Modern History Set 129 | MROY Class

Modern History Questions & Answers (Set 129)

The first session of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 was attended by how many delegates? – 72
Who authored the famous “Safety Valve Theory” regarding the foundation of the Indian National Congress in his 1916 book Young India? – Lala Lajpat Rai
In 1890, the British Government issued a circular prohibiting government employees from attending INC meetings. Who was the Viceroy at this time? – Lord Lansdowne
The historic split between the Moderates and Extremists occurred at the Surat session of the INC in 1907. Who was the President of this session? – Rash Behari Ghosh
The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was a landmark agreement that united the Moderates and Extremists and forged an alliance with the Muslim League. Who presided over this session? – Ambica Charan Majumdar
Mahatma Gandhi’s first major experiment with Satyagraha on Indian soil, the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, was directed against which oppressive system? – Tinkathia
During the Kheda Satyagraha (1918), which young lawyer from Gujarat emerged as a trusted lieutenant to Mahatma Gandhi? – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (April 13, 1919) took place when people gathered to protest the arrest of which two prominent nationalist leaders? – Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal
To protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, who famously renounced his knighthood awarded by the British government? – Rabindranath Tagore
The Non-Cooperation Movement was abruptly called off by Mahatma Gandhi following the violent Chauri Chaura incident. In which month and year did this happen? – February 1922
Following the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party. What was their primary political strategy? – Enter the legislative councils to wreck them from within
The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was a revolutionary organization founded in Kanpur in 1924. Who among the following was its primary founder? – Sachindra Nath Sanyal
In 1928, to reflect a shift toward socialist ideology, the HRA was reorganized into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) at which location? – Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
The Simon Commission (1927) was heavily boycotted by Indians across the political spectrum. What was the primary reason for this boycott? – It was an all-white commission with no Indian members.
The historic Lahore session of the INC (1929) famously passed the ‘Purna Swaraj’ resolution. It also decided to observe which date as the first “Independence Day”? – January 26, 1930
Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement with the historic Dandi March to break the salt law. What was the starting point of this march? – Sabarmati Ashram
Following the Dandi March, which leader famously led the brutal but non-violent salt satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works after Gandhi’s arrest? – Abbas Tyabji and Sarojini Naidu
The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) resulted in the suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement and Congress’s agreement to attend which Round Table Conference? – Second Round Table Conference
In 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced the ‘Communal Award’. Which specific provision of this award prompted Gandhi to undertake a fast unto death? – Separate electorates for the Depressed Classes
The Poona Pact of 1932 resolved the crisis of the Communal Award by agreeing to which of the following mechanisms for the Depressed Classes? – Reserved seats within general joint electorates
At the highly contested Tripuri Congress session in 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose defeated Gandhi’s preferred candidate to win the presidency. Who was this candidate? – Pattabhi Sitaramayya
To secure Indian cooperation during World War II, the British government offered the ‘August Offer’ in 1940. What was its core constitutional promise? – Dominion Status after the war
Rejecting the August Offer, Mahatma Gandhi launched the ‘Individual Satyagraha’. Who was selected as the first Satyagrahi? – Acharya Vinoba Bhave
The Cripps Mission (1942) proposed post-war Dominion Status. Mahatma Gandhi famously dismissed these proposals by calling them what? – “A post-dated cheque on a crashing bank”
Following the failure of the Cripps Mission, the historic “Quit India” resolution was passed by the All India Congress Committee on August 8, 1942, at which specific location? – Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay
The Indian National Army (INA) was originally conceived to fight the British with Japanese assistance. Who was its first commander and founder in Malaya? – Captain Mohan Singh
To break the political deadlock, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee dispatched the Cabinet Mission to India in 1946. Which prominent British official was NOT part of this mission? – Lord Wavell
Frustrated by the Cabinet Mission Plan’s rejection of an independent Pakistan, the Muslim League called for “Direct Action Day”. On what date did this occur, sparking the Great Calcutta Killings? – August 16, 1946
The plan that laid down the formal procedure and timeline for the partition of British India into two independent dominions is known as the Mountbatten Plan. On which date was it announced? – June 3, 1947
Following India’s independence on August 15, 1947, who served as the first Governor-General of the independent Dominion of India until 1948? – Lord Mountbatten

MROY Class

Modern History Set 129

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📌 INC Foundation

Q.1) The first session of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 was attended by how many delegates?

Ans > 72

Foundation and Venue: The Indian National Congress was officially founded in December 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant. The inaugural session was originally scheduled to be held in Poona, but due to a sudden outbreak of cholera, the venue was shifted to Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay.
Delegate Composition: Exactly 72 delegates from various provinces attended this historic first meeting. The majority of these attendees consisted of lawyers, journalists, and educated upper-class intellectuals, representing the English-educated elite of India.
Early Leadership and Goals: Prominent early nationalist figures like Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Badruddin Tyabji were instrumental in these early stages. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee, an eminent Bengali lawyer, presided over this first session. The early demands of the INC were largely moderate, focusing heavily on administrative reforms, Indianization of the civil services, and greater representation of Indians in legislative councils, rather than demanding outright independence from British rule.

📌 Extremist Era

Q.2) Who authored the famous “Safety Valve Theory” regarding the foundation of the Indian National Congress in his 1916 book Young India?

Ans > Lala Lajpat Rai

The Core Concept: In his 1916 publication “Young India,” the fierce Extremist leader Lala Lajpat Rai argued that the British intentionally created the INC as a strategic “safety valve.” The theory suggests that A.O. Hume, backed by the British establishment, formed the Congress to release the growing, volatile discontent among educated Indians in a peaceful, controlled manner to permanently prevent another violent uprising akin to the devastating 1857 revolt.
Hume’s Supposed Evidence: Lajpat Rai claimed that Hume had secret access to deeply alarming, multi-volume CID reports detailing imminent mass peasant uprisings across India, which prompted him to rapidly organize the moderate political body.
Ideological Usage: This theory was heavily weaponized by the Extremist faction to harshly criticize the Moderate leadership’s passive policy of “petitions, prayers, and protests.” Interestingly, Marxist historians like R.P. Dutt later adopted and expanded upon this exact theory to argue that the INC was inherently a bourgeois organization designed to protect British imperialist interests from a genuine proletarian revolution.

