The intended matching is: Gopal Krishna Gokhale → Servants of India Society; Shiv Narayan Agnihotri → Dev Samaj; M.G. Ranade → Indian National Social Conference; Swami Dayanand Saraswati → Arya Samaj.

These four personalities belong to the wider nineteenth- and early twentieth-century history of social and political reform in India. HPPSC and UPSC frequently ask their organizations, foundation years, places, publications and reform ideas.

(a) Gopal Krishna Gokhale → Servants of India Society. Gokhale founded the Servants of India Society at Pune on 12 June 1905. Its objective was to train dedicated workers for national service through education, social welfare and constitutional public activity. The Society was associated with the English newspaper The Hitavada.

(b) Shiv Narayan Agnihotri → Dev Samaj. Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, later known as Bhagwan Dev Atma, founded the Dev Samaj at Lahore in 1887. It emphasized moral reform, education, opposition to child marriage and support for widow remarriage and women’s education.

(c) Mahadev Govind Ranade → Indian National Social Conference. Justice M.G. Ranade was a major social reformer, economist and moderate nationalist. He was closely associated with the Prarthana Samaj, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and the Indian National Social Conference, which began meeting in 1887.

(d) Swami Dayanand Saraswati → Arya Samaj. Swami Dayanand founded the Arya Samaj at Bombay in 1875. Its programme stressed a return to the authority of the Vedas, opposition to idolatry and caste discrimination based purely on birth, and support for social and educational reform. Dayanand’s major work was Satyarth Prakash.

The intended correct matching is: Dinbandhu/Deenbandhu → N.M. Lokhande; Mahratta → B.G. Tilak; Indian Social Reformer → K.N. Natarajan; Sudharak → G.G. Agarkar.

Newspapers and journals were among the most important vehicles of social reform, worker mobilization and nationalism during colonial rule. Exams therefore frequently ask newspaper–editor, newspaper–founder and language pairs.

Dinbandhu / Deenbandhu → N.M. Lokhande. Deenbandhu was a Marathi weekly started in 1877 by Krishnarao Bhalekar. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, a pioneering labour leader, later became its editor from 1880. Therefore Lokhande is correctly associated with the paper, but he was not its original founder.

Mahratta → Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The Mahratta was an English-language weekly associated with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and his colleagues. It began publication in 1881. Tilak’s other famous newspaper, Kesari, was published in Marathi.

Indian Social Reformer → K.N. Natarajan. The Indian Social Reformer was an English weekly begun around 1890 and edited by K. Natarajan. It became an important platform for social-reform debates.

Sudharak → Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. G.G. Agarkar started the Marathi periodical Sudharak in 1888. Agarkar was a strong advocate of rationalism, women’s education, widow remarriage and social reform.

The correct answer is (b) Jyotiba Phule. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, popularly known as Jyotiba Phule, founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth-Seekers’ Society) at Pune on 24 September 1873.

Its purpose was to challenge social inequality and Brahmanical domination and to promote the social and educational uplift of marginalized communities, women and peasants.

Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule were pioneers of women’s education. They are associated with one of the earliest modern schools for girls in Pune in 1848.

Phule’s important writings include Gulamgiri (Slavery), published in 1873, and Shetkaryacha Asud, which criticized the exploitation of cultivators.

• Satyashodhak Samaj: 1873, Pune.
• Gulamgiri: 1873.
• Wife: Savitribai Phule.
• Major focus: caste inequality, education, women’s uplift and peasant issues.
• Title “Mahatma”: commonly associated with Phule in later public life.

The correct answer is (c) San Francisco. The Ghadar movement developed among Indian immigrants on the Pacific coast of North America in 1913. Its headquarters was established at Yugantar Ashram in San Francisco, USA.

The organization was initially known as the Hindustan Association of the Pacific Coast. Its first president was Sohan Singh Bhakna, while Lala Har Dayal played a major ideological and organizational role.

The revolutionary newspaper Ghadar began publication in November 1913. Its name eventually became the popular name of the movement and organization itself.

The correct answer is (b) Government of India Act, 1919. The Act implemented the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and introduced dyarchy in the provinces.

Under dyarchy, provincial subjects were divided into two categories: Reserved Subjects and Transferred Subjects.

Reserved subjects, such as important areas of finance, law and order and revenue administration, remained under the Governor and his executive councillors.

Transferred subjects, such as education, public health, local self-government and agriculture, were administered by Indian ministers responsible to the provincial legislature.

The correct answer is (c) Lord Lytton. The Vernacular Press Act was enacted in 1878 during the viceroyalty of Lord Lytton (1876–1880).

The Act sought to control criticism of British colonial policies in Indian-language newspapers. It discriminated particularly against the vernacular press and gave the government wide powers to demand securities and take action against publications regarded as seditious.

