Advent of Europeans MCQ Quiz - Objective Question with Answer for Advent of Europeans - Download Free PDF

The correct answer is the Battle of Buxar.

Key Points

• The Diwani (the right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha was given to the British East India Company by Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor in 1765 under the treaty of Allahabad.
• The treaty was signed after the Battle of Buxar in which the English East India Company defeated the allied army of the Mughal emperor, Mir Qasim, and the Nawab of Awadh.

• In 1612, the Battle of Swally (Surat) was fought between the company forces and the Portuguese in which the company had a decisive victory, and this led to the rise of the East India Company as a paramount force in India, and also to the end of Portuguese dominance. 
• After this, the company decided to try its hand in getting a territorial base in mainland India and in 1612, Sir Thomas Roe was sent as a representative of the British king James I to the court of Jahangir.
• Roe was successful in securing exclusive rights to reside and set up factories in Surat and in some other areas for the company.
• Slowly, the company dominated other European players and established trading posts in Surat in 1619, Madras in 1639, Bombay in 1668, and Calcutta in 1690. The chief factories became the walled forts of Fort St. George in Madras, Fort William in Bengal, and the manor house Bombay Castle.
• In the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the Nawab of Bengal was defeated by the British and a British puppet was placed on the throne.
• Company rule effectively started with the Battle of Buxar in 1764 when the Nawab of Bengal surrendered the Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to the company, and Robert Clive was made the Governor of Bengal.

Additional Information

• The Battle of Haldighati was a battle fought on 18 June 1576 between cavalry and archers supporting the Rana of Mewar, Maharana Pratap, and the Mughal emperor Akbar's forces, led by Man Singh I of Amber. 

The correct answer is The war concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

Key Points

• In 1760, The Battle of Wandiwash was a battle in India between the British and French.
• The Battle of Wandiwash was part of the Third Carnatic War fought between the French and British colonial empires.
• The British army was led by Sir Eyre Coote and the french army was commanded by Comte de Lally.
• The war concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
• It itself was a part of the global Seven Years War.

Additional Information

• Total three Carnatic ware were fought between British and French
  • First Carnatic War (1740-48) - Joseph Francois duplex was a french governor and Major Stringer Lawrence from the British side.
    • The result was inconclusive.
  • Second Carnatic War (1749-54) - The war ended with the Treaty of Pondicherry, signed in 1754, which recognized Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah as the Nawab of the Carnatic.
    • Charles Godeheu replaced Dupleix.
  • Third Carnatic War (1756-63)

The correct answer is Masulipatnam.

Key Points

• In 1608, the British East India Company decided to open a factory at Surat.
• The English ambassador Captain Hawkins arrived at Jahangir’s Court to seek permission for trade with India.

Mistake Points 

• But initially, it was turned down due to Portuguese intrigue.
• The British thus established their first (temporary) factory at Masulipatnam in 1611.
• But, the first permanent British factory was established at Surat in 1613.

The correct answer is Sir William Hawkins

Key Points

• The new monarch after Queen Elizabeth, James-I sent William Hawkins to the Court of Jahangir as an official diplomatic representative of King to India.  
• Sir William Hawkins arrived at Surat in 1608 on a ship named “Hector” which was later captured by the Portuguese. Portuguese warned him that all ports belong to the King of Portugal and none ought to come here without their license.
• He reached Agra in April 1609 and was received with all Indian hospitality and warmth by Mughal Emperor Jahangir.
• Hawkins was able to garner close relations with Jahangir, who fondly called him English Khan.
• He was able to persuade the emperor to grant a commission for an English Factory at Surat but that permission was withdrawn under the pressure from the Portuguese Viceroy. 
• Hawkins tried to reverse the decision, but the Portuguese influence over the King was impregnable and returned in disgust in 1611 and died soon.

Image of William Hawkins

The correct answer is Akbar.

