A General Knowledge Quiz on Modern Indian History – Questions with Answer Key at the End

Introduction

Modern Indian history is a fascinating journey of colonial expansion, resistance, social reform, nationalism and the struggle for independence. Beginning with the arrival of European trading powers, this period witnessed the establishment of British rule, major revolts, the rise of the Indian National Congress, the freedom movement and finally India’s independence in 1947.

The contributions of great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Bhagat Singh and countless freedom fighters shaped the destiny of the nation.

This collection of 125 general knowledge questions covers important events, personalities, movements, battles, reforms and milestones in modern Indian history.

Section 1: Arrival of Europeans in India

1. Who was the first European explorer to reach India by sea from Europe?
2. In which year did Vasco da Gama reach India?
3. At which Indian port did Vasco da Gama arrive?
4. Which European country established the first major trading settlements in India?
5. Which European power established its trading centre at Goa?
6. In which year did the Portuguese capture Goa?
7. Who was the Portuguese governor who captured Goa?
8. Which European trading company was established in England in 1600?
9. In which year did the Dutch East India Company begin its operations?
10. Which European power established its first trading settlement at Surat?
11. Which French governor played an important role in expanding French influence in India?
12. Which French settlement became the headquarters of French India?
13. Which European powers fought the Carnatic Wars in India?
14. Which battle in 1757 established British political dominance in Bengal?
15. Who led the British forces in the Battle of Plassey?

Section 2: British Expansion and Colonial Rule

16. Who was the Nawab of Bengal defeated at the Battle of Plassey?
17. In which year was the Battle of Buxar fought?
18. Which Mughal emperor granted the Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the East India Company?
19. Who introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal?
20. In which year was the Permanent Settlement introduced?
21. Who introduced the Subsidiary Alliance system in India?
22. Which British governor-general introduced the Doctrine of Lapse?
23. Which Indian kingdom was annexed by the British under the Doctrine of Lapse in 1854?
24. Who was the first Governor-General of Bengal?
25. Who was the first Governor-General of India?
26. Who was the first Viceroy of India?
27. Which Act transferred the administration of India from the East India Company to the British Crown?
28. In which year was the Indian Councils Act introduced, allowing limited Indian representation?
29. Who introduced the Ryotwari system in parts of British India?
30. Which British governor-general abolished Sati in 1829?

Section 3: Revolt of 1857

31. In which year did the Revolt of 1857 take place?
32. Where did the Revolt of 1857 begin?
33. Which soldier is traditionally associated with the outbreak of the Revolt of 1857 at Barrackpore?
34. Who was declared the symbolic emperor of the rebels during the revolt?
35. Who led the revolt in Kanpur?
36. Who led the revolt in Jhansi?
37. Who was the prominent leader of the revolt in Bihar?
38. Who led the revolt in Lucknow?
39. Which British officer was associated with suppressing the revolt in Delhi?
40. What was one major consequence of the Revolt of 1857?

Section 4: Social and Religious Reform Movements

41. Who founded the Brahmo Samaj?
42. In which year was the Brahmo Samaj established?
43. Who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian Renaissance?
44. Who founded the Arya Samaj?
45. In which year was the Arya Samaj founded?
46. Who founded the Ramakrishna Mission?
47. In which year was the Ramakrishna Mission established?
48. Who was the spiritual guru of Swami Vivekananda?
49. Who founded the Aligarh Movement?
50. Who established the Satyashodhak Samaj?
51. Who was the first Indian woman to become a teacher in a modern school for girls in India?
52. Who campaigned against the practice of Sati?
53. Who founded the Theosophical Society in India?
54. Who was a prominent leader of the Indian Theosophical movement and an advocate of Home Rule?
55. Who founded the Self-Respect Movement?

