Advent of Europeans & British Expansion Quiz — 7 Free Questions

Question 1

Which early political body, formed in Calcutta mainly by wealthy zamindars and professionals, is regarded as a forerunner of later, broader Indian political organisations?

Question 2

What was one of the chief grievances of the Bengal Nawabs against the East India Company in the years before Plassey and Buxar?

Question 3

Which Governor-General presided over the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817 to 1818, which ended the office of the Peshwa and established British paramountcy over most of India?

Question 4

An Act of 1786 gave which Governor-General special power to override the decisions of his Council, and combined his office with that of Commander-in-Chief?

Question 5

Which Portuguese navigator discovered the sea route from Europe to India, landing at Calicut in 1498?

Question 6

Where was the important early printing press run by the missionaries William Carey, Joshua Marshman and William Ward, from which the first printed Bengali Bible and other early Indian-language works came?

Question 7

Which specific grievance, touching the religious feelings of both Hindu and Muslim sepoys, is usually given as the immediate spark of the revolt of 1857?

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About Advent of Europeans & British Expansion

This quiz is meant for students preparing for the IAS examination and other competitive tests, and for anyone who wants to understand how a handful of European trading companies grew, over three and a half centuries, into the British Raj. It begins with the arrival of the Portuguese under Vasco da Gama in 1498, the rise and fall of Portuguese, Dutch, Danish and French power, and the small early footholds of the English East India Company at Surat, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. It covers the Carnatic Wars and the Anglo-French rivalry in the south, and the pivotal events in Bengal, the Battle of Plassey and the Battle of Buxar, that turned a trading company into a territorial power. It then traces the wars of British expansion against Mysore, the Marathas, the Sikhs and Sindh, and policies such as the Subsidiary Alliance and the Doctrine of Lapse, through to the revolt of 1857 and the transfer of power from the Company to the Crown. It covers the constitutional Acts of Parliament from the Regulating Act of 1773 to the Government of India Act of 1858, the land revenue systems, and the economic, social, educational and press developments of the period, ending with the socio-religious reform movements and the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885. When complete it will have one hundred and twenty carefully checked questions, arranged in five packs of twenty-four.

Every question has four options, and the correct option can be in any position. After each question there is a detailed explanation of more than five lines, in simple Indian English that a school student can follow, giving the important dates, names, treaties and the points that examiners like to test.

Every fact has been checked against standard reference books on modern Indian history and against the record of the treaties and Acts themselves.