1. Which of the following actions was NOT adopted by Indians in the Non-Cooperation Movement?
A. Boycott of civil services
B. Boycott of English inventions
C. Boycott of courts
D. Surrender of titles that the government awarded
Solution
The correct answer is theBoycott of English inventions
Key Points
- The noncooperation movement was to be nonviolent and to consist of Indians resigning their titles; boycotting government educational institutions, the courts, government service, foreign goods, and elections; and, eventually, refusing to pay taxes.
- The movement had its roots in the anti-partition movement which was started to oppose Lord Curzon’s decision of dividing the province of Bengal.
- The Anti-Partition Campaign was launched by Moderates to exert pressure on the government to prevent the unjust partition of Bengal from being implemented.
- The petitions were written to the government, public meetings were held and the ideas were spread through newspapers such as Hitabadi, Sanjibani, and Bengalee.
- The partition led to protest meetings in Bengal under which the pledge to boycott foreign goods was first taken.
Additional Information
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
- Jallianwala Bagh Massacre also called the Massacre of Amritsar was an incident on April 13, 1919, in which British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in Punjab.
- The Jallianwala Bagh site in Amritsar is now a national monument.
After the Incident
- The Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that he had received in 1915. Gandhi soon began organizing his first large-scale and sustained nonviolent protest (satyagraha) campaign, the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22). Hence option 4th is Incorrect
- The then government of India ordered an investigation of the incident (the Hunter Commission), which is 1920 censured Dyer for his actions and ordered him to resign from the military.
2. The communist party of India was formed in 1920 in _________ by M.N. Roy, Abani Mukharji
A. Kanpur
B. Calcutta
C. Tashkent
D. Singapore
Solution
The correct answer is Tashkent.
Key Points
- The communist party of India was formed in 1920 in Tashkent by M.N. Roy, and Abani Mukharji.
- The Communist conference in which CPI was formed was held at Kanpur in the same location at which the congress session was held.
- The Communist Conference was convened by Satya Bhakt.
- CPI worked in close association with Indian National Congress.
- In 1924, many communists – S.A. Dange, Muzzafar Ahmad, Shaukat Usmani, Nalini Gupta were jailed in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case.
- Some leaders were critical of both Swarajists and No Changers.
- These leaders were influenced by international currents.
- They stressed the need to combine nationalism and anti-imperialism with social justice.
Confusion Points
- In 1925, the Indian Communist Conference at Kanpur formalized the formation of the CPI.
3. Who proposed for a mass Civil Disobedience Movement in 1922 to release the political prisoners of Non Cooperation Movement?
A. Zakir Hussain
B. Mahatma Gandhi
C. Lala Lajpat Rai
D. CR Das
Solution
The correct answer is Mahatma Gandhi.
Key Points
- Mahatma Gandhi proposed for a mass Civil Disobedience Movement in 1922 to release the political prisoners of Non Cooperation Movement.
- Non Cooperation Movement
- It was launched by Mahatma Gandhi on August 1, 1920.
- It was the first mass movement organized nationwide during India’s struggle for freedom.
- Nagpur session in December 1920 defined the Non – Cooperation program. Gandhiji said that ff non-cooperation was effectively carried out, India would win swaraj within a year.
- During the Non-Cooperation Movement thousands of Indians were put in jail. Gandhiji himself was arrested in March 1922, and charged with sedition.
- In February 1922, a group of peasants attacked and torched a police station in the hamlet of Chauri Chaura, in the United Provinces (now, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand).
- Several constables died in the fire. This act of violence prompted Gandhiji to call off the movement.
- Later, Mahatma Gandhi decided to call off the Civil Disobedience movement and entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March 1931.
- By this Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhiji consented to participate in a Round Table Conference (the Congress had boycotted the first Round Table Conference) in London and the government agreed to release the political prisoners.
- In December 1931, Gandhiji went to London for the conference, but the negotiations broke down and he returned disappointed.
4. The Gandhi — Irwin Pact was associated to which of the following movements of India?
A. Rowlatt
B. Civil Disobedience
C. Non co-operation
D. Quit India
Solution
The correct answer is Civil Disobedience.