📌 British Policies

Q.3) In 1890, the British Government issued a circular prohibiting government employees from attending INC meetings. Who was the Viceroy at this time?

Ans > Lord Lansdowne

Shift in British Attitude: While Lord Dufferin initially displayed a facade of neutrality by hosting a garden tea party for Congress delegates during its second session, the British government quickly grew highly suspicious and deeply hostile as the INC rapidly began demanding tangible administrative reforms and financial accountability. Dufferin himself later dismissed the Congress as representing only a “microscopic minority.”
The Strict Prohibition: It was under the Viceroyalty of Lord Lansdowne in 1890 that the government took concrete administrative action. He issued a strict, formal circular explicitly prohibiting all government employees and civil servants from attending or participating in any INC meetings or associated nationalist political gatherings.
Curtailing Influence: The British administration was terrified of the growing influence of the “Bengali Babu” and educated intellectuals over the vast Indian civil service machinery. This circular effectively curtailed freedom of speech and political association for Indian bureaucrats, permanently cementing the adversarial relationship between the colonial state and the Indian National Congress.

📌 INC Sessions

Q.4) The historic split between the Moderates and Extremists occurred at the Surat session of the INC in 1907. Who was the President of this session?

Ans > Rash Behari Ghosh

The Brewing Conflict: The ideological clash had been intensifying since the 1905 Partition of Bengal. The Extremists (led by Lal, Bal, and Pal) wanted to forcefully expand the Swadeshi and Boycott movements beyond Bengal to all of India, while the Moderates (led by Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta) insisted on strictly confining protests to Bengal and operating strictly within constitutional limits.
The Presidential Dispute: The session was originally planned for Nagpur (an Extremist stronghold), but the Moderates deliberately shifted the venue to Surat (a Moderate stronghold) to block Bal Gangadhar Tilak from legitimately contesting the presidency. The Moderates successfully managed to force the election of their candidate, Rash Behari Ghosh.
The Violent Aftermath: The tension climaxed on the convention floor with a physical altercation where a shoe was famously thrown at the leadership podium. The Congress formally split, and the Extremists were completely expelled. The British immediately capitalized on this division by unleashing severe repression, famously arresting Tilak in 1908 and deporting him to the brutal Mandalay prison in Burma for six long years.

📌 Political Alliances

Q.5) The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was a landmark agreement that united the Moderates and Extremists and forged an alliance with the Muslim League. Who presided over this session?

Ans > Ambica Charan Majumdar

The Grand Reunion: The 1916 Lucknow session, skillfully presided over by Ambica Charan Majumdar, witnessed the historic readmission of the Extremists (led by a newly released Tilak) back into the Congress fold after nearly a decade of bitter separation. The passing of prominent Moderate leaders like Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta in 1915 heavily facilitated this necessary reconciliation.
The Role of Home Rule Leagues: The energetic nationwide political awakening generated by the respective Home Rule Leagues operated by Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak acted as the primary catalyst, applying massive grassroots pressure on the leadership to present a unified front against the British.
The Muslim League Alliance: More importantly, the session resulted in the Lucknow Pact between the INC and the Muslim League. Orchestrated heavily by a young Muhammad Ali Jinnah—who Sarojini Naidu famously dubbed the “Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity”—the Congress made a massive, controversial compromise by formally accepting the concept of separate electorates for Muslims in exchange for a joint demand for immediate self-government (Swaraj).

📌 Gandhian Era

Q.6) Mahatma Gandhi’s first major experiment with Satyagraha on Indian soil, the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, was directed against which oppressive system?

Ans > Tinkathia

The Oppressive Math: The Tinkathia system was an incredibly exploitative agrarian law enforced by wealthy European planters in the Champaran district of Bihar. It legally bound local, impoverished peasants to cultivate indigo dye on precisely 3/20th (three kathas out of twenty) of their most fertile landholdings, severely impacting their ability to grow necessary food crops.
Gandhi’s Intervention: An insistent local peasant named Rajkumar Shukla tracked Gandhi down at the Lucknow Congress session and persuaded him to witness the misery. Upon arriving in 1917, Gandhi systematically documented the grievances alongside emerging young leaders like Dr. Rajendra Prasad, J.B. Kripalani, and Mazhar-ul-Haq.
The Triumphant Result: Facing immense, organized, non-violent civil disobedience, the British administration capitulated and appointed an inquiry committee with Gandhi as a member. This resulted in the passing of the Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918, which totally abolished the Tinkathia system and forced the European planters to refund 25% of the illegal dues they had extorted, marking Gandhi’s first triumphant political victory in India.

📌 Freedom Fighters

Q.7) During the Kheda Satyagraha (1918), which young lawyer from Gujarat emerged as a trusted lieutenant to Mahatma Gandhi?

Ans > Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

The Agrarian Crisis: The farmers of the Kheda district in Gujarat were facing extreme economic devastation due to massive, widespread crop failure and a deadly concurrent plague epidemic. According to the Bombay Presidency revenue rules, if the crop yield was mathematically less than 25% of the normal yield, the farmers were legally entitled to total land revenue remission. The British strictly refused to grant this.
The Rise of Patel: While Gandhi remained the spiritual leader of the movement, the actual heavy organizational lifting was executed by a highly successful, westernized lawyer who abandoned his lucrative practice: Vallabhbhai Patel. Working through the Gujarat Sabha, Patel traveled from village to village organizing the peasants’ strict no-tax campaign.
The Final Compromise: Despite brutal government confiscations of cattle and property, the peasants held remarkably firm under Patel’s iron discipline. Eventually, the British government secretly issued administrative orders directing officials to recover land revenue only from those wealthy landowners who could easily afford to pay, effectively granting the demanded relief to the poor peasants and forging a lifelong bond between Patel and Gandhi.