Key Points

When the East India Company was established, India was ruled by the Mughal emperor Akbar. (1556-1605)

• On 31 December 1600, a group of merchants who had incorporated themselves into the East India Company was given monopoly privileges on all trade with the East Indies.
• The Company’s ships first arrived in India, at the port of Surat, in 1608. 
• Sir Thomas Roe reached the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, as the emissary of King James I in 1615, and gained for the British the right to establish a factory at Surat. 

Mistake Points

• The English East India Company was incorporated by royal charter on December 31, 1600.
• Here establishment of the Company is asked not the factory.
• In 1600, a group of London merchants led by Sir Thomas Smythe petitioned Queen Elizabeth I to grant them a royal charter to trade with the countries of the eastern hemisphere. And so, the ‘Honourable Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies’ – or East India Company, as it came to be known – was founded.
• At the same time as Elizabeth I was signing the East India Company (EIC) into existence in 1600, her counterpart in India – the Mughal emperor Akbar – was ruling over an empire of 750,000 square miles, stretching from northern Afghanistan in the northwest, to central India’s Deccan plateau in the south and the Assamese highlands in the northeast.
• By 1600, the Mughal empire (founded by Akbar’s grandfather, Babur, in 1526) had come of age and was embarking on a century of strong centralised power, military dominance and cultural productiveness that would mark the rule of the ‘Great Mughals’. 
• However, Sir Thomas Roe reached the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, as the emissary of King James I in 1615, and gained the British the right to establish a factory at Surat. 

The correct answer is Mir Jafar.

Key Points 

• Robert Clive a British officer bribed Mir Jafar who was the commander in chief of Nawab’s army.
  • The bribe was to make Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal.
  • Clive’s goal was to conquer Bengal in order to get the money and resources required for imperialism.
  • In this process, Clive betrayed Mir Jafar during the Battle of Plassey and did not make him the Nawab but in turn, conquered Bengal and made Mir Jafar a traitor who betrayed their country in the eyes of the Indians.
  • After the Battle of Plassey,  Mir Jafar was made Nawab of the Bengal.
  • In 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, Nawab Mir Jafar conferred the 24 Paraganas of Bengal to the British and also the Jangli mahals (small administrative units), as a result, he was propped up as the Puppet Nawab.

Additional Information

• Alamgir II was the Mughal Emperor at the time of the Battle of Plassey.
  • Alamgir II was the Mughal Emperor of India from 3 June 1754 to 29 November 1759.
  • He was the son of Jahandar Shah. 
  • The Battle of Plassey was fought between Siraj-Ud-Daulah who was then the Bengal Nawab and East India Company forces headed by Robert Clive.
  • The Battle of Plassey took place when Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Daulah did not like the uncontrolled use of privileges by the East India Company’s officials.
  • Also, the workers of the company stopped paying taxes which became one of the reasons for the Battle of Plassey.​

• Siraj-ud-Daulah:
  • Siraj-ud-Daulah was the last independent Nawab of Bengal who succeeded Alivadi Khan to the throne.
  •  The end of his reign marks the beginning of the company's rule that continued unabated over the next two hundred years.
  • The end of his reign marked the start of British East India Company rule over Bengal and later almost all of the Indian subcontinent. 
• Mir Qasim:
  • Mir Qasim was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763.
  • He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been supported earlier by the East India Company after his role in winning the Battle of Plassey for the British.

The correct answer is Lord Dalhousie.

Key Points

• The chief instrument through which Lord Dalhousie implemented his policy of annexation was the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’.
  • Under the Doctrine of Lapse, when the ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir, his/her state was not to pass to an adopted heir as sanctioned by the age-old tradition of the country.
• Lord Dalhousie came to India as the Governor-General in 1848.
• Lord Dalhousie was keen on annexing the kingdom of Avadh.

Important Points

The correct answer is Pondicherry.

Key Points

• Pondicherry is a union territory in India,
• Pondicherry was the capital of the French colony in India.
• Pondicherry is also called 'India's Little France'.
• The French laid their supremacy on Pondicherry in the year 1673.
• French East India Company set up a trading center at Pondicherry in 1674.
• The name Pondicherry was renamed Puducherry in 2006.

