Day-577 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: C
Explanation:
Anushilan Samiti involved Aurobindo Ghosh, Bhupendra Natha Datta, Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das, Surendranath Tagore, Pulin Bihari Das, Sarala Devi, Rash Behari Bose, Jatindranath Mukherjee, Sachindranath Sanyal.
Additional information:
Anushilan Samiti
• Anushilan Samiti advocated using revolutionary violence to overthrow the British Empire in India during the first three decades of the 20th century.
• It had two branches: the Jugantar Group in Kolkata and the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti in Dhaka. The Samiti was influenced by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s “Anandmath,” as well as the ideas, works, and speeches of Swami Vivekanand.
• On March 24, 1902, Calcutta-based lawyer Pramathanath Mitra founded the Anushilan Samiti. It was led by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh’s younger sibling.
Anushilan Samiti Objective
• It urged its followers to recruit Indian soldiers for the revolutionary societies and obtain weapons from outside powers.
• They advocated military training and outlined guerrilla combat strategies and tactics in “Vartaman Rananiti,” which was published in 1907.
Anushilan Samiti Revolutionary Activities
• The Samiti worked in conjunction with other revolutionary groups both in India and overseas. It was headed by the nationalists Aurobindo Ghosh and his brother Barindra Ghosh, who was influenced by ideologies such as Italian nationalism and Kakuzo Okakura’s Pan-Asianism.
• The Samiti participated in a number of well-documented instances of revolutionary attacks against the British government and interests in India, including the first assassination attempts on British Raj officials.
• These were followed by the 1912 attempt on the Viceroy of India’s life and the Seditious Conspiracy during World War I, both of which were headed, respectively, by Rash Behari Bose and Jatindranath Mukherjee.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: The mission proposed a plan that aimed to establish a federal system for India, granting significant autonomy to the provinces.
Statement 2 is incorrect: The British government acknowledged India’s right to be a dominion in the Cripps mission.
Statement 3 is incorrect: The aims of cabinet mission was to obtain an agreement with the Indian leaders to the frame the constitution for India. For which a constitution-making body i.e the Constituent Assembly of India was to be formulated.
Additional information:
• The Cabinet Mission of 1946 is regarded as a watershed moment in India’s struggle for independence, as it played a critical role in shaping the country’s future.
• After WWII, Britain’s control over India became increasingly untenable, and the demand for independence grew stronger.
• Recognizing the importance of a political settlement, the British government sent the Cabinet Mission to India in March 1946 to meet with Indian political leaders and find a solution.
• In February 1946, the Attlee government announced the dispatch of a high-powered mission to India composed of three British cabinet members (Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India; Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade; and A.V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty) to explore options for a negotiated, peaceful transfer of power to India. (The mission’s chairman was Pethick Lawrence.)

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: Canning government passed General Service Enlistment Act. It decreed that all future recruits for Bengal army would have to give an undertaking to serve anywhere their service might be required by government.
Statement 2 is correct: Sepoys in the Bengal Army refused to travel abroad by sea for fear of losing caste status.
Lord Canning, the Governor-General of India, decided to pass the Act that forced deployment literally overseas, as he was aware of the resistance he would face because of the Kala pani taboo. It was thus one of the main causes for the Great Uprising of 1857.
Additional information:
• The revolt of 1857 was the first expression of organised resistance against the British East India Company
• It began as a revolt of the sepoys of the British East India Company’s army but eventually secured the participation of the masses.
• The revolt is known by several names: the Sepoy Mutiny (by the British Historians), the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion (by the Indian Historians), the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence (by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar).
Causes of The Revolt
Political Cause
• British policy of expansion: The political causes of the revolt were the British policy of expansion through the Doctrine of Lapse and direct annexation.
• A large number of Indian rulers and chiefs were dislodged, thus arousing fear in the minds of other ruling families who apprehended a similar fate.
• Rani Lakshmi Bai’s adopted son was not permitted to sit on the throne of Jhansi.
• Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.
• Jaitpur, Sambalpur and Udaipur were also annexed.
• The annexation of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie on the pretext of maladministration left thousands of nobles, officials, retainers and soldiers jobless. This measure converted Awadh, a loyal state, into a hotbed of discontent and intrigue.
• Doctrine of lapse: The notable British technique called the Doctrine of Lapse was first perpetrated by Lord Dalhousie in the late 1840s.
• It involved the British prohibiting a Hindu ruler without a natural heir from adopting a successor and, after the ruler died or abdicated, annexing his land.
• To those problems added the growing discontent of the Brahmans, many of whom had been dispossessed of their revenues or had lost lucrative positions.
Social and Religious Cause
• The rapidly spreading Western Civilisation in India was alarming concerns all over the country.
• An act in 1850 changed the Hindu law of inheritance enabling a Hindu who had converted into Christianity to inherit his ancestral properties.
• The people were convinced that the Government was planning to convert Indians to Christianity.
• The abolition of practices like sati and female infanticide, and the legislation legalizing widow remarriage, were believed as threats to the established social structure.
• Introducing western methods of education was directly challenging the orthodoxy for Hindus as well as Muslims
• Even the introduction of the railways and telegraph was viewed with suspicion.
Economic Cause
• In rural areas, peasants and zamindars were infuriated by the heavy taxes on land and the stringent methods of revenue collection followed by the Company.
• Many among these groups were unable to meet the heavy revenue demands and repay their loans to money lenders, eventually losing the lands that they had held for generations.
• Large numbers of sepoys belonged to the peasantry class and had family ties in villages, so the grievances of the peasants also affected them.
• After the Industrial Revolution in England, there was an influx of British manufactured goods into India, which ruined industries, particularly the textile industry of India.
• Indian handicraft industries had to compete with cheap machine- made goods from Britain.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: The British and Indians met on an equal footing in the First Round Table Conference.
Statement 2 is incorrect: Gandhi was the sole representative of Indian National Congress in Second Round Table Conference. Gandhi did not participate in the First Round Table Conference.
Statement 3 is incorrect: Based on the discussion of Third Round Table Conference, the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed.
Additional information:
Round Table Conference Dates
• The First Round Table Conference was held on 12 November 1930 in London. It was the first conference arranged between the Britishers and the Indians as equals. It was boycotted by the Indian National Congress.
• The Second Round Table Conference was held in London from 7 September 1931 to 1 December 1931 with the participation of Gandhi and the Indian National Congress.
• The third Round Table Conference took place between 17 November 1932 and 24 December 1932.
First Round Table Conference Features
• The inaugural Round Table Conference, which took place in London between November 1930 and January 1931, was presided over by Ramsay MacDonald. The British and Indians finally met on an equal footing at this point. The Congress and a few notable business figures declined to attend.
• The Princely States, Muslim League, Justice Party, Hindu Mahasabha, and others were present. Little was achieved as a result of the conference. The British government acknowledged that any discussion regarding India’s future constitutional governance would need to include involvement from the Indian National Congress.