📌 Mass Movements

Q.8) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (April 13, 1919) took place when people gathered to protest the arrest of which two prominent nationalist leaders?

Ans > Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal

The Rowlatt Context: The intense tension in Punjab was driven by the draconian Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919 (Rowlatt Act). This hated law, famously summarized by the public as “No Dalil, No Vakil, No Appeal,” allowed the British government to imprison suspected political activists without trial. The immediate spark for the gathering was the sudden, secret deportation of highly respected local leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal.
The Brutal Execution: On the festival day of Baisakhi, a large, unarmed crowd—including women and children—gathered in the enclosed Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. General Reginald Dyer, commanding Gurkha and Baluchi soldiers, blocked the only narrow exit and ordered unprovoked firing directly into the densest parts of the crowd until ammunition ran out, killing roughly 1,000 civilians.
The Aftermath: Dyer shockingly testified to the subsequent Hunter Commission that his explicit motive was not to disperse the crowd, but “to produce a moral effect” to terrorize all of Punjab. This horrific massacre utterly destroyed any remaining faith in British justice, fundamentally altering the trajectory of the freedom struggle. Decades later, revolutionary Udham Singh assassinated Michael O’Dwyer in London for his role in the atrocity.

📌 Protest & Honors

Q.9) To protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, who famously renounced his knighthood awarded by the British government?

Ans > Rabindranath Tagore

The Letter of Renunciation: The horrific news of the massacre and the subsequent brutal implementation of martial law across Punjab deeply shattered the Indian intellectual elite. The poet, philosopher, and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote a highly powerful, scathing letter to Viceroy Lord Chelmsford formally renouncing his British Knighthood.
The Moral Argument: In his letter, Tagore powerfully articulated the collective agony, stating that the disproportionate severity of the punishment inflicted upon unarmed people was without parallel in civilized history. He famously declared, “The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation.”
A Nationwide Shift: Tagore’s dramatic renunciation was a massive, unprecedented symbolic blow to the British Empire’s claim to moral authority in India. It triggered a wave of resignations and returned honors across the nation. Shortly after, Mahatma Gandhi also surrendered his prestigious Kaiser-i-Hind medal—awarded for his ambulance services during the Boer War—during the launch of the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements.

📌 Mass Movements

Q.10) The Non-Cooperation Movement was abruptly called off by Mahatma Gandhi following the violent Chauri Chaura incident. In which month and year did this happen?

Ans > February 1922

The Trigger Event: On February 4-5, 1922, a large group of Congress Khilafat volunteers was participating in a peaceful picketing protest against high meat prices and liquor sales in the small town of Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh. The local police aggressively intervened and opened direct fire on the unarmed crowd.
The Violent Retaliation: Enraged by the unprovoked firing, the massive mob of peasants furiously chased the fleeing policemen back to their station and deliberately set the building on fire. A total of 22 policemen and officers were burned alive in the resulting inferno.
The Sudden Suspension: Prioritizing the absolute sanctity of non-violence (Ahimsa), Gandhi immediately convened the Congress Working Committee at Bardoli and passed a resolution unilaterally calling off the entire nationwide Non-Cooperation Movement. This abrupt decision drew heavy, bitter criticism from younger, radical leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, who felt a massive national surge was wasted. Shortly after, Gandhi was arrested for sedition and sentenced to six years in prison.

📌 Political Strategy

Q.11) Following the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party. What was their primary political strategy?

Ans > Enter the legislative councils to wreck them from within

The Ideological Split: The sudden suspension of the Non-Cooperation movement left a massive political vacuum. The Congress split into two factions at the Gaya Session of 1922. The “No-Changers” (led by Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel) wanted to focus strictly on constructive village work and spinning khadi. The “Pro-Changers” (led by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru) proposed fighting elections under the Government of India Act 1919.
Formation and Objective: When their proposal was defeated at Gaya, C.R. Das resigned as Congress President and formed the Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party on January 1, 1923. Their explicit goal was to enter the British-designed legislative councils and deliberately obstruct all government business to constantly expose the sham of the constitutional reforms.
Electoral Success: Operating as a disciplined block, the Swarajists achieved significant electoral success, winning 42 out of the 101 elected seats in the Central Legislative Assembly. They successfully managed to consistently defeat government budgets and notably threw out the oppressive Public Safety Bill in 1928, proving that constitutional obstruction could effectively paralyze the colonial administration.

📌 Revolutionary Phase

Q.12) The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was a revolutionary organization founded in Kanpur in 1924. Who among the following was its primary founder?

Ans > Sachindra Nath Sanyal

Foundation and Vision: Founded in October 1924 in Kanpur by Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Ram Prasad Bismil, and Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, the HRA was born out of deep disillusionment with Gandhi’s abrupt suspension of the Non-Cooperation movement. The organization explicitly aimed to establish a Federal Republic of the United States of India through a highly organized armed rebellion and universal adult franchise.
The Manifesto: Sachindra Nath Sanyal personally penned the famous, highly influential revolutionary manifesto titled “The Revolutionary,” which was widely distributed across major North Indian cities. It argued fiercely that force must be met with force and heavily influenced a new generation of young freedom fighters.
The Kakori Action: To heavily fund their armed revolution and purchase modern weapons, the HRA executed the daring Kakori Train Robbery in August 1925, looting government treasury bags. The severe British crackdown that followed resulted in the hanging of Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Singh, and Rajendra Lahiri, leaving the organization severely weakened but deeply respected by the youth.

📌 Revolutionary Phase

Q.13) In 1928, to reflect a shift toward socialist ideology, the HRA was reorganized into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) at which location?

