Prelims 2022 · Q59
HardWith 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?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
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
- Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa: History of Goa ↗ “In 1510, the Portuguese defeated the ruling Bijapur kings with the help of a local ally, Timayya, leading to the establishment of a permanent settlement in Velha Goa (or Old Goa).”
- Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly: History of Fort St. George ↗ “In 1639 a grant was obtained from Damarla Venkatappa Nayaka, the local chief of Chandragiri on behalf of the Company, a strip of land, between the Cooum and the Bay of Bengal, as a site for a factory”
- Greater Chennai Corporation: Origin and growth of Chennai ↗ “At that time the Coromandel Coast was nominally under the Rajah of Chandragiri who was a descendant of the famous Rayas of Vijayanagar.”
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 ·