In this guide
Modern Indian history is where CDS GK is most predictable. The same dozen governors-general, the same three land revenue systems and the same list of Acts come back in new combinations. The trap is chronology: options put a reform under the wrong governor-general, or an Act ten years off. Learn this period as a timeline and a set of pairs, and most questions become quick.
The Europeans arrive
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut |
| 1510 | Portuguese capture Goa under Albuquerque |
| 1600 | English East India Company receives its charter from Elizabeth I |
| 1602 | Dutch East India Company (VOC) formed |
| 1613 | English factory at Surat, with Mughal permission |
| 1664 | French East India Company formed |
The English and French fought three Carnatic Wars (1746–1763). The English victory at Wandiwash (1760) ended French ambitions; the French kept only small enclaves such as Pondicherry.
From traders to rulers
- Plassey (1757): Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, helped by Mir Jafar's betrayal.
- Buxar (1764): the Company defeated the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daulah of Awadh and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II.
- Treaty of Allahabad (1765): the Company received the Diwani (revenue rights) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Clive's "dual government" followed.
The Company then fought its way across India.
| Wars | Dates | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Anglo-Mysore (four) | 1767–1799 | Tipu Sultan died defending Srirangapatna in 1799 |
| Anglo-Maratha (three) | 1775–1818 | Treaty of Salbai (1782); Treaty of Bassein (1802); Maratha power ended in 1818 |
| Anglo-Sikh (two) | 1845–1849 | Punjab annexed in 1849 |
Governors-general: who did what
| Governor-General | Remember for |
|---|---|
| Warren Hastings (1772–85) | First Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act; Asiatic Society founded by William Jones (1784) |
| Lord Cornwallis (1786–93) | Permanent Settlement (1793); organised the civil services and district administration |
| Lord Wellesley (1798–1805) | Subsidiary Alliance; Fourth Anglo-Mysore War; Fort William College |
| Lord Hastings (1813–23) | Third Anglo-Maratha War; campaign against the Pindaris |
| Lord William Bentinck (1828–35) | Abolition of sati (1829); suppression of thuggee; English education (1835); first Governor-General of India under the Charter Act of 1833 |
| Lord Dalhousie (1848–56) | Doctrine of Lapse; annexed Punjab and Awadh; first railway (1853); telegraph; Wood's Despatch (1854) |
| Lord Canning (1856–62) | Widow Remarriage Act (1856); universities at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras (1857); Revolt of 1857; first Viceroy (1858) |
| Lord Lytton (1876–80) | Vernacular Press Act (1878); Arms Act (1878); Delhi Durbar (1877) |
| Lord Ripon (1880–84) | Local self-government resolution (1882); repealed the Vernacular Press Act; Hunter Commission on education; Ilbert Bill |
| Lord Dufferin (1884–88) | Indian National Congress founded (1885) |
| Lord Curzon (1899–1905) | Indian Universities Act (1904); Partition of Bengal (1905) |
| Lord Minto II (1905–10) | Morley–Minto Reforms (1909) |
| Lord Hardinge II (1910–16) | Partition of Bengal annulled and capital shift to Delhi announced (1911) |
Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. Awadh (1856) was annexed on grounds of misgovernance, not lapse. That distinction is a regular statement question.
Land revenue systems
| System | Where | Associated with | Who paid revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Settlement (zamindari) | Bengal, Bihar, Orissa | Cornwallis, 1793 | Zamindars, at a fixed amount for ever |
| Ryotwari | Madras and Bombay presidencies | Thomas Munro, Alexander Read | Individual cultivators (ryots) directly |
| Mahalwari | North-Western Provinces, Punjab | Holt Mackenzie (1822) | The village or estate (mahal) as a unit |
The Revolt of 1857
The immediate trigger was the Enfield rifle cartridge, rumoured to be greased with cow and pig fat. Mangal Pandey attacked officers at Barrackpore on 29 March 1857. The revolt proper began at Meerut on 10 May 1857, and the sepoys marched to Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar their leader.
| Centre | Leader |
|---|---|
| Delhi | Bahadur Shah Zafar; General Bakht Khan |
| Kanpur | Nana Saheb; Tantia Tope |
| Lucknow | Begum Hazrat Mahal |
| Jhansi | Rani Lakshmibai |
| Arrah (Bihar) | Kunwar Singh |
| Bareilly | Khan Bahadur Khan |
The Government of India Act, 1858 ended Company rule. The Crown took over, a Secretary of State for India was created, and the Governor-General also became the Viceroy. Queen Victoria's Proclamation (November 1858) promised no further annexations.
