Modern Indian History

The demand for tax relief in Kheda was based on economic distress. Exam tip is to link it with Gandhi's peasant Satyagraha.

The direct answer is A: Nonviolent fast and mediation. In the Ahmedabad mill workers’ dispute of 1918, workers demanded a wage increase after the plague bonus issue changed. Gandhi supported the workers and used satyagraha, including a fast, to create moral pressure while encouraging a settlement through mediation and arbitration. The reasoning is: labour dispute → workers’ demand → Gandhi avoids force → fast and negotiation/mediation → peaceful settlement process. Option A is correct because it describes the method associated with this struggle. Option B, armed attack, is wrong because Gandhi’s satyagraha rejected violence. Option C, help from a foreign army, is wrong because no foreign military intervention was the method. Option D, merger of princely states, is unrelated to a workers’ wage dispute and belongs to a different political issue. The fast was not a violent threat; it was intended as moral pressure and personal self-discipline. Memory cue: Ahmedabad 1918 means workers, wages, satyagraha, and fast.

Gandhi gave the national movement a wider social base. Exam tip is to link it with the expansion of mass politics.

Khadi connected economic nationalism with daily life. Exam tip is to link spinning wheel and Khadi with the Swadeshi spirit.

Swarajists saw council entry as a new strategy. Exam tip is to remember C R Das and Motilal Nehru.

HSRA wanted social change along with political freedom. Exam tip is to understand Bhagat Singh's ideology broadly.

Lala Lajpat Rai died after being injured during the Simon protest. Exam tip is to link it with Bhagat Singh and his comrades.

The direct answer is A: Congress moved beyond Dominion Status to demand complete independence. At the Lahore Session in December 1929, under Jawaharlal Nehru's presidency, the Congress adopted Poorna Swaraj, meaning complete independence, as its goal. This was a major change from seeking Dominion Status, which would still have left India within the British Commonwealth with the British monarch as a constitutional link. Option A is correct because it marked a clear and complete rejection of limited self-government under British authority. Option B is wrong because Congress did not accept British rule as its final aim. Option C is wrong because Company rule had ended in 1858. Option D is wrong because the Muslim League was founded in 1906, not at Lahore in 1929. The Congress celebrated 26 January 1930 as Independence Day, and this date later became India's Republic Day. Memory cue: Lahore 1929 means Poorna Swaraj; 26 January 1930 means its public observance.

The salt issue affected everyone so it got public support. Exam tip is to understand it as symbolic and popular strategy.

The Round Table talks discussed India's constitutional structure. Exam tip is to link it with the background of the 1935 Act.

Gandhi opposed separate electorates and the Poona Pact followed. Exam tip is to study Communal Award and Poona Pact together.

The 1935 Act reformed provinces but did not give full responsible government. Exam tip is to remember its limitations.

The 1937 elections were held under the 1935 Act. Exam tip is to link Congress ministries with provincial autonomy.

During wartime the British government needed Indian political cooperation. Exam tip is to remember it among wartime constitutional offers.

Individual Satyagraha was a limited nonviolent protest. Exam tip is to remember Vinoba Bhave as the first Satyagrahi.

The proposals were future based and did not give immediate freedom. Exam tip is to link Cripps failure with the background of Quit India.

In some areas people tried to run alternative administration. Exam tip is to link 1942 with decentralized resistance.

Jai Hind increased nationalist energy among soldiers and people. Exam tip is to link it with Netaji and INA.

INA trials brought different political groups together against British rule. Exam tip is to remember the Red Fort trials.

The direct answer is A: the grouping of provinces aimed to find a compromise between the claims of the Congress and the Muslim League. The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 tried to keep India united while giving provinces some freedom and Muslim-majority areas a collective safeguard. Its proposal divided provinces into groups, but the centre retained important subjects such as defence, foreign affairs and communications. Congress generally preferred a strong centre, while the League wanted substantial autonomy for Muslim-majority regions. Grouping was therefore a political compromise, not a land-revenue or law-making measure. Option A is correct because it directly addresses the disagreement between the two major political organisations. Option B is wrong because Permanent Settlement was a land-revenue arrangement introduced earlier by the East India Company. Option C is wrong because salt laws concerned taxation and the freedom movement, not constitutional grouping. Option D is wrong because the plan was about transferring power, not restoring Company rule. Remember: Cabinet Mission means 1946, united India, provincial groups and a Congress-League compromise. The wording ‘avoid partition’ is useful, but the more exact answer here is compromise between their claims.

The violence of 1946 made the possibility of partition more serious. Exam tip is to link it with the background of 1947.

In 1947 quick transfer of power was seen as a practical path. Exam tip is to link the Mountbatten Plan with Partition and independence.

Direct answer: Option A is correct. Police Action, officially called Operation Polo, was the Indian military operation of September 1948 that ended the Nizam's separate stand and made Hyderabad join the Indian Union. After independence, princely states had to choose their political future. Hyderabad had not acceded to India and the Nizam's government faced an armed Razakar movement and continuing tension. India therefore used military action when negotiations did not solve the issue. The operation brought the state under Indian control, after which its integration was completed. Option A is correct because it directly describes this result. Option B is wrong: Company rule belonged to the East India Company period and had ended long before 1948; Police Action did not restore it. Option C is wrong: the Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, not during Hyderabad's integration. Option D is wrong: the Partition of Bengal happened in 1905 and was unrelated to Operation Polo. Memory cue: Hyderabad plus Police Action means Operation Polo, 1948, and integration with India. The word “police” in the name should not make you forget that it was a military operation.

Delay and haste around the Radcliffe Line increased partition difficulties. Exam tip: remember both administrative and human impacts of partition.

This Act began parliamentary supervision over the Company's political affairs. Exam tip: connect it with the first major control over colonial administration.