First Round Table Conference Issues
• One of the topics that was covered was the structure of the federal government. The provincial charter was considered. Defense Services for Minorities in Sindh and the Northwest Frontier Provinces.
• Legislative accountability of the executive Separate electorates for “untouchables” was supported by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. A national federation was suggested by Tej Bahadur Sapru. The Muslim League supported this. The princely states agreed, provided that their internal sovereignty is upheld.
First Round Table Conference Outcome
• Between 1930 and 1931, the First Round Table Conference took place. Although the Round Table Conference (RTC) amendments were approved, they were never put into practice.
• The Civil Disobedience Movement was continued by Indian National Congress leaders during the First RTC. The First Round Table Conference was therefore considered a failure.
• The British government expressed hope for INC leaders’ attendance at the Second Round Table Conference and acknowledged the significance of the Congress Party’s participation in Round Table Conferences for successful reform implementation.
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact, which put an end to the Civil Disobedience Movement and decided to participate in the Second RTC, was signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin in March 1931.
• The British government administration recognised the importance of including the Indian National Congress in discussions about India’s future constitutional arrangements.

Answer: D
Explanation:
Given below is correctly matched pairs:
Land revenue system – Implemented in the region
1) Permanent settlement – Bengal, Bihar, Orissa
2) Ryotwari settlement – Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorgh
3) Mahalwari system – North-West Frontier, Central Province, Gangetic Valley
Additional information:
Features of the Permanent Settlement
• Landlords or Zamindars were recognised as the owners of the land. They were given hereditary rights of succession of the lands under them.
• The Zamindars could sell or transfer the land as they wished.
• The Zamindars’ proprietorship would stay as long as he paid the fixed revenue at the said date to the government. If they failed to pay, their rights would cease to exist and the land would be auctioned off.
• The amount to be paid by the landlords was fixed. It was agreed that this would not increase in future (permanent).
• The fixed amount was 10/11th portion of the revenue for the government and 1/10th was for the Zamindar. This tax rate was way higher than the prevailing rates in England.
• The Zamindar also had to give the tenant a patta which described the area of the land given to him and the rent he had to pay the landlord
Ryotwari system
• This system of land revenue was instituted in the late 18th century by Sir Thomas Munro, Governor of Madras in 1820.
• This was practised in the Madras and Bombay areas, as well as Assam and Coorg provinces.
• In this system, the peasants or cultivators were regarded as the owners of the land. They had ownership rights, could sell, mortgage or gift the land.
• The taxes were directly collected by the government from the peasants.
• The rates were 50% in dryland and 60% in the wetland.
• The rates were high and unlike the Permanent System, they were open to being increased.
• If they failed to pay the taxes, they were evicted by the government.
• Ryot means peasant cultivators.
• Here there were no middlemen as in the Zamindari system. But, since high taxes had to be paid only in cash (no option of paying in kind as before the British) the problem of moneylenders came into the show. They further burdened the peasants with heavy interests.
Mahalwari system
• The Mahalwari system was introduced by Holt Mackenzie in 1822 and it was reviewed under Lord William Bentinck in 1833.
• This system was introduced in North-West Frontier, Agra, Central Province, Gangetic Valley, Punjab, etc.
• This had elements of both the Zamindari and the Ryotwari systems.
• This system divided the land into Mahals. Sometimes, a Mahal was constituted by one or more villages.
• The tax was assessed on the Mahal.
• Each individual farmer gave his share.
• Here also, ownership rights were with the peasants.
• Revenue was collected by the village headman or village leaders.
• It introduced the concept of average rents for different soil classes.
• The state share of the revenue was 66% of the rental value. The settlement was agreed upon for 30 years.
• This system was called the Modified Zamindari system because the village headman virtually became a Zamindar.