Key Points
- The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was associated with the civil disobedience movement of India.
- The agreement was signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin.
- The pact was signed on 5th March 1931.
- Arranged before the second round table conference in London.
- As per Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhiji discontinued the Civil Disobedience movement and agreed to attend the second round table conference.
- Proposed conditions of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact are:
- Participation by the Indian National Congress in the Second Round Table Conference.
- Removal of the tax on salt.
- Withdrawal of all ordinances imposing curbs on the activities of the Indian National Congress issued by the Government of India.
- Discontinuation of Salt March.
- Non-Co-operation movement was the first mass political movement led by Gandhiji.
- Started in 1920.
- Main goal: The attainment of Swaraj.
- Rowlatt Act was passed on 6th February 1919.
- Gandhiji called this act as ‘The Black Act’.
- Lord Chelmsford was the British viceroy during the Rowlatt Act.
- Quit India resolution was passed on 8th August 1942.
- The failure of the Crips mission was the immediate cause of the Quit India movement.
- “Quit India” was the famous slogan raised during this movement.
5. The Nehru Report was presented at the All Parties Conference held at Lucknow in the year _________.
A. 1924
B. 1928
C. 1930
D. 1932
Solution
The correct answer is 1928.
Key PointsNehru Report:
- The Nehru Report of 15 August 1928 was a memorandum that proposed a new dominion status for India.
- It was also aimed to set up a federal government for the constitution of India and asked to devise Joint Electorates with reservation of seats for minorities.
- In November 1927, the British Government had appointed the Simon Commission to see how the Government of India was working. He was also assigned to give constitutional reforms for India.
- Since the commission didn’t have any Indian members, many leaders revolted against the Simon Commission.
- Even after the revolt, the British didn’t make any changes to the commission. Instead, they asked the Indians to frame the constitution themselves.
- This challenge was accepted by many nationalists and the Nehru Report is the result of it.
- In December 1927, at its Madras session, the Indian National Congress set up an All Parties Conference to draft a Constitution for India
- On May 19, 1928 at its meeting at Bombay, the All Parties Conference appointed a committee with Motilal Nehru as its chairman.
- Unfortunately, the Nehru Report was not adopted by the All Party Convention in Calcutta in December 1928. Some communal leaders from the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, and the Sikh League objected.
6. ___________was an important member of the Hindustan Republican Association, who along with his associates executed the train dacoity at Kakori.
A. Sohan Singh Bhakna
B. Jatin Banerjee
C. Khudiram Bose
D. Ashfaqulla Khan
Solution
The correct answer is Ashfaqulla Khan.
Important Points
- Ashfaqulla Khan was an important member of the Hindustan Republican Association, who along with his associates executed the train dacoity at Kakori.
- Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) was a revolutionary organization established by Chandrasekhar Azad in the year 1928.
- The Kakori conspiracy occurred on 9th August 1925. Some people of the party including Bismil, Rajendra Lahiri, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Thakur Roshan Singh looted a train carrying government money near Lucknow.
- In 1927, all four men involved in this activity were hanged by the British Government.
Additional Information
- In 1928, the Simon Commission came to India.
- In 1931, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were hanged to death.
7. Who among the following was popularly known as Masterda, who led the Chittagong Armory raid in April 1930 in British India?
A. Surya Sen
B. Ganesh Ghosh
C. Anant Singh
D. Lokenath Baul
Solution
The correct answer is Surya Sen.
Key Points
- Surya Sen
- Surya Sen was a revolutionary freedom fighter who was associated with the Chittagong Armoury Raid of 1930.
- He was born on 22 March 1894 in Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh.
- He was popularly known as Masterda Surya Sen.
- He joined a revolutionary organisation named Anushilan Samiti in Bengal and also participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement.
- He had also worked as a Maths teacher in the national school in Chittagong.
- He led the famous Chittagong armoury raid on 18 April 1930 with his associates-Anant Singh, Ganesh Ghosh and Lokenath Baul.
- He was arrested in February 1933 and hanged in January 1934.
