Q100. François Martin established Pondicherry as a French settlement in which year?
[RRB NTPC Graduate, 10 Jun 2025, Shift 3]
(a) 1794
(b) 1674
(c) 1762
(d) 1612
Answer: (b) 1674
Explanation: François Martin helped establish the French trading settlement at Pondicherry in 1674. It subsequently became the main administrative and commercial centre of French India, while other French factories functioned on both the Coromandel and Bengal coasts.
Q99. In which year did the French Company acquire Mahé on the Malabar coast, according to the examination?
[MPPKVVCL Assistant Engineer Civil, 4 Jun 2025]
(a) 1758
(b) 1721
(c) 1768
(d) 1755
Answer: (b) 1721
Explanation: The question identifies 1721 as the year associated with French acquisition of Mahé. The Malabar coastal enclave became an important French outpost for the pepper trade and complemented the Company’s principal establishments farther east.
Q98. How many of papaya, pineapple and guava were introduced into India through Portuguese-era transoceanic exchange?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2025]
(a) None
(b) Only one
(c) Only two
(d) All three
Answer: (d) All three
Explanation: Papaya, pineapple and guava originated in the Americas and reached Indian markets through early modern exchanges in which Portuguese traders played a substantial role. Their diffusion illustrates that European contact transformed agricultural crops as well as commercial and political institutions.
Q97. Consider the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle: (1) It ended the First Carnatic War. (2) It restored Madras to the British. Which is correct?
[UPPSC PCS Prelims, 2025]
(a) Only statement 1
(b) Both statements
(c) Neither statement
(d) Only statement 2
Answer: (b) Both statements
Explanation: The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the War of the Austrian Succession and the associated First Carnatic War. It returned Madras to the British East India Company while France regained Louisbourg in North America.
Q96. Whom did the British establish as Nawab of Bengal after the Battle of Plassey?
[SSC MTS, 4 Nov 2024, Shift 2]
(a) Mir Qasim
(b) Mir Jafar Ali Khan
(c) Mansur Ali Khan
(d) Murshid Quli Khan
Answer: (b) Mir Jafar Ali Khan
Explanation: After defeating Siraj-ud-Daulah in 1757, the English East India Company installed Mir Jafar as Nawab. His dependence on Company support yielded commercial advantages and political leverage to the British, helping transform trading influence into territorial power.
Q95. In which year did the East India Company fight the Battle of Plassey?
[SSC MTS, 29 Oct 2024, Shift 2]
(a) 1776
(b) 1787
(c) 1796
(d) 1757
Answer: (d) 1757
Explanation: The Battle of Plassey was fought on 23 June 1757 between the Company’s force under Robert Clive and Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal. Mir Jafar’s defection contributed to a victory that greatly expanded Company influence.
Q94. Which Carnatic War is correctly matched with its concluding settlement: First—Paris, Second—Pondicherry, Third—Aix-la-Chapelle?
[KEA VAO General Knowledge, 27 Oct 2024]
(a) Only one match is correct
(b) Two matches are correct
(c) All three matches are correct
(d) None is correct
Answer: (a) Only one match is correct
Explanation: Only the Second Carnatic War is correctly paired with Pondicherry. The First ended after Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, and the Third concluded with the Treaty of Paris in 1763 following the decisive British victory at Wandiwash.
Q93. In what year was the French East India Company founded?
[RPSC Assistant Professor History, 12 Sep 2024]
(a) 1660
(b) 1664
(c) 1666
(d) 1674
Answer: (b) 1664
Explanation: The French East India Company was formed in 1664 under Louis XIV with support from his finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. It arrived after the Dutch and English chartered companies and subsequently developed bases at Surat, Masulipatnam and Pondicherry.
Q92. Which engagement in 1757 is conventionally regarded as beginning the Company’s political ascendancy in India?
[UP Police Constable Re-exam, 30 Aug 2024]
(a) Battle of Buxar
(b) Third Battle of Panipat
(c) Battle of Plassey
(d) Battle of Wandiwash
Answer: (c) Battle of Plassey
Explanation: The English East India Company’s victory at Plassey gave it decisive influence in Bengal’s political affairs. Although wider territorial consolidation came later, the 1757 conflict became a familiar marker of the transition from commerce to colonial power.
Q91. Which English ambassador visited the Mughal court of Jahangir?
[WBPSC WBCS Mains History, 18 Aug 2024]
(a) Sir Thomas Roe
(b) Ibn Battuta
(c) Nuniz
(d) Domingo Paes
Answer: (a) Sir Thomas Roe
Explanation: Sir Thomas Roe served as King James I’s ambassador at Jahangir’s court between 1615 and 1619. His diplomatic mission sought wider trading privileges for the English East India Company and recorded valuable observations about Mughal society.
