ Statement 2 – Incorrect: The rift between Extremists and Moderates was resolved at the Lucknow Session (1916), not at Lahore (1929). The split had occurred at Surat (1907).

❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: The two-nation theory was not discussed at the 1929 Lahore Session; it was formally articulated in the Muslim League's Lahore Resolution (1940).