Class 8 Social Science – Chapter 4: The Colonial Era in India
1. Which European power established the Inquisition in Goa in 1560?
(a) Dutch (b) French (c) Portuguese (d) British
2. The Battle of Colachel (1741) was fought between:
(a) British and French (b) Dutch and Travancore forces (c) Portuguese and Marathas (d) British and Sikhs
3. The policy under which a princely state was annexed if its ruler died without a natural male heir was called:
(a) Subsidiary Alliance (b) Doctrine of Lapse (c) Divide and Rule (d) Cartaz system
4. Who among the following introduced the strategy of training Indian soldiers in European military techniques and installing puppet rulers?
(a) Robert Clive (b) Dupleix (c) Vasco da Gama (d) Marthanda Varma
5. The Great Famine of Bengal (1770–72) occurred shortly after the East India Company gained:
(a) Control over the spice trade (b) The right to collect revenue in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha (c) Victory in the Carnatic Wars (d) Direct rule from the British Crown
6. Macaulay’s Minute on Indian Education (1835) aimed to create Indians who were:
(a) “Indian in blood and colour but English in taste, opinions, morals and intellect” (b) “Brown Englishmen” trained only in Sanskrit (c) “Civilised” through Portuguese education (d) “Primitive” and left to traditional schools
7. The phrase “the bones of the cotton weavers are bleaching the plains of India” was said by:
(a) William Digby (b) William Bentinck (c) Dadabhai Naoroji (d) R.C. Dutt
8. Which rebellion inspired Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay to write the novel Anandamath containing the song ‘Vande Mataram’?
(a) Santhal Rebellion (b) Kol Uprising (c) Sannyasi-Fakir Rebellion (d) Indigo Revolt
9. Assertion (A): The British East India Company gradually became the ruler of large parts of India.
Reason (R): The Company followed a policy of ‘divide and rule’ by exploiting rivalries among Indian rulers and installing puppet nawabs.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
10. Assertion (A): The British claimed their rule was a ‘civilising mission’.
Reason (R): Colonial rule led to loss of independence, exploitation of resources and destruction of traditional ways of life for the colonised people.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
1. Define colonialism as described in the chapter.
2. Who was Vasco da Gama and what was the significance of his arrival in 1498?
3. What was the ‘cartaz’ system introduced by the Portuguese?
4. State any two differences between the Portuguese and the Dutch approach to India.
5. What was the Doctrine of Lapse?
6. Identify any two consequences of the British ‘free market’ policy during famines.
1. Explain how the British East India Company used the ‘divide and rule’ policy with reference to the Battle of Plassey.
2. Compare the colonial policies of the French and the Portuguese in India.
3. Give reasons why the British were able to transform from traders to rulers in India.
4. Explain any three ways in which British rule led to the decline of India’s indigenous industries.
5. Describe the impact of Macaulay’s Minute on Indian Education.
1. Analyse the causes and consequences of the devastating famines under British rule in India.
2. Examine the methods adopted by the British to establish political control over India (Subsidiary Alliance, Doctrine of Lapse and divide and rule). How did these methods affect Indian rulers?
3. Discuss the significance of the Great Rebellion of 1857. What changes did it bring in British policies towards India?
“Nearly two centuries ago the early Britons in Bengal … regarded the land and the people as fair game for plunder. … Under the later Britons, as administrators … the plunder is proceeding far more outrageously today than at any preceding period. … Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth, … wealth always taken by the might and skill of the stronger.”
— William Digby (1901)
(a) What does the source describe about early and later British presence in India? (1 mark)
(b) According to the source, how did Indian wealth contribute to England’s growth? (1 mark)
(c) Which phrase in the source shows that the exploitation continued under British administrators? (1 mark)
(d) How does this source support the idea of the ‘drain of wealth’ from India? (1 mark)
“While the country every year became a total waste, the English government constantly demanded an increased land-tax. … All through the stifling summer of 1770 the people went on dying. The husbandmen sold their cattle; they sold their implements of agriculture; they devoured their seed-grain; they sold their sons and daughters…”
— W.W. Hunter (quoted in the chapter)
(a) Which famine is being described in the source? (1 mark)
(b) What policy of the East India Company worsened the famine according to the source? (1 mark)
(c) Quote the line from the source that shows the extreme desperation of the people. (1 mark)
(d) How does the source show that the British administration continued revenue collection even during the crisis? (1 mark)
Section B (2 marks each – 30-40 words)
1. Colonialism is the practice where one country takes control of another region, establishes settlements and imposes its political, economic and cultural systems.
2. Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer whose arrival at Calicut in 1498 marked the beginning of European colonisation in India.
3. The cartaz was a pass system under which all ships in the Arabian Sea had to buy Portuguese permits; ships without permits were seized.
4. Portuguese focused on religious persecution and conversions; Dutch concentrated mainly on commercial dominance in the spice trade.
5. Doctrine of Lapse: Any princely state would be annexed by the British if its ruler died without a natural male heir.
6. Free market policy allowed prices to fluctuate freely; grain continued to be exported while relief was deliberately kept minimal.
Section C (3 marks each – any three points, 1 mark each)
1. Company exploited rivalries; supported Mir Jafar against Siraj-ud-daulah; promised to make him Nawab in exchange for betrayal at Plassey.
2. Portuguese – religious persecution, Inquisition, forced conversions; French – focused on trade and political influence through sepoys and puppet rulers, minimal interference in religion.
3. Royal charter allowed private army; posed as traders; cultivated political ties; used divide and rule; introduced Doctrine of Lapse and Subsidiary Alliance.
4. Heavy duties on Indian textiles in Britain; free entry for British goods in India; British control of sea trade and exchange rates; artisans reduced to poverty.
5. Created class of Indians “English in taste”; destroyed traditional schools; English became language of prestige; produced cheap clerks for administration.
Section D (5 marks each – any five points, 1 mark each)
1. Causes: High revenue demand even during crop failure, free market policy, export of grain. Consequences: 10 million deaths in 1770 Bengal famine; repeated famines killing 50–100 million; rural India sank into deep poverty.
2. Subsidiary Alliance – installed British Resident, Indian rulers paid for British troops; Doctrine of Lapse – annexation on failure of natural heir; Divide and rule – exploited rivalries and succession disputes. Result: Loss of real power by Indian rulers while bearing costs of their own subjugation.
3. Showed widespread discontent; led to end of East India Company rule; Crown took direct control (British Raj); army reorganised to prevent future unified revolts; sowed idea that foreign domination was unacceptable.
Section E (4 marks each)
(a) Early Britons plundered; later British administrators continued plunder more outrageously. (Opening lines)
(b) “Modern England has been made great by Indian wealth…” (Line 3)
(c) “the plunder is proceeding far more outrageously today”
(d) Source directly states wealth was taken by might and skill of the stronger, supporting the drain of wealth argument.
(a) Bengal famine of 1770–72.
(b) Harsh revenue collection / increased land-tax even during famine.
(c) “they sold their sons and daughters, till at length no buyer of children could be found…”
(d) “the English government constantly demanded an increased land-tax” while people were dying.
All questions are answerable from the NCERT chapter text. Reviewed by GFIS faculty.