RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 2 From Trade to Territory: The Company Establishes Power

Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 2 From Trade to Territory: The Company Establishes Power Important Questions and Answers.

RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 2 From Trade to Territory: The Company Establishes Power 

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1. 
The last powerful Mughal emperor of India was:
(a) Bahadur Shah Zafar
(b) Mohammad Shah
(c) Aurangzeb
(d) Shah Jahan 
Answer:
(c) Aurangzeb

Question 2. 
The first western power to come to India was:
(a) British 
(b) Portuguese
(c) Dutch 
(d) French 
Answer:
(b) Pertuguese

Question 3. 
The Battle of Buxar was fought in:
(a) 1757 
(b) 1761
(c) 1764 
(d) 1765
Answer: 
(c) 1764

Question 4. 
Tipu Sultan died in:
(a) 1799 
(b) 1801
(c) 1792 
(d) 1794
Answer:
(a) 1799 

Question 5. 
The Governor-General who was the proponent of the Doctrine of Lapse:
(a) Warren Hastings 
(b) Lord Hastings 
(c) Lord Wellesley 
(d) Lord Dalhousie 
Answer:
(d) Lord Dalhousie

Question 6. 
In 1856, the company took which state under its control by accusing it of ‘misgovernment’:
(a) Awadh 
(b) Jhansi
(c) Satara 
(d) Punjab
Answer: 
(a) Awadh

Question 7. 
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the king of:
(a) Awadh 
(b) Bengal
(c) Satara
(d) Punjab 
Answer:
(d) Punjab 

Question 8. 
The first English factory started on the bank of which river?
(a) Hugh 
(b) Narmada
(c) Ghaggar 
(d) Kosi
Answer: 
(a) Hugh 

Question 9. 
Who is known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’?
(a) Haidar Ali 
(b) Tipu Sultan
(c) Bhahadurshah Zafar 
(d) Shivaji 
Answer:
(b) Tipu Sultan

Question 10. 
Who translated the compilation of Indian laws into English?
(a) Lord Dalhousie 
(b) Lord Hastings 
(c) Robert Clive 
(d) N.B. Halhead 
Answer:
(d) N.B. Hillhead 

Fill in the blanks

Question 1. 
By the second half of the eighteenth century,................ emerge as a new power on the political horizon.
Answer:
British 

Question 2. 
The one big reason for the defeat of nawab Sirajuddaulah was that the forces led by ................ never fought the battle.
Answer:
Mir Jafar

Question 3. 
Robert Clive committed suicide in .................
Answer:
 1774

Question 4. 
In 1849, the British also acquired .................
Answer:
Punjab

Question 5. 
In the Indian district, ................ is the highest position.
Answer:
Collector

Question 6. 
Warren Hastings made many ................changes.
Answer:
administrative

State True or False

Question 1.
Aurangzeb was the last powerful emperor of the Mughal empire.
Answer:
True

Question 2. 
The Portuguese first made their presence known in India from Europe
Answer:
True 

Question 3. 
Nawab of Bengal Sirajuddaulah provided many concessions to the company.
Answer:
False 

Question 4. 
Tipu Sultan was the nawab of Bengal.
Answer:
False 

Question 5. 
A new policy of ‘Supremacy’ was launched under the leadership of Lord Hastings.
Answer:
True 

Question 6. 
The East India Company grew from a colonial power to a trading company.
Answer:
False.

Match Correctly

(a)	(b)
Farman	Portuguese
Vasco da Gama	A judge
Lord Dalhousie	A royal order
Qazi	Doctrine of Lapse
Wodeyar dynasty	Mysore

Answer:

(a)	(b)
Farman	A royal order
Vasco da Gama	Portuguese
Lord Dalhousie	Doctrine of Lapse
Qazi	A judge
Wodeyar dynasty	Mysore

Very Short Answer Type Questions
 
Question 1. 
What was the meaning of the charter received by the East India Company?
Answer: 
Charter means that no other English trading companies could not compete with the East India Company in the East.

Question 2.
What does Mercantile mean?
Answer:
A business enterprise that makes profit primarily through trade, buying goods cheap and selling them at higher prices.

Question 3. 
Who discovered the sea route to India and when?
Answer: 
Vasco-da-Gama, a Portuguese explorer, discovered the sea route to India in 1498.

