Q.1. Who was Edmund Burke?
Ans. Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish Statesman, author, orator and political philosopher. He served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party.
Q.2. When was Burke elected a member of the British Parliament?
Ans. In 1774, E. Burke was elected as a member of the British Parliament through a real electoral contest for Bristol, the second city of England.
Q.3. When and why did Burke lose his seat in the Parliament?
Ans. Burke was a supporter of Free-trade with Ireland and his campaign against the persecution of Catholics in Ireland made him unpopular in the constituency and caused him to lose his seat in the Parliament in 1780.
Q.4. What was Burke’s greatest political error?
Ans. It was regarded by many later that Burke committed the greatest political error by supporting Fox-North’s coalition government.
Q.5. How was Burke involved in Fox’s India Bill?
Ans. As Burke continued to hold the office of Paymaster under the Fox-North’s coalition, he got involved with Fox’s India Bill.
Q.6. Who was the first governor-general of India?
Ans. Warren Hastings was the first governor-general of India.
Q.7. What was the aim of the Bill brought by Burke?
Ans. The aim of the Bill brought by Burke was to bring reform in unscrupulous privileges enjoyed by the East India Company.
Q.8. How was the East India Company formed?
Ans. The East India Company was formed by “a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, under the title of “The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies.”
Q.9. When and where did the East India Company set its trading posts in India?
Ans. The East India Company set up its first trading post in the provinces of Madras, and Bombay of India in 1610 and 1611 respectively.
Q.10. Who was Hafiz Rhamat?
Ans. Hafiz Rahmat Khan (1710-74) was a leading Rohilla chief, and one of the bravest men of his time. He was famous throughout the East for the elegance of his literature. He had borne the brunt of Shuja-Ul-Daula’s invasion.
Q.11. How was Hafiz Rahmat Khan killed?
Ans. Hafiz Rahmat Khan’s head was cut off and delivered for money to a barbarian.
Q.12. What is the consequence of the Killing of Hafiz Rahmat?
Ans. The whole nation of the Rohillas is slaughtered or banished. The country is laid waste with fire and sword. The country has become almost a dreary desert covered with bushes and briars and jungles full of wild beasts.
Q.13. How was the English behaviour towards the Indians?
Ans. The behaviour of the English over there in India even after twenty years was as crude as it had been the first day. The young English who came to govern India were without society, and without sympathy with the natives, they had no more social habits with the people.
Q.14. How were the two Begums of Oudh maltreated by a body of British troops?
Ans. The two Begums of Oudh were exploited by a body of British troops. As the Company wanted money, they were accused of rebellion. The land assigned for the maintenance of the women was seized and confiscated. Their jewels were put on a pretend auction and bought at a very low price.
Q.15. What is Benares?
Ans. Benares is the capital city of the Indian religion. The city grew great in commerce and opulence. It was so secure by the pious veneration of the people that in all wars and in the violence of power, there was a sure asylum both for the poor and rich.
Q.16. Who was the Nabob of Farruckabad?
Ans. Muzafar Jang was the Nabob of Farruckabad.
Q.17. How was the fate of the British subjects in India ruined by the Company?
Ans. Every British subject in India who was active in the discovery of peculations was ruined tragically. They were dragged from the highest in place to the lowest, and eventually, they had been driven from India.
Q.18. Who was Mahomed Reza?
Ans. Mahomed Reza was the second Mussulman in Bengal who was distinguished by the ill-omened honour of the countenance and protection of the Court of Directors. He was stripped of all his employees and reduced to the lowest condition without any pretence of any enquiry into his conduct or behaviour.
Q.19. How was Rajah Nundcomar killed?
Ans. Nundcomar was hanged in the face of all his nation for a pretended crime, upon an ex post facto British act of Parliament, in the midst of his evidence against Mr Hastings.
Q.20. What order did Mr Hastings and his accomplices pass to the Directors regarding the corruption of the Company?
Ans. Mr Hastings and his accomplices ordered the Directors not to carry into effect any resolution for the removal of Mr Hastings and Mr Hornby.
Q.21. Who was the first governor-general of India?
Ans. Warren Hastings was the first governor-general of India.
Q.22. When did Edmund Burke deliver his famous speech on Fox’s East India Bill?
Ans. Burke delivered his famous Speech on Fox’s East India Bill in 1783.
Q.23. Who were the Tartars
Ans. The Tartars are the members of the combined forces of central Asian peoples, including Mongols and Turks, who under the leadership of Genghis Khan conquered much of Asia and eastern Europe in the early 13th century, and under Tamerlane (14th century) established an empire with its capital at Samarkand.
Q.24. With what does Bruke compare the East India Bill?
Ans. Burke compares the East India Bill to Magna Carta in order to ensure the basic human rights of the Indians.
Q.25. What was the condition of the people of this huge terrain during the rule of the East India Company?
Ans. Throughout this vast tract of land, there was not a man who could eat a mouthful of rice but by permission of the East India Company.
Q.26. Who was Faizullah Khan?
Ans. Faizullah Khan was a Rohilla chief who had been allowed to retain a large Jagir at Rampur after the 1774 campaign. He had been pressed to make extra contributions to the Company.
Q.27. Who introduced the ‘East India Bill’?
Ans. “East India Bill” was drafted and introduced by a fox.
Q.28. What is ‘Megna Carta”?
Ans. Megna Carta means the great charters conceded by King John in 1215 and it was confirmed by King Henry III in 1265. It is a charter to restrain power and to destroy monopoly.
