Modern History Commissions

Question 1

Peel Commission (1856)

Answer 1

Purpose: Military Affairs. Details: Native army should be composed of different nationalities and castes which have to be mixed across regiments.

Question 2

Kitchener Reforms (1903)

Answer 2

Purpose: Military Affairs. Details: Unified all Presidency armies into one Indian Army.

Question 3

Attribution Commission (1866)

Answer 3

Purpose: Public Services. Details: Drop the terms Covenanted and Uncovenanted.

Question 4

Islington Commission (1912)

Answer 4

Purpose: Public Services. Details: Classify Civil Services into Imperial, Provincial, and Subordinate. No simultaneous exams in India and England.

Question 5

Mountford Reforms (1919)

Answer 5

Purpose: Public Services. Details: Raised the age limit to 23 from 18 (set in 1878 by Lytton).

Question 6

Lee Commission (1924)

Answer 6

Purpose: Public Services. Details: Abolish Statutory Civil Services (set by Lytton).

Question 7

Calcutta Madrasa (1780)

Answer 7

Purpose: Oriental Education. Details: Established for promoting traditional Islamic education.

Question 8

Fort William College (1800)

Answer 8

Purpose: Civil Servants Training. Details: Established to train civil servants in Indian languages and culture.

Question 9

Warren Hastings (1835)

Answer 9

Purpose: English Education. Details: Recommended spending Rs 1 lakh annually on promoting modern education in India.

Question 10

Macaulay Minute on Education Policy (1835)

Answer 10

Purpose: Education. Details: Recommended English as the medium of higher education.

Question 11

Bentinck’s Resolution (1835)

Answer 11

Purpose: European Science and Literature. Details: English should be made the medium of higher education.

Question 12

Charles Wood Despatch (1854)

Answer 12

Purpose: Education. Details: Laid stress on female and vocational education. Secular education in Govt schools and grants to encourage private enterprise.

Question 13

Hunter Commission (1882-1883)

Answer 13

Purpose: Education. Details: Recommended English medium for higher studies and vernaculars at the school level. Hierarchy of vernacular primary schools, Anglo-vernacular schools, and affiliating universities.

Question 14

Sadler University Commission (1917-1919)

Answer 14

Purpose: Education. Details: Recommended separate boards for secondary and intermediate education. Schools course for 12 years as a precondition for a 3-year degree course.

Question 15

Sergeant Plan of Education (1944)

Answer 15

Purpose: Education. Details: Establishment of elementary and high schools, introduction of universal and free compulsory education, and abolition of intermediate courses.

Question 16

Campbell Commission (1866)

Answer 16

Purpose: Famine. Details: Addressed the Orissa Famine of 1866. District officers were made responsible for preventing deaths.

Question 17

Strachey Commission (1880)

Answer 17

Purpose: Famine. Details: Developed a Provisional Famine Code. Recommended irrigation facilities to prevent droughts.

Question 18

Lyall Commission (1896)

Answer 18

Purpose: Famine. Details: Addressed the Famine of 1896-1897. Policy of moral strategy with distribution of advances.

Question 19

Anthony McDonnell Commission (1902)

Answer 19

Purpose: Famine. Details: Addressed the Famine of 1899-1900. Appointed a Relief Commissioner.

Question 20

Plague Commission (1897)

Answer 20

Purpose: Other Commissions. Details: Investigated the plague in Pune and Bombay. Led to the assassination of W.C. Rand by the Chapekar Brothers.

Question 21

Sedition Committee (1919)

Answer 21

Purpose: Other Commissions. Details: Investigated revolutionary activities. Led to the Rowlatt Act, which allowed arrests without trial.

Question 22

William Hunter Commission (1920)

Answer 22

Purpose: Other Commissions. Details: Investigated the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Condemned General Dyer’s actions but could not impose penal action.

Question 23

Whitley Commission (1924)

Answer 23

Purpose: Other Commissions. Details: Investigated the working of the constitution set up in 1921 under the GoI Act, 1919. Checked problems arising out of Dyarchy.

Question 24

Simon Commission (1927)

Answer 24

Purpose: Other Commissions. Details: Investigated constitutional reforms. Indians boycotted it as it had no Indian members. Led to the GoI Act, 1935.

Question 25

Butler Committee (1927)

Answer 25

Purpose: Other Commissions. Details: Examined the relationship between princely states and the British government. Recommended legitimacy of paramountcy.

Question 26

Mayo’s Resolution (1870)

Answer 26

Purpose: Local Self-Government. Details: Provincial governments authorized to levy local taxation. Transfer of certain departments like medical, education, and roads.

Question 27

Ripon’s Resolution (1882)

Answer 27

Purpose: Local Self-Government. Details: Known as the Father of Local Self-Government. Devolution of local affairs through urban and local bodies.

Question 28

Royal Commission on Decentralization (1906)

Answer 28

Purpose: Local Self-Government. Details: Recommended more power to village panchayats and emphasis on subsidiary boards.

Question 29

W.C. Rand Assassination (1897)

Answer 29

Purpose: Revolutionary Terrorism. Details: Killed by Chapekar Brothers, inspired by revolutionary ideals.

Question 30

Kingsford Assassination Attempt (1908)

Answer 30

Purpose: Revolutionary Terrorism. Details: Unsuccessful attempt by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki.

Question 31

Kakori Conspiracy (1925)

Answer 31

Purpose: Revolutionary Terrorism. Details: Involved members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Carried out a train dacoity in Kakori.

Question 32

Saunders' Assassination (1928)

Answer 32

Purpose: Revolutionary Terrorism. Details: Carried out by Bhagat Singh and Rajguru to avenge Lala Lajpat Rai's death.

Question 33

Central Legislative Assembly Bombing (1929)

Answer 33

Purpose: Revolutionary Terrorism. Details: Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs to protest against repressive laws.

Question 34

Indian National Congress (1885)

Answer 34

Purpose: Modern Political Organizations. Details: Founded by A.O. Hume, W.C. Banerjee, and others to represent Indian interests.

Question 35

All India Trade Union Congress (1920)

Answer 35

Purpose: Trade Unions. Details: Founded by Lala Lajpat Rai to address labor issues.

Question 36

Abolition of Sati (1829)

Answer 36

Purpose: Social Reforms. Details: By William Bentinck, influenced by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Outlawed the practice of Sati.

Question 37

Age of Consent Bill (1891)

Answer 37

Purpose: Social Reforms. Details: Increased the marriage age of girls from 10 to 12.

Question 38

All India Depressed Classes Association (1920)

Answer 38

Purpose: Depressed Class Movement. Details: Founded by M.C. Rajah to uplift the depressed classes.

Question 39

Harijan Sevak Sangh (1932)

Answer 39

Purpose: Depressed Class Movement. Details: Founded by Thakkar Bapa to work for the upliftment of Harijans (untouchables).

Question 40

Young Women's Christian Association (1875)

Answer 40

Purpose: Women's Rights. Details: First women's association in India, became national in 1896.

Question 41

All India Women’s Conference (1927)

Answer 41

Purpose: Women's Rights. Details: Focused on women's education, franchise, and social reforms through petitions and appeals.