India Under British Rule: Governance and Administration FAQs

1. After 1857, the British administration's policies shifted away from earlier modernising intentions and instead adopted a stance based on the pretext that:

2. The British policy of "divide and rule" after 1857 sought to set which groups against each other?

3. After which year did British authorities decide to use the middle and upper educated classes among Muslims as a tool against rising nationalism?

4. Consider the following statements regarding British attitude towards educated Indians: (I) The founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885 was interpreted by the British as a challenge to their authority. (II) From 1885 onwards, the British opposed all those who stood for modern education. (III) The British hostility towards educated Indians began well before the emergence of nationalist leadership. Which of the above is/are correct?

5. In their pursuit of reactionary policies after 1857, the British sought alliances with which social groups as a counterweight against nationalist-minded intelligentsia?

6. Lands of most of which taluqdars, confiscated prior to 1857, were restored to them by the British as part of their reactionary alliance-building?

7. After siding with reactionary elements of Indian society, the British withdrew support to:

8. The first commission to investigate factory working conditions in India was appointed in 1875 following demand from which interest group?

9. The first Indian Factory Act, dealing primarily with child labour, was passed in which year?

10. Consider the following statements regarding the Indian Factory Act of 1881: (I) Employment of children under 7 years of age was prohibited. (II) Working hours for children were restricted to 9 hours per day. (III) Working hours for women were fixed at 11 hours per day. Which of the above is/are correct?

11. The Indian Factory Act of 1891 raised the minimum age for child workers from 7 to:

12. Under the Indian Factory Act of 1891, whose working hours were left entirely unregulated?

13. The labour laws of 1881 and 1891 did not apply to which sector, where labour continued to be exploited ruthlessly?

14. In 1835, who lifted restrictions imposed earlier on the Indian press?

15. Which Act, passed in 1878, imposed restrictions specifically on the Indian-language (vernacular) press?

16. Who introduced the Vernacular Press Act of 1878, fearing the growing influence of the nationalist press?

17. The Vernacular Press Act, 1878 was repealed under public protest in which year?

18. Fresh press restrictions were imposed again in 1908 and 1910 in the wake of which movement?

19. The systematic exclusion of Indians from higher grades of civil and military service, and from railway compartments, parks, hotels and clubs, reflected the British colonial notion of:

20. Which Viceroy stated that "though Indians in services should be encouraged, there is a point at which we must reserve the control to ourselves, if we are to remain at all"?

21. Until which year did the British follow a policy of non-interference in the social, religious and cultural life of India?

22. Consider the following statements regarding the developments in Europe that influenced British social and cultural policy in India after 1813: (I) The Industrial Revolution created a need to make India a market for British goods, requiring partial modernisation of Indian society. (II) The Intellectual Revolution gave rise to new attitudes of mind, manners and morals. (III) The French Revolution's message of liberty, equality and fraternity discouraged the spread of democratic and nationalist ideas in the colonies. Which of the above is/are correct?

23. Which school of thought among British administrators advocated introducing as few changes as possible, respecting Indian philosophy and culture, and included early figures like Warren Hastings and Edmund Burke?

24. Which school of thought, becoming influential especially after 1800, was sharply critical of Indian society and culture and used this to justify India's economic and political enslavement?

25. Which school of thought applied advanced humanistic and rational thought to India, believing the country had the capacity to improve, and was strongly supported by Raja Rammohan Roy?

26. Later representatives of the Conservative school of thought among British officials in India included Munro, Metcalfe, and:

27. Consider the following statements regarding the role of Christian missionaries in colonial India: (I) They supported the Radicals, believing a scientific approach would undermine native culture and beliefs. (II) They supported the Imperialists since law and order and British supremacy were essential for their propaganda. (III) They opposed business and capitalist interests as incompatible with religious conversion. Which of the above is/are correct?

28. After 1858, the British policy of hesitant modernisation was gradually abandoned, and the British instead came to side with:

29. British policy towards the princely states after 1857 was guided by a two-point policy: using them as a bulwark of empire and subordinating them completely to British authority, known as the policy of:

30. To reward princely states for their loyalty during the revolt of 1857, the British abandoned the policy of annexation in favour of a new policy to:

31. The fiction of Indian states standing in equality with the Crown as independent sovereign states ended in 1876 when the Queen adopted which title?

32. Who made it clear that the princes ruled their states merely as agents of the British Crown?

33. Under "paramountcy," the British Government exercised the right to interfere in the internal affairs of princely states through their residents or by:

34. Consider the following statements regarding British foreign policy in India: (I) It aimed at protecting the invaluable Indian empire. (II) It aimed at expanding British commercial and economic interests. (III) It aimed at forming permanent alliances with rival European imperialist powers such as Russia and France to jointly govern Asia. Which of the above is/are correct?

52. India Under British Rule: Governance and Administration