Day: April 6, 2025

Q. “The need to impose greater parliamentary control over the Company’s affairs increased during the decades (1773 – 1853) after Plassey.” Elucidate. [UPSC- 2016] Ans: The Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked a major turning point in Indian history. After its victory, the British East India Company (EIC), originally a trading corporation, transformed into a […]

Q. The universalist perspective of socio-religious reform movements was not a ‘purely philosophic concern; it strongly influenced the political and social outlook of the time’. Examine. [UPSC- 2023] Ans: The 19th-century socio-religious reform movements in India emerged in a period marked by the consolidation of British colonial rule, the influx of Western education and ideas, […]

Q. “An ideology of paternalistic benevolence, occasionally combined with talk of trusteeship and training towards self-government, thinly veiled the realities of a Raj uncompromisingly white and despotic.” Critically examine. [UPSC- 2018] Ans: This statement encapsulates the dual nature of British colonial ideology: a superficial commitment to progress and reform, overlying a reality of racial domination, […]

Q. Review the educational policy of the English East India Company. To what extent did it serve the imperial interests of Great Britain? [UPSC- 1988] Ans: The educational policy of the English East India Company (EIC) evolved significantly over time—from initial indifference to active intervention. This shift reflected changing British attitudes toward Indian society, governance […]

Q. “India underwent suffering and mortality in the wake of recurring famines in the later half of the 19th century.” Comment. [UPSC- 2003] Ans: During the rule of the East India Company India suffered in one part of another from twelve famines and four severe scarcities. The first of these was Bengal Famine of 1769-70 […]

Q. How did the British establish their control over Maharashtra in the first two decades of the 19th century? Why did the Maratha challenge ultimately collapse? [UPSC- 1994] OR Trace the course of the Anglo-Maratha relations in the first two decades of the nineteenth century. Account for the ultimate defeat of the Maratha power by […]