UPSC Static Quiz – History : 28 March 2026

Solution: D

Following the partition in 1905, Bengal was divided into two provinces: Western Bengal (including Bihar and Orissa) and Eastern Bengal and Assam. Dacca was chosen as the capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam, while Calcutta remained the capital of Western Bengal. The new eastern province was designed to have a Muslim majority, which Lord Curzon hoped would foster a loyalist community to counter the influence of the Hindu-led nationalist movement. This administrative restructuring aimed to create a demographic divide that would neutralize the “nerve-center of Indian nationalism”.

Solution: B

• Statement 1 is correct; Bengal’s population of 78 millionwas larger than that of many European nations combined, and the British argued that one Lieutenant-Governor could not possibly manage such a vast area.
• Statement 2 is correct; the official narrative emphasized that Eastern Bengal had been neglectedin terms of infrastructure and education because the administration was centered in Calcutta. By creating a new province with Dacca as the capital, the British claimed they were ensuring the “development” of the Muslim-majority areas.
• Statement 3 is incorrect; Curzon’s private correspondence reveals the exact opposite intent. He believed the partition would “divide” and weakenthe educated Bengali middle class, whom he viewed as the “nerve center” of sedition.

Solution: C

• The British response to the Civil Disobedience Movement was characterized by intense legal and physical repression.
• Statement 1 is correct; the Viceroy issued several emergency ordinancesto curb the Satyagraha, which included powers to censor news and dismantle the movement’s communication networks.
• Statement 2 is correct; as the defiance intensified, the government declared the Indian National Congressan illegal body to cripple its organizational capacity.
• Statement 3 is correct; the raid on the Dharasana Salt Workson May 21, 1930, where non-violent protestors were methodically beaten by police, was documented by Webb Miller. His reportage sparked an international outcry and brought the legitimacy of British rule into global question.
• Statement 4 is incorrect; a major limitation of the Gandhi-Irwin Pactwas that the government refused to grant an inquiry into police conduct. Gandhi ultimately agreed “not to press” this demand as a concession to reach a truce.

Solution: C

• Chowkidars were village watchmen whose salaries were paid not by the colonial state directly, but through a chowkidara tax levied on villagers. Although projected as protectors of rural order, they were widely seen as extensions of the colonial surveillance and policing apparatus. They assisted the British police in intelligence gathering, reporting nationalist activities, and enforcing colonial authority at the village level. As a result, refusal to pay the chowkidara tax became a symbolic and practical act of defiance against everyday colonial control rather than merely a fiscal protest.
• In Bengal, the anti-chowkidara tax movement often merged with agitation against Union Boards, which were local self-governing bodies introduced under colonial reforms. These boards were perceived as instruments for extracting taxes and enforcing unpopular regulations rather than representing genuine self-rule. Nationalists encouraged villagers to boycott Union Boards, refuse taxes, and undermine their legitimacy. The convergence of these agitations transformed the Civil Disobedience Movement into a deeply rooted rural struggle, targeting the micro-level institutions through which colonial authority functioned. This fusion of fiscal resistance and institutional non-cooperation significantly widened the social base and intensity of the movement.

Solution: C

• The Indian Independence Act of 1947 was the legal culmination of the British withdrawal.
• Statement 1 is correct; the office of the Secretary of State for India was abolished, reflecting the transition from a colony to independent dominions within the Commonwealth.
• Statement 2 is incorrect; the Act explicitly declared the lapse of British suzerainty(Paramountcy) over the princely states with effect from August 15, 1947, meaning the states were legally free to join either dominion or remain independent, though they were encouraged to accede.
• Statement 3 is correct; to maintain administrative continuity, the 1935 Act remained operativeas the interim constitution, subject to modifications by the respective Constituent Assemblies.
• Statement 4 is correct; the Act removed the title “Emperor of India” from the British royal style, an act later formalized by a royal proclamation in 1948.