Which among the following events happened earliest?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan.
Dinabandhu Mitra's play Neeldarpan (Nildarpan), on the oppression of indigo growers, dates from 1860, which is earlier than the other three events (1863, 1875 and 1882). Line the four dates up and the earliest is the play.
- ✗ (a) Swami Dayananda Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj in 1875, fifteen years after Neeldarpan.
- ✓ (b) Neeldarpan is listed among Dinabandhu Mitra's plays as of 1860, the year of the indigo agitation in Bengal; this is the earliest date in the set.
- ✗ (c) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandamath came out in 1882, the latest of the four.
- ✗ (d) Satyendranath Tagore, eldest brother of Rabindranath, qualified for the Indian Civil Service in 1863, three years after Neeldarpan.
Remember · Order to remember: Neeldarpan (1860), Satyendranath Tagore in the ICS (1863), Arya Samaj (1875), Anandamath (1882).
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- Dinabandhu Mitra, National Portal and Digital Repository (Ministry of Culture, museumsofindia.gov.in) ↗ “His plays include Nildarpan (1860), Nabin Tapasvini (1863), Biye Pagla Budo (1866), Sadhabar Ekadashi (1866), Lilavati (1867), Jamai Barik (1873)”
- Nehru Science Centre lecture on Nobel Prize and the Indian Civil Service exam, PIB, Ministry of Culture ↗ “Satyendranath Tagore, eldest brother of Rabindranath Tagore, was the first Indian to qualify in ICS Exam in 1863.”
- NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 2 “Arya Samaj Swami Dayananda Saraswati 1875, Bombay Emphasised return to the Vedas, rational thinking, equality and self-reliance.”
- NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 4 “This rebellion later inspired the Bengali writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandamath (1882)”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·