Section 5: Indian National Congress and Early Nationalism

56. In which year was the Indian National Congress founded?
57. Who was the founder of the Indian National Congress?
58. Where was the first session of the Indian National Congress held?
59. Who was the first president of the Indian National Congress?
60. Which leader was popularly known as the Grand Old Man of India?
61. Who was known as the Lokmanya?
62. Which three leaders were popularly known as Lal-Bal-Pal?
63. Who wrote the book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India?
64. Which movement began in response to the partition of Bengal in 1905?
65. Who announced the partition of Bengal in 1905?
66. In which year was the All-India Muslim League founded?
67. Where was the All-India Muslim League founded?
68. Which agreement was signed between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League in 1916?
69. Who founded the Home Rule League in India along with Annie Besant?
70. Which British Act introduced separate electorates for Muslims in 1909?

Section 6: Gandhian Era and Freedom Struggle

71. In which year did Mahatma Gandhi return to India from South Africa?
72. Where did Gandhi launch his first major Satyagraha in India?
73. In which year did the Champaran Satyagraha take place?
74. Which movement was launched by Gandhi to support indigo farmers in Bihar?
75. Which 1918 movement in Gujarat was associated with peasants and tax relief?
76. Which movement did Gandhi lead in Ahmedabad in 1918?
77. In which year was the Rowlatt Act passed?
78. Which tragic incident took place at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919?
79. Who was the British officer responsible for ordering the firing at Jallianwala Bagh?
80. Which movement was launched by Gandhi in 1920?
81. Which incident led Gandhi to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement?
82. In which year did the Chauri Chaura incident occur?
83. Which famous march did Gandhi undertake in 1930 to protest against the British salt tax?
84. From where did Gandhi begin the Dandi March?
85. In which year was the Gandhi-Irwin Pact signed?
86. Which movement was launched by Gandhi in August 1942?
87. What was the popular slogan associated with the Quit India Movement?
88. Who gave the slogan “Do or Die”?
89. Which commission arrived in India in 1928 without any Indian member?
90. Who led the famous Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928?

Section 7: Revolutionary Freedom Fighters

91. Who founded the Hindustan Republican Association?
92. Who was popularly known as Shaheed-e-Azam?
93. Which revolutionary threw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly in 1929 along with Batukeshwar Dutt?
94. Who was the leader of the Kakori Train Action of 1925?
95. Who was associated with the assassination of British officer John Saunders in 1928?
96. Who founded the Indian National Army in its initial form?
97. Who later reorganized and led the Indian National Army?
98. What was the famous slogan of Subhas Chandra Bose meaning “Give me blood, and I will give you freedom”?
99. Which country first recognized the Provisional Government of Free India established by Subhas Chandra Bose?
100. Who was popularly known as the Nightingale of India?

Section 8: Independence and Partition of India

101. In which year did India gain independence from British rule?
102. On which date did India become independent?
103. Who was the last Viceroy of British India?
104. Who became the first Prime Minister of independent India?
105. Who became the first President of independent India?
106. Who was the first Indian Governor-General of independent India?
107. Which Act provided the legal basis for the partition and independence of India in 1947?
108. Who announced the Mountbatten Plan?
109. Which two independent nations emerged from British India in August 1947?
110. Who was responsible for integrating many princely states into the Indian Union?
111. Who was the chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution?
112. On which date was the Constitution of India adopted?
113. On which date did the Constitution of India come into force?
114. Who was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha?
115. Who was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India?

Section 9: Modern India – Important Personalities and Achievements

116. Who was the first Indian to travel into space?
117. Who was the first woman Prime Minister of India?
118. Who was the first woman President of India?
119. Who was the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest?
120. Who was the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal?
121. Who was the first Indian Nobel Prize winner?
122. Who founded the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)?
123. Who is widely regarded as the father of India’s Green Revolution?
124. Who is known as the father of India’s White Revolution?
125. Who was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize in Physics?