Ans > Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

The Ideological Shift: Following the severe setbacks of the Kakori conspiracy, the younger surviving revolutionaries recognized the need for a broader ideological base. In September 1928, at a secret meeting held at the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, young leaders like Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, and Sukhdev formally rebranded the organization as the HSRA.
Embracing Marxism: Influenced heavily by the successful Russian Revolution and Marxist principles, the inclusion of the word “Socialist” signaled a massive strategic move away from isolated, individual heroic acts of assassination. Their new, primary goal was organizing mass movements of industrial workers and poor peasants to completely overthrow both British imperialism and domestic capitalism.
Major Actions: Under the HSRA banner, the group executed the assassination of ASP John P. Saunders in Lahore (December 1928) to avenge the fatal lathi charge on Lala Lajpat Rai. Later, in April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw harmless smoke bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly “to make the deaf hear,” deliberately courting arrest to use the colonial courts as a platform to broadcast their socialist propaganda.

📌 British Commissions

Q.14) The Simon Commission (1927) was heavily boycotted by Indians across the political spectrum. What was the primary reason for this boycott?

Ans > It was an all-white commission with no Indian members.

The Imperial Insult: Officially named the Indian Statutory Commission, the British government appointed an all-British committee consisting of seven Members of Parliament (including a young Clement Attlee) in 1927. Their strict mandate was to evaluate India’s fitness for further constitutional reforms. However, the Conservative government explicitly and arrogantly excluded any Indian representation from the panel.
Universal Boycott: This blatant racial insult united fractured Indian politics. At the 1927 Madras session, the INC formally resolved to completely boycott the commission. The Muslim League (under Jinnah) and the Hindu Mahasabha also joined the boycott. Only a few fringe groups, like the Justice Party in Madras, offered any support.
The Violent Repression: When the commission arrived in 1928, they were met everywhere with massive strikes, closed shops, and thousands of protesters carrying black flags chanting “Simon, Go Back!” The British responded with extreme police brutality. It was during one such massive anti-Simon protest in Lahore that the veteran leader Lala Lajpat Rai was severely beaten in a police lathi charge, leading directly to his death.

📌 Purna Swaraj

Q.15) The historic Lahore session of the INC (1929) famously passed the ‘Purna Swaraj’ resolution. It also decided to observe which date as the first “Independence Day”?

Ans > January 26, 1930

The Ideological Victory: Under the dynamic presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the December 1929 Lahore session marked a massive paradigm shift. The Congress formally rejected the Nehru Report’s moderate demand for Dominion Status and officially declared “Purna Swaraj” (Complete Independence) as the absolute, non-negotiable goal of the Indian national movement.
The Midnight Hoisting: In a highly symbolic and emotionally charged moment, on the midnight of December 31, 1929, Nehru hoisted the newly adopted tricolor flag of India on the banks of the river Ravi, amidst massive cheers and nationalist slogans.
The First Independence Day: The session passed a resolution fixing January 26, 1930, to be universally observed as the first “Independence Day” across the country, asking citizens to take a formal pledge of freedom. The immense historical significance of this specific date is exactly why, twenty years later, January 26 was deliberately chosen as the day to formally adopt the Constitution of India in 1950 (Republic Day).

📌 Civil Disobedience

Q.16) Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement with the historic Dandi March to break the salt law. What was the starting point of this march?

Ans > Sabarmati Ashram

The Salt Monopoly: The draconian British Salt Act of 1882 gave the colonial government an absolute monopoly on the collection and manufacture of salt, levying a heavy tax on a basic human necessity that disproportionately crushed the poorest Indians. Gandhi brilliantly chose salt as the central symbol of defiance because it universally connected every Indian household regardless of religion or caste.
The Historic Journey: Starting on March 12, 1930, from his base at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gandhi and exactly 78 carefully chosen followers embarked on a grueling 240-mile (385 km) trek to the coastal village of Dandi. The march garnered massive international press coverage, transforming it into a global media event.
The Defiant Act: On the morning of April 6, 1930, Gandhi waded into the Arabian Sea and famously boiled seawater to legally manufacture a handful of salt. This simple, highly publicized act of defying the Empire sparked a massive, nationwide wave of civil disobedience, prompting millions to illegally manufacture salt, boycott foreign cloth, and resign from government posts. Women, led by figures like Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, participated in unprecedented numbers.

📌 Civil Disobedience

Q.17) Following the Dandi March, which leader famously led the brutal but non-violent salt satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works after Gandhi’s arrest?

Ans > Abbas Tyabji and Sarojini Naidu

The Leadership Vacuum: Anticipating a massive raid on the government-owned Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat, the British preemptively arrested Mahatma Gandhi. The leadership of the march immediately passed to Abbas Tyabji, a retired judge. When Tyabji was also swiftly arrested, the renowned poet and political activist Sarojini Naidu courageously took total command of the thousands of volunteers.
The Unbelievable Brutality: On May 21, 1930, column after column of non-violent satyagrahis marched silently toward the salt pans. They were met by hundreds of native policemen who mercilessly struck the unresisting marchers over the head with steel-tipped lathis, fracturing skulls and breaking bones, while the marchers strictly adhered to Gandhian non-violence and refused to even raise an arm in self-defense.
Global Outrage: This horrific, one-sided violence was vividly documented by the American journalist Webb Miller. His highly syndicated report exposed the sheer brutality of British imperialism to the entire world, creating a massive wave of international sympathy for the Indian cause and severely embarrassing the British government in London and Washington.

📌 Pacts & Agreements

Q.18) The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) resulted in the suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement and Congress’s agreement to attend which Round Table Conference?

Ans > Second Round Table Conference

The Delhi Truce: Signed on March 5, 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact placed the Indian National Congress and the British colonial government on equal diplomatic footing for the very first time. The British formally agreed to withdraw all repressive ordinances, release all political prisoners (strictly excluding those convicted of violence), and permit coastal villagers to legally manufacture salt for personal consumption.
The Compromises: In return, Gandhi controversially agreed to entirely suspend the massive Civil Disobedience Movement. Significantly, he failed to secure two major emotional demands: commuting the impending death sentences of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev to life imprisonment, and establishing a public inquiry into police atrocities. This caused immense anger among the youth.
The Conference Failure: The most crucial outcome was Congress’s agreement to participate in the constitutional negotiations in London. Gandhi traveled to the Second Round Table Conference in late 1931 as the sole, exclusive representative of the INC. However, the conference failed miserably to resolve the deadlock over minority representation, leading Gandhi to return empty-handed and immediately resume civil disobedience.

