Indian History is one of the most reliable scoring areas in the general knowledge paper of defence and civil service examinations. Whether you are preparing for NDA, CDS, AFCAT, the SSB written stage, UPSC Civil Services, SSC or a state PSC, questions from ancient, medieval and modern India appear year after year. Most of these questions are factual: a founder, a capital, a year, a book, a movement or a treaty.
This article brings together 100 of the most important Indian History GK questions that are repeatedly asked, or that sit on the same high-frequency themes. The set is divided into three parts — Ancient India (questions 1 to 35), Medieval India (36 to 65) and Modern India (66 to 100) — so you can revise period-wise instead of jumping across centuries.
Read the question first, recall the answer, and only then look at the explanation. The one-line fact under each answer is meant to lock the exam point, not to replace your NCERT reading. Use this list for quick revision in the last weeks before the exam, and come back to any topic you miss.
Ancient India (Questions 1 to 35)
1. Which Indus Valley site is famous for its dockyard?
Answer: Lothal. Lothal, in present-day Gujarat, had a brick-lined basin identified as a dockyard and was an important Harappan port and bead-making centre.
2. Where was the Great Bath of the Indus Valley Civilisation discovered?
Answer: Mohenjo-daro. The Great Bath is a large, watertight brick tank at Mohenjo-daro, generally linked to ritual bathing.
3. Who discovered the Harappa site in 1921?
Answer: Daya Ram Sahni. Daya Ram Sahni excavated Harappa in 1921 under John Marshall; R.D. Banerji discovered Mohenjo-daro in 1922.
4. In which direction was the still-undeciphered Indus Valley script generally written?
Answer: Right to left. Most inscriptions appear to run from right to left; some longer texts are written in boustrophedon, that is, in alternating directions.
5. Which Harappan site is known for its water conservation system and a large stone signboard?
Answer: Dholavira. Dholavira, in the Rann of Kachchh in Gujarat, had sophisticated reservoirs and a long inscription of large signs, often called a signboard.
6. Which is the oldest of the four Vedas?
Answer: The Rigveda. The Rigveda, a collection of hymns arranged in ten mandalas, is the earliest Veda and a principal source for early Vedic history.
7. The Gayatri Mantra is found in which mandala of the Rigveda?
Answer: The third mandala. The Gayatri Mantra, addressed to Savitr, appears as Rigveda 3.62.10 in the third mandala.
8. In the early Vedic period, which two assemblies limited the power of the rajan?
Answer: The Sabha and the Samiti. The sabha was a smaller council and the samiti a wider tribal assembly; both are mentioned in the Rigveda as checks on the king.
9. How many Mahajanapadas are mentioned in Buddhist texts such as the Anguttara Nikaya?
Answer: Sixteen. Early Buddhist and Jain texts list sixteen great states in northern India around the sixth century BCE, of which Magadha became the most powerful.
10. What was the first capital of Magadha?
Answer: Rajagriha (Girivraja). The early Haryanka rulers used Rajagriha, modern Rajgir, as the capital; Udayin later founded Pataliputra, which became the principal capital.
11. Alexander fought King Porus on the banks of which river in 326 BCE?
Answer: The Hydaspes (Jhelum). The Battle of the Hydaspes was fought on the Jhelum. Alexander won, but his army later refused to advance beyond the Beas, also called the Hyphasis.
12. Who was the founder of the Mauryan Empire?
Answer: Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta overthrew the Nandas around 321 BCE with the guidance of Chanakya, or Kautilya, and established a large empire with its capital at Pataliputra.
13. Megasthenes, the author of Indica, was the ambassador of which ruler at the Mauryan court?
Answer: Seleucus Nicator (Seleucus I). After a conflict with Chandragupta Maurya, Seleucus sent Megasthenes to Pataliputra. Indica, known today from later excerpts, describes Mauryan administration and society.
14. The Kalinga War, which changed Ashoka’s policy, was fought in which year of his reign?
Answer: The eighth regnal year (c. 261 BCE). Major Rock Edict XIII records the deadly Kalinga campaign in Ashoka’s eighth year, after which he emphasised Dhamma rather than further conquest.