Question 4. 
Where was the Portuguese base in India? 
Answer: 
In India, the Portuguese had their base in Goa.

Question 5. 
Which route did the British come to India? 
Answer: 
The British ship sailed down the west coast of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope, and crossed the Indian ocean to reach India.

Question 6. 
Name the two foreign powers who established trade relations with India, besides the British and the Portuguese.
Answer: 
Dutch and French.

Question 7. 
What was the main merchandise for European companies?
Answer: 
Silk and cotton clothes, black pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, etc.

Question 8. 
When and where was the first English factory established?
Answer: 
The first English factory was set up on the banks of the river Hugli in 1651.

Question 9. 
By what name were the company’s traders know when the first English factory was established in India.
Answer: 
The company’s traders were then known as ‘factors’.

Question 10. 
Which Mughal ruler gave the company the right to do business without taxing the company?
Answer: 
Aurangzeb by his Farman had granted the company the right to trade duty-free.

Question 11. 
Name the nawabs of Bengal who refused to give concessions to the British?
Answer: 

1. Murshid Quli Khan
2. Alivardi Khan
3. Sirajuddaulah.

Question 12. 
Between whom the battle of Plassey was fought.
Answer: 
The battle of Plassey has been fought between nawab Sirajuddaulah of Bengal and the East India Company.

Question 13. 
Name the commander who betrayed Sirajuddaulah in the Battle of Plassey.
Answer: 
Mir Jafar.

Question 14. 
Which nawab of Bengal was defeated in the Battle of Buxar?
Answer: 
Mir Qasim.

Question 15. 
Who and when appointed the company as the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal? 
Answer: 
In 1765 the Mughal emperor appointed the company as the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal.

Question 16. 
Why was Robert Clive questioned by the British Parliament?
Answer: 
Because Robert Clive was accused of corruption and illegal money collection during his service in India.

Question 17. 
What was the role of the company-appointed Resident in the Indian princely states? 
Answer: 
Through the Residents, the company officials can interfere in the internal affairs of the Indian states.

Question 18. 
Name any two princely states that adopt a subsidiary alliance.
Answer: 
Awadh and Hyderabad.

Question 19. 
Which foreign power-assisted Tipu in modernizing the army?
Answer: 
The French assisted the Tipu in modernizing the army.

Question 20. 
In which war was Tipu Sultan killed and when?
Answer: 
Tipu died defending his capital Seringapatam on 4 May 1799.

Question 21. 
Which, war took place in 1761, and who was defeated?
Answer: 
The third Battle of Panipat took place in 1761 and Marathas were defeated.

Question 22. 
Name any four Maratha dynasties.
Answer: 
Sindhia, Holkar, Gaikwad and Bhonsle. 

Question 23. 
What is the policy of ‘paramountcy’? 
Answer: 
According to this policy, die authority of the company was supreme or paramount. Hence, its power was greater than that of Indian states. 

Question 24. 
Who was Channamma?
Answer: 
Channamma was the queen of Chittoor in Karnataka.

Question 25. 
Name the states that were included in the British territory due to the Doctrine of Lapse. 
Answer: Satara, Sambalpur, Udaipur. Nagpur and Jhansi.

Question 26. 
How many presidencies are there in British India? Name them.
Answer: 
There were three presidencies: Bengal, Madras, and Bombay.

Question 27. 
Which new technique helped the British to emerge as a territorial colonial power?
Answer: 
Steam technology.

Question 28. 
What do you understand by Mufti? 
Answer: A jurist of the Muslim community responsible for expounding the law that the qazi would administer.

Question 29. 
What was the main function of the collector?
Answer: 
The main job of the collector was to collect revenue and taxes and maintain law and order in his district with the help of judges, police officers, and micro gas.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. 
Why was the Mughal empire weakened?
Answer: 
In 1707, the powerful Mughal ruler Aurangzeb died. After his death, many Mughal governors (subadars) and big zamindars began arresting their authority' and establishing regional kingdoms. As powerful regional kingdoms emerged in various parts of India, the Mughal empire weakened.

Question 2. 
What benefits did the East India Company get from the state charter?
Answer: 

1. This charter gave the company the sole right to trade with the East.
2. The East India Company could venture across the oceans and explore new areas.
3. The company can look for new lands from which it could buy goods at a cheap price, and carry them back to Europe to sell at a higher price.
4. The company did not have to fear competition from other English trading companies.

