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Modern India & the freedom struggle

Prelims · Modern India & the freedom struggle · 12 questions

Europeans & the East India Company

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Europeans & the East India Company questions per year: 2016: 0, 2017: 0, 2018: 2, 2019: 0, 2020: 0, 2021: 1, 2022: 1, 2023: 2, 2024: 0, 2025: 1, 2026: 0 Asked in 5 of 11 years · most in 2023 (2)

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भारतीय इतिहास के सन्दर्भ में, निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिए :

  1. 1.डच लोगों ने पूर्वी तटीय क्षेत्रों में गजपति शासकों द्वारा प्रदान की गई जमीनों पर अपनी फैक्टरियाँ/गोदाम स्थापित किए ।
  2. 2.अल्फोंसो दे अलबुकर्क ने बीजापुर सल्तनत से गोआ को छीन लिया था ।
  3. 3.अंग्रेज़ी ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी ने मद्रास में विजयनगर साम्राज्य के एक प्रतिनिधि से पट्टे पर ली गई जमीन के एक प्लॉट पर फैक्टरी स्थापित की थी ।

उपर्युक्त कथनों में कौन-से सही हैं ?

Read this question in English

With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:

1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers.

2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.

3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only · (b) 2 and 3 only · (c) 1 and 3 only · (d) 1, 2 and 3

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (b) केवल 2 और 3

Statements 2 and 3 are correct: Albuquerque took Goa from the Bijapur (Adil Shahi) rulers in 1510, and the English got the Madras site in 1639 from a local Nayak acting under the Raja of Chandragiri, a successor of the Vijayanagara Rayas. The Dutch did not get their east-coast bases from Gajapati rulers.

  • ✗ 1. The Dutch arrived in the early 17th century. Their fort at Pulicat, for example, was built with the permission of a Nayak chief under the Raja of Chandragiri, not a Gajapati ruler of Orissa.
  • ✓ 2. Goa was held by the Adil Shahis of Bijapur; in 1510 the Portuguese, under Afonso de Albuquerque, defeated the Bijapur rulers there and made Old Goa their permanent base.
  • ✓ 3. In 1639 the Company obtained from Damarla Venkatappa Nayaka, the local chief acting for the Raja of Chandragiri (a descendant of the Vijayanagara Rayas), a strip of coast as a factory site; Fort St George grew from it.

Remember · Goa: Portuguese from Bijapur, 1510. Madras: English from Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak (Chandragiri, Vijayanagara successors), 1639. Dutch east-coast base: Pulicat.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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  • HighPortuguese, Dutch, French & English traders · 4 questions

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