Q40. Who killed W. C. Rand, the plague commissioner of Pune, in 1897?
[TSPSC Assistant Statistical Officer 2017]
(A) Ganesh Savarkar
(B) Chapekar Brothers
(C) Vasudev Balwant Phadke
(D) Chiplunkar Brothers
Answer: (B) Chapekar Brothers
Explanation: Rand chaired Pune’s Special Plague Committee during an epidemic. The Chapekar brothers attacked him in June 1897 following outrage over invasive enforcement practices. Damodar, Balkrishna and Vasudeo became associated with early revolutionary nationalist activity in Maharashtra.
Q39. Which of the following was NOT a Moderate Indian nationalist leader?
[Tripura Civil Service Preliminary Examination 2017]
(A) Pherozeshah Mehta
(B) Rash Behari Ghosh
(C) Bipin Chandra Pal
(D) Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee
Answer: (C) Bipin Chandra Pal
Explanation: Bipin Chandra Pal belonged to the assertive nationalist wing and promoted Swadeshi, boycott and political self-reliance. Mehta, Rash Behari Ghosh and W. C. Bonnerjee were associated primarily with Moderate constitutional politics. The distinction grew prominent before the Surat split.
Q38. Who said, “I know my country as my mother. I adore her. I worship her”?
[WBCS Mains History 2016]
(A) Swami Vivekananda
(B) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
(C) Aurobindo Ghosh
(D) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Answer: (C) Aurobindo Ghosh
Explanation: Aurobindo’s language of the nation as a mother expressed a spiritual dimension of his early political nationalism. His writings during the Swadeshi era sought to transform patriotic duty into an intense collective commitment, connecting ideas of national freedom with cultural and spiritual identity.
Q37. Who presided over the historic Lucknow session of Congress in 1916?
[WBCS Mains History 2016]
(A) Annie Besant
(B) R. N. Mudholkar
(C) Ambika Charan Majumdar
(D) Madan Mohan Malaviya
Answer: (C) Ambika Charan Majumdar
Explanation: Ambika Charan Majumdar presided over the Lucknow Congress of 1916. That session marked reunion between Moderates and Extremists after the Surat split and coincided with the Congress–Muslim League Lucknow Pact. The developments signalled a more united constitutional campaign.
Q36. Within ten days of which Poona festival were Rand and another British officer shot in 1897?
[MPSC State Services Prelims 2016]
(A) Shivaji festival
(B) Ganapati festival
(C) Durga festival
(D) Navratri festival
Answer: (A) Shivaji festival
Explanation: The question refers to the public Shivaji celebration in Pune that preceded the June 1897 attack. Tilak had popularized Shivaji and Ganapati festivals for political awakening. The Chapekar brothers then attacked officials associated with controversial plague-control measures in the city.
Q35. Who continuously advocated granting self-rule to India from about 1904 onward?
[UPPSC Mains General Studies 2016]
(A) Surendranath Banerjee
(B) Aurobindo Ghosh
(C) Pherozeshah Mehta
(D) Dadabhai Naoroji
Answer: (B) Aurobindo Ghosh
Explanation: Aurobindo advocated genuine Swaraj and argued for active national self-reliance rather than reliance on petitions. His writing and involvement in Bengal after 1905 contributed to the new assertive ideology. He later moved to Pondicherry after acquittal in the Alipore case.
Q34. Which of these was not a Moderate Congress leader?
[Himachal Pradesh PSC Preliminary Examination 2016]
(A) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(B) M. G. Ranade
(C) Aurobindo Ghosh
(D) Surendranath Banerjee
Answer: (C) Aurobindo Ghosh
Explanation: Aurobindo Ghosh advanced assertive nationalism and participated in Bengal’s anti-partition movement. Gokhale, Ranade and Banerjee were associated with Moderate methods such as constitutional agitation and reform. Aurobindo also faced prosecution in the 1908 Alipore Bomb Case.
Q33. Which European supporter of Indian nationalism condemned the British Empire as fundamentally corrupt and tyrannical?
[WBCS Mains General Studies I 2016]
(A) Sister Nivedita
(B) A. O. Hume
(C) William Wedderburn
(D) Annie Besant
Answer: (D) Annie Besant
Explanation: Annie Besant strongly criticized imperial rule and championed Indian self-government. In 1916 she launched a Home Rule League alongside Tilak’s separate organization. Her activities and nationalist journalism helped connect demands for constitutional autonomy with broader public campaigning.
Q32. After the 1907 Surat rupture, which question contributed to another Congress disagreement around 1918?
[WBCS Mains General Studies I 2016]
(A) Implementation of the Lucknow Pact
(B) Annie Besant’s 1917 Congress presidency
(C) Both issues equally
(D) Montagu’s declaration of August 1917
Answer: (B) Annie Besant’s 1917 Congress presidency
Explanation: Annie Besant’s leadership and the question of constitutional reform exposed further differences inside nationalism during the Home Rule period. The WBCS paper links a later factional disagreement with her 1917 presidency, following the better-known split at Surat in 1907.
Q31. Who killed the British plague officer Rand?
[Maharashtra Zilla Parishad Junior Assistant Clerk 2015]
(A) Chapekar Brothers
(B) Udham Singh
(C) Bhagat Singh
(D) Madan Lal Dhingra
Answer: (A) Chapekar Brothers
Explanation: The Chapekar brothers attacked W. C. Rand at Pune in 1897 during intense resentment against intrusive plague policies. The assassination was an early instance of organized revolutionary violence against colonial officials. Udham Singh, Bhagat Singh and Dhingra acted in later decades.