15. The Lion Capital, later adopted as the State Emblem of India, was found at which place?
Answer: Sarnath. The four-lion capital originally crowned Ashoka’s pillar at Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon, and was adopted as the national emblem in 1950.
16. Which Ashokan inscription was the first discovered to mention the emperor by the name Ashoka, rather than Devanampiya Piyadasi?
Answer: The Maski Minor Rock Edict. Most edicts use the titles Devanampiya Piyadasi. The Maski edict in Karnataka was the first found to identify the king as Ashoka; Gujarra, Nittur and Udegolam also use the name.
17. Who killed the last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha, and founded the Shunga dynasty?
Answer: Pushyamitra Shunga. Pushyamitra, the Mauryan commander-in-chief, assassinated Brihadratha around 185 BCE and later performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice as a Brahmana king.
18. The Saka era of 78 CE, used in the official Indian calendar, is traditionally associated with which ruler?
Answer: Kanishka. Kanishka, the greatest Kushan emperor, is conventionally credited in standard exam sources with starting the Saka era in 78 CE. His capitals included Purushapura (Peshawar) and Mathura.
19. The Fourth Buddhist Council, associated with the rise of Mahayana, was held in Kashmir under which king?
Answer: Kanishka. The council at Kundalavana in Kashmir, presided over by Vasumitra, is linked to Kanishka and to the compilation of Sarvastivada and Mahayana texts.
20. Who is called the “Napoleon of India”?
Answer: Samudragupta. The British historian V.A. Smith gave Samudragupta this title because of the wide conquests recorded in the Prayag (Allahabad) Prashasti, composed by Harisena.
21. The Prayag Prashasti of Samudragupta is inscribed on a pillar originally erected by which earlier ruler?
Answer: Ashoka. Harisena’s eulogy of Samudragupta was carved on the Ashokan pillar that now stands in the Allahabad Fort at Prayagraj.
22. During whose reign did the Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien (Faxian) visit India?
Answer: Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya). Fa-Hien travelled in India in the early fifth century CE to collect Buddhist texts and described a relatively peaceful Gupta realm.
23. Who wrote the Sanskrit plays Abhijnanashakuntalam and Malavikagnimitram?
Answer: Kalidasa. Kalidasa, traditionally placed among the Navaratnas at the court of Chandragupta II, is the foremost classical Sanskrit poet and dramatist.
24. Nalanda Mahavihara is traditionally said to have been founded during the reign of which Gupta ruler?
Answer: Kumaragupta I. Later seals and traditions credit Kumaragupta I, in the fifth century CE, with founding Nalanda, which later flourished under Harshavardhana and the Palas.
25. The Iron Pillar at Mehrauli in Delhi, famous for its rust-resistant iron, is generally attributed to which ruler?
Answer: Chandragupta II. The Sanskrit inscription refers to a king named Chandra, widely identified with Chandragupta II. The pillar later stood in the Qutb complex.
26. Who wrote the Aryabhatiya?
Answer: Aryabhata. Aryabhata, born in 476 CE, composed the Aryabhatiya, which deals with arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry and astronomy and uses a place-value system.
27. Harshavardhana made which city his principal capital?
Answer: Kannauj. Harsha began his rule at Thanesar (Sthaneshvara) and then made Kannauj the political centre of his north Indian empire, which lasted from about 606 to 647 CE.
28. The Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin II, who checked Harsha’s southward advance, was composed by whom?
Answer: Ravikirti. Ravikirti, a Jain poet at the Chalukya court of Badami, recorded Pulakeshin II’s victories, including that over Harsha, in the Aihole prashasti.
29. Where did Gautama Buddha attain enlightenment?
Answer: Bodh Gaya (under the Bodhi tree). After years of wandering, Siddhartha attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in Magadha. He later gave the first sermon at Sarnath and attained Mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar.
30. The first sermon of the Buddha, the Dhammachakkappavattana, was delivered at which place?
Answer: Sarnath (Deer Park). At Sarnath, near Varanasi, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to his first five disciples.
