Consider the following events and arrange them in correct chronological order. 1. Acquisition of Awadh by the British 2. Ilbert Bill Controversy 3. Indigo Revolt 4. Second Anglo-Afghan War Select the correct answer from the code given below : Code :
- (a)1, 3, 4, 2
- (b)3, 1, 4, 2
- (c)3, 1, 2, 4
- (d)1, 3, 2, 4
Correct — A, 1, 3, 4, 2. Put a year against each item and the code follows. Item 1, the acquisition of Awadh, is 1856: on 7 February 1856 Lord Dalhousie deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and annexed the kingdom, the stated ground being chronic misgovernment rather than the Doctrine of Lapse, since the Nawab was not without heirs. Item 3, the Indigo Revolt or Nil Bidroha, broke out in March 1859 in Nadia district of Bengal and ran through 1860, when the ryots led by Digambar Biswas and Bishnucharan Biswas refused to sow indigo for the planters. Item 4, the Second Anglo-Afghan War, began on 21 November 1878 after Lord Lytton's Forward Policy demanded that Sher Ali Khan receive a British mission, and its fighting phase closed in 1880 with Abdur Rahman Khan installed at Kabul. Item 2, the Ilbert Bill controversy, belongs to 1883: the Bill was introduced on 9 February 1883 under Viceroy Lord Ripon and provoked a furious European agitation, so that the amended measure that finally passed in January 1884 was a shadow of the original. Arranged earliest to latest, that is Awadh 1856, Indigo 1859, the Afghan war 1878, and Ilbert 1883 — 1, 3, 4, 2, which is option (a). One reassurance about item 1: even a candidate who reads 'acquisition of Awadh' as the earlier Treaty of 1801, under which Wellesley's pressure stripped Rohilkhand, the Lower Doab and Gorakhpur from the Nawab, still places the item first. Either reading gives the same code.
- (b)3, 1, 4, 2 — It gets the second half right but opens with the Indigo Revolt ahead of the acquisition of Awadh. The revolt began in March 1859, three years after the annexation of February 1856, and the two are in fact linked by that interval: the discontent bred by the annexation of Awadh fed the sepoy rising of 1857, and the Indigo Revolt followed in the unsettled Bengal countryside two years after it. A candidate marks this when 'peasant movement' feels older than 'annexation' — a chronological instinct, not a date.
- (c)3, 1, 2, 4 — This carries both possible errors at once. It puts the Indigo Revolt of 1859 before the annexation of Awadh in 1856, and it also puts the Ilbert Bill controversy of 1883 before the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-80. The second slip is the one that matters more, because the two events sit either side of a change of Viceroy: the Afghan war belongs to Lytton, who left in 1880, and the Ilbert Bill to his successor Ripon.
- (d)1, 3, 2, 4 — The most tempting wrong answer, because it gets the opening pair exactly right — Awadh 1856 then Indigo 1859 — and then reverses the closing pair. The Ilbert Bill controversy is 1883; the Second Anglo-Afghan War began on 21 November 1878 and its fighting was over by 1880. The tell is the Viceroy: Lytton launched the Afghan war and was recalled in 1880, and Ripon, who replaced him, is the Viceroy of the Ilbert Bill. If Ripon follows Lytton, the Ilbert Bill must follow the war.
The four items are drawn from three different strands of the same three decades, and holding the strands apart is what makes the sequence easy. Item 1 belongs to territorial expansion: the last major annexation before the Revolt of 1857, carried out by Dalhousie in 1856. Item 3 belongs to agrarian resistance: the Indigo Revolt of 1859-60, in which Bengal's cultivators refused a crop that ruined them, and which produced the Indigo Commission of 1860, the Indigo Act of 1862 and Dinabandhu Mitra's play Nil Darpan. Item 4 belongs to frontier policy: Lytton's Forward Policy, adopted in reaction to Russian advances in Central Asia, which produced the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-80 and the Treaty of Gandamak of 1879 by which Afghanistan surrendered control of its foreign relations. Item 2 belongs to the politics of race and law: the Ilbert Bill of 1883, which proposed to let Indian magistrates in the districts try European subjects, and whose defeat by an organised European agitation taught educated Indians the value of organisation — two years later the Indian National Congress was founded.
