GK Test - 15

The correct answer is Lord Canning.

• Lord Canning (1856-62) was the Governor-General of India during the 1857 revolt. 
• Lord Canning served as the Governor-General of India from 1856 to 1862.

Key Points

Lord Canning:

• During his tenure, the Government of India Act, 1858 was passed which created the office of the Viceroy to be held by the same person who was the Governor-General of India.
• Lord Canning also served as the first Viceroy of India.
• The important events during his tenure include:
  • Mutiny of 1857, which he was able to suppress successfully,
  • The passing of the Indian Councils Act, 1861 introduced a portfolio system in India.

Additional Information

• Other important events during Lord Canning:
  • Withdrawal of the “Doctrine of Lapse” was one of the main reasons for the mutiny of 1857. 
  • The introduction of the Code of Criminal Procedure, enactment of the Indian High Courts Act, Indian Penal Code (1858), Bengal Rent Act (1859), the introduction of Income-tax on an experimental basis, etc.
  • Canning passed the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 which was drafted by his predecessor Lord Dalhousie before the rebellion.
  • He also passed the General Service Enlistment Act of 1856.
  • He established the first three modern Universities in India, the University of Calcutta, the University of Madras, and the University of Bombay.

Key Points

• Asiatic Society of Bengal
  • Sir William Jones was a British Orientalist and jurist.
  • He established the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784.
  • It was formed to encourage Oriental studies in India.
  • The formation of the Asiatic Society was supported by the then governor-general of British India Warren Hastings.
  • The headquarters of the Asiatic Society of Bengal was in Kolkata.
    • Indians were first admitted as members of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1829.

Additional Information

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy
  • Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha(1828), the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent.
  • In 1814, Raja Ram Mohan Roy formed Atmiya Sabha. Atmiya Sabha tried to initiate social and religious reforms in society.
  • He was given the title of Raja by Akbar II, the Mughal emperor.
  • Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered to be the "Father of the Bengal Renaissance" by many historians.
• Dwarkanath Tagore
  • On October 6, 1839, the Tattwabodhini Sabha was established in Calcutta as a breakaway faction of the Brahmo Samaj, an organization dedicated to reforming both Hinduism and Indian society.
  • Debendranath Tagore, a former member of the Brahmo Samaj and the eldest child of prominent businessman Dwarkanath Tagore, served as the organization's founding member.
• ​Henry Vivian Derozio​
  • Henry Vivian Derozio was associated with the Young Bengal Movement.
  • During the late 1820s, there emerged a radical, intellectual trend among the young people in the region of Bengal, known as the Young Bengal Movement.
  • Henry Vivian Derozio was the leader of the Young Bengal Movement, he inspires this progressive trend.
  • Derozio was considered as the first nationalist poet of modern India.

Key Points

• The 1857 Revolt
  • It was the first expression of organized resistance against the British East India Company
  • It began as a revolt of the sepoys of the British East India Company’s army but eventually secured the participation of the masses.
  • The revolt is known by several names: the Sepoy Mutiny (by the British Historians), the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion (by the Indian Historians), the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence (by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar).

The correct answer is Option 2, i.e B.R Ambedkar.

• In 1923, B.R Ambedkar set up the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha' (Outcastes Welfare Association), which was devoted to spreading education and culture amongst the downtrodden, improving the economic status and raising matters concerning their problems in the proper forums to focus attention on them and finding solutions to the same.
  • The problems of the downtrodden were centuries old and difficult to overcome.
  • Their entry into temples was forbidden.
  • They could not draw water from public wells and ponds.
  • Their admission in schools was prohibited.
• In 1927, he led the Mahad March at the Chowdar Tank at Colaba, near Bombay, to give the untouchables the right to draw water from the public tank where he burnt copies of the 'Manusmriti' publicly.
• This marked the beginning of the anticaste and anti-priest movement.
• The temple entry movement launched by Dr. Ambedkar in 1930 at Kalaram temple, Nasik is another landmark in the struggle for human rights and social justice.

The correct answer is Two main systems of indigo cultivation.

• Nij and Ryoti were the two main systems of indigo cultivation. Hence the option 2 is correct.
  • Within the system of Nij cultivation, the planter produced indigo in lands that he directly controlled.
  • Under the Ryoti system, the planters forced the ryots to sign a contract, an agreement (Satta). 
  • Those who signed the contract got cash advances from the planters at low rates of interest to produce indigo.
  • But the loan committed the ryot to cultivate indigo on at least 25% of the area under his holding.

Additional Information

•  Warren Hastings (Governor-General from 1773 to 1785) introduced several administrative reforms, notably in the sphere of justice.
  • From 1772 a new system of justice was established. Each district was to have two courts – a criminal court (faujdari adalat) and a civil court (diwani adalat).
• Jhum cultivation, that is, shifting cultivation was done on small patches of land, mostly in forests. Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India.

