Important Dates in Indian History

Satyashodhak Samaj was founded in 1873 CE by Jyotirao Phule. Remember it with social equality and reform movements.

Answer: C, 1863. Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Datta in Kolkata on 12 January 1863. He later became a major spiritual teacher and is remembered for presenting Indian Vedanta and Yoga to a wide international audience. His address at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 made him especially well known. The question asks only for the birth year, so the important fact is 1863. Option A, 1824, is not his birth year and belongs to a much earlier period. Option B, 1861, is two years earlier than the correct year. Option D, 1869, is six years later and is also not correct. A helpful memory cue is to connect Vivekananda’s birth year, 1863, with National Youth Day in India, observed on 12 January in his honour. Do not confuse his birth year with 1893, the year of his famous Chicago address.

Answer: B, 1917. The Champaran Satyagraha took place in Bihar in 1917. Gandhi supported indigo cultivators who faced oppressive conditions under the colonial system. The movement is important because it was Gandhi’s first major satyagraha in India and demonstrated the use of non-violent collective action to challenge injustice. Option A, 1915, is the year Gandhi returned to India from South Africa, but it is not the year of Champaran. Option C, 1918, is associated with other important struggles led by Gandhi, including Kheda and the Ahmedabad mill workers’ dispute, so it should not be selected here. Option D, 1920, relates to the beginning of the Non-Cooperation Movement, which came later. Memory cue: after returning in 1915, Gandhi led Champaran in 1917; do not confuse the return year with the satyagraha year.

Correct answer: B, 4 December. Indian Navy Day is observed every year on 4 December. The date commemorates the success of Operation Trident, carried out by the Indian Navy during the 1971 India–Pakistan war. A is Army Day, observed on 15 January. C is Air Force Day, observed on 8 October. D is associated with Vijay Diwas, observed on 16 December, which commemorates the 1971 victory and the surrender in the war; it is not Navy Day. The question asks for a date, so the safest method is to connect each defence day with its service: Army—15 January, Air Force—8 October, Navy—4 December. Memory cue: Navy sails in December—4 December.

Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated every year on 2 October to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who was born on 2 October 1869. 15 August is India’s Independence Day, so it is not the correct date. Exam tip: link Gandhi Jayanti with Gandhi’s birth date, 2 October.