[Topic wise IAS Modern Indian History Question Bank (1979-2015)]: (7) Indian Response to British Rule

Indian Response to British Rule: Peasant movements and tribal uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries including the Rangpur Dhing (1783), the Kol Rebellion (1832), the Mopla Rebellion in Malabar (1841-1920), the Santal Hul (1855), Indigo Rebellion (1859-60), Deccan Uprising (1875) and the Munda Ulgulan (1899-1900); The Great Revolt of 1857 – Origin, character, causes of failure, the consequences; The shift in the character of peasant uprisings in the post-1857 period; the peasant movements of the 1920s and 1930s.
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Peasant movements and tribal uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries

1. Tribal revolts were a reaction to an alien, unfeeling administration. Elucidate with reference to the British tribal policy in Eastern India in the nineteenth century. [1982, 60m]

2. Discuss briefly the tribal revolts in Eastern India from 1817 to 1857. Were they directed against land lordism and colonialism? [1988, 60m]

3. Discuss the origins and character of major peasant and tribal uprisings in the late 18th and 19th centuries’ were these protest movements backwards-looking? [1992, 60m]

4. Tribal movements should be viewed as‚ ‘History from below‛. Discuss the objects and nature of the movements in 19th  century India. [1997, 60m]

5. “The tribal and peasant rebellion laid the foundation of the revolt of 1857.” Comment. [2001, 20m]

6. “Tribals revolted more often and far more violently than any other community including peasants in india.” Elaborate [2011, 30m]

7.“The Santhal hool began in July 1855. The core of the movement was economic, the basic cause of the uprising was agrarian discontent.” – Elucidate [2012, 10m]

The Great Revolt of 1857

1. Critically examine the nature of the Revolt of 1857. How did it affect the British policy in India after 1858? [1980, 60m]

2. “The Mutiny was not inevitable in 1857, but it was inherent in the constitution of the Empire.” Comment. [1983, 20m]

3. “On the whole, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the so-called First National War of Independence was neither First, nor National, nor a war of Independence.” Comment. [1985, 20m]

4. “Whatever might have been its original character, it (Rebellion of 1857) soon became a symbol of challenge to the mighty British power in India.” Comment. [1988, 20m]

5. “The new attitude of caution and conservatism can detected in almost every sphere of British activity in India after the Revolt of 1857.” Comment. [1994, 20m]

6. Examine the nature of the Revolt of 1857 and indicate the manifold changes in British civil and military administration of India after 1857. [1998, 60m]

7. Do you believe that the uprising in 1857 was nationalist in nature? If not, what was its character? [1999, 60m]

8. “Whatever might have been its original character, it (Rebellion of 1857) soon became a symbol of challenge to the mighty British power in India.” Comment. [2005, 20m]

9. “The Revolt of 1857 seemed to call the very presence of the British into question. What it did not do was reverse these change.” Comment. [2007, 20m]

10. “The annexation of Awadh shook the loyalty of the Sepoy’s, as it was for them an ultimate proof of untrustworthiness of the British.” Comment. [2009, 20m]

11. “In 1857, the rebel sepoys showed a remarkable centripetal tendency to congregate at Delhi.” Do you agree? Substantiate. [2011, 30m]

The shift in the character of peasant uprisings in the post-1857 period

1. Identify the various forms of ‘rural protest’ in India in the second half of the nineteenth century. Were they expressions of anti-landlord or anti-foreign discontent? [1987, 60m]

2.“The peasant movements of the second half of the nineteenth century lacked a positive conception which would unite the people in a common struggle on a wide regional and all-India plane and help develop long-term political developments.” Critically evaluate. [2012, 10m]

3. “The Indigo Revolt of 1859-60 holds a very significant place in our history of national liberation movement. For the first time in the history of our anti-colonial struggle, its two independent currents– spontaneous peasant resistance and constitutional agitation in defence of peasantry – came into mutual contact.” Critically examine. [2015, 10m]

The peasant movements of the 1920s and 1930s

1. Write a brief essay on the peasant movement in India between 1921 and 1947. [1980, 60m]

2. “The roots of Moplah discontent were clearly agrarian….” Comment. [1986, 20m]

4. The roots of the Moplah uprising (1921) were clearly agrarian. Do you agree? [1990, 60m]

5. The 1921 Moplah rebellion was “in essence an expression of long-standing agrarian discontent which was intensified by the religious and ethnic identity.” Comment. [2000, 20m]

6. Analyze the nature of peasant movements during the nationalist phase and bring out their shortcomings. [2015, 20m]

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