Answer Key

Section 1: Arrival of Europeans in India

1. Vasco da Gama
2. 1498
3. Calicut (Kozhikode)
4. Portuguese
5. Portuguese
6. 1510
7. Afonso de Albuquerque
8. English East India Company
9. 1602
10. English
11. Joseph François Dupleix
12. Pondicherry (Puducherry)
13. British and French
14. Battle of Plassey
15. Robert Clive

Section 2: British Expansion and Colonial Rule

16. Siraj ud-Daulah
17. 1764
18. Shah Alam II
19. Lord Cornwallis
20. 1793
21. Lord Wellesley
22. Lord Dalhousie
23. Jhansi
24. Warren Hastings
25. Lord William Bentinck
26. Lord Canning
27. Government of India Act, 1858
28. Indian Councils Act, 1861
29. Thomas Munro
30. Lord William Bentinck

Section 3: Revolt of 1857

31. 1857
32. Meerut
33. Mangal Pandey
34. Bahadur Shah II (Bahadur Shah Zafar)
35. Nana Sahib
36. Rani Lakshmibai
37. Kunwar Singh
38. Begum Hazrat Mahal
39. John Nicholson
40. End of East India Company rule and transfer of power to the British Crown

Section 4: Social and Religious Reform Movements

41. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
42. 1828
43. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
44. Swami Dayanand Saraswati
45. 1875
46. Swami Vivekananda
47. 1897
48. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
49. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
50. Jyotirao Phule
51. Savitribai Phule
52. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
53. Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott
54. Annie Besant
55. E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar)

Section 5: Indian National Congress and Early Nationalism

56. 1885
57. A. O. Hume
58. Bombay (Mumbai)
59. Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee
60. Dadabhai Naoroji
61. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
62. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal
63. Dadabhai Naoroji
64. Swadeshi Movement
65. Lord Curzon
66. 1906
67. Dhaka
68. Lucknow Pact
69. Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant
70. Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms)

Section 6: Gandhian Era and Freedom Struggle

71. 1915
72. Champaran, Bihar
73. 1917
74. Champaran Satyagraha
75. Kheda Satyagraha
76. Ahmedabad Mill Workers’ Satyagraha
77. 1919
78. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
79. General Reginald Dyer
80. Non-Cooperation Movement
81. Chauri Chaura incident
82. 1922
83. Dandi March (Salt March)
84. Sabarmati Ashram
85. 1931
86. Quit India Movement
87. “Quit India”
88. Mahatma Gandhi
89. Simon Commission
90. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Section 7: Revolutionary Freedom Fighters

91. Sachindra Nath Sanyal and others
92. Bhagat Singh
93. Bhagat Singh
94. Ram Prasad Bismil and other revolutionaries
95. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and their associates
96. Mohan Singh
97. Subhas Chandra Bose
98. “Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Main Tumhe Azadi Doonga”
99. Japan
100. Sarojini Naidu

Section 8: Independence and Partition of India

101. 1947
102. 15 August 1947
103. Lord Mountbatten
104. Jawaharlal Nehru
105. Dr. Rajendra Prasad
106. C. Rajagopalachari
107. Indian Independence Act, 1947
108. Lord Mountbatten
109. India and Pakistan
110. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
111. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
112. 26 November 1949
113. 26 January 1950
114. G. V. Mavalankar
115. Sukumar Sen

Section 9: Modern India – Important Personalities and Achievements

116. Rakesh Sharma
117. Indira Gandhi
118. Pratibha Patil
119. Bachendri Pal
120. Abhinav Bindra
121. Rabindranath Tagore
122. Vikram Sarabhai
123. M. S. Swaminathan
124. Verghese Kurien
125. C. V. Raman

Conclusion

Modern Indian history represents the courage, determination and sacrifices of millions of Indians who struggled for freedom and national progress. The freedom movement brought together people from different regions, religions, languages and communities in the pursuit of independence.

From the Revolt of 1857 to the Quit India Movement, and from independence in 1947 to the adoption of the Constitution in 1950, every milestone contributed to the making of modern India.

Understanding this history helps us appreciate the values of democracy, freedom, unity and national identity.

Editorial Note: Modern Indian history includes several overlapping political, social and cultural developments. Some historical interpretations and traditional attributions may differ among historians. These questions are prepared for general knowledge, competitive examinations and educational purposes.

Explore more GK topics: Ancient India, Medieval India, Indian Freedom Fighters, Indian National Movement, Indian Constitution, Indian Geography and Important Events in Indian History.