📌 Constitutional Crises

Q.19) In 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced the ‘Communal Award’. Which specific provision of this award prompted Gandhi to undertake a fast unto death?

Ans > Separate electorates for the Depressed Classes

The Imperial Strategy: Announced in August 1932 by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, the Communal Award was the ultimate manifestation of the British “Divide and Rule” policy. It not only maintained separate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, and European Christians but aggressively extended this divisive mechanism to the “Depressed Classes” (Dalits) as well.
The Political Threat: By granting separate electorates to Dalits, the British effectively and legally classified them as a distinct political minority completely outside the broader Hindu fold. Mahatma Gandhi viewed this as a highly sinister, calculated attempt to permanently vivisect Hindu society, predicting it would lead to catastrophic, irreversible social divisions.
The Extreme Protest: Deeply disturbed by this constitutional maneuver, Gandhi, who was imprisoned in the Yerwada Central Jail in Poona, commenced a “fast unto death” in September 1932. His rapidly deteriorating health caused massive national panic, generating immense political and moral pressure on Dalit leaders, particularly Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, to urgently negotiate a compromise to save his life.

📌 Poona Pact

Q.20) The Poona Pact of 1932 resolved the crisis of the Communal Award by agreeing to which of the following mechanisms for the Depressed Classes?

Ans > Reserved seats within general joint electorates

The Historic Compromise: Under immense pressure to save Gandhi’s failing life, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar engaged in intense, bitter negotiations with upper-caste Hindu leaders like Madan Mohan Malaviya. The resulting Poona Pact was formally signed on September 24, 1932, inside the Yerwada Jail, ending the fast.
Abandoning Separate Electorates: The core of the pact required Dr. Ambedkar to painfully abandon the hard-won demand for separate electorates for the Depressed Classes provided by MacDonald’s award. In this system, only Dalits would have voted for Dalit candidates.
The Gains for Dalits: In exchange for this massive concession, the pact heavily increased the political representation of Dalits. The number of specific seats explicitly reserved for the Depressed Classes within the general joint electorate in the provincial legislatures was dramatically increased from the 71 offered by the British to 147. Additionally, 18% of the total seats in the Central Legislature were securely reserved for them.

📌 INC Internal Dynamics

Q.21) At the highly contested Tripuri Congress session in 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose defeated Gandhi’s preferred candidate to win the presidency. Who was this candidate?

Ans > Pattabhi Sitaramayya

The Ideological Civil War: The 1939 Tripuri session witnessed the most severe internal crisis in Congress history. Subhas Chandra Bose, representing the radical, militant left-wing, sought re-election to issue a strict 6-month ultimatum to the British to grant independence, failing which a massive mass movement would be launched. The conservative Gandhian right-wing strongly opposed this aggressive strategy.
The Defeat: Mahatma Gandhi openly backed Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya for the presidency. However, in a stunning upset, Bose defeated Sitaramayya by 1580 votes to 1377. Gandhi famously and publicly declared that “the defeat of Sitaramayya is my own defeat,” signaling total non-cooperation from the old guard.
The Resignation: Following Gandhi’s declaration, the entire Congress Working Committee (except Sarat Chandra Bose) aggressively resigned en masse. Faced with an impossible situation where he could not form a working committee or function effectively without Gandhi’s support, Bose was forced to resign as President in April 1939 (replaced by Rajendra Prasad) and subsequently formed the radical Forward Bloc within the Congress.

📌 WWII Era

Q.22) To secure Indian cooperation during World War II, the British government offered the ‘August Offer’ in 1940. What was its core constitutional promise?

Ans > Dominion Status after the war

The Desperate Context: By mid-1940, the geopolitical situation was disastrous for Britain following the shocking fall of France to Nazi Germany. Desperate for Indian political cooperation and massive manpower for the war effort, Viceroy Lord Linlithgow issued the ‘August Offer’.
The Stale Promise: The offer’s core constitutional concession was a promise to grant India “Dominion Status” at some unspecified date after the war concluded. It also promised to vastly expand the Viceroy’s executive council to include a majority of Indians and to set up a constituent assembly, composed mainly of Indians, to frame a new constitution post-war.
The Veto and Rejection: Crucially, the offer included a clause stating that no future constitution would be adopted without the consent of minorities, effectively giving the Muslim League a massive veto over the nation’s future. The Indian National Congress, having demanded ‘Purna Swaraj’ a decade earlier, summarily rejected the offer, with Nehru declaring Dominion Status as “dead as a doornail.”

📌 Gandhian Era

Q.23) Rejecting the August Offer, Mahatma Gandhi launched the ‘Individual Satyagraha’. Who was selected as the first Satyagrahi?

Ans > Acharya Vinoba Bhave

The Symbolic Strategy: Following the absolute rejection of the August Offer in 1940, Gandhi faced a dilemma. He wanted to register a strong national protest against dragging India into the war without consent, but he deliberately avoided launching a massive mass movement that could turn violent or severely disrupt the British fight against fascism.
The Methodology: He devised the ‘Individual Satyagraha’. Rather than mass crowds, carefully selected individuals would give prior notice to the police, arrive at a specific public spot, and deliver an explicitly anti-war speech, demanding the freedom of speech to preach against participation in the war effort, thereby formally courting arrest.
The Chosen Leaders: Gandhi personally selected the highly respected Gandhian scholar and constructive worker Acharya Vinoba Bhave to be the very first satyagrahi. After Bhave’s arrest, Jawaharlal Nehru was selected as the second, and Brahma Datt as the third. Eventually, this limited campaign resulted in over 25,000 highly disciplined political workers willingly going to jail across India.

📌 British Missions

Q.24) The Cripps Mission (1942) proposed post-war Dominion Status. Mahatma Gandhi famously dismissed these proposals by calling them what?

