Q120. Which battle of 1757 initiated the Company’s major political ascendancy in Bengal?
[RRB Technician Grade III, 10 Mar 2026, Shift 3]
(a) Battle of Colachel
(b) Battle of Buxar
(c) Battle of Plassey
(d) Battle of Arcot
Answer: (c) Battle of Plassey
Explanation: At Plassey in 1757, Robert Clive’s Company force defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah after a conspiracy involving Mir Jafar. The victory provided decisive political leverage in Bengal and marked a watershed in the transition from trading privileges to territorial influence.
Q119. Around which English-built fort did colonial Madras, now Chennai, expand?
[SSC MTS (2025 exam cycle), held 11 Feb 2026, Shift 3]
(a) Fort William
(b) Fort St George
(c) Fort Aguada
(d) Fort Dansborg
Answer: (b) Fort St George
Explanation: Fort St George was developed at Madras after the English obtained land in 1639; its construction is usually dated to 1644. The fort became an administrative and mercantile focus around which the city of Madras expanded.
Q118. Which commander of Siraj-ud-Daulah withheld effective support at Plassey?
[SSC MTS (2025 exam cycle), held 9 Feb 2026, Shift 1]
(a) Mir Qasim
(b) Alivardi Khan
(c) Mir Jafar
(d) Shuja-ud-Daula
Answer: (c) Mir Jafar
Explanation: Mir Jafar had entered into a secret arrangement with Company representatives before the Battle of Plassey in 1757. His failure to support Siraj-ud-Daulah contributed to the Nawab’s defeat, after which Mir Jafar became Nawab of Bengal.
Q117. Which statements correctly describe seventeenth-century Masulipatnam: (1) Dutch and English traders competed there; (2) the Dutch were from Denmark; (3) Golconda, Persian and Telugu merchants traded there; (4) Mir Jumla played Europeans against one another?
[CTET Social Studies Paper II, 8 Feb 2026, Shift 1]
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2 and 4 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4
(d) 1 and 2 only
Answer: (c) 1, 3 and 4
Explanation: Masulipatnam was a busy Coromandel port where Dutch and English companies competed with Indian and Persian merchants. Mir Jumla manoeuvred between European interests. The Dutch, however, originated in the Netherlands, not Denmark, so statement 2 is incorrect.
Q116. Which English monarch issued the Company’s original trading charter in 1600?
[SSC MTS (2025 exam cycle), held 6 Feb 2026, Shift 3]
(a) Queen Anne
(b) Queen Victoria
(c) Queen Elizabeth I
(d) Queen Mary II
Answer: (c) Queen Elizabeth I
Explanation: Elizabeth I granted the East India Company a royal charter on 31 December 1600. It authorized an English corporate monopoly in designated eastern trade, though it did not exclude existing Portuguese, Dutch or other foreign merchants from Asia.
Q115. Which battle was followed by the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765?
[MP Police SI, 16 Jan 2026, Shift 2]
(a) Battle of Plassey
(b) Battle of Wandiwash
(c) Third Battle of Panipat
(d) Battle of Buxar
Answer: (d) Battle of Buxar
Explanation: The Company’s victory at Buxar in 1764 strengthened its position against the Mughal emperor and regional rulers. The Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 then granted Diwani rights over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, securing substantial revenue resources.
Q114. How did the Regulating Act of 1773 restructure the Company’s Indian administration?
[Delhi Police Constable Executive, 30 Dec 2025, Shift 3]
(a) By making Madras entirely independent
(b) By creating central leadership under the Governor-General of Bengal and council
(c) By abolishing the office of governor-general
(d) By assigning each presidency to France
Answer: (b) By creating central leadership under the Governor-General of Bengal and council
Explanation: The Regulating Act placed a Governor-General and council at the centre of Company governance in Bengal. It increased supervision over Madras and Bombay, initiating centralization without transferring all Indian territories to direct Crown administration.
Q113. Pitt’s India Act of 1784 introduced what form of control over Company affairs?
[MP Police Constable, 5 Dec 2025, Shift 1]
(a) Direct federal government
(b) Dual control by directors and the Board of Control
(c) Provincial self-rule
(d) Parliamentary democracy in Bengal
Answer: (b) Dual control by directors and the Board of Control
Explanation: Pitt’s India Act separated the Company’s commercial management from political supervision. The Court of Directors handled trade while a new Board of Control supervised political matters, creating dual control by the Company and British government.
Q112. Puducherry had earlier been a colony of which European country?
[OSSSC CRE Preliminary, 26 Oct 2025, Shift 3]
(a) Portugal
(b) Netherlands
(c) France
(d) Denmark
Answer: (c) France
Explanation: Pondicherry developed as a major French settlement beginning in the seventeenth century. French enclaves also included Karaikal, Mahé, Yanam and Chandernagore. Most were transferred de facto to India in 1954, followed by formal legal integration.
Q111. Which nation did Vasco da Gama represent on his pioneering voyage to India?
[Bihar STET Social Science, 15 Oct 2025, Shift 1 (memory-based)]
(a) Portugal
(b) Netherlands
(c) France
(d) England
Answer: (a) Portugal
Explanation: Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese navigator who reached Calicut in 1498. His voyage connected the Atlantic to Indian Ocean sea routes around southern Africa and made Portugal an important new participant in Asian maritime trade.
