BHIC 134 Solved Guess Paper 2026 for History of India: 1707–1950 (IGNOU BA General, BAG)

Give a detailed account of the British conquest of Bengal from 1757 to 1765.

Background

Between 1757 and 1765, power in Bengal passed step by step from the Nawabs to the British. Bengal's wealth made it a target for the Dutch, French and English. In the early 18th century Bengal goods formed nearly 60 per cent of British imports from Asia, while the Company paid only Rs. 3,000 (£350) a year for its trading privilege, something the provincial rulers deeply resented.

Stages of the transfer of power

1. Siraj-ud-daula (1756): He succeeded Alivardi Khan and faced a hostile court faction of Jagat Seth, Umichand, Raj Ballabh, Rai Durlabh and Mir Jafar. The fortification of Calcutta, misuse of trade privileges and shelter given to Krishna Das provoked conflict.
2. Battle of Plassey (June 1757): Robert Clive arrived from Madras and won through a conspiracy among the Nawab's officials rather than military superiority. Siraj was killed on the orders of Miran, Mir Jafar's son.
3. Mir Jafar: Placed on the throne by Clive, he paid large sums in presents and compensation and became dependent on a Company that had turned kingmaker in Bengal.
4. Mir Kasim: Backed by Vansittart, he shifted the capital from Murshidabad to Monghyr and reorganised his army. Disputes over misuse of the Company's dastak (trade permit) soured relations.
5. Battle of Buxar (1764): The alliance of Mir Kasim, Emperor Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-daula of Awadh was defeated, completing British dominance in eastern India.
6. Grant of Diwani (1765): Clive returned as Governor and secured a firman from Shah Alam granting the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, handing the British control of the revenues.

Conclusion

Plassey weakened the Nawab's position and Buxar sealed it. The Company's economic interests and factional rivalry at court, more than any single ruler's failure, drove the political transformation of Bengal.

Analyse the causes of the Revolt of 1857.

Background

Often called the First War of Independence, the Revolt of 1857 was the first all-India challenge to British supremacy. Its roots lay in the ruthless exploitation of Indians under Company rule, and its causes built up over decades rather than appearing overnight.

Causes

1. Exploitation of the peasantry: The Permanent, Ryotwari and Mahalwari settlements each squeezed cultivators hard, pushing them into the grip of moneylenders.
2. Annexation of states: Dalhousie annexed Satara (1848), Nagpur and Jhansi (1854) and Awadh (1856), and refused Nana Sahib's pension, angering the Rani of Jhansi and the Begums of Awadh.
3. Alien rule: The British kept apart from Indians, treated even upper-class Indians with contempt and were seen as rulers who had come only to take wealth home.
4. Grievances of the sepoys: Drawn from the peasantry, sepoys earned only Rs. 7 to 9, were treated roughly and could not rise above Subedar, while newly arrived Englishmen became their superiors.
5. Threat to religion: Missionary activity, a ban on caste marks and the 1856 Act requiring overseas service convinced sepoys and civilians that their faith was under attack.
6. Immediate cause: Cartridges for the new Enfield rifle, believed to be greased with cow and pig fat, had to be bitten open, enraging Hindu and Muslim sepoys alike.

Mangal Pandey rose at Barrackpore on 29 March 1857. The Meerut garrison revolted on 10 May, marched to Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar Emperor.

Conclusion

Long-standing economic, political, racial and religious grievances supplied the fuel and the greased cartridges lit the spark. Because soldiers and civilians rose together, 1857 became a truly formidable challenge to British rule.

Discuss the major reform movements in 19th-century India.

Nature of the reforms

The reform movements of the 19th century were socio-religious rather than purely religious. They responded to the challenge of colonial rule and rested on two ideas: rationalism, a reasoned critique of social practice, and universalism, a belief in the unity of God.