Ans > “A post-dated cheque on a crashing bank”

The Urgent Context: In March 1942, as the Imperial Japanese Army rapidly conquered Southeast Asia and advanced dangerously close to the borders of British India (having taken Rangoon), intense pressure from US President Roosevelt and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek forced Prime Minister Winston Churchill to dispatch Sir Stafford Cripps to negotiate with Indian leaders.
The Flawed Proposals: The Cripps Mission offered nothing for the immediate present. It merely repeated the promise of post-war Dominion Status and a constituent assembly. Critically, it introduced a deeply alarming “local option” clause, allowing any province unwilling to accept the new constitution to legally secede from the Indian Union, essentially providing a concrete blueprint for the partition of India.
The Famous Rejection: The Indian National Congress uniformly rejected the proposals as they offered no immediate transfer of power for the defense of India. Mahatma Gandhi summarized the intense frustration with British stalling tactics by famously describing the offer as “a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank,” highlighting the absurdity of accepting future promises from an empire that appeared to be actively losing the war.

📌 Quit India Movement

Q.25) Following the failure of the Cripps Mission, the historic “Quit India” resolution was passed by the All India Congress Committee on August 8, 1942, at which specific location?

Ans > Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay

The Final Ultimatum: Frustrated by the absolute failure of the Cripps Mission and the looming threat of a Japanese invasion, the Congress leadership realized that immediate British withdrawal was the only way to effectively defend India. The historic “Quit India” resolution was formally ratified at the massive Gowalia Tank Maidan (now known as August Kranti Maidan) in Bombay.
The “Do or Die” Call: It was here on August 8 that Mahatma Gandhi delivered his most electrifying and uncharacteristically militant speech, issuing the famous mantra: “We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery… Do or Die.”
The Leaderless Uprising: Terrified by the scale of the impending movement, the British launched “Operation Zero Hour” in the early hours of August 9, arresting Gandhi and the entire top tier of the Congress leadership. With the prominent leaders jailed, young, underground socialists like Aruna Asaf Ali, Jayaprakash Narayan, and Ram Manohar Lohia took over, leading massive, violent disruptions of railway lines and telegraph wires, and establishing parallel governments (Prati Sarkars) in regions like Satara and Ballia.

📌 Indian National Army

Q.26) The Indian National Army (INA) was originally conceived to fight the British with Japanese assistance. Who was its first commander and founder in Malaya?

Ans > Captain Mohan Singh

The Initial Formation: The conceptualization and initial formation of the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) began in 1942. Following the humiliating surrender of the British forces in Singapore, the Japanese handed over roughly 40,000 Indian Prisoners of War (POWs). Captain Mohan Singh, a former British Indian Army officer, brilliantly convinced these prisoners to form a liberation army to fight alongside the Japanese against the British.
The First Disbandment: However, the first INA collapsed relatively quickly by late 1942 due to severe disagreements between Mohan Singh and the Japanese military command over the size, autonomy, and exact operational role of the Indian forces, leading to Singh’s arrest by the Japanese.
The Resurgence under Bose: The true potential of the INA was only realized after the dramatic arrival of Subhas Chandra Bose in Singapore in 1943. Bose completely revitalized the demoralized troops, assumed supreme command, and established the Provisional Government of Free India. He vastly expanded the army with civilian recruits from Malaya and Burma and famously established the all-women Rani of Jhansi regiment.

📌 Pre-Independence

Q.27) To break the political deadlock, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee dispatched the Cabinet Mission to India in 1946. Which prominent British official was NOT part of this mission?

Ans > Lord Wavell

The Mission’s Composition: In a final, desperate attempt to peacefully transfer power and keep a united India within the Commonwealth, the newly elected Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee sent a high-powered, three-member Cabinet Mission to New Delhi in March 1946. The members were Lord Pethick-Lawrence (Secretary of State for India), Sir Stafford Cripps (President of the Board of Trade), and A.V. Alexander (First Lord of the Admiralty). Lord Wavell was the serving Viceroy of India and thus not a member of the mission arriving from London.
The Complex Plan: After failing to achieve a consensus between the Congress and the Muslim League, the Mission published its own complex plan. It explicitly rejected Jinnah’s demand for a sovereign Pakistan, arguing it would not solve the communal problem.
The Three-Tier Structure: Instead, they proposed a highly decentralized three-tier federal structure. A very weak central Union government would handle only defense, foreign affairs, and communications. The provinces would retain all other residual powers and be grouped into three distinct sections (A, B, and C) based on Hindu and Muslim majorities, with the freedom to form their own regional constitutions. Disagreements over the compulsory nature of these groupings ultimately caused the plan to collapse.

📌 Partition Politics

Q.28) Frustrated by the Cabinet Mission Plan’s rejection of an independent Pakistan, the Muslim League called for “Direct Action Day”. On what date did this occur, sparking the Great Calcutta Killings?

Ans > August 16, 1946

The Call to Action: Following the collapse of the Cabinet Mission Plan and the Viceroy’s decision to invite Jawaharlal Nehru to form an Interim Government, a furious Muhammad Ali Jinnah rescinded the Muslim League’s acceptance of the plan. Declaring, “We shall have India divided or we shall have India destroyed,” he called for Muslims to observe August 16, 1946, as “Direct Action Day” to force the British to concede a separate state.
The Calcutta Killings: What was planned as a massive political demonstration in Calcutta, under the Muslim League provincial government led by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, rapidly deteriorated into unprecedented, orchestrated communal slaughter. The ensuing violence, known as the Great Calcutta Killings, left roughly 4,000 dead and 100,000 homeless within just 72 hours of sheer barbarity.
The Chain Reaction: The horrific violence in Calcutta acted as a catalyst, sparking brutal retaliatory riots in Noakhali (East Bengal), Bihar, the United Provinces, and finally the Punjab. This devastating cycle of bloodletting effectively destroyed any remaining hope for a united India, convincing top Congress leaders like Patel and Nehru that accepting partition was the only grim alternative to a full-scale civil war.

