This free East India Company MCQ test is the twelfth set in our 72nd BPSC practice series. Its 25 questions follow NCERT Class 7 (eighteenth-century political formations) and Class 8 (From Trade to Territory): the break-up of the Mughal empire, Jaipur, the Sikh misls and the Marathas, then the Company’s charter, its factories on the Hugli, the quarrels with the Bengal nawabs, Plassey, puppet nawabs and the diwani of 1765. Each question shows the correct answer and an explanation as soon as you choose an option, and you can work out your score with BPSC-style negative marking at the end. For more practice, see our free BPSC mock test series.
What this test covers: Shahjahanabad, Sawai Jai Singh, jathas and misls, kunbi soldiers, the Dig palace, James Rennel’s map, James Mill’s periodisation, the 1600 charter, Portuguese Goa, factors and factories, zamindari of Kalikata, Murshid Quli’s restrictions, the 1733 complaint, Clive at Plassey, free trade and the 24 Parganas, Mir Jafar’s payments, the diwani, bullion outflow and the nabobs.
18th-Century India & Rise of the East India Company
25 questions · NCERT Class 7 & 8 · BPSC prelims pattern
How this test works
Click the option you think is right. It locks, turns green if correct or red if not, and the explanation opens underneath. Your score updates in the bar at the top as you go, and Calculate final score at the bottom gives the full breakdown. Choose (E) Not attempted when you would only be guessing, exactly as you would bubble E on the BPSC OMR sheet.
+1 mark — Correct answer
−1/3 mark — Wrong answer
0 — no penalty — (E) Not attempted, the fifth bubble on every question
−1/3 mark — Row left completely blank in the real exam
Eighteenth-century India8 questions
1. Which of the following best describes the major political transformation in the Indian subcontinent between the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 and the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761?
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Answer: (D) India underwent dramatic territorial and political fragmentation within a relatively short span of time, paving the way for foreign colonial powers.
Between Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 and Panipat in 1761 the Mughal empire broke into regional states in a short span, which opened the way for the East India Company.
2. During the raids of Ahmad Shah Abdali and Nadir Shah, the New City of Shahjahanabad was turned into rubble. By what name is this historic city known at present?
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Answer: (A) Delhi
Shahjahanabad, the new city built by Shah Jahan and plundered by Nadir Shah and Abdali, is today’s Old Delhi.
3. Which ruler founded his new capital at Jaipur and was given the subadari of Agra in 1722?
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Answer: (B) Sawai Raja Jai Singh
Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber founded Jaipur and was made subadar of Agra in 1722.
4. Read the assertion and reasoning carefully and select the correct option:
Assertion (A): In the eighteenth century, Sikh bands organised themselves into jathas and later into misls to consolidate their power across the Punjab.
Reason (R): Their well-knit organisation enabled them to successfully resist invasions by Ahmad Shah Abdali and seize rich territories between the Indus and the Jamuna.
Options:
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Answer: (A) Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
The Sikh jathas and later misls formed a well-knit organisation (the dal khalsa) that resisted Abdali and took territory between the Indus and the Jamuna. Both are true and R explains A.
5. Which social groups provided the backbone of the Maratha army through their mobility and specialised knowledge of the local terrain during the expansion of the Maratha kingdom in the 17th and 18th centuries?
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Answer: (A) Kunbi pastoralists
Highly mobile peasant-pastoralists called kunbis provided the backbone of the Maratha army, as the Class 7 NCERT notes.
6. The architecture of the eighteenth-century palace complex at Dig built by the Jats prominently features which architectural element on its assembly hall roof?
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Answer: (B) A Bangla dome
The Jat palace at Dig, near Bharatpur, has a bangla dome on its assembly hall, a form borrowed from Bengal’s curved thatched roofs via Mughal architecture.
7. In which year was the first map of Hindustan produced by James Rennel published?
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Answer: (C) 1782
James Rennel’s first map of Hindustan was produced in 1782 as part of the British effort to survey the territories they ruled.
8. According to James Mill’s 1817 work A History of British India, into how many periods did he divide Indian history?
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Answer: (D) Hindu, Muslim, and British
James Mill divided Indian history into Hindu, Muslim and British periods, a scheme later historians criticised for equating the religion of rulers with whole ages.
Rise of the East India Company17 questions
9. In which year did the East India Company acquire a charter from the ruler of England, Queen Elizabeth I?
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Answer: (B) 1600
The East India Company received its charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, giving it the sole right to trade with the East.
10. What was the primary economic advantage of a royal charter for trading companies like the East India Company during the mercantilist era?
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Answer: (B) It eliminated domestic competition from other English trading groups.
The charter meant no other English trading group could compete with the Company, so it could buy cheap and sell at high prices in Europe.
11. Where had the Portuguese established their primary base in western coastal India?
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Answer: (C) Goa
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach India by sea and made Goa their base on the western coast after 1510.
12. Why did the East India Company find it increasingly difficult to separate trade from politics after establishing factories and fortified settlements?
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Answer: (B) Fortifying settlements to protect trade led to intense conflicts with local rulers.