Important Points

• Puducherry comprises of the erstwhile French colonies viz. Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam.
  • The Puducherry and Karaikal regions are surrounded by Tamilnadu.
  • Mahe is surrounded by Kerala.
  • Yanam is surrounded by Andra Pradesh.
• Pondicherry was under French rule for 138 years.
• The British “East India Company” captured Puducherry in 1761 from the French and restored the French Company administration by the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
• The British “East India Company returned the Puducherry to the French “East India Company” in 1816.
• It was merged with the Indian Union on 1^st November 1954.
• Puducherry became officially an integral part of India in 1963.

Additional Information

• Calicut is the oldest city in Kerala.
  • ♦♦Calicut was the former capital of Lakshadweep.
• Cochin is popularly known as "queen of the Arabian sea".
  • Kochi is the first e-port in India.
• Goa is the smallest state in India.
  • Goa got independence from the Portuguese in 1961.

The Correct Answer is Second Carnatic War.

Key Points:

The correct answer is 1761.

Key Points

• The British East India Company captured Pondicherry (Puducherry) from the French in the year 1761.
• Puducherry changed hands throughout the Anglo-French wars from 1742 to 1763, with the British "East India Company" capturing Puducherry from the French in 1761 and the French Company administration being restored by the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
• The British "East India Company" acquired control of the territory during the French Revolution in 1793, and it was returned to the French "East India Company" in 1814.
• When the British "East India Company" took control of India in the late 1850s, the French "East India Company" was allowed to keep their settlements in Pondicherry, Mahe, Yanam, Karaikal, and Chandernagore.​

Important Points

• The former French colonies of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam now make up the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The states of Tamilnadu and Kerala surround the Puducherry and Karaikal regions, while Kerala surrounds Mahe, and Andra Pradesh surrounds Yanam.
• Pondicherry was founded in 1673 after the "La Compagnie française des Indes Orientales" was granted firman by the Qiladar of Valikondapurarm, who served under the Sultan of Bijapur.
• A French Company Official named Bellanger moved into the Danish Lodge at Pondicherry on February 4, 1673.  

The correct answer is All of the above.

Key Points

• In 1602, the United East India Company of the Netherlands was formed and given permission by the Dutch government to trade in the East Indies including India.
• The Dutch founded their first factory in Masaulipatam in Andhra Pradesh in 1605.
• Subsequently, they also established trading centres in various parts of India.
  • Konkan (Northern part of Westcoast India)
    • Surat (1616-1795)
    • Agra (1621-1720)
    • Burhanpur
    • Kanpur (1650-1685)
    • Ahmadabad (1617-1744)
    • Bharuch (of Brochia, Broach)
    • Vengurla (1637-1685)
    • Kundapura (1667- ca.1682)
  • Malabar (Southern part of Westcoast India)
    • Veeramala Hills,Cheruvathur 
    • Cannanore (1663-1790) (taken from Portugal)
    • Ponnani (ca. 1663)
    • Cochin, Cochin de Baixo or Santa Cruz (1663) (taken from Portugal)
    • Purakkad (ca. 1680-1750)
    • Kayamkulam (ca. 1645)
    • Quilon (Coylan) (1661) (taken from Portugal)
  • Coromandel (East coast of India)
    • Golkonda(1662-ca 1733)
    • Jaggernaikpoeram 
    • Nagelwanze (1669-1687); now Nagulavancha
    • Masulipatnam (1605-1756)
    • Petapoeli (1606-1668); now Nizampatnam
    • Paliacatta (1610-1781/ 1785-1795/ 1805-1825) to the English; now Pulicat
    • Tegenapatnam, Kudalur (1608-1758); now Cuddalore
    • Negapatnam (1658-1781) to the English.
    • Tuticorin or Tutucorim (1658); now Thoothukudi
• Hence, option 4 is correct.

