Q80. Who led the English forces at the Battle of Buxar in 1764?
[Delhi Police Constable, 15 Nov 2023, Shift 1]
(a) Hector Munro
(b) Hugh Wheeler
(c) Henry Lawrence
(d) John Nicholson
Answer: (a) Hector Munro
Explanation: Major Hector Munro commanded the Company army at the Battle of Buxar on 22 October 1764. His victory against a coalition of Indian powers preceded the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad and the acquisition of Diwani rights.
Q79. The 1773 Regulating Act led to establishment of the Supreme Court in which city?
[SSC CPO, 4 Oct 2023, Shift 3]
(a) Calcutta
(b) Delhi
(c) Madras
(d) Bombay
Answer: (a) Calcutta
Explanation: A Supreme Court was established at Calcutta in 1774 under the Regulating Act of 1773. It initially exercised jurisdiction linked to the Bengal Presidency and represented an important development in the Company’s evolving legal institutions.
Q78. Which treaty followed the Company’s victory at Buxar?
[69th BPSC Prelims, 30 Sep 2023]
(a) Treaty of Sugauli
(b) Treaty of Salbai
(c) Treaty of Bassein
(d) Treaty of Allahabad
Answer: (d) Treaty of Allahabad
Explanation: The Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 followed Buxar and helped formalize the Company’s fiscal and political advantages. Most significantly, Shah Alam II recognized Company Diwani rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, enabling it to draw upon provincial revenue.
Q77. The Dutch East India Company established its factory at Patna in which year?
[69th BPSC Prelims, 30 Sep 2023]
(a) 1635
(b) 1632
(c) 1643
(d) 1648
Answer: (b) 1632
Explanation: The Dutch established their Patna factory in 1632, strengthening inland trade links with Bengal and Bihar. The Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, founded in 1602, already maintained coastal trading posts and sought Indian textiles and other merchandise.
Q76. Regarding the 1600 charter, which statements are correct: (1) English merchants received exclusive English trading rights in the East; (2) other European powers were not thereby barred from trading?
[DDA Patwari, 26 Aug 2023, Shift 1]
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Explanation: Elizabeth I’s charter granted the Company a monopoly over specified trade for English merchants, not sovereignty over Asian markets. Portuguese and Dutch merchants retained their own trading activities, so both propositions correctly describe the scope of the charter.
Q75. Which two European trading companies faced each other at Bedara in 1759?
[MP Police Constable, 23 Aug 2023, Shift 1]
(a) British and Portuguese
(b) British and Danish
(c) British and French
(d) British and Dutch
Answer: (d) British and Dutch
Explanation: The British East India Company defeated the Dutch near Chinsurah during the Battle of Bedara in 1759. The encounter curtailed Dutch efforts to challenge British military predominance in Bengal after the earlier Battle of Plassey.
Q74. Britain fought which European country at Wandiwash in 1760?
[MP Police Constable, 17 Aug 2023]
(a) France
(b) Spain
(c) Portugal
(d) Denmark
Answer: (a) France
Explanation: At Wandiwash, British forces under Eyre Coote defeated the French army led by Count de Lally in January 1760. The defeat was decisive in the Third Carnatic War and sharply weakened France’s prospects for political supremacy.
Q73. Joseph François Dupleix was Governor-General of which European Company’s Indian establishments?
[SSC CHSL, 8 Aug 2023, Shift 2]
(a) Dutch
(b) French
(c) English
(d) Portuguese
Answer: (b) French
Explanation: Dupleix directed the French East India Company’s Indian interests from 1742 to 1754. He pursued alliances in the Deccan and Carnatic to challenge British power and was central to the early Anglo-French Carnatic conflicts.
Q72. Who commanded the Company’s troops at the Battle of Buxar?
[SSC CGL, 17 Jul 2023, Shift 2]
(a) Robert Clive
(b) William Henry Sleeman
(c) Hector Munro
(d) Eyre Coote
Answer: (c) Hector Munro
Explanation: Hector Munro led the East India Company’s troops at Buxar in October 1764. The allied forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula and Shah Alam II were defeated, strengthening the Company’s bargaining position in eastern India.
Q71. Who was primarily responsible for founding the French East India Company?
[MP Forest Guard, 19 Jun 2023, Shift 1]
(a) Jean-Baptiste Colbert
(b) Francisco de Almeida
(c) Captain James
(d) Joseph Dupleix
Answer: (a) Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Explanation: France established its East India Company in 1664 through the initiatives of Louis XIV’s minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The organization sought Asian trading opportunities and eventually developed French enclaves in Pondicherry and elsewhere.
