Question Discussion & Solution

The answer is Dadabhai Naoroji.

• On 6th July 1892, Dadabhai Naoroji (candidate for the Liberal Party) won a hard-fought election to become the first non-white to be elected to the British Parliament.
  • He also became the first Asian member of the House of Commons.
• One of the most prominent of Naoroji’s supporters was the famous Florence Nightingale.

Important Points

•  Dadabhai Naoroji:
  • Title: ‘Grand Old Man of India’
  • 1867, he propounded Economic Drain Theory where he pointed out that a quarter of India’s economic revenues were being seized by Britain.
  • In London, he established the London Indian Society and then the East Indian Association (1866) which spoke out for the rights of Indians in the British Empire.
  • In 1885, he was one of the founder members of the Indian National Congress.
    • Became the president of the Indian National Congress Sessions three times:
      • 1886, Calcutta
      • 1893, Lahore
      • 1906, Calcutta: declared that the goal of the Congress was to attain swaraj.
  • Newspaper/Journal/Book under Dadabhai Naoroji:
    • Voice of India newspaper
    • The message of reform among the Parsi community was spread by the newspaper Rast Goftar (Truth-Teller).
    • Poverty and un-British Rule in India

Additional Information

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale:
  • In 1899, Gokhale joined the Indian National Congress, emerging as one of the main leaders of its ‘moderate’ wing.
  • Between 1899 and 1902, he was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council followed by a stint at the Imperial Legislative Council from 1902 till his death.
    • Gokhale played a key role in framing the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 and advocated for the expansion of legislative councils at both the Centre and the provinces.
  • Gokhale became Congress president at its Banaras session in 1905.
  • Gandhi regarded Gokhale as his political mentor and wrote a book in Gujarati dedicated to the leader titled ‘Dharmatma Gokhale’.
• C Rajagopalachari:
  • Rajaji’s personal interaction with Gandhi in 1919 led him to give up his legal profession to be fully involved in the nation’s independence struggle.
    • The relationship between them only grew stronger and Mahatma called Rajaji the ‘keeper of my conscience’.
  • C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast in Tamil Nadu, in support of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
  • C. Rajagopalachari prepared a formula for Congress-League cooperation in 1944. Gandhi supported the formula.
  • He was the 1st Indian Governor-General of India.
  • In 1954 he was conferred with the Bharat Ratna for his contribution to Indian politics and literature.
  • Conflicts grew between Rajaji and Nehru, this led to Rajaji forming the Swatantra Party.
• Acharya J B Kriplani:
  • Kripalani was well-known as a Gandhian and a socialist.
  • He became the Congress president in 1946.
  • In 1972-73, he and other socialist leaders led movements across the country urging people to lead nonviolent protests against Indira’s government.
  • In his autobiography My Times, he criticized the entire Congress leadership, except Mahatma Gandhi, for Partition.

The correct answer is 1 and 2 only.

• The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act came into force on 16th July 1856 which legalize the marriage of a widow.
• The act was enacted on July 26th, 1856.
• The main personality who fought for Widow Remarriage was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Veerasalingam Pantulu.
• The first Governor-General of India Lord William Bentick had also abolished Sati Custom.
• The Hindu Remarriage Act 1856 or Act XV, 1856 not only provide protection but also aimed at safeguarding the condition of men who married widows.
• It was one of the most important social reforms towards the empowerment of women.
• The Act was passed by Lord Canning and was drafted by Lord Dalhousie.
• The act was popular among both rich and poor classes in the history of India.

Image of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar:

Image of Veersalingam Pantulu:

The Correct answer is Rajaram Mohan Roy.