31. The First Buddhist Council was held at Rajagriha under the patronage of which king?
Answer: Ajatashatru. Soon after the Buddha’s death, the council at Rajagriha, led by Mahakassapa, compiled the Vinaya and Sutta Pitaka under Ajatashatru of Magadha.
32. Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, was born at which place?
Answer: Kundagrama (near Vaishali). Vardhamana Mahavira was born into the Jnatrika Kshatriya clan at Kundagrama in the Vaishali region. He attained Kaivalya on the banks of the Rijupalika and died at Pavapuri.
33. Who was the 23rd Tirthankara of Jainism, immediately before Mahavira?
Answer: Parshvanatha (Parshva). Parshvanatha of Banaras is treated as a historical precursor of Mahavira and is credited with four of the five great vows later formalised in Jainism.
34. Who composed the Tamil epic Silappadikaram?
Answer: Ilango Adigal. Silappadikaram, one of the five great Tamil epics, tells the story of Kovalan and Kannagi. Manimekalai, a Buddhist sequel, was written by Sattanar.
35. The later cave paintings at Ajanta flourished mainly under which dynasty?
Answer: The Vakatakas. Early Ajanta caves go back to the Satavahanas. The famous later murals were executed in the Vakataka period, especially under King Harishena, in the fifth century CE.
Medieval India (Questions 36 to 65)
36. Who founded the Delhi Sultanate and the Slave, or Mamluk, dynasty in 1206?
Answer: Qutb-ud-din Aibak. Aibak, a general of Muhammad Ghori, established his rule with the early capital at Lahore, began the Qutb Minar, and was called Lakh Baksh for his generosity.
37. The Qutb Minar in Delhi was completed by which ruler?
Answer: Iltutmish. Aibak started the minar and his son-in-law Iltutmish completed it. Alauddin Khalji later added the Alai Darwaza, and Firoz Shah Tughlaq repaired the upper storeys.
38. Who is regarded as the real consolidator of the Delhi Sultanate and introduced the silver tanka and copper jital?
Answer: Iltutmish. Iltutmish shifted the capital firmly to Delhi, organised the Turkan-i-Chahalgani or Group of Forty, and received formal recognition from the Abbasid Caliph.
39. Who was the first and only woman Sultan of Delhi?
Answer: Razia Sultan (Raziya). Razia, who ruled from 1236 to 1240, was the daughter of Iltutmish. She ruled in her own name but was overthrown after opposition from the Turkish nobles.
40. Which Delhi Sultan called himself Zil-i-Ilahi, or Shadow of God, and followed a strict policy of blood and iron?
Answer: Ghiyas-ud-din Balban. Balban emphasised divine kingship, introduced sijda and paibos at court, and crushed the power of the Chahalgani in order to strengthen the monarchy.
41. Which Sultan of Delhi introduced dagh (branding of horses) and chehra (the descriptive roll of soldiers) and regulated market prices?
Answer: Alauddin Khalji. Alauddin, who ruled from 1296 to 1316, built a large standing army to face the Mongols, enforced price control in Delhi, and sent Malik Kafur on campaigns into the Deccan.
42. Who transferred the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (Devagiri) and issued a token currency?
Answer: Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Muhammad bin Tughlaq, who ruled from 1325 to 1351, moved the capital to Daulatabad and later back to Delhi, and issued bronze or copper token coins that failed because of widespread forgery.
43. In which year did Timur sack Delhi?
Answer: 1398. Timur’s invasion devastated the later Tughlaq capital and opened the way for the short-lived Sayyid dynasty, followed by the Lodis.
44. The First Battle of Panipat in 1526 was fought between whom?
Answer: Babur and Ibrahim Lodi. Babur’s victory over the last Lodi Sultan, aided by field artillery and the tulughma tactic, founded the Mughal Empire in India.
45. The Battle of Khanwa in 1527 was fought between Babur and which Rajput ruler?
Answer: Rana Sanga (Maharana Sangram Singh of Mewar). After Panipat, Babur defeated a Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga at Khanwa, near Agra, and assumed the title Ghazi.
46. Who introduced the silver rupee, or rupiya, and rebuilt the Grand Trunk Road, also called the Sadak-e-Azam?
Answer: Sher Shah Suri. Sher Shah, who ruled from 1540 to 1545, also reorganised provincial administration into sarkars and parganas and died during the siege of Kalinjar.