Constitutional Acts in one table
| Act | Key change |
|---|---|
| Regulating Act, 1773 | Governor-General of Bengal; Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774) |
| Pitt's India Act, 1784 | Board of Control in London |
| Charter Act, 1813 | Ended the Company's trade monopoly in India (not tea or China trade); money for education |
| Charter Act, 1833 | Governor-General of India; Company's trading role ended |
| Charter Act, 1853 | Open competition for the civil services |
| Government of India Act, 1858 | Crown rule |
| Indian Councils Acts, 1861 and 1892 | Indians nominated to councils; limited indirect election (1892) |
| Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley–Minto) | Separate electorates for Muslims |
| Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu–Chelmsford) | Dyarchy in the provinces; bicameral central legislature |
| Government of India Act, 1935 | Provincial autonomy; proposed federation; dyarchy at the centre (never implemented) |
Social and religious reform
| Reformer | Organisation or work | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Raja Ram Mohan Roy | Brahmo Sabha (later Brahmo Samaj); campaign against sati | 1828 |
| Henry Derozio | Young Bengal movement | 1820s–30s |
| Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar | Widow remarriage; girls' schools | 1850s |
| Atmaram Pandurang, M. G. Ranade | Prarthana Samaj, Bombay | 1867 |
| Jyotirao Phule | Satyashodhak Samaj; Gulamgiri | 1873 |
| Swami Dayanand Saraswati | Arya Samaj; Satyarth Prakash | 1875 |
| Madame Blavatsky, Col. Olcott | Theosophical Society (New York; later Adyar) | 1875 |
| Sir Syed Ahmad Khan | Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, Aligarh | 1875 |
| Swami Vivekananda | Ramakrishna Mission | 1897 |
| Sree Narayana Guru | SNDP Yogam, Kerala | 1903 |
Practice MCQs
- The Treaty of Allahabad (1765) gave the Company (a) Bengal's nawabship (b) the right to trade duty-free (c) control of Awadh (d) the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
- The Subsidiary Alliance was devised by (a) Wellesley (b) Cornwallis (c) Dalhousie (d) Warren Hastings
- The Ryotwari system was associated with (a) Holt Mackenzie (b) Thomas Munro (c) Cornwallis (d) Bentinck
- Awadh was annexed in 1856 (a) under the Doctrine of Lapse (b) by the Treaty of Salbai (c) after the Revolt (d) on grounds of misgovernance
- The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act was passed under (a) Bentinck (b) Dalhousie (c) Canning (d) Ripon
- Who is associated with the resolution on local self-government (1882)? (a) Ripon (b) Lytton (c) Curzon (d) Dufferin
- Dyarchy in the provinces was introduced by the (a) Indian Councils Act, 1909 (b) Government of India Act, 1919 (c) Government of India Act, 1935 (d) Charter Act, 1833
- Begum Hazrat Mahal led the revolt of 1857 at (a) Kanpur (b) Jhansi (c) Arrah (d) Lucknow
- Which Act ended the East India Company's trade monopoly in India? (a) Regulating Act (b) Pitt's India Act (c) Charter Act, 1813 (d) Charter Act, 1853
- The Arya Samaj was founded in (a) 1828 (b) 1867 (c) 1875 (d) 1897
Answers:
- (d) The Diwani gave the Company legal revenue rights.
- (a) Wellesley used it to bring Indian states under British control.
- (b) Munro, in the Madras Presidency.
- (d) Awadh had a ruler; the charge was misgovernance.
- (c) July 1856, under Canning.
- (a) Ripon is called the father of local self-government in India.
- (b) The 1919 Act; the 1935 Act proposed dyarchy at the centre.
- (d) Lucknow, in Awadh.
- (c) The 1813 Act, except for trade in tea and with China.
- (c) 1875, by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in Bombay.
Revise this
Continue with the freedom struggle, which picks up from the founding of the Congress in 1885.
- I can place Plassey, Buxar and the Treaty of Allahabad and say what each gave the Company.
- I can match twelve governors-general to one reform each.
- I can fill the land revenue table from memory.
- I know the 1857 centres and leaders and the 1858 Act's changes.
- I can list the Acts from 1773 to 1935 with one change each.
- I can match ten reformers to their organisations and years.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Union Public Service Commission website .
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