📌 Independence

Q.29) The plan that laid down the formal procedure and timeline for the partition of British India into two independent dominions is known as the Mountbatten Plan. On which date was it announced?

Ans > June 3, 1947

The Final Blueprint: Arriving in India in March 1947, Lord Mountbatten quickly concluded that maintaining a united India was politically impossible. After intense, rapid negotiations, he formulated a final blueprint for partition, formally announced over the radio on June 3, 1947 (hence often called the June 3 Plan), after securing the grudging acceptance of the Congress, the Muslim League, and the Sikh leadership.
The Core Provisions: The plan stipulated the creation of two independent Dominions—India and Pakistan. It mandated the painful partition of the massive provinces of Bengal and Punjab, setting up boundary commissions (later led by Cyril Radcliffe) to draw the exact borders. It also called for referendums in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Sylhet district of Assam to determine their fate.
The Accelerated Timeline: Crucially, the plan legally formalized the lapse of British paramountcy over the 565 princely states, leaving them technically independent but practically forced to accede to either India or Pakistan. Most drastically, Mountbatten aggressively accelerated the timeline of British withdrawal from the original target of June 1948 to August 15, 1947, leaving merely 73 days to divide the massive assets, military, and borders of the subcontinent, leading to massive administrative chaos and unimaginable human tragedy.

📌 Post-Independence

Q.30) Following India’s independence on August 15, 1947, who served as the first Governor-General of the independent Dominion of India until 1948?

Ans > Lord Mountbatten

The Transition of Power: With the passing of the Indian Independence Act of 1947, British India was formally partitioned. While the newly created Dominion of Pakistan chose Muhammad Ali Jinnah as its first Governor-General, the leadership of the Indian National Congress (specifically Nehru and Patel) formally requested Lord Mountbatten to stay on as the first Governor-General of independent India.
Managing the Chaos: Mountbatten’s continued presence was strategically crucial during this incredibly volatile transition period. He utilized his military experience and residual British authority to help manage the catastrophic, unprecedented refugee crisis and the horrific communal violence erupting across the newly drawn borders of Punjab. He also played a vital diplomatic role, alongside Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in coercing reluctant princely states to formally sign the Instrument of Accession to India.
The Final Succession: Lord Mountbatten served in this capacity until June 21, 1948, when he finally returned to Britain. He was immediately succeeded by the veteran nationalist leader C. Rajagopalachari, who held the distinction of being the first, last, and only Indian to ever hold the office of Governor-General. The office itself was permanently abolished when the Constitution of India came into full effect on January 26, 1950, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was sworn in as the first President of the Republic.

📌 Quick Summary — Modern History Set 129

INC Formation (1885): Founded by A.O. Hume, first session in Bombay with 72 delegates. Safety Valve Theory proposed by Lala Lajpat Rai.
Ideological Splits: Moderates and Extremists split at the 1907 Surat Session (Rash Behari Ghosh presided), later reunited at the 1916 Lucknow Pact.
Early Gandhian Movements: Champaran Satyagraha (1917) against the Tinkathia system; Kheda Satyagraha (1918) bringing Sardar Patel to prominence.
Massacre & Protests: Jallianwala Bagh (1919) protesting Rowlatt Act arrests; Tagore renounced knighthood in response.
Non-Cooperation to Swaraj: Suspended in 1922 after Chauri Chaura. Swaraj Party formed to wreck councils from within.
Revolutionary Wave: HRA founded (1924) by S.N. Sanyal. Reorganized to HSRA (1928) in Delhi to include socialist ideologies.
Constitutional Clashes: Simon Commission (1927) boycotted for lacking Indians. Lahore Session (1929) declared Purna Swaraj, setting Jan 26 as Independence Day.
Civil Disobedience: Launched with Dandi March from Sabarmati (1930); Dharasana Satyagraha led by Sarojini Naidu.
Pacts & Awards: Gandhi-Irwin Pact led to 2nd RTC. Poona Pact (1932) replaced Communal Award’s separate electorates with reserved seats for Dalits.
WWII & Deadlock: August Offer (1940) offering Dominion Status rejected; Individual Satyagraha launched by Vinoba Bhave. Cripps Mission (1942) also failed.
Final Push: Quit India movement launched from Gowalia Tank (1942). INA formed by Mohan Singh.
Partition & Independence: Cabinet Mission (1946) failed to prevent division. Direct Action Day (1946) forced hands. Mountbatten Plan (June 3, 1947) finalized partition.

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Modern History Set 129

Q.1) The first session of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 was attended by how many delegates?

Q.2) Who authored the famous “Safety Valve Theory” regarding the foundation of the Indian National Congress in his 1916 book Young India?

Q.3) In 1890, the British Government issued a circular prohibiting government employees from attending INC meetings. Who was the Viceroy at this time?

Q.4) The historic split between the Moderates and Extremists occurred at the Surat session of the INC in 1907. Who was the President of this session?

Q.5) The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was a landmark agreement that united the Moderates and Extremists and forged an alliance with the Muslim League. Who presided over this session?

Q.6) Mahatma Gandhi’s first major experiment with Satyagraha on Indian soil, the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, was directed against which oppressive system?

Q.7) During the Kheda Satyagraha (1918), which young lawyer from Gujarat emerged as a trusted lieutenant to Mahatma Gandhi?

Q.8) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (April 13, 1919) took place when people gathered to protest the arrest of which two prominent nationalist leaders?

Q.9) To protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, who famously renounced his knighthood awarded by the British government?

Q.10) The Non-Cooperation Movement was abruptly called off by Mahatma Gandhi following the violent Chauri Chaura incident. In which month and year did this happen?

Q.11) Following the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party. What was their primary political strategy?

Q.12) The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was a revolutionary organization founded in Kanpur in 1924. Who among the following was its primary founder?

Q.13) In 1928, to reflect a shift toward socialist ideology, the HRA was reorganized into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) at which location?

Q.14) The Simon Commission (1927) was heavily boycotted by Indians across the political spectrum. What was the primary reason for this boycott?