Major reformers and movements

1. Rammohan Roy: Called the Father of Modern India, he founded the Atmiya Sabha (1814) and the Brahmo Sabha (1828), opposed idol worship and led the campaign against Sati, abolished by Bentinck in 1829.
2. Debendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen: Debendranath founded the Tattvabodhini Sabha (1839); Keshab stressed women's emancipation and universalism within the Brahmo Samaj.
3. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: He devoted his life to widow remarriage. The first legal upper-caste Hindu widow marriage took place in 1856, and about 25 such marriages followed by 1860.
4. Swami Vivekananda: A disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, he condemned caste and superstition and founded the Ramakrishna Mission (1897) for humanitarian work.
5. Arya Samaj: Founded by Dayanand Saraswati in 1875, it became a firm critic of the caste system with wide influence in north India.
6. Muslim and regional reform: Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Aligarh movement reconciled Islam with modern education, while Veeresalingam led reform in the Telugu region.

Significance and limitations

These movements pushed for a more democratic society, fought superstition and encouraged a rational outlook. Their weakness was a narrow base: they stayed largely urban and upper-caste, and many reformers wrongly saw British rule as a blessing.

Conclusion

By attacking Sati, caste, child marriage and the plight of widows, the reformers laid the social foundations of modern India, even though their limited reach and political caution held them back.

Critically examine the growth of communalism leading to the partition of India.

What is communalism?

Communalism is a modern phenomenon, as modern as colonial rule itself. It did not grow out of religious difference or anything inherent in Indian society; it was a product of the political and economic changes of the colonial period.

Genesis and growth

1. Socio-economic factors: British conquest hastened the decline of the Muslim upper classes, who took to English education later than Hindus. The gap between Rammohan Roy and Sayyid Ahmad Khan bred insecurity.
2. British policy: The British did not create communalism, but they used divide and rule to block Indian unity and justify staying on.
3. Weakness of the national movement: The Congress never fully grasped the problem, and Hindu revivalist symbols made its outreach to Muslims harder.
4. Partition of Bengal (1905): Curzon's partition aimed to create a Muslim-majority bloc, and the All India Muslim League was formed in 1906 with official encouragement.
5. Separate electorates (1909): The Morley-Minto Reforms grouped voters by religion and built separatism into the political system.
6. Pacts and reports: The Lucknow Pact (1916) accepted separate electorates; the Nehru Report (1928) alienated Jinnah, who returned to separate electorates in his Fourteen Points.
7. Two-nation theory: At the Lahore session of 1940 Jinnah declared Muslims a separate nation, giving shape to the Pakistan demand, which drew strength from Linlithgow's policies and the Cripps proposals.

Conclusion

Communalism grew from colonial economic dislocation, deliberate British policy and the weaknesses of nationalism. From the partition of Bengal to the two-nation theory, that path ended in the Partition of 1947.

Examine the composition and working of the Constituent Assembly.

Formation

The Constituent Assembly that framed India's Constitution was created under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946, which gave Indians the chance to draft their own constitution through an elected body.

Composition

1. Election method: Members were elected by the provincial assemblies formed under the 1935 Act, through proportional representation by single transferable vote, roughly one seat for every million people.
2. Total strength: The Assembly had 389 seats: 292 for the provinces, 93 for the princely states and 4 for the chief commissioner's provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and British Baluchistan.
3. Representation: Though indirectly elected on a limited franchise, it reflected many shades of opinion across three categories (General, Muslim and Sikh) and included experts such as Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar and B.R. Ambedkar.

Working

4. First session: It met on 9 December 1946. The Muslim League boycotted it, so only 207 of the 296 elected members attended.
5. Objectives Resolution: It declared India a sovereign republic drawing its authority from the people, with safeguards for minorities, ideas later carried into the Preamble.
6. Committees: An Advisory Committee under Sardar Patel handled rights and minorities, while the Drafting Committee chaired by Dr B.R. Ambedkar prepared the text.
7. Consensus and accommodation: Granville Austin describes an oligarchy of four (Nehru, Patel, Prasad and Azad) and two distinctly Indian methods of decision-making: consensus and accommodation.

Conclusion

Created by the Cabinet Mission Plan, the Assembly rose above its limited franchise to represent India's diversity and, through consensus and accommodation, framed a democratic constitution between 1946 and 1949.