Chronology questions are won by anchoring, not by ordering. Fix one hard date per item and the code writes itself. Here the anchors are 1856 for Awadh, 1859 for Indigo, 1878 for the Afghan war and 1883 for the Ilbert Bill; the Revolt of 1857 sits helpfully between the first two, so if you know Awadh came just before the Mutiny and Indigo just after, that pair is settled without a single date. For the last pair, use the Viceroys: the Second Anglo-Afghan War is Lytton's war and the Ilbert Bill is Ripon's Bill, and Ripon succeeded Lytton in 1880. Then check the options for the two decision points the setter has built in — does Awadh come before Indigo, and does the Afghan war come before the Ilbert Bill? Only option (a) answers yes to both. Note finally that a widely circulated typed reproduction of this paper garbles this item's list; the text above is the commission's own answer-marked booklet, and it is the text to trust.
- Awadh was annexed on 7 February 1856 by Lord Dalhousie, who deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah on the stated ground of misgovernment — the standard example of an annexation not effected through the Doctrine of Lapse; the Treaty of 1801 with Wellesley had already taken roughly half the kingdom
- The Indigo Revolt began in March 1859 in Nadia district of Bengal under Digambar Biswas and Bishnucharan Biswas and spread to Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Pabna, Khulna and Jessore; it led to the Indigo Commission of 1860 and the Indigo Act of 1862
- The Second Anglo-Afghan War opened on 21 November 1878, after Lord Lytton's ultimatum to Sher Ali Khan expired; the Treaty of Gandamak of 26 May 1879 handed Afghan foreign policy to the British, and the settlement of 1880 recognised Abdur Rahman Khan as Amir (some accounts carry the formal close of the war to 1881)
- The Ilbert Bill was introduced on 9 February 1883 by Sir Courtenay Ilbert, Law Member under Viceroy Lord Ripon, to remove the bar on Indian magistrates trying Europeans; European agitation forced an amended Act in January 1884 allowing a European defendant a jury at least half European
- The chain of Viceroys settles the last two items on its own: Lytton (1876-80) fought the Afghan war, and Ripon (1880-84) sponsored the Ilbert Bill — whose defeat is conventionally read as a spur to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885
- 7 February 1856 — Acquisition of Awadh (item 1). Dalhousie deposes Nawab Wajid Ali Shah on the stated ground of misgovernment; the last great annexation before 1857
- March 1859 to 1860 — Indigo Revolt (item 3). Ryots of Nadia and eastern Bengal refuse to sow indigo; Indigo Commission 1860, Indigo Act 1862, Nil Darpan
- 21 November 1878 to 1880 — Second Anglo-Afghan War (item 4). Lytton's Forward Policy; Treaty of Gandamak 1879; Abdur Rahman Khan installed at Kabul
- 9 February 1883 — Ilbert Bill controversy (item 2). Ripon's Law Member proposes that Indian magistrates try Europeans; the amended Act passes in January 1884
Earliest to latest: 1 → 3 → 4 → 2, which is option (a). The two decision points the setter built in are Awadh-before-Indigo (1856 v. 1859) and Afghan-war-before-Ilbert (1878 v. 1883); only (a) gets both right.
- Ordering by feel rather than by date. 'Peasant revolt' sounds older than 'annexation', which is what drives candidates to options (b) and (c); in fact the Indigo Revolt of 1859 comes after the annexation of Awadh in 1856
- Reversing the last pair. Option (d) is built for the candidate who dates the Ilbert Bill correctly to 1883 but has no year for the Second Anglo-Afghan War; remember it is Lytton's war, and Lytton preceded Ripon
- Confusing the two Ilbert dates. The Bill was introduced in 1883 and the amended, weakened version passed in January 1884 — the controversy is dated to the introduction
UPPSC sets at least one chronological-order item in almost every Paper-I, usually mixing strands — an annexation, a peasant revolt, a frontier war, a legislative controversy — so that no single chapter of a textbook supplies all four dates. UPSC asks the same events one at a time and by content instead: what the Ilbert Bill sought, on what pretext Awadh's ruler was removed, which Governor-General followed the Forward Policy.
