Which of the following statements about the Deccan Riots Commission is/are correct? 1. The Commission did not hold enquiries in the districts which were not affected. 2. The Commission did record the statements of ryots, sahukars and eye-witnesses. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — B, 2 only. Statement 2 is directly from the record: the Deccan Riots Commission (set up after the 1875 riots in the Bombay Deccan) recorded the statements of ryots, sahukars and eye-witnesses. Statement 1 is treated as incorrect because the Commission's enquiry was not confined to the riot-hit talukas alone — it also compiled statistical data on revenue, prices and interest rates across different regions and collated reports sent by district collectors, so the blanket claim that it 'did not hold enquiries in districts which were not affected' does not hold.
- (a)1 only — This drops the well-documented statement 2 (that the Commission recorded ryots', sahukars' and eye-witnesses' statements) and keeps statement 1, which the key rejects — the reverse of the correct pairing.
- (c)Both 1 and 2 — Statement 2 is correct, but statement 1's absolute claim about not enquiring in unaffected districts is not supported by the Commission's wider evidence-gathering, so both cannot be true.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 2 is squarely correct, so 'neither' is wrong.
The Deccan Riots of 1875 saw ryots (peasants) of the Bombay Deccan attack sahukars (moneylenders), burning the bonds and deeds that tied them to mounting debt under the Ryotwari revenue system. The colonial government appointed the Deccan Riots Commission to investigate; its report was presented to the British Parliament in 1878 and fed into the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act, 1879.
The item tests how the Commission gathered evidence. It did take statements from ryots, moneylenders and eye-witnesses (statement 2 — true), but it also drew on statistics and collectors' reports spanning several regions, which is why the categorical statement 1 is marked incorrect. Reading statement 1 as an absolute is the trap.
- The Deccan Riots occurred in 1875 in the Poona and Ahmadnagar districts of the Bombay Deccan.
- Ryots targeted sahukars (moneylenders), destroying debt bonds and deeds.
- The Commission recorded statements of ryots, sahukars and eye-witnesses and gathered revenue, price and interest-rate data.
- Its report (1878) contributed to the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act, 1879.
Statement 2 is the securely correct one, so the answer is '2 only'.
- Reading statement 1's absolute wording ('did not hold enquiries...') as fully accurate when the Commission's evidence base was wider.
- Confusing the Deccan Riots (against moneylenders) with anti-zamindar or anti-planter revolts.
Asked as statement-verification on colonial agrarian history, or by placing the Deccan Riots in a chronological sequence of 19th-century revolts.
Consider the following events: I. Indigo Revolt II. Santhal Rebellion III. Deccan Riot IV. Mutiny of the Sepoys. The correct chronological sequence of these events is:
- (a) IV, II, I, III
- (b) IV, II, III, I
- (c) II, IV, III, I
- (d) II, IV, I, III
Answer(d) II, IV, I, III — Santhal Rebellion (1855-56), Sepoy Mutiny (1857), Indigo Revolt (1859-60), Deccan Riots (1875).
Directly involves the Deccan Riot (1875), placing it among 19th-century agrarian and popular revolts — the same event the Deccan Riots Commission investigated.
What was the consequence of Permanent Settlement on rural society in Bengal?
- (a) The zamindars invested capital and enterprise to improve agriculture along lines of British yeoman farmers
- (b) A group of rich peasants known as jotedars succeeded in consolidating their position in the villages
- (c) The ryots prospered as a result of fixed revenue levy imposed on them
- (d) The system of Collectorate introduced by the Company for exercising supervisory control on zamindars failed to take off
Answer(b) A group of rich peasants known as jotedars succeeded in consolidating their position in the villages
Same theme — colonial land-revenue systems and their effect on rural society (the 'Colonialism and the Countryside' material), the backdrop against which the Deccan ryots fell into debt to sahukars.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Deccan Riots of 1875 were primarily directed against
- (a)zamindars
- (b)indigo planters
- (c)sahukars (moneylenders)
- (d)railway contractors
Answer(c) sahukars (moneylenders) — ryots attacked moneylenders and destroyed the debt bonds and deeds that trapped them.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Deccan Riots Commission's report contributed to which of the following legislations?
- (a)Bengal Tenancy Act, 1885
- (b)Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act, 1879
- (c)Permanent Settlement, 1793
- (d)Champaran Agrarian Act, 1918
Answer(b) Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act, 1879 — enacted after the Commission examined the ryots' indebtedness.