47. The Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 was fought between the forces of Akbar and whom?
Answer: Hemu (Hemu Vikramaditya). Bairam Khan led the young Akbar’s army against Hemu, the general of Adil Shah Suri. The Mughal victory restored Mughal power in north India.
48. In which year did Akbar abolish the jizya?
Answer: 1564. Akbar abolished the pilgrimage tax and then the jizya as part of his policy of Sulh-i-Kul. Aurangzeb reimposed the jizya in 1679.
49. Where did Akbar build the Ibadat Khana for religious discussions?
Answer: Fatehpur Sikri. The Ibadat Khana was opened in 1575. The discussions there, and the Mahzar of 1579, preceded Akbar’s formulation of Din-i-Ilahi, or Tauhid-i-Ilahi, in 1582.
50. The Ain-i-Akbari and the Akbarnama were written by whom?
Answer: Abul Fazl. Abul Fazl, one of Akbar’s Navaratnas, wrote the official history Akbarnama. The Ain-i-Akbari is its third volume and describes administration, including Todar Mal’s zabti or dahsala revenue system.
51. Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador of James I of England, visited the court of which Mughal emperor?
Answer: Jahangir. Roe was at Jahangir’s court from 1615 to 1619. Captain Hawkins had visited earlier. Jahangir’s memoirs are known as the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri.
52. The Taj Mahal at Agra was built by Shah Jahan in memory of whom?
Answer: Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Begum). Construction began after Mumtaz Mahal’s death in 1631. The white-marble mausoleum on the Yamuna is the outstanding example of later Mughal architecture.
53. Which Mughal emperor reimposed the jizya in 1679 and had Guru Tegh Bahadur executed in 1675?
Answer: Aurangzeb (Alamgir). Aurangzeb’s long Deccan campaigns and orthodox measures strained the empire. He died at Ahmadnagar in 1707, after which Mughal decline accelerated.
54. The Vijayanagara Empire was founded in 1336 by whom?
Answer: Harihara I and Bukka I. The Sangama brothers founded the kingdom on the Tungabhadra, with its capital at Hampi, or Vijayanagara. The empire later had four dynasties: Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu.
55. Which Vijayanagara ruler, author of the Telugu work Amuktamalyada, is associated with the Ashtadiggajas?
Answer: Krishnadevaraya. Krishnadevaraya, who ruled from 1509 to 1529 and belonged to the Tuluva dynasty, was the empire’s greatest king and a major patron of Telugu and Sanskrit literature.
56. The Battle of Talikota, or Rakshasa-Tangadi, in 1565 was fought between Vijayanagara and whom?
Answer: A confederacy of the Deccan Sultanates. The combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bidar defeated Rama Raya. Hampi was sacked, and the empire never fully recovered.
57. Shivaji was formally coronated as Chhatrapati in 1674 at which fort?
Answer: Raigad. The coronation on 6 June 1674 at Raigad, in the presence of Gagabhatta, established an independent Maratha monarchy. Shivaji’s council of ministers was the Ashtapradhan.
58. The Treaty of Purandar in 1665 was signed between Shivaji and which Mughal commander?
Answer: Raja Jai Singh I of Amber. Under the treaty, Shivaji surrendered several forts and later visited Agra, from where he made his famous escape in 1666.
59. The Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 was fought between the Marathas and whom?
Answer: Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani). The defeat of the Maratha army under Sadashivrao Bhau weakened Maratha power in the north for a decade. The Peshwa at the time was Balaji Baji Rao, also called Nana Saheb.
60. Who was the first Peshwa of the Maratha Empire under Shahu?
Answer: Balaji Vishwanath. Shahu, the grandson of Shivaji, appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa in 1713. His son Baji Rao I later expanded Maratha power across large parts of India.
61. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, who established the Chishti order in India, is associated with which place?
Answer: Ajmer. Moinuddin Chishti settled at Ajmer in the twelfth century. The Chishti silsila later included Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Baba Farid and Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi.