Fortifying factories to protect trade brought the Company into conflict with local rulers, which drew it steadily into politics. The NCERT makes this the key link between trade and conflict.
13. What term was used to describe the Company’s traders who operated from the first English factory on the banks of the river Hugli?
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Answer: (B) Factors
The Company’s traders were known as factors, and their warehouse-cum-office was the factory, first set up on the Hugli in 1651.
14. In which year did the East India Company begin building a fort around the settlement near the river Hugli?
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Answer: (C) 1696
The Company began building a fort around its settlement on the Hugli in 1696, two years before it gained zamindari rights over three villages there.
15. How did the Company acquire zamindari rights over three villages, including Kalikata, which later grew into Kolkata?
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Answer: (C) By bribing Mughal officials
The Company bribed Mughal officials into giving it zamindari rights over Sutanuti, Govindapur and Kalikata, which grew into Calcutta.
16. How did the Bengal Nawabs systematically restrict the growing power and commercial privileges of the East India Company to assert their political autonomy following the death of Aurangzeb?
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Answer: (A) They imposed heavy taxes, stopped the Company from minting coins, and blocked fort expansions.
After Aurangzeb’s death the Bengal nawabs refused concessions, demanded large payments for trading rights, stopped the Company from minting coins and blocked its fort expansion.
17. In 1733, the Nawab of Bengal said this about the English traders: “…they built a strong fort, surrounded it with a ditch… and mounted a great number of guns upon the walls.” According to this statement, what specific illegal or aggressive actions did the Nawab accuse them of committing after establishing their presence?
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Answer: (C) Building an armed fort, collecting revenue, and carrying people into slavery
In 1733 the nawab complained that the English had built a strong fort, dug a ditch, mounted guns, deceived the government on duties, collected revenue and carried people into slavery.
18. Which British commander led the East India Company forces to victory at the Battle of Plassey?
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Answer: (C) Robert Clive
Robert Clive led the Company’s forces at Plassey in June 1757, where Mir Jafar’s troops stood by and Siraj-ud-daulah was defeated.
19. Consider the following statements regarding the aftermath of the Battle of Plassey:
(1) The British received the right to free trade in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
(2) The East India Company obtained the zamindari of the 24 Parganas district near Calcutta.
(2) The East India Company obtained the zamindari of the 24 Parganas district near Calcutta.
Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?
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Answer: (D) Neither 1 nor 2
After Plassey the Company got free trade rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and the zamindari of the 24 Parganas, so both statements are correct and neither is incorrect.
20. Consider the assertion and reason given below and choose the correct option:
Assertion (A): The English East India Company deliberately avoided direct military confrontation in the initial months of the conflict and instead focused on securing the neutrality of military commanders such as Mir Jafar through financial promises.
Reason (R): Robert Clive recognised that defeating Siraj-ud-daulah’s numerically superior forces purely through standard battlefield tactics was strategically unfeasible without subverting the Nawab’s internal political hierarchy.
Options:
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Answer: (A) Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Clive’s strategy before Plassey was to win over commanders like Mir Jafar rather than risk open battle with a much larger force. Both statements are true and R explains A.
21. What major declaration did Robert Clive make after realising the limitations of working with puppet nawabs?
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Answer: (B) “We must indeed become nawabs ourselves.”
After the failure of puppet nawabs, Clive declared that the Company must become nawab itself, which it effectively did by taking the diwani in 1765.
22. How much monthly payment was Mir Jafar required to pay the Company to finance its wars and other expenses?
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Answer: (B) Rs. 500,000 every month
Mir Jafar was required to pay the Company Rs 5,00,000 every month, as the NCERT records, in addition to the rewards promised at Plassey.
23. In which year did the Mughal emperor appoint the Company as the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal?
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Answer: (C) 1765
In 1765 the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II appointed the Company as diwan of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, giving it the right to collect revenue.
24. Why did Britain experience an outflow of gold and silver to India during the early eighteenth century?
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Answer: (A) Britain had no goods to sell in India.
Britain had few goods to sell in India, so it had to pay for Indian textiles and other purchases in gold and silver until the diwani revenues changed that.
25. What term was used to describe Company officials who managed to return to Britain with great wealth and flaunt their newly acquired power and riches?
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Answer: (A) Nabobs
Company officials who returned to Britain with Indian fortunes and flaunted them were mocked as nabobs, an anglicised form of nawab.
Your result
Automatic scoring needs JavaScript. Until it runs, tally by hand: score = correct − (wrong ÷ 3).
Finished, or stopping here? This counts every question you have answered so far.
Show the full answer key
1 D · 2 A · 3 B · 4 A · 5 A · 6 B · 7 C · 8 D · 9 B · 10 B · 11 C · 12 B · 13 B · 14 C · 15 C · 16 A · 17 C · 18 C · 19 D · 20 A · 21 B · 22 B · 23 C · 24 A · 25 A
Scoring: +1 correct, −1/3 wrong, 0 for (E) Not attempted, −1/3 for a row left blank in the real exam.
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