Q.15) The historic Lahore session of the INC (1929) famously passed the ‘Purna Swaraj’ resolution. It also decided to observe which date as the first “Independence Day”?

Q.16) Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement with the historic Dandi March to break the salt law. What was the starting point of this march?

Q.17) Following the Dandi March, which leader famously led the brutal but non-violent salt satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works after Gandhi’s arrest?

Q.18) The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) resulted in the suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement and Congress’s agreement to attend which Round Table Conference?

Q.19) In 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced the ‘Communal Award’. Which specific provision of this award prompted Gandhi to undertake a fast unto death?

Q.20) The Poona Pact of 1932 resolved the crisis of the Communal Award by agreeing to which of the following mechanisms for the Depressed Classes?

Q.21) At the highly contested Tripuri Congress session in 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose defeated Gandhi’s preferred candidate to win the presidency. Who was this candidate?

Q.22) To secure Indian cooperation during World War II, the British government offered the ‘August Offer’ in 1940. What was its core constitutional promise?

Q.23) Rejecting the August Offer, Mahatma Gandhi launched the ‘Individual Satyagraha’. Who was selected as the first Satyagrahi?

Q.24) The Cripps Mission (1942) proposed post-war Dominion Status. Mahatma Gandhi famously dismissed these proposals by calling them what?

Q.25) Following the failure of the Cripps Mission, the historic “Quit India” resolution was passed by the All India Congress Committee on August 8, 1942, at which specific location?

Q.26) The Indian National Army (INA) was originally conceived to fight the British with Japanese assistance. Who was its first commander and founder in Malaya?

Q.27) To break the political deadlock, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee dispatched the Cabinet Mission to India in 1946. Which prominent British official was NOT part of this mission?

Q.28) Frustrated by the Cabinet Mission Plan’s rejection of an independent Pakistan, the Muslim League called for “Direct Action Day”. On what date did this occur, sparking the Great Calcutta Killings?

Q.29) The plan that laid down the formal procedure and timeline for the partition of British India into two independent dominions is known as the Mountbatten Plan. On which date was it announced?

Q.30) Following India’s independence on August 15, 1947, who served as the first Governor-General of the independent Dominion of India until 1948?

📌 Quick Summary — Modern History Set 129

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Q.1) The first session of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 was attended by how many delegates?

Q.2) Who authored the famous “Safety Valve Theory” regarding the foundation of the Indian National Congress in his 1916 book Young India?

Q.3) In 1890, the British Government issued a circular prohibiting government employees from attending INC meetings. Who was the Viceroy at this time?

Q.4) The historic split between the Moderates and Extremists occurred at the Surat session of the INC in 1907. Who was the President of this session?

Q.5) The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was a landmark agreement that united the Moderates and Extremists and forged an alliance with the Muslim League. Who presided over this session?

Q.6) Mahatma Gandhi’s first major experiment with Satyagraha on Indian soil, the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, was directed against which oppressive system?

Q.7) During the Kheda Satyagraha (1918), which young lawyer from Gujarat emerged as a trusted lieutenant to Mahatma Gandhi?

Q.8) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (April 13, 1919) took place when people gathered to protest the arrest of which two prominent nationalist leaders?

Q.9) To protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, who famously renounced his knighthood awarded by the British government?

Q.10) The Non-Cooperation Movement was abruptly called off by Mahatma Gandhi following the violent Chauri Chaura incident. In which month and year did this happen?

Q.11) Following the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party. What was their primary political strategy?

Q.12) The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was a revolutionary organization founded in Kanpur in 1924. Who among the following was its primary founder?

Q.13) In 1928, to reflect a shift toward socialist ideology, the HRA was reorganized into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) at which location?

Q.14) The Simon Commission (1927) was heavily boycotted by Indians across the political spectrum. What was the primary reason for this boycott?

Q.15) The historic Lahore session of the INC (1929) famously passed the ‘Purna Swaraj’ resolution. It also decided to observe which date as the first “Independence Day”?

Q.16) Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement with the historic Dandi March to break the salt law. What was the starting point of this march?

Q.17) Following the Dandi March, which leader famously led the brutal but non-violent salt satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works after Gandhi’s arrest?

Q.18) The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) resulted in the suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement and Congress’s agreement to attend which Round Table Conference?

Q.19) In 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced the ‘Communal Award’. Which specific provision of this award prompted Gandhi to undertake a fast unto death?

Q.20) The Poona Pact of 1932 resolved the crisis of the Communal Award by agreeing to which of the following mechanisms for the Depressed Classes?

Q.21) At the highly contested Tripuri Congress session in 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose defeated Gandhi’s preferred candidate to win the presidency. Who was this candidate?

Q.22) To secure Indian cooperation during World War II, the British government offered the ‘August Offer’ in 1940. What was its core constitutional promise?

Q.23) Rejecting the August Offer, Mahatma Gandhi launched the ‘Individual Satyagraha’. Who was selected as the first Satyagrahi?

Q.24) The Cripps Mission (1942) proposed post-war Dominion Status. Mahatma Gandhi famously dismissed these proposals by calling them what?

Q.25) Following the failure of the Cripps Mission, the historic “Quit India” resolution was passed by the All India Congress Committee on August 8, 1942, at which specific location?

Q.26) The Indian National Army (INA) was originally conceived to fight the British with Japanese assistance. Who was its first commander and founder in Malaya?

Q.27) To break the political deadlock, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee dispatched the Cabinet Mission to India in 1946. Which prominent British official was NOT part of this mission?

Q.28) Frustrated by the Cabinet Mission Plan’s rejection of an independent Pakistan, the Muslim League called for “Direct Action Day”. On what date did this occur, sparking the Great Calcutta Killings?

Q.29) The plan that laid down the formal procedure and timeline for the partition of British India into two independent dominions is known as the Mountbatten Plan. On which date was it announced?

Q.30) Following India’s independence on August 15, 1947, who served as the first Governor-General of the independent Dominion of India until 1948?

📌 Quick Summary — Modern History Set 129

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