Key Points

• Rajaram Mohan Roy:
  • Ram Mohan Roy is considered the Prophet of Nationalism.
  • He is a tireless social reformer who inaugurated the age of enlightenment and liberal reformist modernization in India.
  • Raja Ram Mohan Roy is known as the father of Indian Nationalism.
  • He was called as The Father of the Indian Renaissance and the Prophet of Indian Nationalism.
  • Ram Mohan Roy was given the title of ‘Raja’ by the titular Mughal Emperor of Delhi, Akbar II.
  • Raja Rammohan Roy started the first Bengali language weekly newspaper (Sambad Koumudi )and also the first newspaper in the Indian language
  • Roy set up the Vedanta College to spread his teachings of Hindu monotheism.
  • Gopal Krishna Gokhale called Roy the ‘Father of Modern India’.

​​Additional Information

• Mahatma Gandhi:
  • He was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar.
  • He was a politician, lawyer, writer, and social activist.
  • Real name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
  • His father's name was Karamchand Gandhi, who was the dewan of Porbandar in Gujarat and Putlibai Gandhi was the mother of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • Kasturba Gandhi was known as the wife of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • He introduced non-violence tactics called Satyagraha against the British.
  • His first satyagraha was Champaran Satyagraha in 1917.
  • He was known as the father of the Nation, because of his contributions to the Indian Independence Movement
  • Khilafat movement, Non-cooperation movement, the Salt March, and quit India movement are the most popular movements of Mahatma Gandhi initiated during the fighting for freedom.
  • Rabindranath Tagore called him Mahatma
  • Autobiography: My experiments with the truth.
  • He was assassinated on January 30, 1948.​
• Jawaharlal Nehru:
  • Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
  • He was born on November 14, 1889, in Allahabad.
  • November 14 is celebrated as Children's Day in India.
  • He is the Prime Minister who has had the longest term in office.
  • He served as the prime minister of India from 15th August 1947 to 1964.
  • He is the architect of the Preamble of the Indian constitution.
  • He was the Prime Minister of India during the Indo-China war in 1962.
  • He served as the first chairman of the planning commission of India.
  • He was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1955.
  • The name Panchayati raj was given by Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • National herald is the newspaper started by Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • He is the first prime minister to die in harness.
  • Glimpses of the world, Discovery of India are the famous works of Nehru.
  • Discovery of India Deals with history, uniqueness, features of our country India.
  • Shantivan is the cremation ground of Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • He died on May 27, 1964, in New Delhi​​ 
• ​Rabindranath Tagore:
  • He was an Indian Poet, writer, painter, composer and social reformer.
  • He was born on May 7, 1861, in Calcutta.
  • He was the first Asian who received Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.
  • His work Geetanjali got the Nobel Prize.
  • He was credited for writing our National Anthem Jana Gana Mana.
  • He was also written the National Anthem of Bangladesh. ( Amar Shonar Bangla).
  • Chandalika was a famous play of Rabindranath Tagore.
  • Rabindranath Tagore returned 'the sir' (Knighthood) award to the British government in 1919 to protest against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in which 379 innocent people died at the hands of the British army. 
  • He founded Vishwa Bharathi, Oldest central university.
  • Rabindranath Tagore gave the title of Mahatma to M K Gandhi.
  • He died on August 7, 1941, in Calcutta.

The correct answer is Ajmer.

Key Points

• Ajmer-Merwara was the Union Territory in Rajasthan before integration.
  • Ajmer was a separate state within India from 1950 to 1956 as the capital of India.
  • The state of Ajmer was formed in 1950 from the territory of the erstwhile province of Ajmer-Merwara, which became a province of the Indian Union on 15 August 1947.

Additional Information

• Udaipur / Mewar was the oldest princely state of Rajasthan.
• Jodhpur (Marwar) is the largest princely state of Rajasthan by area.
• Karauli (November 15, 1817) was the first princely state that had a treaty with the British.
  • ​Kota Principality (December 1817) was the Second Princely State that had a treaty with the British.
  • Sirohi (September 1823) was the last principality of Rajasthan that had a treaty with the British.

The correct answer is Bahadur Shah.

• In 1708, following a dispute, the new emperor Bahadur Shah resumed Amer into the Mughal territory and re-named it as Mominabad.

Additional Information

Some important facts about Bahadur Shah are as follows-