Question 3. 
Why did the European companies fight among themselves?
Answer: 

1. All the companies were interested in buying the same thing. Therefore, in business, they were in competition with each other.
2. The only way the trading European companies could flourish was by eliminating rival competitors.
3. The urge to secure markets, therefore, led to fierce battles between the trading companies. 

Question 4. 
Why the officials of the company were called the ‘nabobs’ in Britain?
Answer: 

1. When the officials of the company return back to Britain after earning enough in India. Then they managed to live flashy lives and flaunted their richness.
2. They were often seen as upstarts and social climbers in British society and were called ‘nabobs’-an an anglicized version of the Indian word nawab. They were ridiculed or made fun of in plays and cartoons.

Question 5. 
In 1801, why Awadh was forced to give half of his territory to the company? 
Answer: 
Awadh kingdom has a subsidiary alliance with the company. According to this alliance, the kingdoms were protected by the company, but the kingdom had to pay for the ‘subsidiary forces’ that the company was supposed to maintain for the purpose of this protection. The Nawab of Awadh failed to make the payment for the 'subsidiary forces’, therefore, in 1801, Awadh was forced to give half of his territory’ to the company as a penalty.

Question 6.
Why did the company appoint Residents in the Indian princely states? 
Answer:
After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the company appointed Residents in Indian states. They were political or commercial agents. Through the Residents, the company officials began interfering in the internal affairs of Indian states. They tried to decide who was to be the successor, to the throne, and who was to be appointed to administrative posts.

Question 7. 
Describe the Anglo-Maratha war. 
Answer: 

1. The first Anglo-Maratha war ended in 1782 with the treaty of Sabai, there was no clear victor.
2. The second Anglo-Maratha war was fought on different fronts, resulting in the British gaining Orissa and the territories north of the Yamuna river including Agra and Delhi.
3. The third Anglo-Maratha war of 1817-19 crushed Maratha power. The Peshwas were removed and sent away to Bithur near Kanpur with a pension.

Question 8. 
Why did the British want to secure the north-western border? What did they do for it?
Answer: 

1. In late 1830 the East India Company became worried about Russia. It imagined that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the northwest.
2. Driven by this fear, the British now wanted to secure their control over the northwest. They fought a war with Afghanistan, Sindh, and Punjab.
3. The company eventually captured Sindh. It established its indirect rule over Afghanistan and took Punjab in 1849.

Question 9.
The District Magistrate’s office emerged as a new center of power in the British administrative system. Discuss.
Answer: 

1. The district was made the new administrative unit. The charge of its administrative head was assigned to the collector.
2. The main job of the collector was to collect revenue and taxes to maintain law and order in the district.
3. To fulfill his duties, the collector used to take the help of judges, police officers, and gas.
4. His office collectorate became the new center of power and patronage that steadily replaced previous holders of authority.

Question 10. 
How did European companies fight among themselves in the race to capture the market?
Answer: 
In the urge to secure markets, European companies :

1. Whenever got a chance, one company would sink the ship of another company.
2. Used to block each other’s route.
3. Prevented rival ships from moving with supplies of goods.
4. Trade was carried out with arms and trading posts were protected through fortification.

Question 11. 
What was the limit of the royal document (charter)? What were the results?
Answer:
The royal charter had a limitation in that it could not prevent other European powers from entering the Eastern markets. This has the following results :

1. The Portuguese had already established their presence on the western coast of India and had their base in Goa.
2. By the early seventeenth century, the Dutch too were exploring the possibilities of trade in the Indian ocean.
3. Soon the French traders arrived on the scene.

 
Long Answer Type Questions
 
Question 1. 
How did East India Company start a business in Bengal? How did Aurangzeb’s Farman harm the Bengals’ revenue?
Answer: 
The development of East India Company’s business in Bengal was as follows :
1. The first English factory was set up on the bank of the river Hugli in 1651. This was the base from which the Company’s traders, known at that time as ‘factors’, operated.

