Early Indian Nationalism: History Optional PYQs

Factors leading to the birth of Indian Nationalism;

Politics of Association; The Foundation of the Indian National Congress; The
Safety-valve thesis relating to the birth of the Congress;

Programme and objectives of Early Congress; the social composition of early
Congress leadership; the Moderates and Extremists;

The Partition of Bengal (1905); The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal; the economic
and political aspects of Swadeshi Movement;

The beginning of revolutionary extremism in India.

PYQs: Early Indian Nationalism [1985-2024]

1. ‘The Ilbert Bill was the most extreme but by no means isolated expression of white racism.’ Comment in about 200 words. (1987)
2. ‘Curzon was an unconscious catalyst who did not understand, let alone desire, what the new century was about to bring forth, but who helped it to be born.’ Comment in about 200 words. (1989)
3. ‘The tragedy of Curzon lay in that, with such abundance of trained talent; he was denied the crowning qualities. He was never an administrator of the first rank.’ Comment in about 200 words. (1991)
4. Discuss ‘the safety valve’ theory. Does it satisfactorily explain the foundation of the Indian National Congress? (1991)
5. ‘It was in this almost unrecognizable form that the Ilbert Bill was finally enacted… it was primarily a failure of the Viceroy’. Comment. (1992)
6. “India after 1905 had new interests and objectives and compelled new lines of policy.” Comment. (1996)
7. “Curzon’s partition of Bengal gave the unwitting initiative to events of magnitude and returned many years later to port with the cargo of freedom.” Comment. (1997)
8. To what extent was the emergence of the Congress in 1885 the culmination of a process of political awakening that had its beginning in the 1870s? (2000)
9. Examine the economic and social factors which ledto the rise of Indian nationalism in the second half of the nineteenth century. (2001)
10. ‘Rabindranath Tagore’s nationalism was based on a Catholic internationalism.’ Comment. (2003)
11. Analyse the social composition of the early Congress leadership. (2009)
12. “At the dawn of the twentieth century Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, was full of hostility towards the Indian National Congress and he confidentially reported to the Secretary of State in November 1900: My own belief is that the Congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my greatest ambitions while in India is to assist it to a peaceful demise.” Examine. (2013)
13. “The ‘safety-valve thesis’ does not adequately explain the birth of the Indian National Congress in 1885.” Critically examine in 150 words. (2014)
14. “Politics remained for the bulk of the Moderates very much a part-time affair. The Congress was not a political party, but an annual three-day show…” Elucidate. (2014)
15. “The Anti-Partition Agitation (1909) had an economic character in Bengal unlike the Extremist Agitation in Maharashtra which had a religious character.” Examine. (2014)
16. Explain “Constructive Swadeshi” characterised by Atmashakti (self-reliance), which propelled the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal. (2016)
17. Can methods and policies of the moderates be referred to as ‘political mendicancy’? (2018)
18. How far was the drain theory a focal point of nationalist critique of colonialism? (2019)
19. How would you explain the major trends of the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal? (2019)
20. In its political behaviour the Indian National Congress in its early career was never a radical organisation, besides the founders of the Congress involved A.O. Hume in their project. Do these facts verify that the Congress was founded as a ‘Safety valve’? Explain. (2020)
21. Critically examine the following statement in about 150 words: In the first decade of the 20th century, the atmosphere was ripe for the emergence of revolutionary groups to fill up the vacant space in the political map of the country. (2021)
22. What were the various ways in which nationalism manifested itself in India during colonial rule? (2021)
23. Discuss the policies and programmes of the early nationalists (moderates). To what extent they were able to fulfil the aspirations of the people. (2022)
24. The Swadeshi movement of 1905 anticipated many of the tactics that were later developed during the Gandhian mass movement. — Critically examine. (2024)