Q90. Which 1773 enactment authorized the Supreme Court of Judicature at Calcutta?
[SSC CHSL, 3 Jul 2024, Shift 3]
(a) Regulating Act
(b) Pitt’s India Act
(c) Indian Councils Act
(d) Charter Act of 1833
Answer: (a) Regulating Act
Explanation: The Regulating Act was passed in 1773 and provided for establishing a Supreme Court at Calcutta, which opened in 1774. The measure also created a Governor-General of Bengal and council to oversee East India Company affairs.
Q89. Vasco da Gama, who opened the European Cape sea route to India, was from which country?
[SSC CPO, 27 Jun 2024, Shift 1]
(a) Spain
(b) Portugal
(c) England
(d) Germany
Answer: (b) Portugal
Explanation: Vasco da Gama sailed in the service of Portugal and reached Calicut in 1498. His voyage demonstrated a navigable ocean route linking the Atlantic and Indian Oceans around southern Africa, strengthening Portuguese ambitions in the spice trade.
Q88. Siraj-ud-Daulah confronted the Company’s army under Robert Clive at which battle?
[SSC Selection Post Graduate, 20 Jun 2024, Shift 3]
(a) Battle of Wandiwash
(b) Battle of Colachel
(c) Battle of Plassey
(d) Battle of Bedara
Answer: (c) Battle of Plassey
Explanation: The Company fought Siraj-ud-Daulah at Plassey in 1757. Robert Clive led the English force, while divisions among the Nawab’s commanders proved critical. The result paved the way for greater Company intervention in Bengal politics.
Q87. In which year did Vasco da Gama arrive at Calicut on India’s Malabar coast?
[OSSSC Forest Guard, 27 Apr 2024]
(a) 1526
(b) 1498
(c) 1600
(d) 1765
Answer: (b) 1498
Explanation: Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in May 1498 after passing around the Cape of Good Hope. His voyage was sponsored by Portugal and established a direct sea link to the Indian Ocean commercial network, transforming European maritime competition.
Q86. Who first reached India by the Cape sea route in 1498?
[OSSSC LSI Forest Guard, 24 Apr 2024, Shift 3]
(a) Sir Thomas Roe
(b) Niccolao Manucci
(c) Marco Polo
(d) Vasco da Gama
Answer: (d) Vasco da Gama
Explanation: Vasco da Gama’s Portuguese expedition rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached the Malabar coast in 1498. This inaugurated direct oceanic commerce between Portugal and India, although older routes already connected Indian markets with Europe indirectly.
Q85. Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch in which battle?
[WBPSC Food SI, 17 Mar 2024, Shift 3]
(a) Wandiwash
(b) Panipat
(c) Pullalur
(d) Colachel
Answer: (d) Colachel
Explanation: The Battle of Colachel in 1741 pitted Travancore under Marthanda Varma against Dutch East India Company forces. Travancore’s victory sharply reduced Dutch military prestige and helped strengthen the state’s control along the southwestern Indian coast.
Q84. Which Portuguese officer is linked with the Blue Water Policy?
[WBPSC Food SI, 16 Mar 2024, Shift 3]
(a) Vasco da Gama
(b) Francisco de Almeida
(c) Afonso de Albuquerque
(d) Martim Afonso de Sousa
Answer: (b) Francisco de Almeida
Explanation: Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese viceroy from 1505 to 1509, prioritized control of sea lanes and naval trade rather than extensive inland conquest. The Blue Water Policy was intended to safeguard spice commerce and project Portuguese maritime authority.
Q83. Which opposing forces fought the Battle of Plassey?
[WBPSC Food SI, 16 Mar 2024, Shift 1]
(a) Mir Qasim and Mir Jafar
(b) Siraj-ud-Daulah and the English East India Company
(c) Mir Jafar and the French
(d) Shah Alam II and the English
Answer: (b) Siraj-ud-Daulah and the English East India Company
Explanation: The decisive 1757 conflict took place between Bengal’s Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah and Company soldiers commanded by Robert Clive. The outcome depended in part on the refusal of sections of the Nawab’s forces to fight effectively.
Q82. In what year was the Danish East India Company established?
[Delhi Police Constable, 29 Nov 2023, Shift 1]
(a) 1616
(b) 1650
(c) 1630
(d) 1670
Answer: (a) 1616
Explanation: King Christian IV chartered the Danish East India Company in 1616. Its earliest enduring settlement in India developed at Tranquebar on the Coromandel coast in 1620, followed much later by Danish operations around Serampore in Bengal.
Q81. Which French governor’s arrival marked the growing Anglo-French conflict in the Carnatic?
[Delhi Police Constable, 17 Nov 2023, Shift 1]
(a) Colbert
(b) Dupleix
(c) François Martin
(d) François Caron
Answer: (b) Dupleix
Explanation: Joseph François Dupleix took charge as French governor in 1742 and expanded France’s political ambitions in southern India. His support for rival Indian claimants intensified confrontations with the English East India Company during the Carnatic Wars.
