Prelims · Modern India & the freedom struggle · 12 questions

Europeans & the East India Company

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Prelims 2021 · Q33

Hard

In the first quarter of seventeenth century, in which of the following was/were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located?

1.Broach
2.Chicacole
3.Trichinopoly

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 only

In its first decades the English East India Company traded mainly in western India: its first factory was at Surat (1608) and by 1619 it had factories at Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach (Bharuch). In the south its early factories were at Masulipatam (1611) and Aramgaon (1626). Neither Chicacole nor Trichinopoly appears among them.

✓ 1. Broach (Bharuch), a port-town on the Narmada near Surat known for its cotton cloth, had an English factory: Sir Thomas Roe's embassy (1615–19) left the Company's first settlements confined to Surat, Agra, Ahmadabad and Broach, with the chief factor at Surat.
✗ 2. Chicacole (Srikakulam) is not among the Company's early factories: in the south its first factories were at Masulipatam (1611) and Aramgaon (1626), with Madras following in 1639.
✗ 3. Trichinopoly (Tiruchirappalli) is not among the Company's early factories; it was an inland rock-fort town, the scene of fighting between Muslim, Maratha, British and French troops from the 17th to the 19th century.

Remember · Early English factories: Surat (1608), Masulipatam (1611), Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach (by 1619), Aramgaon (1626), Madras (1639). Chicacole and Trichinopoly are not on the list.

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

Sources

NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 4 “1612–1690: The English East India Company establishes trading posts at Surat, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta”
IGNOU eGyanKosh, Unit 25: The European Trading Companies (Internet Archive copy) ↗ · reference work “By 1619, they succeded in establishing factories at Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach. … In the South, the English opened their first factory at Masulipatam in 1611. In 1626, another factory was opened at Aramgaon.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Tiruchchirappalli ↗ · reference work “Its rock fortress temple, dominating the city, was the scene of bitter fighting between Muslim, Maratha , British, and French troops from the 17th to the 19th century.”
A. B. Keith, A Constitutional History of India 1600–1935 (Methuen, 1936), copy hosted by the Delhi High Court e-library: the first English settlements under Sir Thomas Roe (1615–19) ↗ “the first settlements had to be confined to Surat, Agra, Ahmadabad, and Broach”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2021 · Q39

Medium

Consider the following statements:

1.St. Francis Xavier was one of the founding members of the Jesuit Order.
2.St. Francis Xavier died in Goa and a church is dedicated to him there.
3.The Feast of St. Francis Xavier is celebrated in Goa each year.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Statements 1 and 3 are correct; statement 2 fails on one point. Francis Xavier died in 1552 on Sancian island off the coast of China, not in Goa; only his remains rest in Goa, in the Basilica of Bom Jesus.

✓ 1. In Paris he joined Ignatius of Loyola and Peter Faber; with four others they professed vows at Montmartre on 15 August 1534, the nucleus of the Society of Jesus, which the Jesuits' own site counts as its seven founding companions.
✗ 2. He fell ill and died on 3 December 1552 on Sancian (Shangchuan) island off the coast of China, waiting to enter the mainland. His tomb is in the Church of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, which is why the statement is tempting.
✓ 3. His feast is on 3 December, and Goa marks it every year with novenas and the feast at the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa.

Remember · Francis Xavier: a founding Jesuit (1534), died 3 December 1552 off China; his relics lie in the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa (UNESCO site); feast on 3 December.

Sources

Jesuits.org (Society of Jesus, USA), The Feast of St. Francis Xavier, SJ ↗ · reference work “Four others (James Lainez, Alfonso Salmerón, Nicholas Bobadilla and Simón Rodrigues) joined them, and the seven professed vows of poverty and chastity in Montmartre on Aug. 15, 1534.”
Holy See, Pope Francis, General Audience of 17 May 2023: Saint Francis Xavier ↗ · reference work “he died at the gates of China, on an island, the small island of Sancian (Shangchuan), in front of the Chinese shoreline … On 3 December 1552, he died in total abandonment”
UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Churches and Convents of Goa ↗ “particularly the Church of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb of St Francis-Xavier – illustrate the evangelization of Asia.”
Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa — Control rooms notified for Feast of St. Francis Xavier ↗ “The Collector, North in view of the upcoming celebration of Novenas and feast of St. Francis Xavier at Basilica of Bom Jesus, old Goa scheduled from November 24,2025 to December 03, 2025”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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