62. Amir Khusrau, called Tuti-e-Hind, was a disciple of which Sufi saint?
Answer: Nizamuddin Auliya. Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) was a poet, musician and scholar at several Delhi courts and is traditionally linked with the early development of qawwali and Hindavi poetry.
63. Who founded the Khalsa in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib?
Answer: Guru Gobind Singh. The tenth Sikh Guru created the Khalsa on Baisakhi in 1699, instituted the Five Ks, and declared the Guru Granth Sahib the eternal Guru.
64. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born at which place?
Answer: Talwandi (Nankana Sahib). Guru Nanak, who lived from 1469 to 1539, was born at Rai Bhoi’s Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, and preached a monotheistic message that rejected caste distinctions.
65. Who wrote the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi?
Answer: Tulsidas. Tulsidas composed the Ramcharitmanas in the late sixteenth century, during the age of Akbar. It became the most popular vernacular retelling of the Ramayana in north India.
Modern India (Questions 66 to 100)
66. Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in which year?
Answer: 1498. The Portuguese navigator landed at Kappad near Calicut in May 1498 and was received by the Zamorin, opening a direct sea route from Europe to India.
67. Who captured Goa for the Portuguese in 1510?
Answer: Afonso de Albuquerque. Albuquerque, the Portuguese governor, seized Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate and made it the headquarters of Portuguese power in Asia.
68. The English East India Company established its first factory in India at which place?
Answer: Surat. After Captain Hawkins’s visit and the Battle of Swally in 1612, the Company obtained a farman from Jahangir and set up a factory at Surat in 1613.
69. The Battle of Plassey, fought on 23 June 1757, was between the British and which Nawab of Bengal?
Answer: Siraj-ud-Daulah. Robert Clive’s victory, aided by the defection of Mir Jafar, laid the foundation of British political power in Bengal.
70. The Battle of Buxar in 1764 led to which treaty that granted the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the Company?
Answer: The Treaty of Allahabad (1765). After defeating the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daulah and Shah Alam II, Clive signed the 1765 treaty that gave the Company the right to collect revenue.
71. Who introduced the Subsidiary Alliance system in India?
Answer: Lord Wellesley. Wellesley, Governor-General from 1798 to 1805, used the Subsidiary Alliance to bring Indian states under Company control. The Nizam of Hyderabad was the first to accept it, in 1798.
72. The Doctrine of Lapse is associated with which Governor-General?
Answer: Lord Dalhousie. Under this policy, states without a natural male heir, such as Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur, were annexed. The doctrine became a major political cause of the 1857 revolt.
73. The Permanent Settlement of 1793 was introduced in Bengal by whom?
Answer: Lord Cornwallis. The settlement fixed the land revenue demand and recognised zamindars as owners, provided they paid the tax. It later proved rigid and harsh on peasants.
74. Who was the first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act of 1773?
Answer: Warren Hastings. The Regulating Act created the post of Governor-General of Bengal with a council. The title Governor-General of India came later, with the Charter Act of 1833, and its first holder was Lord William Bentinck.
75. Tipu Sultan was killed in 1799 while defending which city?
Answer: Seringapatam (Srirangapatna). Tipu died on 4 May 1799 in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, fought under Lord Wellesley. Earlier, he and Hyder Ali had used iron-cased Mysorean rockets against the British.
76. The revolt of 1857 began among sepoys at Meerut on which date?
Answer: 10 May 1857. After Mangal Pandey’s action at Barrackpore on 29 March 1857, the Meerut sepoys rose on 10 May, marched to Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar as emperor.
77. Who led the 1857 revolt at Jhansi?
Answer: Rani Lakshmibai. Rani Lakshmibai fought the British after the annexation of Jhansi under the Doctrine of Lapse and died in battle at Gwalior in June 1858. Nana Saheb and Tantia Tope led at Kanpur, Begum Hazrat Mahal in Awadh, and Kunwar Singh in Bihar.
78. The Government of India Act 1858 transferred the rule of India from the East India Company to whom?
Answer: The British Crown. After the revolt, Company rule ended. A Secretary of State for India, assisted by a Council, was created, and Lord Canning became the first Viceroy.