Important Points
- Chittagong Armoury Raid
- Chittagong Armoury Raid was an attempt to capture two main armouries in Chittagong on 18 April 1930. The raid involved 65 activists under the banner of the Indian Republican Army, Chittagong Branch.
- Surya Sen devised this plan and implemented it with the help of his associates and other revolutionaries.
- They successfully captured the armouries but failed to locate the ammunition.
- They destroyed the telephone and telegraph lines and dislocated the railway link of Chittagong with the rest of Bengal.
- They also tried to take the members of the European Club as hostages.
- The raid was quite successful and after the raid, the revolutionaries took shelter in the Jalalabad hills.
- After a few days, the police traced the revolutionaries there and then over 80 troops and 12 revolutionaries were killed in the ensuing gunfight in the Battle of Jalalabad Hills.
8. A separate electorate was created for the first time by the Communal Award of Ramsay Macdonald in August 1932.
A. for muslims
B. For Indian Christians
C. Anglo-Indians
D. for untouchables
Solution
The correct answer is for untouchables
Key Points
- Communal Award(1932) and Poona Act(1933)
- The Communal Award was by British Prime Minister Ramsay McDonald on 16th August 1932.
- In the wake of inconclusive Round Table Talks, the British government had declared that if a consensus was not reached on the separate representation of minorities, a unilateral communal award will be made.
- The government kept its promise in the form of the Communal Award of 1932.
- To grant separate electorates to minority communities in India, including Muslims, Sikhs, and Dalits India
- The award was opposed for the provision of a separate electorate by Congress and other nationalist leaders.
- And was viewed as a part of the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy of Britain.
- The Award was highly controversial and opposed by Mahatma Gandhi.
- Gandhi called the Communal Award as – the ‘English Attack on Hindu-Muslim Unity’.
- Communal Award was supported by many among the minority communities, most notably the Dalit leader, Dr B R Amedkar.
- Madan Mohan Malviya acted as a mediator between Gandhi and Ambedkar.
- Gandhi reached an agreement with Ambedkar to have a single Hindu electorate with Dalits having seats reserved within it.
- This is called the Poona Act.
9. Which year Simmon Commission came to India?
A. 1928
B. 1931
C. 1932
D. 1935
Solution
The correct answer is 1928.
Key Points
- The British government appointed the Simon Commission to review the Government of India Act 1919 in the year 1927.
- The Simon commission arrived in India in 1928.
- It was formed to study constitutional reforms and make recommendations to the government in India.
- Simon commission was an all-white commission without any Indian members.
- The commission consisted of seven Englishman and sir John Simon was its chairman.
- It was formed on 26th November 1927.
- Simon commission arrived in India on 3rd February 1928.
- The Madras session of the congress passed a resolution to boycott the Simon Commission.
- Simon commission submitted its reports on 27th May 1930.
10. What was the ultimate goal of Gandhiji’s Salt Satyagraha?
A. Repeal of Salt laws
B. Curtailment of the government’s power
C. Economic relief to the common people
D. ‘PurnaSwaraj’ for India
Solution
The correct answer is the Repeal of Salt laws.
- Repeal of Salt laws was the ultimate goal of Gandhiji’s Salt Satyagraha.
Key Points
- The Salt Satyagraha was a mass civil disobedience movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi against the salt tax imposed by the British government in India. He led a large group of people from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 th March 1930 till Dandi, a coastal village in Gujarat, to break the salt law by producing salt from seawater.
- Dandi March and Salt Satyagrah:
- Gandhi, along with a band of 78 members of Sabarmati Ashram, was to march from his headquarters in Ahmedabad through the villages of Gujarat for 240 miles. On reaching the coast at Dandi, the salt law was to be violated by collecting salt from the beach.
- Spread Of Salt Disobedience:
- non-payment of revenue in ryotwari areas;
- the no-chowkidar-tax campaign in zamindari areas
- violation of forest laws in the Central Provinces.
Additional Information
- Satyagraha at different places and leaders:
- Tamil Nadu- C. Rajagopalachari
- Malabar- K.Kalappan
- Orissa- Gopalbandhu Chaudhari
- Assam- Strike against the Cunningham Circular.
