Q60. Who became principal of Bengal National College founded in Calcutta during the Swadeshi movement?
[UPSC NDA-II General Ability Test 2019]
(A) Rabindranath Tagore
(B) Sri Aurobindo
(C) Rajanikanta Sen
(D) Syed Abu Mohammad
Answer: (B) Sri Aurobindo
Explanation: Sri Aurobindo served as the first principal of Bengal National College in 1906. The institution reflected a key Swadeshi demand for national education free from colonial influence. Aurobindo also campaigned for boycott, passive resistance and political independence.
Q59. Match the epithets: Tilak, Andrews, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Lala Lajpat Rai with Lokmanya, Dinabandhu, Mahamana and Punjab Kesari.
[WBCS Mains General Studies I 2019]
(A) Tilak–Lokmanya; Andrews–Dinabandhu; Malaviya–Mahamana; Rai–Punjab Kesari
(B) Tilak–Dinabandhu; Andrews–Lokmanya; Malaviya–Mahamana; Rai–Punjab Kesari
(C) Tilak–Mahamana; Andrews–Dinabandhu; Malaviya–Lokmanya; Rai–Punjab Kesari
(D) Tilak–Punjab Kesari; Andrews–Dinabandhu; Malaviya–Mahamana; Rai–Lokmanya
Answer: (A) Tilak–Lokmanya; Andrews–Dinabandhu; Malaviya–Mahamana; Rai–Punjab Kesari
Explanation: Lokmanya was the popular honorific for Bal Gangadhar Tilak, while Lala Lajpat Rai was known as Punjab Kesari. C. F. Andrews was Dinabandhu and Malaviya was Mahamana. Such titles reflected distinct public contributions and reputations within the nationalist era.
Q58. Which freedom fighter had the honorific Lokmanya?
[RPF Constable (17 February 2019, Shift 2)]
(A) Vallabhbhai Patel
(B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(C) Dadabhai Naoroji
(D) Bhagat Singh
Answer: (B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Explanation: Lokmanya means accepted or respected by the people and became closely associated with Tilak. Through newspapers, public celebrations and the demand for Swaraj, he developed an influential political following. British commentators sometimes called him the Father of Indian Unrest.
Q57. Who declared that freedom was the birthright of Indians?
[Allahabad High Court Review Officer 2019]
(A) Lala Lajpat Rai
(B) Mahatma Gandhi
(C) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(D) Jawaharlal Nehru
Answer: (C) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Explanation: Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s well-known slogan insisted that Swaraj was an inherent right. His campaigns used nationalist journalism, mass meetings and festivals to expand political mobilization. The phrase came to symbolize dissatisfaction with the Moderate politics of prayers and petitions.
Q56. Which Marathi newspaper was issued by Bal Gangadhar Tilak?
[Maharashtra Talathi (12 July 2019, Shift 1)]
(A) Kesari
(B) Darpan
(C) Purna Vaibhav
(D) Sakal
Answer: (A) Kesari
Explanation: Kesari was a Marathi newspaper launched with Tilak and colleagues in 1881. Tilak also used the English newspaper Mahratta for nationalist commentary. Both publications helped expand the political audience for Swaraj and criticism of imperial administration.
Q55. Who edited the Marathi nationalist paper Kesari?
[DSSSB PRT (14 November 2019, Shift 3)]
(A) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(B) B. R. Ambedkar
(C) M. G. Ranade
(D) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Answer: (D) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Explanation: Tilak was best known for editing Kesari in Marathi and Mahratta in English. His publications challenged colonial authority and helped disseminate assertive nationalist views. He was prosecuted for sedition and underwent imprisonment, including six years at Mandalay.
Q54. Who was labelled the Father of Indian Unrest by British commentators?
[Telangana High Court Examiner (7 November 2019, Shift 1)]
(A) Mahatma Gandhi
(B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(C) V. D. Savarkar
(D) Dadabhai Naoroji
Answer: (B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Explanation: The British journalist Valentine Chirol famously associated Tilak with the phrase Father of Indian Unrest. The description responded to his popular political influence, intense criticism of colonialism and advocacy of Swaraj. It represented a colonial view of assertive nationalism.
Q53. Put these events in chronological order: I. Bengal partition, II. Banaras Congress session, III. Calcutta Congress session, IV. Muslim League foundation.
[WBCS Mains General Studies I 2019]
(A) I, II, III, IV
(B) II, I, III, IV
(C) I, II, IV, III
(D) I, III, II, IV
Answer: (A) I, II, III, IV
Explanation: Bengal was partitioned in October 1905 after the Banaras Congress gathering was planned and before its December meeting. Calcutta Congress met in December 1906 and the Muslim League was founded in Dhaka that same month. The paper specifies I, II, III, IV.
Q52. Which matching of nationalist editors and newspapers is correct: Azad–Al Hilal, Mehta–Bombay Chronicle, Besant–New India, Gandhi–Young India?
[WBCS Mains General Studies I 2019]
(A) All four pairings
(B) Only the first two pairings
(C) Only the last two pairings
(D) None of the pairings
Answer: (A) All four pairings
Explanation: Abul Kalam Azad edited Al Hilal; Pherozeshah Mehta founded Bombay Chronicle; Annie Besant published New India; and Gandhi was associated with Young India. Political newspapers helped carry nationalist debate, including the Home Rule campaign and demands for self-government.
Q51. Who ridiculed the demand for independence in 1903 by suggesting only madmen would discuss it?
[WBCS Mains General Studies I 2019]
(A) Lord Curzon
(B) Lord Hardinge
(C) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(D) Pherozeshah Mehta
Answer: (D) Pherozeshah Mehta
Explanation: Pherozeshah Mehta, a leading Congress Moderate, is associated with the dismissive remark about outright independence in 1903. It reflected the limited constitutional aims of many early nationalists. Extremists soon pushed the movement toward stronger demands for Swaraj.