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
The same exercise on an overlapping list, and it settles the disputed opening of this question. UPSC places the Indigo Revolt after the Mutiny of the Sepoys — Santhal 1855-56, Mutiny 1857, Indigo 1859-60, Deccan Riots 1875. Since the annexation of Awadh in February 1856 precedes the Mutiny, the Indigo Revolt must also come after Awadh, which eliminates options (b) and (c) here at a stroke.
The ruler of which one of the following States was removed from power by the British on the pretext of misgovernance?
- (a) Awadh
- (b) Jhansi
- (c) Nagpur
- (d) Satara
Answer(a) Awadh
Pins item 1. It tests the ground on which Awadh was taken — misgovernance, not the Doctrine of Lapse that carried off Jhansi, Nagpur and Satara — and in doing so fixes the event to Dalhousie's last years and therefore to 1856, the anchor that decides the first place in this sequence.
The Governor General who followed a spirited "Forward" policy towards Afghanistan was
- (a) Minto
- (b) Dufferin
- (c) Elgin
- (d) Lytton
Answer(d) Lytton
Pins item 4 by its author. The Second Anglo-Afghan War is Lytton's war, fought out of the Forward Policy he adopted against Russian advances in Central Asia; Lytton was Viceroy from 1876 to 1880 and Ripon, the Viceroy of the Ilbert Bill, followed him. That succession alone puts the Afghan war before the Ilbert Bill and kills option (d) in the present question.
With reference to colonial rule in India, what was sought by the Ilbert Bill in 1883?
- (a) To bring Indians and Europeans on par as far as the criminal jurisdiction of courts was concerned
- (b) To impose severe restrictions on the freedom of the native press as it was perceived to be hostile to colonial rulers
- (c) To encourage the native Indians to appear for civil service examinations by conducting them in India
- (d) To allow native Indians to possess arms by amending the Arms Act
Answer(a) To bring Indians and Europeans on par as far as the criminal jurisdiction of courts was concerned
Pins item 2, and dates it in the stem itself — 'the Ilbert Bill in 1883'. It also supplies the substance UPPSC omits: the Bill sought to remove the racial bar that prevented Indian magistrates from trying Europeans, and its defeat by an organised European agitation is the episode that made the last place in this sequence memorable.
Consider the following events and arrange these in correct chronological order starting from the earliest to the last activity - (I) Appointment of the Drafting Committee (II) Indian Constitution was adopted and enacted (III) Date of commencement of Indian Constitution (IV) Constitution Assembly first met Select the correct answer from the code given below - Code -
- (a) III, II, I, IV
- (b) IV, I, III, II
- (c) IV, I, II, III
- (d) I, II, IV, III
Answer(c) IV, I, II, III
The identical format from the same commission, down to the wording of the stem, and at almost the same question number. The technique it rewards is the one used here: attach a hard date to each item — 9 December 1946, 29 August 1947, 26 November 1949, 26 January 1950 — instead of trying to feel the order out, and then read the code off the dates.
Which of the following events was the last in chronological order?
- (a) Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
- (b) Moplah Revolt
- (c) Khilafat Movement
- (d) Home Rule Movement
Answer(b) Moplah Revolt
The compressed version of the same skill: four modern-history events, no code, and a single position to fix. It also shows the shortcut used above — the Moplah Revolt grew out of the Khilafat agitation, so it must follow it, just as the Ilbert Bill must follow the Afghan war because Ripon followed Lytton. Causal order can substitute for a remembered date.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Awadh was annexed by the British in 1856 on the ground of
- (a)the failure of the ruler to pay the subsidiary force
- (b)the ruler's death without a natural heir, under the Doctrine of Lapse
- (c)alleged misgovernment by the Nawab
- (d)the ruler's alliance with the Amir of Afghanistan
Answer(c) alleged misgovernment by the Nawab — Dalhousie deposed Wajid Ali Shah on 7 February 1856 on that stated ground, which is why Awadh is the standard example of an annexation NOT made under the Doctrine of Lapse.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Treaty of Gandamak, which ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, was signed in
- (a)1876
- (b)1878
- (c)1879
- (d)1885
Answer(c) 1879 — signed on 26 May 1879 with Yaqub Khan, it surrendered Afghanistan's foreign relations to the British and ceded the districts of Kurram, Pishin and Sibi together with control of the Khyber and Michni passes; Quetta had already been in British hands since 1876.