Because of its restrictive character, it became popularly known as a kind of “Gagging Act”. It was later repealed in 1882 during the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon.

The correct answer is (c) Harsha Vardhana. Emperor Harshavardhana, ruler of the Pushyabhuti or Vardhana dynasty, ruled much of northern India from approximately 606 to 647 CE.

Three Sanskrit plays are traditionally attributed to Harsha: Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda.

Harsha initially ruled from Thanesar and later made Kannauj a major centre of his empire. His court poet Banabhatta wrote the Harshacharita, an important literary source for Harsha’s reign.

The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) visited India during Harsha’s reign and left valuable information about the period.

The correct matching is: Vishakhadatta → Mudrarakshasa; Subandhu → Vasavadatta; Dandin → Dashakumaracharita; Banabhatta → Harshacharita.

Vishakhadatta → Mudrarakshasa. Mudrarakshasa is a Sanskrit political drama dealing with the political manoeuvres associated with Chanakya, Chandragupta Maurya and Rakshasa. Vishakhadatta is also associated with the fragmentary Devichandraguptam.

Subandhu → Vasavadatta. Vasavadatta is an ornate Sanskrit prose romance written by Subandhu. It is an important example of classical Sanskrit prose literature.

Dandin → Dashakumaracharita. Dandin is traditionally associated with Dashakumaracharita, the “Tale of Ten Princes,” and with the important work on poetics Kavyadarsha.

Banabhatta → Harshacharita. Banabhatta was the court poet of Harshavardhana. His Harshacharita is a biographical account of Harsha and an important source for seventh-century India. Bana is also associated with Kadambari.

The expected answer is (a) Sher Shah Suri. Purana Qila in Delhi is strongly associated with Humayun and Sher Shah Suri.

Humayun began building his new city Dinpanah around 1533. After defeating Humayun and taking Delhi, Sher Shah Suri modified and strengthened the fortifications and developed the site as Shergarh.

One of the most important surviving buildings in the complex is the Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque, built by Sher Shah in 1541.

The expected answer is (c) Hindu Zamindars. More precisely, the nineteenth-century Mappila or Moplah uprisings of Malabar were strongly connected with agrarian grievances of Muslim tenant cultivators against largely Hindu jenmi landlords.

The British colonial land system strengthened the legal rights of jenmi landlords and enabled increased rents, eviction and insecure tenancy. Consequently, Moplah tenant resentment was directed against landlords as well as the colonial structures that supported them.

A series of Moplah outbreaks occurred in Malabar during the nineteenth century. These should be distinguished from the much larger Malabar/Moplah Rebellion of 1921.

• Region: Malabar, present-day Kerala.
• Community: predominantly Muslim Mappila peasants.
• Landlords: often Hindu jenmis, particularly Nair and Namboodiri landlords.
• Major grievances: high rents, eviction, insecure tenancy and landlord exactions.
• Major later rebellion: Malabar Rebellion of 1921.

The historically correct high-yield associations are:

• Dutch → Pulicat
• English → Hugli/Hooghly as an early Bengal factory
• Portuguese → Goa
• French → Chandernagore, not Chinsura

Pulicat became an important Dutch East India Company centre on the Coromandel Coast. The Dutch built Fort Geldria there and Pulicat became an important VOC administrative and commercial base.

The English East India Company established trading activity at Hugli in Bengal before the rise of Calcutta as its principal Bengal centre.

Goa was conquered by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510 from the Bijapur Sultanate and became the centre of Portuguese power in India.

Chandernagore was one of the principal French settlements in Bengal. By contrast, Chinsura was Dutch.

The correct matching is: British India Society → William Adam; Landholders’ Society → Dwarkanath Tagore; Servants of the People Society → Lala Lajpat Rai; Bengal British India Society → George Thompson.

(a) British India Society → William Adam. The British India Society was founded in London in 1839. William Adam, a friend and associate of Raja Rammohan Roy, played a leading role in its formation. It attempted to inform British public opinion about conditions in India and promote reforms.

(b) Landholders’ Society → Dwarkanath Tagore. The Landholders’ Society, also known as the Zamindari Association, was established in 1838. Important founders and associates included Dwarkanath Tagore, Prasanna Kumar Tagore and Radhakanta Deb. It sought to protect the interests of landholders through constitutional methods.

(c) Servants of the People Society → Lala Lajpat Rai. Lala Lajpat Rai founded the Servants of the People Society at Lahore in 1921. It aimed to train workers for national and social service.

(d) Bengal British India Society → George Thompson. The Bengal British India Society was established in 1843, with British abolitionist and political activist George Thompson playing an important role.

In 1851, the Landholders’ Society and the Bengal British India Society merged to form the British Indian Association.