18 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in the common exam-style shapes. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markAt which city’s Congress convention did Rajkumar Shukla first approach Gandhi?
(A) Patna(B) Motihari(C) Calcutta(D) Lucknow - 1 markHow many delegates attended the Lucknow Congress convention where Shukla met Gandhi?
(A) 2,301(B) 10,000(C) 3,301(D) 1,301 - 1 markAfter Shukla begged Gandhi to “fix a date”, where did Shukla wait for him?
(A) At the Congress office in Patna(B) At Gandhi’s ashram gate(C) Outside a railway station in Lucknow(D) Sitting on his haunches at the appointed spot in Calcutta - 1 markWhom did Gandhi telegraph before going to Muzzafarpur?
(A) Rajendra Prasad(B) Sir Edward Gait(C) Professor J.B. Kripalani(D) Charles Freer Andrews - 1 markWhat fraction of their land holdings were Champaran tenants compelled to plant with indigo?
(A) 10 per cent(B) 15 per cent(C) 50 per cent(D) 25 per cent - 1 markWhat was Gandhi doing when the police superintendent’s messenger overtook him and ordered him back to town?
(A) Meeting the commissioner(B) Boarding a train(C) Addressing a public meeting(D) Riding an elephant to investigate a maltreated peasant
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Thousands of peasants gathered around the Motihari courthouse on the morning of Gandhi’s trial.
Reason (R): They knew Gandhi’s full record of struggle in South Africa and had come to honour it.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Gandhi accepted a 25 per cent refund even though he had asked for 50 per cent.
Reason (R): The exact amount of the refund mattered less to Gandhi than the landlords being made to surrender part of their money and prestige.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch the person in Column A with their role in Column B, and choose the correct combination.
Column A: (1) Rajkumar Shukla (2) Rajendra Prasad (3) Sir Edward Gait (4) Charles Freer Andrews
Column B: (i) The Lieutenant-Governor who appointed the inquiry commission (ii) An English pacifist and Gandhi’s follower (iii) The illiterate but resolute sharecropper (iv) The lawyer who later became President of India
(A) 1-iii, 2-iv, 3-i, 4-ii(B) 1-i, 2-ii, 3-iii, 4-iv(C) 1-ii, 2-i, 3-iv, 4-iii(D) 1-iv, 2-iii, 3-ii, 4-i - 1 markMatch the event in Column A with its cause in Column B, and choose the correct combination.
Column A: (1) Peasants wanted their compensation money back (2) The lawyers decided to go to jail with Gandhi (3) The case against Gandhi was dropped (4) Gandhi accepted the 25 per cent offer
Column B: (i) The Lieutenant-Governor ordered it dropped (ii) Word of synthetic indigo reached them after they had signed the compensation agreements (iii) The landlords’ surrender of part of their money and prestige mattered more than the amount (iv) They realised going home would be shameful desertion
(A) 1-iii, 2-iv, 3-i, 4-ii(B) 1-iv, 2-i, 3-ii, 4-iii(C) 1-i, 2-ii, 3-iv, 4-iii(D) 1-ii, 2-iv, 3-i, 4-iii
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markStatement I: Rajkumar Shukla was a wealthy landlord from Champaran.
Statement II: Gandhi had never heard of Champaran before Shukla approached him.
(A) Both I and II are false(B) I is false, II is true(C) Both I and II are true(D) I is true, II is false - 1 markStatement I: Gandhi initially demanded a full 100 per cent refund from the planters.
Statement II: The planters’ representative offered 25 per cent, expecting Gandhi to refuse.
(A) I is false, II is true(B) I is true, II is false(C) Both I and II are true(D) Both I and II are false - 1 markStatement I: Gandhi welcomed Andrews’s offer to stay and help in Champaran.
Statement II: Rajendra Prasad said Gandhi’s rebuke taught the lawyers a lesson in self-reliance.
(A) I is true, II is false(B) Both I and II are false(C) I is false, II is true(D) Both I and II are true
5 Arrange in the Correct Order
Arrange in the Correct Order
- 1 markArrange the following in the order in which they occur.