Additional Information

• The Dutch founded their first factory in Masaulipatam in Andhra Pradesh in 1605.
  • Subsequently, they also established trading centres in various parts of India.
• Dutch Suratte and Dutch Bengal were established in 1616 AD and 1627 AD respectively.
  • The Dutch conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese in 1656 AD.
  • They also took the Portuguese forts on the Malabar Coast in 1671 AD.
• The Dutch gradually became a potent force capturing Nagapatam near Madras (Chennai) from the Portuguese thereby establishing their foothold in South India.
  • In economic terms, they earned huge profit through business monopolizing black pepper and spices.
  • The major Indian commodities traded by the Dutch were cotton, indigo, silk, rice, and opium.

The correct answer is Akbar.

Key Points

When the East India Company was established, India was ruled by the Mughal emperor Akbar. (1556-1605)

• On 31 December 1600, a group of merchants who had incorporated themselves into the East India Company was given monopoly privileges on all trade with the East Indies.
• The Company’s ships first arrived in India, at the port of Surat, in 1608. 
• Sir Thomas Roe reached the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, as the emissary of King James I in 1615, and gained for the British the right to establish a factory at Surat. 

Mistake Points

• The English East India Company was incorporated by royal charter on December 31, 1600.
• Here establishment of the Company is asked not the factory.
• In 1600, a group of London merchants led by Sir Thomas Smythe petitioned Queen Elizabeth I to grant them a royal charter to trade with the countries of the eastern hemisphere. And so, the ‘Honourable Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies’ – or East India Company, as it came to be known – was founded.
• At the same time as Elizabeth I was signing the East India Company (EIC) into existence in 1600, her counterpart in India – the Mughal emperor Akbar – was ruling over an empire of 750,000 square miles, stretching from northern Afghanistan in the northwest, to central India’s Deccan plateau in the south and the Assamese highlands in the northeast.
• By 1600, the Mughal empire (founded by Akbar’s grandfather, Babur, in 1526) had come of age and was embarking on a century of strong centralised power, military dominance and cultural productiveness that would mark the rule of the ‘Great Mughals’. 
• However, Sir Thomas Roe reached the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, as the emissary of King James I in 1615, and gained the British the right to establish a factory at Surat. 

The correct answer is 1651 CE.

Key Points

• In 1651, the first English factory was set up on the banks of river Hugli in Bengal.
• The East India Company convinced merchants to settle near the factory.
• By 1696, the company began building a fort around the Hugli settlement.

 Additional Information

• English East India Company:
  • The East India Company first arrived via sea route at Surat in the year 1608 for the purpose of establishing trade with India.
  • The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Daulah and his French allies on 23 June 1757.
  • The battle consolidated the Company's presence in Bengal, which later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years.
  • Fort William was built in 1696 by East India Company by John Goldsborough at Calcutta.

The correct answer is Surat.

Key Points

• The first British presidency was established in Surat in India.
• John Midnall was the first British explorer who had an overland journey to India.
• After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, British administration governance started on 28th June 1858.
• Thereafter, the first Indian factory was established in 1612 at Surat by the Britishers.
• Surat became the hub of business due to major textile industries, shipbuilding and exporting of cloth and gold.
• British had also set up the East India Company in Masulipatnam. They traded cotton, indigo dye, silk, salt, saltpetre, opium and tea.

The correct answer is 1782.

Key Points

• The First Anglo-Maratha War was won by Marathas and ended with the Treaty of Salbai.
• The Treaty of Salbai was signed on 17 May 1782, representing the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company after long negotiation to settle the outcome of the First Anglo-Maratha War II was signed between Warren Hastings and Mahadaji Scindia.
• Salbal is situated in Gwalior, MP.
• The Treaty of Salbai resulted in 20 years of relative peace between the Maratha Empire and the East India Company.
• Under the terms of this treaty, the British retained control of Broach and Salsette and acquired a guarantee that the Marathas would retake territories in the Carnatic by defeating Hyder Ali of Mysore.

Additional Information

• Anglo-Maratha War:
  • The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-1805). 
    • Treaty of Surji Anjangaon in 1803.
    • Treaty of Deogaon in 1803
    • Treaty of Rajghat in 1805.
  • Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1818).
    • Treaty of Gwalior in 1817.
    • Treaty of Mandsaur in 1818.