Q110. Choose the correct sequence: Battle of Wandiwash, execution of Nand Kumar, Treaty of Salbai, death of Tipu Sultan.
[71st BPSC Prelims, 13 Sep 2025]
(a) Wandiwash → Nand Kumar → Salbai → Tipu
(b) Salbai → Wandiwash → Tipu → Nand Kumar
(c) Tipu → Salbai → Wandiwash → Nand Kumar
(d) Nand Kumar → Wandiwash → Salbai → Tipu
Answer: (a) Wandiwash → Nand Kumar → Salbai → Tipu
Explanation: Wandiwash occurred in 1760, Nand Kumar was executed in 1775, the Treaty of Salbai was signed in 1782, and Tipu Sultan died in 1799. Ordering events chronologically tests knowledge of eighteenth-century Company expansion.
Q109. The Regulating Act of 1773 primarily reformed which two aspects of the East India Company?
[SSC CGL, 12 Sep 2025, Shift 2]
(a) The Company’s constitution in Britain and its territorial governance in India
(b) Agricultural irrigation and village councils
(c) European naval warfare and shipbuilding
(d) Mughal succession and princely marriages
Answer: (a) The Company’s constitution in Britain and its territorial governance in India
Explanation: Parliament’s Regulating Act addressed the Company’s organization in Britain and its management of acquired Indian territories. It increased accountability of directors, established a Bengal Governor-General and council, and paved the way for centralized colonial administration.
Q108. Siraj-ud-Daulah, Mir Jafar and Mir Qasim were associated with the nawabship of which region?
[RRB NTPC (UG), 9 Sep 2025, Shift 3]
(a) Awadh
(b) Bengal
(c) Hyderabad
(d) Mysore
Answer: (b) Bengal
Explanation: All three men ruled or claimed the nawabship of Bengal during the East India Company’s rise. The succession from Siraj-ud-Daulah to Mir Jafar and later Mir Qasim reveals growing English interference in Bengal’s regional politics.
Q107. In which year did Vasco da Gama return to Calicut on his second voyage to India?
[RRB NTPC (UG), 28 Aug 2025, Shift 2]
(a) 1509
(b) 1502
(c) 1511
(d) 1505
Answer: (b) 1502
Explanation: Da Gama returned to India with a larger fleet in 1502 after his initial 1498 voyage. The second expedition attempted to force Portuguese commercial advantages in the Indian Ocean and contributed to increasing conflict with established regional traders.
Q106. Which architectural feature is least characteristic of French colonial buildings in India?
[SSC Stenographer, 8 Aug 2025, Shift 3]
(a) Tall doors and windows
(b) Wide verandas
(c) Ornate Mughal-style domes
(d) Sloping tiled roofs
Answer: (c) Ornate Mughal-style domes
Explanation: French colonial buildings, notably in Puducherry, often used high openings, verandas and climate-responsive roofs. Elaborate Mughal domes belong more clearly to another architectural tradition and are not typical identifying features of French-period townhouses.
Q105. In 1610, the Dutch factory that became their Coromandel headquarters was established where?
[RRB NTPC Graduate, 23 Jun 2025, Shift 2]
(a) Pulicat
(b) Surat
(c) Bombay
(d) Cochin
Answer: (a) Pulicat
Explanation: Pulicat on the Coromandel coast served as a principal Dutch East India Company trading base. It acquired Fort Geldria and became the headquarters for Dutch operations in the region, especially textile procurement and maritime commerce.
Q104. The Dutch East India Company established a factory at Petapuli on the north Coromandel coast in which year?
[RRB NTPC Graduate, 23 Jun 2025, Shift 1]
(a) 1457
(b) 1532
(c) 1606
(d) 1699
Answer: (c) 1606
Explanation: A previous-year Railway examination identified 1606 for the Dutch factory at Petapuli. Dutch activity on the Coromandel coast expanded soon afterward and Pulicat became the best-known fortified trading headquarters of the Dutch East India Company.
Q103. The Regulating Act governing Company affairs was passed in which year?
[Patna High Court Mazdoor, 22 Jun 2025]
(a) 1753
(b) 1764
(c) 1757
(d) 1773
Answer: (d) 1773
Explanation: The British Parliament enacted the Regulating Act in 1773 after concerns about the Company’s financial difficulties and political administration. Its institutions included a Governor-General of Bengal and council, strengthening central direction over East India Company possessions.
Q102. Yanam and Chandernagore were historically possessions of which European power?
[RRB NTPC Graduate, 17 Jun 2025, Shift 3]
(a) Austria
(b) Germany
(c) Portugal
(d) France
Answer: (d) France
Explanation: Yanam on the Godavari coast and Chandernagore in Bengal belonged to the French colonial network. Along with Pondicherry, Karaikal and Mahé, these settlements formed geographically scattered commercial footholds before their eventual integration into India.
Q101. Which Charter Act opened the way for competitive recruitment to the Company’s civil service?
[RRB NTPC (Graduate), 11 Jun 2025, Shift 3]
(a) Charter Act 1813
(b) Charter Act 1793
(c) Charter Act 1853
(d) Pitt’s India Act 1784
Answer: (c) Charter Act 1853
Explanation: The Charter Act of 1853 separated the Company’s legislative and executive functions and helped establish the principle of open competitive selection for civil service appointments. The reform followed earlier debates over patronage and administrative efficiency.
