Moderates & Extremists — UPSC Prelims Modern History previous year questions

The Moderates (1885-1905) believed in peaceful, legal means. They used petitions, prayers and protests within the law.
They sought gradual reform, not removal of British rule. They also built public opinion through speeches and newspapers.
Overthrow of alien rule was not their aim. This was the goal of the Extremists and revolutionaries, who sought Swaraj.
The other three options were typical Moderate methods.
Remember: Moderates were called 'Pray and Petition' politicians.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Statement 1 is correct. People boycotted foreign goods and bought Indian cloth, soap and other goods. Handloom weaving and small industries revived.
Statement 2 is correct. The National Council of Education was set up in 1906 in Bengal. It started the Bengal National College and national schools outside government control.
Both statements are correct.
Remember: National Council of Education, 1906, Swadeshi.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence; NCERT Class XII, Themes in Indian History Part III

Pair 1 is correct. Tej Bahadur Sapru was a leading Liberal and presided over the All India Liberal Federation.
Pair 2 is correct. K.C. Neogy was a member of the Constituent Assembly.
Pair 3 is correct. P.C. Joshi was General Secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1935 to 1947.
So all three pairs are correctly matched.
Remember: Sapru was a Liberal leader and a key figure in the Nehru Report committee.

Source: UPSC CSE Prelims 2019; Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Lala Lajpat Rai wrote lives of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shri Krishna to inspire young Indians.
He stayed in the USA during the First World War and set up the Indian Home Rule League there.
He was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly.
Aurobindo and Bipin Chandra Pal were not in the Central Assembly.
Motilal Nehru was in the Assembly but did not write these biographies.
Remember: Lajpat Rai wrote Unhappy India and Young India.

Source: UPSC CSE Prelims 2018; Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Pair 1 is correct. Radhakanta Deb was the first president of the British Indian Association, set up in Calcutta in 1851.
Pair 2 is incorrect. Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty founded the Madras Native Association in 1852. The Madras Mahajana Sabha was founded in 1884 by M. Veeraraghavachariar, G. Subramania Iyer and others.
Pair 3 is correct. Surendranath Banerjea and Ananda Mohan Bose founded the Indian Association in 1876.
Remember: Madras Mahajana Sabha, 1884.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

At Surat in 1907, the Extremists under Tilak and the Moderates clashed over the presidency and the Swadeshi and boycott resolutions.
The deeper reason was the Extremists' loss of faith in the Moderates' method of petitions and negotiation.
Lord Minto's communal policy and the Muslim League (1906) came from a different line of events. Aurobindo was never a candidate for the presidency in this dispute.
Remember: Surat split, 1907; Rash Behari Ghosh presided.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

The Partition of Bengal took effect on 16 October 1905. Swadeshi and boycott of foreign goods were first used on a large scale in the protest against it.
The Home Rule Movement (1916) used propaganda and leagues. The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) came later and extended boycott widely. The Simon Commission protests of 1928 used black flags.
Remember: Swadeshi and boycott began in 1905.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence; NCERT Class XII, Themes in Indian History Part III

Dadabhai Naoroji wrote 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India' and put forward the drain of wealth theory.
R.C. Dutt wrote 'The Economic History of India' and criticised British economic policy.
G. Subramania Iyer, founder of The Hindu, also wrote against the drain of wealth and British economic policy.
So all three statements are correct.
Remember: Early nationalists exposed the economic drain.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

The Swadeshi movement began in 1905 against the partition of Bengal. Moderates wanted to limit it to Bengal and use mild means.
Extremists wanted a wider boycott and passive resistance. This difference led to the split at Surat in 1907.
The Quit India (1942), Non-Cooperation (1920) and Civil Disobedience (1930) movements came later.
Remember: Swadeshi led to the Surat split of 1907.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Statement 1 is incorrect. Annie Besant was the first woman President, in 1917 at Calcutta. Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman President, in 1925 at Kanpur.
Statement 2 is correct. Badruddin Tyabji presided over the Madras session of 1887. He was the first Muslim President.
Remember: Besant 1917, Naidu 1925, Tyabji 1887.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Statement 1 is correct. Naoroji put forward the drain of wealth theory in 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'. This showed the economic exploitation of India.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Interpreting ancient texts to restore Indian self-confidence is linked to leaders such as Vivekananda and Dayanand.
Statement 3 is incorrect. Naoroji did not rank social reform before political aims.
Remember: Naoroji, Drain Theory.

