Q10. In which year was Goa liberated from Portuguese rule?
[Territorial Army, 30 Jul 2017]
(a) 1947
(b) 1965
(c) 1961
(d) 1960
Answer: (c) 1961
Explanation: Goa, with Daman and Diu, remained in Portuguese hands after British withdrawal in 1947. The Indian armed forces took control in December 1961, ending Portuguese colonial government on the mainland after more than four centuries.
Q9. Before Goa, which city had served as headquarters of Portuguese India?
[BSSC Inter Level, 29 Jan 2017]
(a) Cochin
(b) Madras
(c) Bombay
(d) Patna
Answer: (a) Cochin
Explanation: Cochin was an early Portuguese administrative and trading centre on the Malabar coast. The colonial headquarters later shifted to Goa under Nuno da Cunha around 1530, reflecting Goa’s greater strategic value as a fortified port.
Q8. Which ruler granted a 1600 charter to the English East India Company?
[RRB NTPC, 19 Apr 2016]
(a) Elizabeth I
(b) Elizabeth II
(c) George V
(d) George VI
Answer: (a) Elizabeth I
Explanation: Queen Elizabeth I granted the Company its founding charter on 31 December 1600. The charter provided exclusive rights to English merchants trading in the East but did not eliminate competition from other European powers.
Q7. Match events: First Carnatic War, Second Carnatic War, Third Carnatic War and First Mysore War with their treaties or decisive battles.
[UPPSC PCS Prelims, 2016]
(a) Pondicherry, Wandiwash, Aix-la-Chapelle, Madras
(b) Madras, Aix-la-Chapelle, Pondicherry, Wandiwash
(c) Aix-la-Chapelle, Pondicherry, Wandiwash, Madras
(d) Wandiwash, Pondicherry, Aix-la-Chapelle, Madras
Answer: (c) Aix-la-Chapelle, Pondicherry, Wandiwash, Madras
Explanation: The First Carnatic War ended with Aix-la-Chapelle, the Second with Pondicherry, and Wandiwash marked the decisive battle of the Third. The First Anglo-Mysore War ended with the Treaty of Madras in 1769.
Q6. Which French commander was defeated by the English at Wandiwash in 1760?
[UKPSC Prelims, 2016]
(a) Count de Lally
(b) François Martin
(c) Dupleix
(d) La Bourdonnais
Answer: (a) Count de Lally
Explanation: Count de Lally commanded the French army defeated by Eyre Coote at the Battle of Wandiwash. That decisive clash during the Third Carnatic War contributed to the fall of Pondicherry and loss of French political ambitions.
Q5. Who is associated with Portugal’s Blue Water Policy?
[UKPSC Prelims, 2016]
(a) Francisco de Almeida
(b) Afonso de Albuquerque
(c) Dupleix
(d) Robert Clive
Answer: (a) Francisco de Almeida
Explanation: Francisco de Almeida sought Portuguese mastery of the sea through powerful fleets and control of strategic maritime routes. His policy is commonly termed Blue Water Policy, contrasting with a strategy of deep territorial conquest on the Indian mainland.
Q4. In which year did Britain pass the Regulating Act for Company territories?
[MPPSC State Service, 2015]
(a) 1753
(b) 1757
(c) 1764
(d) 1773
Answer: (d) 1773
Explanation: The Regulating Act of 1773 marked Parliament’s first major intervention in the Company’s government of Indian territories. It created a Governor-General of Bengal and council and provided for a court at Calcutta.
Q3. Arrange the Company’s principal trading centres chronologically: Calcutta, Surat, Madras, Bombay.
[MPSC State Service Prelims, 2014]
(a) Calcutta–Surat–Madras–Bombay
(b) Bombay–Calcutta–Madras–Surat
(c) Surat–Madras–Bombay–Calcutta
(d) Surat–Madras–Calcutta–Bombay
Answer: (c) Surat–Madras–Bombay–Calcutta
Explanation: The English developed Surat first, then Madras, followed by Bombay and Calcutta. Their principal trading establishments illustrate a shift from Mughal-sanctioned western coastal factories to fortified settlements on both Indian seaboards and Bengal.
Q2. Among Surat, Pulicat, Cochin and Kasimbazar, which held an early Dutch factory?
[PPSC Naib Tehsildar, 2014]
(a) Surat
(b) Pulicat
(c) Cochin
(d) Kasimbazar
Answer: (b) Pulicat
Explanation: Pulicat was an important early Dutch East India Company factory on the Coromandel coast. Its Fort Geldria and extensive textile trade made it a key station within the Dutch maritime network before the Company’s activities shifted elsewhere.
Q1. Who was the first Portuguese viceroy in India?
[45th BPSC Prelims, 2002]
(a) Bartolomeu Dias
(b) Vasco da Gama
(c) Francisco de Almeida
(d) Afonso de Albuquerque
Answer: (c) Francisco de Almeida
Explanation: Francisco de Almeida became Portugal’s first viceroy in India in 1505. His administration championed maritime control through the Blue Water Policy; Afonso de Albuquerque succeeded him and captured Goa in 1510.
