50+ Gk MCQs about British East India Company

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The British East India Company was founded in 1600 AD with the motive of spice trading with India. But soon they established trading posts in places like Surat, Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. Over time, the Company expanded its influence, using military force and diplomacy to control large territories of India. They worked day & night for the colonization of India. Along with British East India Company, there were also other European powers like Portuguese, Dutch, Danish and France, who were colonizing India. The British Crown took direct control after the 1857 Indian Rebellion, leading to the establishment of British Raj in 1858.

Q.1 In which year was the British East India Company established?

(A) 1599

(B) 1600

(C) 1601

(D) 1602
Answer: (B) 1600

Q.2 Who granted the royal charter to the British East India Company?

(A) Queen Elizabeth I

(B) King James I

(C) King Charles I

(D) King George III
Answer: (A) Queen Elizabeth I

Q.3 The British East India Company was originally established for what purpose?

(A) Trade with the American colonies

(B) Trade with the West Indies

(C) Trade with the East Indies

(D) Trade with Africa
Answer: (C) Trade with the East Indies

Q.4 The first factory established by the British East India Company was located in?

(A) Surat

(B) Madras

(C) Bombay

(D) Calcutta
Answer: (A) Surat

Q.5 The Battle of Plassey in 1757 was fought between the British East India Company and which Nawab?

(A) Tipu Sultan

(B) Siraj-ud-Daulah

(C) Hyder Ali

(D) Bahadur Shah Zafar
Answer: (B) Siraj-ud-Daulah

Q.6 Who led the British forces in the Battle of Plassey?

(A) Lord Cornwallis

(B) Warren Hastings

(C) Robert Clive

(D) Charles Metcalfe
Answer: (C) Robert Clive

Q.7 In which year did the British East India Company win the Battle of Buxar?

(A) 1757

(B) 1764

(C) 1773

(D) 1781
Answer: (B) 1764

Q.8 Which Act first regulated the affairs of the East India Company by the British Parliament?

(A) Regulating Act of 1773

(B) Pitt’s India Act of 1784

(C) Charter Act of 1793

(D) Government of India Act 1833
Answer: (A) Regulating Act of 1773

Q.9 Who was appointed the first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act of 1773?

(A) Robert Clive

(B) Warren Hastings

(C) Lord Cornwallis

(D) Lord Wellesley
Answer: (B) Warren Hastings

Q.10 Which Acts abolished the monopoly trading rights of the British East India Company?

(A) Charter Act of 1813

(B) Charter Act of 1833

(C) Charter Act of 1853

(D) Government of India Act 1858
Answer: (C) Charter Act of 1853

Q.11 The Treaty of Allahabad (1765) was signed after which battle?

(A) Battle of Plassey

(B) Battle of Buxar

(C) Battle of Wandiwash

(D) Battle of Mysore
Answer: (B) Battle of Buxar

Q.12 Which Indian state was the first to be annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse?

(A) Satara

(B) Jhansi

(C) Awadh

(D) Nagpur
Answer: (A) Satara

Q.13 Which Governor-General is associated with the Doctrine of Lapse?

(A) Lord Cornwallis

(B) Lord Dalhousie

(C) Lord Wellesley

(D) Lord Canning
Answer: (B) Lord Dalhousie

Q.14 The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 began in which city?

(A) Meerut

(B) Delhi

(C) Lucknow

(D) Kanpur
Answer: (A) Meerut

Q.15 Who was the Governor-General of India during the Revolt of 1857?

(A) Lord Dalhousie

(B) Lord Canning

(C) Lord Ripon

(D) Lord Lytton
Answer: (B) Lord Canning

Q.16 After the Revolt of 1857, the administration of India was transferred from the British East India Company to whom?

(A) British Parliament

(B) The British Crown

(C) The Prime Minister of Britain

(D) The Viceroy of India
Answer: (B) The British Crown

Q.17 Who was the last Mughal Emperor of India, deposed after the Revolt of 1857?

(A) Bahadur Shah II

(B) Aurangzeb

(C) Akbar II

(D) Shah Alam II
Answer: (A) Bahadur Shah II

Q.18 Which of the following was a major consequence of the Revolt of 1857?

