Gopal Krishna Gokhale founded Servants of India Society in the year
- (1)1907
- (2)1906
- (3)1904
- (4)1905
Answer
Why
Correct — option (4), 1905.
The Society's own booklet, The Servants of India Society (1915), opens by saying the Society was founded by the late Mr. G. K. Gokhale, C.I.E., at Poona on 12th June 1905.
T. R. Deogirikar's Gopal Krishna Gokhale, in the Publications Division's Builders of Modern India series (first edition 1964), gives the same date. He writes that on June 12, 1905 the Society's foundation-stone was laid in Poona and its first members took the vow of service at sunrise.
His chronology of Gokhale's life lists under 1905: 'Founded the Servants of India Society, June 12.' The founding year is option (4), 1905.
The idea to remember: Servants of India Society: founded by Gokhale at Poona, 12 June 1905.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)1907 — By 1907 the Society was two years old. Deogirikar's chronology lists other events under 1907, among them the deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai, Gokhale's lecture tour of northern India, and the Congress split at Surat.
1907 answers a question on the year of the Congress split at Surat, as Deogirikar's chronology gives it.
- (2)1906 — The Society already existed in 1906. Deogirikar's chronology lists Gokhale's third visit to England under that year.
1906 answers a question on the year of Gokhale's third visit to England, in Deogirikar's chronology.
- (3)1904 — 1904 is one year early. Deogirikar's chronology lists under 1904 that Gokhale received the title of C.I.E., the title the Society's booklet uses when it names him as founder.
1904 answers a question on the year Gokhale received the title of C.I.E.
Concept
Deogirikar calls the Society the outcome of Gokhale's conviction that the country needed a selfless and intelligent band of workers to dedicate their lives to its service. The 1915 booklet speaks of the need for 'a specially trained agency, applying itself to the task in a true missionary spirit'.
Members took seven vows, which Deogirikar lists. Among them: the country would always be first in a member's thoughts, he would seek no personal advantage, and he would regard all Indians as brothers.
On the founding day, Deogirikar says, Gokhale took the vow first and administered it to N. A. Dravid, A. V. Patwardhan and G. K. Deodhar.
RPSC's 2023 syllabus lists "Socio- religious reforms during 19th century: various leaders and institutions." and "The Freedom Struggle & Indian National Movement- its various stages, streams and important contributors" under Indian History.
1905 was a crowded year for Gokhale. Deogirikar's chronology also lists his second visit to England and his presiding over the Benares session of the Indian National Congress.
The Society also had critics: Deogirikar writes that Pherozeshah Mehta did not like the idea of starting it.
Key facts
- The Society's 1915 booklet: founded by G. K. Gokhale, C.I.E., at Poona on 12 June 1905.
- Deogirikar: on 12 June 1905 the first members took the vow at sunrise; Gokhale administered it to N. A. Dravid, A. V. Patwardhan and G. K. Deodhar.
- Deogirikar says the foundation-stone was laid in Poona by Shivram Hari Sathe, Gokhale's old colleague in the Sarvajanik Sabha.
- Deogirikar's chronology for 1905 also lists Gokhale's second visit to England and his presiding over the Benares Congress.
- The booklet's list of members as on 16 July 1915 names V. S. Srinivasa Sastri as President.
Servants of India Society: 1905, option (4). Sources: The Servants of India Society (1915); T. R. Deogirikar, Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
Study next
Common traps
- Anchoring on 1907, the year of the Surat split: the Society was already two years old by then.
- Taking Gokhale's honour for the founding: Deogirikar lists the C.I.E. title under 1904 and the Society under 1905.
- Placing the founding away from Poona: both the 1915 booklet and Deogirikar name Poona.
A question can ask the year or place a reform institution was founded, or match institutions to their founders.
A question can also ask which events of a leader's life fall in the same year.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Where was the Servants of India Society founded?
- (a)Bombay
- (b)Poona
- (c)Calcutta
- (d)Madras
Answer(2) — The Society's 1915 booklet and Deogirikar both place its founding at Poona on 12 June 1905. Options (1), (3) and (4) are not the place either source names. - practice — not a real PYQ
According to T. R. Deogirikar, who laid the foundation-stone of the Servants of India Society on 12 June 1905?
- (a)Shivram Hari Sathe
- (b)G. K. Deodhar
- (c)V. S. Srinivasa Sastri
- (d)Pherozeshah Mehta
Answer(1) — Deogirikar says the foundation-stone was laid by Shivram Hari Sathe, Gokhale's old colleague in the Sarvajanik Sabha. Option (2) was among the first members to take the vow; option (3) is named President in the 1915 booklet; option (4), Deogirikar writes, did not like the idea of the Society.