79. Sati was abolished in 1829 by which Governor-General, with the support of Raja Ram Mohan Roy?
Answer: Lord William Bentinck. Bengal Regulation XVII of 1829 declared sati illegal. Roy had long campaigned against the practice through his writings and through the Brahmo Sabha, founded in 1828.
80. The Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 was the result of the efforts of which social reformer?
Answer: Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Vidyasagar’s petitions led to the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, passed during Lord Canning’s tenure. The measure had been prepared under Lord Dalhousie.
81. Who founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 and wrote Satyarth Prakash?
Answer: Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Dayanand founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875 with the call “Back to the Vedas” and promoted shuddhi and social reform, including opposition to idolatry and caste rigidity.
82. Swami Vivekananda addressed the Parliament of the World’s Religions at Chicago in which year?
Answer: 1893. Vivekananda, born Narendranath Datta, spoke on 11 September 1893. He later founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 to combine spiritual teaching with social service.
83. The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 at Bombay. Who was its first president?
Answer: Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee (W.C. Bonnerjee). A.O. Hume, a retired ICS officer, played a key organisational role. The first session met in December 1885 with 72 delegates.
84. The Partition of Bengal in 1905 was carried out by which Viceroy?
Answer: Lord Curzon. The partition, effective on 16 October 1905, sparked the Swadeshi and Boycott movements. It was annulled in 1911, when the capital was also shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
85. The All-India Muslim League was founded in 1906 at which place?
Answer: Dhaka (Dacca). The League was formed at Dhaka in December 1906, with Nawab Salimullah playing a leading role. The Aga Khan became its first honorary president.
86. The Lucknow Pact of 1916 was an agreement between which two organisations?
Answer: The Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League. The pact agreed on a joint scheme of constitutional reforms and accepted separate electorates. In the same year, Moderates and Extremists in Congress were also reunited at Lucknow.
87. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on which date?
Answer: 13 April 1919. On Baisakhi day at Amritsar, troops under Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer fired on an unarmed gathering. The Hunter Committee later inquired into the atrocity, which followed protests against the Rowlatt Act.
88. Gandhi’s first Satyagraha in India was launched at which place?
Answer: Champaran, in 1917. Gandhi led the Champaran movement in Bihar against the tinkathia indigo system. He then organised the Ahmedabad mill strike and the Kheda satyagraha in 1918.
89. The Non-Cooperation Movement was withdrawn by Gandhi after which incident?
Answer: The Chauri Chaura incident (5 February 1922). After a crowd burnt a police station at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district, killing policemen, Gandhi called off the movement, which had been launched in 1920 after the Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh and the Khilafat issue.
90. The Poorna Swaraj resolution was passed at which session of the Congress?
Answer: The Lahore session, 1929. Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, Congress declared complete independence as its goal and fixed 26 January 1930 as Independence Day.
91. From which ashram did Gandhi begin the Dandi, or Salt, March on 12 March 1930?
Answer: Sabarmati Ashram. Gandhi walked with 78 companions to Dandi, reached the coast on 5 April and broke the salt law on 6 April 1930, launching the Civil Disobedience Movement.
92. The Poona Pact of 1932 was signed between Mahatma Gandhi and whom?
Answer: B.R. Ambedkar. After Gandhi’s fast against the Communal Award’s separate electorates for the depressed classes, the pact provided reserved seats for them within the general electorate.
93. Who gave the slogan “Do or Die” at the launch of the Quit India Movement?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi. On 8 August 1942, at Gowalia Tank, later called August Kranti Maidan, in Bombay, Gandhi called for the British to “Quit India” and for Indians to “Do or Die”. Congress leaders were arrested the next day.
94. Who reorganised the Indian National Army in 1943 and proclaimed the Provisional Government of Azad Hind?
Answer: Subhas Chandra Bose. The first INA had been formed by Captain Mohan Singh. Bose revived it in 1943 in Southeast Asia, with the slogan “Give me blood, and I will give you freedom.”
95. The Government of India Act 1919 introduced which system in the provinces?
Answer: Dyarchy. Also called the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, the Act divided provincial subjects into transferred and reserved lists. The Government of India Act 1935 later replaced dyarchy in the provinces with provincial autonomy.
