Match the following institutes with their respective founders of British India. Institutes | Their respective founders a. Asiatic Society of Bengal | i. Warren Hastings b. Sanskrit College of Benaras | ii. Lord Wellesley c. Fort William College | iii. Jonathan Duncan d. Calcutta Madrasa | iv. Sir William Jones
- (a)a-i, b-ii, c-iii, d-iv
- (b)a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i
- (c)a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii
- (d)a-ii, b-i, c-iv, d-iii
Answer
Why
Correct — B. The stem is an image, not text: four institutions of British India lettered a to d against four founders numbered i to iv. Take them one at a time.
a. Asiatic Society of Bengal — iv. Sir William Jones, who founded it at Calcutta in 1784.
b. Sanskrit College of Benaras — iii. Jonathan Duncan, the Company's Resident at Benares, 1791.
c. Fort William College — ii. Lord Wellesley, founded in 1800 to train the Company's servants.
d. Calcutta Madrasa — i. Warren Hastings, founded in 1781.
That reads a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i → option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)a-i, b-ii, c-iii, d-iv — Pairs the Asiatic Society with Warren Hastings. Hastings was Governor-General in 1784, but the founder was Sir William Jones, and Hastings' own foundation was the Calcutta Madrasa.
- (c)a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii — Puts Fort William College under Warren Hastings. The college was founded in 1800, long after Hastings had left India — it was Lord Wellesley's creation.
- (d)a-ii, b-i, c-iv, d-iii — Pairs the Calcutta Madrasa with Jonathan Duncan. Duncan's foundation was at Benares, not Calcutta, and it was a Sanskrit college, not a madrasa.
Concept
Orientalist scholarship and the Company's need for officials who could read Indian languages produced a cluster of institutions in the 1780s and 1790s. SSC tests who founded which.
Warren Hastings backed Islamic learning and set up the Calcutta Madrasa in 1781, teaching Arabic and Persian for the Company's courts.
Sir William Jones, a judge of the Supreme Court at Calcutta, founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784.
Jonathan Duncan founded the Sanskrit College at Benares in 1791.
Lord Wellesley founded Fort William College at Calcutta in 1800.
The image's own heading is 'founders of British India', and the four men held quite different offices — two Governors-General, a Resident and a judge. It is the founding that is tested, not the office, so do not sort the list by seniority.
Key facts
- Sir William Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal at Calcutta in 1784.
- Warren Hastings founded the Calcutta Madrasa in 1781.
- Jonathan Duncan founded the Sanskrit College at Benares in 1791.
- Lord Wellesley founded Fort William College at Calcutta in 1800.
Study next
Common traps
- Giving the Asiatic Society to Warren Hastings because he was Governor-General when it was founded.
- Swapping the two Calcutta foundations — the Madrasa is Hastings, Fort William College is Wellesley.
SSC returns to these same men outside the matching format. Wellesley and the Subsidiary Alliance is asked at 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.23, and an Act passed under Warren Hastings at 19 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.19.
Hold each Governor-General as a bundle — policy, institution, and the year he arrived.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.