Prelims · Modern India & the freedom struggle · 14 questions

Constitutional development & the transfer of power

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UPSC syllabus: “History of India and Indian National Movement.” See the full syllabus →

Prelims 2019 · Q4

Medium

Consider the following statements about 'the Charter Act of 1813':

1.It ended the trade monopoly of the East India Company in India except for trade in tea and trade with China.
2.It asserted the sovereignty of the British Crown over the Indian territories held by the Company.
3.The revenues of India were now controlled by the British Parliament.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

The 1813 charter opened the India trade to private British merchants while the Company kept its China (tea) trade monopoly, and it declared the Crown's sovereignty over the Company's territories. It did not hand India's revenues to Parliament: the Company went on governing and collecting revenue until the Crown took over in 1858.

✓ 1. In 1813 the Company's exclusive right to trade with India was removed and private traders were admitted, but its exclusive right to the China trade (chiefly tea) was retained until 1833.
✓ 2. The 1813 charter contained a clause asserting the Crown's undoubted sovereignty over all the Company's territories in India.
✗ 3. The Company kept its political and administrative role, including revenue administration; direct Crown control of Indian government came only in 1858.

Remember · Charter Act 1813: India trade opened to all British merchants (China/tea monopoly kept till 1833), Crown sovereignty asserted, missionaries allowed. Company rule itself ended only in 1858.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Sources

UK Parliament, Hansard (House of Commons, 19 April 1852): East India Company's Charter ↗ · reference work “private traders were admitted to a full and complete competition with them in regard to the trade with India. At the same time, the exclusive right of trading with China was retained by the Company.”
UK Parliament, Living Heritage: East India Company and Raj 1785-1858 ↗ · reference work “Parliament allowed the Company to maintain its political and administrative duties in India, but the charter of 1813 included a clause asserting the Crown's undoubted sovereignty over all of the Company's territories”
NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 4 “in 1858, the British Crown took direct control of India from the East India Company, initiating the period of the British Raj.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2019 · Q15

Medium

With reference to Indian National Movement, consider the following pairs:

	Person	Position held
1.	Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru	President, All India Liberal Federation
2.	K. C. Neogy	Member, The Constituent Assembly
3.	P. C. Joshi	General Secretary, Communist Party of India

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three pairs are correct in UPSC's key. K. C. Neogy was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Bengal; the other two details are not explained here because we could not confirm them from an official source.

✓ 1. Moderates who left the Congress formed the (Indian) National Liberal Federation in 1918-19. UPSC's official key treats this pair as correct; we could not confirm the detail about its presidency from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
✓ 2. Kshitish Chandra Neogy was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Bengal on a Congress ticket; he later sat in Nehru's first cabinet and chaired the First Finance Commission (1951).
✓ 3. UPSC's official key treats this pair as correct; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.

Remember · Liberal Federation (1919, moderates); K. C. Neogy - Constituent Assembly member, 1st Finance Commission chairman.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Constitution of India (CLPR): Constituent Assembly Members – K.C. Neogy ↗ · reference work “Neogy was elected to the Indian Constituent Assembly from the Bengal province as a member of the Indian National Congress.”
People's Democracy (CPI(M) weekly), 15 April 2007: Birth Centenary of P.C. Joshi ↗ · reference work “APRIL 14, 2007 marks the birth centenary of P. C. Joshi who was the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, after the all-India Party Centre was set-up in 1934-35.”
NCERT Class 12 · Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 2 “A. K. Gopalan, S.A. Dange, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, P.C. Joshi, Ajay Ghosh and P. Sundarraya were among the notable leaders of the CPI.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The same topic in Mains

The freedom struggleGS 1 syllabus
Constitution: evolution, features & basic structureGS 2 syllabus

Read it in NCERT

Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 4cited in 1 explanation
Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 2cited in 1 explanation