96. The Morley-Minto Reforms, or Indian Councils Act 1909, are especially known for introducing what?
Answer: Separate electorates for Muslims. The 1909 Act enlarged legislative councils and, for the first time, provided communal electorates, a principle later extended to other groups.
97. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged on which date?
Answer: 23 March 1931. They were executed in Lahore Central Jail in the Saunders murder and Lahore Conspiracy Case. The day is observed as Shaheed Diwas.
98. Who led the Cabinet Mission of 1946?
Answer: Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India. The mission also included Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander. It proposed a united India with a weak centre and provincial groupings, and it did not accept outright partition.
99. The Mountbatten Plan, which outlined the partition of British India, was announced on which date?
Answer: 3 June 1947. The 3 June Plan led to the Indian Independence Act, 1947, which received royal assent on 18 July and created the two dominions of India and Pakistan from 15 August 1947.
100. Who was the first Governor-General of independent India?
Answer: Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten served as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India. C. Rajagopalachari succeeded him in 1948 as the first and last Indian Governor-General. Dr Rajendra Prasad became the first President when India became a republic on 26 January 1950.
Quick Revision Tips
- Make a single timeline from the sixth century BCE to 1947 and pin the high-frequency events on it: the rise of Magadha, the Mauryas and Guptas, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, British expansion, 1857, the Congress era and Independence.
- Do not confuse look-alike facts. Keep the three Battles of Panipat (1526, 1556, 1761) distinct; remember that Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal, while Lord William Bentinck was the first Governor-General of India; and note that the first INA was formed by Captain Mohan Singh, while Subhas Chandra Bose reorganised it in 1943.
- For every movement, fix three things in memory: the year, the leader, and the event that started or ended it, such as Champaran in 1917, Chauri Chaura in 1922, Dandi in 1930 or Quit India on 8 August 1942.
- Revise capitals, founders, books and inscriptions as tightly as dates. Exams often ask who wrote the Prayag Prashasti, Ain-i-Akbari or Ramcharitmanas, or where the Lion Capital and the Great Bath were found.
- After going through this list once, attempt previous-year MCQs from NDA, CDS, AFCAT, SSC and UPSC. Mark the questions you miss and revise only those explanations a second and third time.
Conclusion
Indian History rewards repeated, organised revision more than last-minute reading. If you can recall these 100 questions with their dates, places and personalities, you will have covered a large share of the static history asked in NDA, CDS, AFCAT, UPSC, SSC and state PSC papers. Keep a short timeline, correct your weak areas, and combine this list with previous-year questions for the best result.
FAQs
1. How many Indian History questions are asked in NDA, CDS and AFCAT?
The exact number changes from paper to paper, so it is unwise to prepare for a fixed count. Indian History is a regular part of the NDA General Ability Test, the CDS General Knowledge paper and AFCAT static GK. Modern India often gets slightly more weight, but ancient and medieval questions appear every year. Treat all three periods as compulsory.
2. Should I start with ancient, medieval or modern India?
Many papers lean towards modern India, but ancient and medieval India still contribute direct questions. A practical method is to first master high-frequency topics — the Mauryas, Guptas, Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, 1857, social reform and the Gandhi-era movements — and then fill the gaps period by period, which is how this list is arranged.
3. Is NCERT enough for Indian History GK?
Yes, NCERT history textbooks are the most reliable base for the dates, names and accepted answers used in competitive exams. Read the relevant chapters carefully, then use a list like this and previous-year papers from NDA, CDS, AFCAT, SSC and UPSC to convert that reading into recall.
4. How should I revise these 100 questions effectively?
Cover one period at a sitting, say the answer aloud before you look at it, and maintain a one-page timeline of key dates. Revise the full set at least twice. The explanations are short on purpose, so that you can use the list in the last ten to fifteen days before the exam.
5. Are these questions useful for UPSC and SSC as well as defence exams?
Yes. The same static facts appear across NDA, CDS, AFCAT, UPSC Prelims, SSC and state PSCs, and they also help in the GK part of some written tests taken before or after the SSB. UPSC may add more analytical questions, but these 100 items cover the core factual layer that almost every paper tests.
