CDS (II) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 71 of 120

Correct — A, 1 only. That is the letter the official UPSC key carries for this question, and the history behind it is worth getting exactly right. The Azamgarh Proclamation is a document of 1857 and of nothing else. NCERT prints it as 'The Azamgarh Proclamation, 25 August 1857' and introduces it in these words — 'This is one of the main sources of our knowledge about what the rebels wanted.' It is an ishtahar addressed jointly to Hindus and Muslims, promising a restored Badshahi government, and it argues its case section by section to zamindars, merchants, public servants, artisans and finally pundits and fakirs, telling each group what British rule had cost it. Statement 2 has no basis at all: nothing called the Azamgarh Proclamation belongs to the Quit India movement of 1942. So the first statement is the historically sound one and the second is the invention. One honest caveat has to go on the record, because the printed stem asks which statement is not correct, and read strictly that points to option (b); the reasoning is set out in the background note below, and the key's letter is what is served here.

• (b)2 only — This is what the printed stem, read strictly, would call for — statement 2 is the false one — and it is why the item has to be flagged rather than taught silently. The official key marks (a), so (b) is not the keyed option, but a candidate who chose it was reasoning correctly about the history.
• (c)Both 1 and 2 — Cannot be right on any reading. Statement 1 is straightforwardly true — the proclamation of 25 August 1857 is a rebel document, and NCERT reproduces it as one.
• (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Cannot be right either, since statement 2 is false on any reading. There was no Azamgarh Proclamation in the Revolt of 1942.

The proclamations or ishtahars of 1857 are the rebels' own voice, and they are the reason historians can say what the rising was for rather than only what it did. The Azamgarh Proclamation of 25 August 1857 is the best known of them. It was issued in the name of the Badshahi government being claimed for the Mughal house, and it appeals across communities — the ishtahars of 1857 characteristically glorify the shared life of Hindus and Muslims under the Mughals rather than the message of any one faith. Its five sections promise lower revenue demands and dignity to zamindars, the end of British trade monopolies to merchants, high posts and pay to Indians in service, employment to artisans ruined by imported goods, and protection of religion to pundits and fakirs.

There is a genuine tension in this item and it should be named plainly. The stem as printed asks which of the statements is not correct. Statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is not, so a strict reading gives option (b), '2 only'. The official UPSC key for CDS (II) 2020 marks option (a). The economical explanation is that the key was set against the affirmative form of the same item — which statement is correct — where '1 only' is the right answer. This card was checked against the printed booklet before it was written: page 23 of the Series A booklet does print 'is/are not correct', and the option order is (a) 1 only, (b) 2 only, (c) Both 1 and 2, (d) Neither 1 nor 2, so the mismatch is not a transcription slip at our end. The key decides what is served, so the answer here is (a); what a student should carry away is the history — the Azamgarh Proclamation belongs to 1857.

• The Azamgarh Proclamation is dated 25 August 1857 and is reproduced in NCERT as a principal source for what the rebels wanted.
• It is an ishtahar addressed to Hindus and Muslims together, calling for a restored Badshahi government.
• Its sections address zamindars, merchants, public servants, artisans, and pundits and fakirs, listing what each had lost under British rule.
• No document of that name belongs to the Quit India movement of 1942.
• The 1857 proclamations are valued precisely because most other accounts of the revolt come from British records.

• Assuming any famous proclamation must belong to the twentieth century. This one is from August 1857.
• Losing track of the negation. A stem that asks which statement is not correct inverts the usual reading, and this particular item shows how costly that inversion can be.
• Treating the 1857 proclamations as religious appeals. They were addressed to both communities and invoked the Mughal order rather than any one faith.

As a statements item on the authorship or date of a rebel document, or as a source-based question on what the 1857 proclamations promised.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Azamgarh Proclamation, one of the best-known rebel documents, is dated to which year?

  • (a)1806
  • (b)1857
  • (c)1919
  • (d)1942

  Answer(b) 1857 — it is dated 25 August 1857 and sets out what the rebels promised zamindars, merchants, public servants, artisans and religious teachers.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following groups is not separately addressed in the sections of the Azamgarh Proclamation?

  • (a)Zamindars
  • (b)Merchants
  • (c)Artisans
  • (d)Railway workers

  Answer(d) Railway workers — the proclamation's sections address zamindars, merchants, public servants, artisans, and pundits and fakirs.