Source: Dadabhai Naoroji, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India; Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Wedderburn and Caine formed the Indian Parliamentary Committee in 1893. It brought together British MPs who were sympathetic to India.
Its aim was to raise Indian demands for political reform in the House of Commons.
It did not ask for independence in 1893. The Congress then sought reform, not freedom. It also did not work for Indians to enter the Imperial Judiciary or to sit in Parliament.
Remember: Indian Parliamentary Committee, 1893.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

The decision to partition Bengal was announced in July 1905. Protest began at once in Bengal.
On 7 August 1905, a meeting at Calcutta Town Hall declared a boycott of British goods. This launched the Swadeshi movement.
Tilak's 18-month sentence (1897) and the Chapekar brothers' death sentences (1898) came earlier. The Punjab events of 1907 came later.
Remember: Partition of Bengal, 1905.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Statement 1 is incorrect. Annie Besant was the first woman President in 1917.
Statement 2 is correct. C.R. Das was elected President for the 1921 Ahmedabad session while in prison, and Hakim Ajmal Khan presided in his place.
Statement 3 is incorrect. George Yule was the first British President in 1888. Hume was the founder and general secretary.
Statement 4 is correct. Alfred Webb, an Irishman, presided at Madras in 1894.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Statement 1 is correct. Theodore Beck was the Principal of the Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College, Aligarh.
Statement 2 is correct. The Ilbert Bill of 1883 was introduced during the Viceroyalty of Lord Ripon.
Statement 3 is correct. Pherozeshah Mehta was a founder of the Indian National Congress and presided over its 1890 session.
Statement 4 is incorrect. Badruddin Tyabji presided over the Congress in 1887. He was not linked to the Muslim League.
Remember: Tyabji was the first Muslim President of the Congress.

Source: Spectrum, A Brief History of Modern India

The Surat Split took place in 1907.
The Communal Award was announced in 1932.
The All Party Convention met in 1928 to consider the Nehru Report.
The Poorna Swaraj resolution was passed at the Lahore session in 1929.
So the matching is A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1.
Remember: the Poorna Swaraj resolution was passed in December 1929 and Independence Day was first observed on 26 January 1930.

Source: Spectrum, A Brief History of Modern India

Statement 1 is correct. The first session met at Bombay from 28 to 31 December 1885.
Statement 2 is correct. Surendranath Banerjee did not attend as he was holding the Indian National Conference at Calcutta at the same time. The two bodies merged in 1886.
So both statements are correct.
Remember: The Indian Association of Banerjee had organised the Conference.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Land Holders' Society (1837) was founded by Dwarkanath Tagore, so A matches 4.
British India Society (1839) was founded by William Adam, so B matches 3.
Indian Society (1872) was founded by Anand Mohan Bose, so C matches 2.
Indian Association (1876) was founded by S.N. Banerjee, so D matches 1.
The code is 4 3 2 1.
Remember: Indian Association (1876) preceded the Congress.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Abul Kalam Azad presided over Ramgarh, 1940, so A matches 4.
Sarojini Naidu presided over Kanpur, 1925, so B matches 3.
Motilal Nehru presided over Amritsar, 1919, so C matches 1.
Rajendra Prasad presided over Bombay, 1934, so D matches 2.
The code is 4 3 1 2.
Remember: Naidu - first Indian woman President, Kanpur 1925.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence

Dr M.A. Ansari presided over Madras, 1927, so A matches 3.
Purushottam Das Tandon presided over Nasik, 1950, so B matches 4.
Sarojini Naidu presided over Kanpur, 1925, so C matches 2.
Subhash Chandra Bose presided over Haripura, 1938, so D matches 1.
The code is 3 4 2 1.
Remember: Bose - Haripura 1938, then Tripuri 1939.

Source: Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence; Congress session records