(1) The planters agree in principle to refund the peasants
(2) The 25 per cent settlement is adopted unanimously
(3) Gandhi has four interviews with the Lieutenant-Governor
(4) An official commission of inquiry is appointed
(A) 1, 3, 4, 2(B) 3, 1, 4, 2(C) 4, 3, 1, 2(D) 3, 4, 1, 2
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markRajkumar Shukla was described as illiterate but ______.
(A) aggressive(B) resolute(C) educated(D) wealthy - 1 markGandhi described his situation before the court as a “______ of duties.”
(A) series(B) chain(C) conflict(D) burden
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich of the following is the odd one out?
(A) Sir Edward Gait(B) Brij Kishor Babu(C) Rajendra Prasad(D) Maulana Mazharul Huq
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
The official inquiry assembled a crushing mountain of evidence against the big planters, and when they saw this they agreed, in principle, to make refunds to the peasants. “But how much must we pay?” they asked Gandhi. They thought he would demand repayment in full of the money which they had illegally and deceitfully extorted from the sharecroppers. He asked only 50 per cent.
- 1 markAccording to the passage, what did the planters agree to do once the official inquiry assembled its evidence?
(A) Appeal to the Viceroy(B) Sell their estates immediately(C) Make refunds to the peasants, in principle(D) Increase the indigo quota
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (D) Gandhi had gone to the December 1916 annual convention of the Indian National Congress party in Lucknow, where Shukla first approached him.
- (A) The text states there were 2,301 delegates and many visitors at the convention.
- (D) Gandhi told Shukla, “I have to be in Calcutta on such-and-such a date. Come and meet me and take me from there.” Months later, Shukla was sitting on his haunches at the appointed spot in Calcutta when Gandhi arrived, and waited till Gandhi was free.
- (C) Gandhi sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur, whom he had seen at Tagore’s Shantiniketan school.
- (B) Landlords compelled all tenants to plant three-twentieths, or 15 per cent, of their holdings with indigo and surrender the whole harvest as rent.
- (D) Gandhi started out on the back of an elephant to see a maltreated peasant when the messenger overtook him and ordered him back.
Assertion-Reason
- (C) A is true: Motihari was “black with peasants.” R is false: the text explicitly says they did not know Gandhi’s record in South Africa, only that a Mahatma in trouble was trying to help them.
- (A) Both are true, and R is Gandhi’s own stated reason: he explained that the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been obliged to surrender part of the money and, with it, part of their prestige.
Match the Following
- (A) Shukla is the sharecropper (iii), Rajendra Prasad the future President (iv), Sir Edward Gait the Lieutenant-Governor (i), and Andrews the English pacifist (ii).
- (D) Peasants wanted their money back once the information about synthetic indigo reached them after they had signed (ii); the lawyers stayed because going home would be shameful desertion (iv); the Lieutenant-Governor ordered the case dropped (i); Gandhi accepted 25 per cent because the landlords’ surrender of part of their money and prestige mattered more than the amount (iii).
Statement-Based Questions
- (B) Statement I is false: Shukla was a poor, illiterate sharecropper, not a landlord. Statement II is true: the text says Gandhi “had never heard of the place.”
- (A) Statement I is false: Gandhi asked only 50 per cent, not the full amount. Statement II is true: “Thinking probably that he would not give way, the representative of the planters offered to refund to the extent of 25 per cent, and to his amazement Mr. Gandhi took him at his word.”
- (C) Statement I is false: Gandhi was vehemently opposed to the idea. Statement II is true: Prasad himself says, “Gandhi in this way taught us a lesson in self-reliance.”
Arrange in the Correct Order
- (D) The interviews with the Lieutenant-Governor come first (3), leading to the commission’s appointment (4), then the planters agree in principle to refunds (1), and finally the 25 per cent settlement is adopted (2).
Fill in the Blanks
- (B) The text’s exact words are “He was illiterate but resolute.”
- (C) Gandhi told the court he was involved in a “conflict of duties.”
Odd One Out
- (A) Rajendra Prasad, Brij Kishor Babu and Maulana Mazharul Huq are the Bihar lawyers who joined Gandhi’s side. Sir Edward Gait is the British Lieutenant-Governor, on the other side of the negotiation.
Passage-Based Questions
- (C) The passage says that on seeing the crushing mountain of evidence against them, the planters agreed, in principle, to make refunds to the peasants.
More for this chapter