Key Points

• Debendranath Tagore
  • Debendranath Tagore was born to the Tagore family in Jorasanko, popularly known as Jorasanko Thakur Bari.
  • He was the founder in 1848 of the Brahmo religion, which today is also recognized as Brahmoism.
• The "Tattwabodhini Sabha" was established by Debendranath Tagore at Calcutta in 1839 AD.
• Its main purpose is to propagate the ancient culture of India and the thought of Raja Rammohan Roy.
• A magazine "Tattwabodhini Patrika" published by "Tattwabodhini Sabha" in the Bengali language.
• The great thinker like "Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar" and "Ashwani Kumar Dutt" joined the Bramha Samaj.
• The Tattwabodhini Sabha was dissolved into the Bramha Samaj by Debendranath Tagore in 1859.

Additional Information

• Keshab Chandra Sen was a social reformer from Bengal.
  • In 1856 he became a member of the Brahmo Samaj.
  • On 24th January 1868, Keshab Chandra Sen laid the foundation stone of his mandir called the Tabernacle of New Dispensation.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar:
  • He was a great scholar and reformer.
  • In 1850, he became the principal of Sanskrit College.
  • He opened the Sanskrit College to non-brahmins.
  • He started a movement in support of widow remarriage which resulted in the legalisation of widow remarriage.
  • He was also a campaigner against child marriage and polygamy. 
  • He wrote the books Varna Parichay and Som Prakash.

Key Points

• Lord Wellesley introduced the system of the subsidiary alliance to subjugate Indian powers without going through actual warfare.
• Any Indian ruler whose security was threatened could enter into a subsidiary alliance with the British and the British promised to protect them from external attack and internal revolt.
• The ruler would have to accept the supremacy of the British in India and to keep and pay for the maintenance of a certain number of British troops who would be permanently placed in the territory of the subsidiary alliance.
•  A British Resident would be posted in the court of the ruler and the Indian ruler was not allowed to employ any European in his service.
• The ruler would not sign any treaty or form an alliance with any other power without the permission of the British Resident.
• States like Mysore, Hyderabad, Awadh, the Rajputs, and Marathas were forced to accept this alliance after being defeated by the English.

Key Points

• Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha was founded in Bombay in 1851 to promote the reform of Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion of Persia.
• The association aimed to modernize the religion by advocating for changes in rituals and practices that were deemed outdated or superstitious.
• The founders of the association were mainly Parsi intellectuals who were influenced by the ideas of the Indian Renaissance and the reform movements in other religions.
• Dadabhai Naoroji was a prominent figure in the Parsi community and a leading advocate for social and political reforms in India.

Additional Information

• Kesub Chandra Sen was a Bengali Brahmo Samaj leader who promoted monotheism and social reforms among Hindus.
• Muhammad Iqbal was a Muslim poet and philosopher who advocated for the creation of a separate Muslim state in India.
• Aatmarang Pandurang was a Marathi social reformer who fought against caste discrimination and for women's rights.

The correct answer is 1893.

• Swami Vivekananda participated at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago (USA) on 11th September 1893 and raised the prestige of India and Hinduism very high.
• He preached Vedantic Philosophy. He condemned the caste system and the current Hindu emphasis on rituals and ceremonies.

Key Points

• Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramkrishna Mission at Belur in Howrah in 1897. It is a social service and charitable society.
• The objectives of this Mission are providing humanitarian relief and social work through the establishment of schools, colleges, hospitals, and orphanages.
• He asked the people to improve the lives of the poor and depressed classes. He believed that service to mankind is service to God.
• The original name of Swami Vivekananda was Narendranath Dutta (1863-1902).
• He became the most famous disciple of Shri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa.
• In 1886, Narendranath took the vow of Sanyasa and was given the name, Vivekananda.

Key Points

• Rao Bahadur Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu (1848–1919) was a social reformer who was one of the foremost figures in promoting widow remarriage in Andhra Pradesh, which was part of the Madras Presidency during the British era.
• He was deeply concerned about the conditions of widows in society, who were often marginalized and excluded from many aspects of social life.
• In addition to advocating for widow remarriage, he also worked for women's education and against the dowry system.
• In 1876, Veeresalingam started a monthly magazine, Vivekavardhini, where he wrote about the need for social reforms.
• One of his significant contributions is the establishment of the Widow Remarriage Association, which worked towards improving the conditions of widows and promoting their remarriage.

• His work in the field of social reform was pioneering for his time and laid the groundwork for future progress in these areas.

So we conclude that Veerasalingam Pantulu was the founder of the widow remarriage association in the Madras Presidency.