2. The factory had a warehouse where goods for export were stored, and it had offices where company officials sat.

3. As trade expanded, the Company persuaded merchants and traders to come and settle near the factory.

4. By 1696 it began building a fort around the settlement.

5. Two years later it bribed Mughal officials into giving the company zamindari rights over three villages. One of these was Kalikata, which later grew into the city of Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is known today.

6. It also persuaded the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to issue a Farman granting the Company the right to trade duty-free.
The harm caused to Bengal’s revenue due to Aurangzeb’s Farman Aurangzeb’s firman had granted only the Company the right to trade duty-free. But officials of the company, who were carrying on private trade on the side, were expected to pay duty. This -they refused to pay, causing an enormous loss of revenue for Bengal.

Q, 2. Explain in detail the Battle of Plassey. 
Answer: 
Reason for the battle of Plassey

1. In 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the nawab of Bengal.
2. The Company was worried about his power and keened on a puppet ruler who would willingly give trade concessions and other privileges.
3. So it tried, though without success, to help one of Sirajuddaulah’s rivals become the nawab.
4. An infuriated Sirajuddaulah asked the Company to stop meddling in the political affairs of his dominion, stop fortification, and pay the revenues.

Battle of Plassey:

1. After negotiations failed, the Nawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar, captured the Company officials, locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen, and blockaded the English ship.
2. Then he marched to Calcutta to establish control over the Company’s fort there.
3. On hearing the news of the fall of Calcutta, Company officials in Madras sent forces under the command of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets.
4. Prolonged negotiations with the Nawab followed.
5. Finally, in 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey.
6. After the war, Sirajuddaulah was killed and Mir Jafar was made the Nawab of Bengal.
7. It was the first major victory the Company won in India.

Question 3. 
Explain the claim of ‘paramountcy’ of the English company in India.
Answer: 
The claim of paramountcy:
1. From the early nineteenth century the Company pursued an aggressive policy of territorial expansion. Under Lord Hastings (Governor-General from 1813 to 1823) a new policy of “paramountcy” was initiated. 

2. The company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme, hence its power was greater than that of Indian states. In order to protect its interests, it was justified in annexing or threatening to annex any Indian kingdom. This view continued to guide later British policies as well. 

3. This process, however, did not go unchallenged. For example, when the British tried to annex the small state of Kitoor (in Karnataka today), Rani Channamma took to arms and led an anti-British resistance movement. She was arrested in 1824 and died in prison in 1829. But Rayanna, a poor chowkidar of Sangoli in Kitoor, carried on the resistance. With popular support, he destroyed many British camps and records. He was caught and hanged by the British in 1830.

4. In the late 1830s the East India Company became worried about Russia. It imagined that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the northwest. Driven by this fear, the British now wanted to secure their control over the northwest.

5. They fought a prolonged war with Afghanistan between 1838 and 1842 and established indirect Company rule there, Sind was taken over in 1843. Next in line was Punjab. But the presence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh held back the Company. After his death in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought with the Sikh kingdom. Ultimately, in 1849, Punjab was annexed.

Question 4. 
What was the principle of the Company’s Doctrine of Lapse? What did the company argue for the merger of Awadh?
Answer:
Principle of Doctrine of Lapse:
1. The final wave of annexations occurred under Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. He devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse. The doctrine declared that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would ‘lapse’, that is, become part of Company territory.

2. One kingdom after another was annexed simply by applying this doctrine: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850), Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853), and Jhansi (1854). Merging of Awadh-In 1856, the Company also took over Awadh. This time the British had an added argument-they said they were “obliged by duty” to take over Awadh in order to free the people from the “misgovernment” of the Nawab. Thus, they removed the Nawab from the throne and took over Awadh.

Question 5. 
Comment on the improvements made in the sphere of justice by Warren Hastings. 
Answer: 
Warren Hastings made the following changes in the area of Indian justice:

1. Each district has two courts a criminal court (faujDari Adalat) and a civil court (Diwani Adalat).
2. European district collectors presided over civil courts and for them, Maulvis and Hindu pandits interpreted Indian laws.
3. The criminal courts were under the supervision of the collectors. Although it was under a qazi and a mufti.
4. Hastings asked to translate the Hindu and Muslim laws and compile a code of Hindu and Muslim laws.
5. Under the Regulation Act, a new supreme court was established in Calcutta.
6. A court of appeal or the Sadar Nizamat Adalat was also set up at Calcutta.