Consider the following wars and arrange them in correct chronological order. 1. First Anglo-Mysore War 2. Second Anglo-French War 3. First Anglo-Sikh War 4. First Anglo-Afghan War Select the correct answer from the code given below :
- (a)2, 1, 4, 3
- (b)1, 2, 4, 3
- (c)1, 2, 3, 4
- (d)2, 1, 3, 4
Correct — A, 2, 1, 4, 3. Taking the four wars by the year each began: the Second Anglo-French War — that is the Second Carnatic War, the second round of the Anglo-French contest in the Deccan — ran from 1749 to 1754; the First Anglo-Mysore War, fought by Haidar Ali against the Company, the Nizam and the Marathas, ran from 1767 to 1769 and ended with the Treaty of Madras; the First Anglo-Afghan War began in 1839, on the strength of Lord Auckland's Simla Manifesto of 1838, and ended in 1842 with the destruction of the retreating British force; and the First Anglo-Sikh War was fought in 1845-46, closing with the Treaty of Lahore. That gives 1749 - 1767 - 1839 - 1845, which in the question's numbering is 2, 1, 4, 3.
- (b)1, 2, 4, 3 — Gets the second half right — Afghan before Sikh — but opens by putting the First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69) before the Second Anglo-French War (1749-54). The Anglo-French contest in the Carnatic was over more than a decade before Haidar Ali fought the Company.
- (c)1, 2, 3, 4 — Wrong at both ends: it opens with Mysore before the Anglo-French war and closes with the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) before the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42). This is the option you land on if you simply assume the list is already in order.
- (d)2, 1, 3, 4 — Correct on the opening pair, then reverses the 1840s. The First Anglo-Afghan War began in 1839 and the catastrophic retreat from Kabul was in January 1842 — three years before the First Anglo-Sikh War broke out in 1845.
The four wars mark four different phases of British expansion. The Carnatic or Anglo-French wars of the mid-eighteenth century were where the Company first learned to intervene in Indian succession disputes and to fight with sepoy armies — Dupleix's technique, later turned against the French. Mysore under Haidar Ali was the first Indian power to give the Company a genuine fright in the south. The First Anglo-Afghan War belongs to a wholly different logic: a 'forward policy' beyond the north-west frontier, driven by fear of Russian influence in Central Asia. The Anglo-Sikh wars finished the job, absorbing the last large independent Indian state, the Punjab, after Ranjit Singh's death.
Chronology questions are best solved by anchoring blocks rather than memorising four separate dates. Anglo-French rivalry in the Carnatic is a 1740s-50s affair; the Anglo-Mysore wars start in the 1760s; and both the Afghan and the Sikh wars belong to the 1840s. That instantly fixes the first two places and eliminates options (b) and (c). The only remaining decision is Afghan against Sikh, and the memory hook there is that the annihilation of the army retreating from Kabul (January 1842) came before Sobraon (1846). Note also the phrasing: 'Second Anglo-French War' means the Second Carnatic War in India, not a European conflict.
- The three Carnatic (Anglo-French) wars: the first, 1746-48, was ended by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle; the second ran 1749-54; the third, 1758-63, was decided at Wandiwash (1760) and closed by the Treaty of Paris (1763)
- The First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69) set Haidar Ali against the Company, the Nizam and the Marathas and ended with the Treaty of Madras after Haidar Ali marched to the outskirts of Madras
- The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42) followed Lord Auckland's Simla Manifesto of 1838 and the attempt to install Shah Shuja; it ended in disaster for the retreating British force in January 1842
- The First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) came after Ranjit Singh's death in 1839 and ended with the Treaty of Lahore; the Punjab itself was annexed only after the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49), under Dalhousie
- Ordering rule of thumb: Anglo-French = 1740s-50s, Anglo-Mysore = 1760s onwards, Anglo-Afghan and Anglo-Sikh = 1840s
- Second Anglo-French (Second Carnatic) War — 1749-54 [II]
- First Anglo-Mysore War — 1767-69, Treaty of Madras [I]
- First Anglo-Afghan War — 1839-42, retreat from Kabul [IV]
- First Anglo-Sikh War — 1845-46, Treaty of Lahore [III]
II - I - IV - III, i.e. 2, 1, 4, 3 — answer (a).
- Assuming a list is printed in chronological order — here it deliberately is not
- Reading 'Second Anglo-French War' as a European war instead of the Second Carnatic War in India
- Mixing up the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42) with the Second (1878-80), or assuming the Punjab was annexed after the First Anglo-Sikh War rather than the Second
UPPSC hands you three or four wars and asks for the sequence; UPSC prefers a match-the-year list or a statement question about a particular treaty, commander or war number.
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists: List I (Year) I. 1775 II. 1780 III. 1824 IV. 1838 List II (Event) A) First Anglo-Burmese War B) First Anglo-Afghan War C) First Anglo-Maratha War D) Second Anglo-Mysore War
- (a) I-D, II-C, III-B, IV-A
- (b) I-D, II-C, III-A, IV-B
- (c) I-C, II-D, III-A, IV-B
- (d) I-C, II-D, III-B, IV-A
Answer(c) I-C, II-D, III-A, IV-B
The same skill, in match-the-year form — placing the First Anglo-Afghan War and the Anglo-Maratha and Anglo-Mysore wars on a timeline. Its First Anglo-Afghan date is the anchor UPPSC 2025 needs you to hold against the First Anglo-Sikh War.
Consider the following statements: 1. In the Third Battle of Panipat, Ahmed Shah Abdali defeated Ibrahim Lodi. 2. Tipu Sultan was killed in the Third Anglo-Mysore War. 3. Mir Jafar entered in a conspiracy with the English for the defeat of Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah in the Battle of Plassey. Which of these statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 3 only
- (c) 2 and 3
- (d) None
Answer(b) 3 only
Tests the numbering of the Anglo-Mysore wars — the exact confusion UPPSC exploits by mixing 'first' and 'second' wars from four different series in one list.
With reference to the Treaty of "Aix-la-Chapelle" – 1748, which of the following statements is/are correct ? 1. The I Carnatic War was ended. 2. The English got back Madras. Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(c) Both 1 and 2
The Anglo-French series from the other end: the treaty that closed the First Carnatic War in 1748, which dates the whole Anglo-French block to the 1740s-50s and so fixes it ahead of Mysore in 2025's sequence.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The First Anglo-Mysore War was brought to a close by which treaty?
- (a)Treaty of Mangalore
- (b)Treaty of Madras
- (c)Treaty of Seringapatam
- (d)Treaty of Salbai
Answer(b) Treaty of Madras — signed in 1769 after Haidar Ali advanced to the outskirts of Madras; Mangalore (1784) ended the second war and Seringapatam (1792) the third.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched?
- (a)First Anglo-Sikh War — 1839-42
- (b)First Anglo-Afghan War — 1845-46
- (c)Second Carnatic War — 1749-54
- (d)First Anglo-Mysore War — 1780-84
Answer(c) Second Carnatic War — 1749-54. The First Anglo-Afghan War was 1839-42, the First Anglo-Sikh War 1845-46 and the First Anglo-Mysore War 1767-69.