(A) Dissolution of the East India Company

(B) Establishment of British Crown rule in India

(C) Appointment of the first Viceroy

(D) All of the above
Answer: (D) All of the above

Q.19 Who was the first Viceroy of India, appointed in 1858?

(A) Lord Canning

(B) Lord Dalhousie

(C) Lord Ripon

(D) Lord Curzon
Answer: (A) Lord Canning

Q.20 Which Act ended the dual governance system between the British East India Company and the British Crown?

(A) Government of India Act 1858

(B) Indian Councils Act 1861

(C) Pitt’s India Act 1784

(D) Charter Act of 1813
Answer: (A) Government of India Act 1858

Q.21 Who was the Nawab of Bengal defeated in the Battle of Plassey?

(A) Mir Jafar

(B) Siraj-ud-Daulah

(C) Mir Qasim

(D) Shuja-ud-Daulah
Answer: (B) Siraj-ud-Daulah

Q.22 Which Governor-General introduced the Permanent Settlement of Bengal?

(A) Lord Dalhousie

(B) Lord Cornwallis

(C) Warren Hastings

(D) Lord Curzon
Answer: (B) Lord Cornwallis

Q.23 The Treaty of Paris (1763) ended which war between the British and the French in India?

(A) Anglo-French War

(B) Third Carnatic War

(C) Maratha War

(D) Mysore War
Answer: (B) Third Carnatic War

Q.24 The British East India Company established its first factory in South India in which city?

(A) Masulipatnam

(B) Bombay

(C) Calcutta

(D) Pondicherry
Answer: (A) Masulipatnam

Q.25 The Anglo-Mysore Wars were fought between the British East India Company and which kingdom?

(A) Maratha Empire

(B) Hyderabad

(C) Mysore

(D) Awadh
Answer: (C) Mysore

Q.26 Who was the ruler of Mysore during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War?

(A) Hyder Ali

(B) Tipu Sultan

(C) Raja Wodeyar

(D) Krishnaraja Wodeyar III
Answer: (B) Tipu Sultan

Q.27 The Subsidiary Alliance System was introduced by which British Governor-General?

(A) Lord Cornwallis

(B) Lord Dalhousie

(C) Lord Wellesley

(D) Lord Canning
Answer: (C) Lord Wellesley

Q.28 Which kingdom was the first to accept the Subsidiary Alliance of the British East India Company?

(A) Sultan of Mysore

(B) Nizam of Hyderabad

(C) Marathas

(D) Nawab of Awadh
Answer: (B) Nizam of Hyderabad

Q.29 The Third Anglo-Maratha War led to the downfall of which prominent Maratha leader?

(A) Peshwa Baji Rao II

(B) Shivaji

(C) Mahadji Scindia

(D) Raghunath Rao
Answer: (A) Peshwa Baji Rao II

Q.30 Who was the last Peshwa of the Maratha Empire, deposed after the Third Anglo-Maratha War?

(A) Madhav Rao

(B) Balaji Vishwanath

(C) Baji Rao II

(D) Narayan Rao
Answer: (C) Baji Rao II

Q.31 The Treaty of Seringapatam was signed after which Anglo-Mysore War?

(A) First Anglo-Mysore War

(B) Second Anglo-Mysore War

(C) Third Anglo-Mysore War

(D) Fourth Anglo-Mysore War
Answer: (C) Third Anglo-Mysore War

Q.32. The British East India Company won the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760, defeating which European power?

(A) Dutch

(B) Portuguese

(C) French

(D) Spanish
Answer: (C) French

Q.33 Which of the following reforms was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in the administration of British India?

(A) Subsidiary Alliance

(B) Permanent Settlement

(C) Doctrine of Lapse

(D) Ryotwari System
Answer: (B) Permanent Settlement

Q.34 Who introduced the Ryotwari System of land revenue in British India?

(A) Lord Cornwallis

(B) Thomas Munro

(C) Lord Dalhousie

(D) Warren Hastings
Answer: (B) Thomas Munro

Q.35 Which city was the capital of the British East India Company in India before it was shifted to Calcutta?

(A) Madras

(B) Surat

(C) Bombay

(D) Delhi
Answer: (B) Surat

Q.36 The Pitt’s India Act of 1784 established which body to control the affairs of the East India Company?

(A) Court of Directors

(B) Board of Control

(C) Court of Proprietors

(D) Secretary of State
Answer: (B) Board of Control

Q.37 Which Governor-General of India was responsible for the introduction of Western education in India?

