UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) General Studies I: Indian Heritage, History, Geography & Society Flashcards

24 sample cards from the General Studies I: Indian Heritage, History, Geography & Society deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. Where and when did the Revolt of 1857 begin, and who is associated with its first spark?

   It began at Meerut on 10 May 1857; the earlier spark is associated with Mangal Pandey at Barrackpore (29 March 1857).

2. Name four prominent leaders of the Revolt of 1857 and their centres.

   Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Nana Sahib (Kanpur), Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow), and Kunwar Singh (Bihar/Arrah).

3. What major constitutional change resulted from the Revolt of 1857?

   The Government of India Act 1858 ended East India Company rule, transferring power to the British Crown; the Governor-General became Viceroy and a Secretary of State for India was created.

4. Who founded the Brahmo Samaj, in what year, and what were its key aims?

   Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1828; it opposed idolatry, sati, polygamy, and caste, and promoted monotheism and rational, reformed Hinduism.

5. Who founded the Arya Samaj and what was its central slogan/message?

   Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1875); its message was 'Back to the Vedas', rejecting idol worship and ritualism and promoting the Shuddhi (reconversion) movement.

6. Which social reformer led the campaign for the abolition of Sati, and which Governor-General legally banned it in 1829?

   Raja Ram Mohan Roy led the campaign; Lord William Bentinck abolished Sati through Regulation XVII of 1829.

7. Who founded the Ramakrishna Mission and what were its twin objectives?

   Swami Vivekananda (1897), inspired by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa; its objectives were spiritual upliftment (Vedanta) and social service ('service to man is service to God').

8. Which reformer is associated with widow remarriage legislation, and what Act resulted?

   Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar; his efforts led to the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856.

9. Who founded the Aligarh Movement and what was its primary aim?

   Sir Syed Ahmad Khan; it aimed to promote modern Western education among Muslims, founding the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (later Aligarh Muslim University).

10. What is the 'Drain of Wealth' theory and who systematically articulated it?

    The theory that Britain siphoned India's wealth (revenue, home charges, profits) abroad without economic return; articulated by Dadabhai Naoroji in 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'.

11. Name the three main land revenue systems introduced by the British in India.

    Permanent Settlement/Zamindari (Cornwallis, 1793, Bengal), Ryotwari (Munro/Read, peasant-direct, South & West), and Mahalwari (village/estate-based, North-West & Central provinces).

12. How did British colonial policy lead to the deindustrialization of India?

    Through one-way free trade — heavy duties on Indian textiles entering Britain, cheap machine-made British goods flooding India, and reducing India to a raw-material supplier, ruining traditional handicrafts and artisans.

13. Who introduced the Permanent Settlement of Bengal and what were its key features?

    Lord Cornwallis in 1793; zamindars became landowners with fixed permanent revenue obligations to the Company, bearing the risk of fixed demand regardless of harvest.

14. What was the significance of Macaulay's Minute on Education (1835)?

    It advocated English as the medium of instruction and promoting Western education to create a class 'Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes', shaping colonial education policy.

15. Which 1878 Act curbed the freedom of the Indian-language press, and who repealed it?

    The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 (Lord Lytton), which gagged the regional-language press; it was repealed by Lord Ripon in 1882.

16. Name two influential early Indian nationalist newspapers and their founders.

    Kesari and Maratha (Bal Gangadhar Tilak); The Hindu (G. Subramania Iyer); also Amrita Bazar Patrika (Sisir Kumar Ghosh) and Bengal Gazette (J.A. Hicky, the first newspaper).

17. When and by whom was the Indian National Congress founded, and where was its first session held?

    Founded in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume; the first session was held in Bombay under the presidency of W.C. Bonnerjee.

18. Distinguish between the Moderates and the Extremists in early Congress.

    Moderates (e.g., Naoroji, Gokhale) used constitutional methods — petitions, prayers, and 'Three Ps'; Extremists (e.g., Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal — Lal-Bal-Pal) demanded Swaraj through Swadeshi, boycott, and self-reliance.

19. What were the immediate cause and major outcomes of the Swadeshi Movement (1905)?

    It arose from Lord Curzon's Partition of Bengal (1905); outcomes included boycott of British goods, promotion of indigenous industries/national education, and the 1907 Surat Split of Congress.

20. What three things did the Rowlatt Act (1919) and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre trigger?

    Nationwide protests, the launch of Gandhi's first all-India satyagraha, and ultimately the Non-Cooperation Movement; the massacre (13 April 1919, by General Dyer) galvanized mass anti-British sentiment.

21. What were the key features of Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22) and why was it withdrawn?

    Boycott of British schools, courts, titles, and goods, merged with the Khilafat issue; Gandhi withdrew it after the Chauri Chaura incident (Feb 1922) where a mob killed policemen, fearing the movement had turned violent.

22. What act of defiance launched the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930, and what did it symbolize?

    The Dandi Salt March (12 March–6 April 1930), where Gandhi marched ~240 miles to make salt, symbolizing defiance of the British salt monopoly and tax.

23. What was the Quit India Movement, when was it launched, and what slogan defined it?

    Launched on 8 August 1942 by the Congress at Bombay demanding immediate British withdrawal; Gandhi's slogan was 'Do or Die' ('Karo ya Maro').

24. What were the main provisions of the Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947) leading to Partition?

    It proposed partitioning British India into India and Pakistan, partitioning Bengal and Punjab, allowing princely states to accede, and a referendum in NWFP/Sylhet — leading to the Indian Independence Act 1947.

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General Studies I: Indian Heritage, History, Geography & Society flashcards FAQ