(A) Lord Cornwallis

(B) Lord Hastings

(C) Lord Macaulay

(D) Lord William Bentinck
Answer: (D) Lord William Bentinck

Q.38 Who abolished the practice of Sati in 1829?

(A) Lord Wellesley

(B) Lord William Bentinck

(C) Lord Dalhousie

(D) Lord Canning
Answer: (B) Lord William Bentinck

Q.39 The Indian Civil Service was introduced by which Governor-General?

(A) Lord Dalhousie

(B) Lord Wellesley

(C) Lord Canning

(D) Lord Cornwallis
Answer: (D) Lord Cornwallis

Q.40 Which of the following Acts allowed Indians to enter the civil services through competitive exams?

(A) Charter Act of 1813

(B) Charter Act of 1853

(C) Government of India Act 1858

(D) Indian Councils Act 1861
Answer: (B) Charter Act of 1853

Q.41 Which Viceroy is known for introducing the telegraph and railway networks in India?

(A) Lord Dalhousie

(B) Lord Ripon

(C) Lord Curzon

(D) Lord Canning
Answer: (A) Lord Dalhousie

Q.42 Who was the Governor-General of India at the time of the First Anglo-Sikh War?

(A) Lord Auckland

(B) Lord Hardinge

(C) Lord Dalhousie

(D) Lord Wellesley
Answer: (B) Lord Hardinge

Q.43 The Doctrine of Lapse was a policy introduced by which Governor-General?

(A) Lord Wellesley

(B) Lord Dalhousie

(C) Lord Canning

(D) Lord Ripon
Answer: (B) Lord Dalhousie

Q.44 Which princely state was annexed by the British under the Doctrine of Lapse in 1856?

(A) Satara

(B) Jhansi

(C) Awadh

(D) Nagpur
Answer: (C) Awadh

Q.45 The British East India Company was dissolved in which year?

(A) 1858

(B) 1861

(C) 1874

(D) 1885
Answer: (C) 1874

Q.46 Who was the first Indian to be appointed to the Viceroy’s Executive Council?

(A) Dadabhai Naoroji

(B) Satyendra Nath Tagore

(C) Raja Rammohan Roy

(D) Satyendra Prasanna Sinha
Answer: (D) Satyendra Prasanna Sinha

Q.47 The First Anglo-Burmese War ended with which treaty?

(A) Treaty of Yandabo

(B) Treaty of Bassein

(C) Treaty of Seringapatam

(D) Treaty of Amritsar
Answer: (A) Treaty of Yandabo

Q.48 Who among the following played a major role in the creation of the Bengal Presidency?

(A) Lord Cornwallis

(B) Warren Hastings

(C) Lord Dalhousie

(D) Robert Clive
Answer: (D) Robert Clive

Q.49 The Enfield Rifle incident was one of the causes of which major event in Indian history?

(A) First Anglo-Sikh War

(B) Second Anglo-Mysore War

(C) Revolt of 1857

(D) Third Anglo-Maratha War
Answer: (C) Revolt of 1857

Q.50 Which Mughal Emperor granted the British East India Company the right to trade in Bengal in 1717?

(A) Bahadur Shah I

(B) Shah Alam II

(C) Farrukhsiyar

(D) Aurangzeb
Answer: (C) Farrukhsiyar

Q.51 Who was the Nawab of Bengal during the Battle of Buxar?

(A) Mir Qasim

(B) Siraj-ud-Daulah

(C) Shuja-ud-Daulah

(D) Mir Jafar
Answer: (A) Mir Qasim

Q.52 The Treaty of Lahore ended which war?

(A) First Anglo-Sikh War

(B) Second Anglo-Mysore War

(C) First Anglo-Maratha War

(D) Third Carnatic War
Answer: (A) First Anglo-Sikh War

Q.53 Which British General was defeated by Tipu Sultan in the Battle of Pollilur (1780)?

(A) Lord Cornwallis

(B) General Eyre Coote

(C) Colonel Baillie

(D) General Wellesley
Answer: (C) Colonel William Baillie

50 Gk MCQs about Portuguese East India Company: https://testyourgk.in/50-gk-mcqs-about-portuguese-east-india-company/

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