Revolt of 1857 Quiz: Modern Indian History Practice

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. The Revolt of 1857 broke out at Meerut on:

   • 29 March 1857
   • 10 May 1857
   • 4 June 1857
   • 1 November 1858

   Answer: 10 May 1857. Sepoys at Meerut rose on 10 May, freed comrades jailed for refusing the cartridges, and marched to Delhi. 29 March was Mangal Pandey's outbreak at Barrackpore.

2. Mangal Pandey, who attacked his officers at Barrackpore in March 1857, belonged to the:

   • 19th Bengal Native Infantry
   • 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry
   • 34th Bengal Native Infantry
   • 11th Bengal Native Infantry

   Answer: 34th Bengal Native Infantry. He served in the 34th BNI and was hanged on 8 April 1857. The 19th BNI at Berhampore had refused the cartridges earlier; the 3rd Light Cavalry rose at Meerut.

3. Who led the revolt at Lucknow?

   • Begum Hazrat Mahal
   • Rani Avantibai
   • Begum Zeenat Mahal
   • Rani Lakshmibai

   Answer: Begum Hazrat Mahal. Begum Hazrat Mahal, wife of the deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, proclaimed her son Birjis Qadr Nawab. Zeenat Mahal was Bahadur Shah Zafar's wife.

4. Kunwar Singh, an aged zamindar, led the revolt in:

   • Bareilly
   • Faizabad
   • Kanpur
   • Jagdishpur (Bihar)

   Answer: Jagdishpur (Bihar). Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur near Arrah fought the British in Bihar and beyond. Khan Bahadur Khan led at Bareilly and Maulvi Ahmadullah at Faizabad.

5. Who was the Governor-General of India during the Revolt of 1857?

   • Lord Dalhousie
   • Lord Canning
   • Lord Elgin
   • Lord Hardinge

   Answer: Lord Canning. Canning took over from Dalhousie in 1856 and became the first Viceroy after the Crown took control in 1858.

6. Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi died fighting in June 1858 near:

   • Jhansi
   • Kalpi
   • Gwalior
   • Kanpur

   Answer: Gwalior. After Jhansi fell she joined Tantia Tope, captured Gwalior and died fighting Sir Hugh Rose's forces there.

7. Which British officer captured Bahadur Shah Zafar and shot the Mughal princes near Delhi?

   • John Nicholson
   • William Hodson
   • Colin Campbell
   • Hugh Rose

   Answer: William Hodson. Captain William Hodson took the emperor's surrender at Humayun's Tomb and shot three princes. Nicholson was killed in the assault on Delhi.

8. Who wrote "The Indian War of Independence of 1857"?

   • V. D. Savarkar
   • S. N. Sen
   • R. C. Majumdar
   • S. B. Chaudhuri

   Answer: V. D. Savarkar. Savarkar's book (1909) presented the revolt as a planned war of independence. S. N. Sen wrote the official centenary history "Eighteen Fifty-Seven".

9. After the revolt, Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to:

   • the Andaman Islands
   • Mandalay
   • Colombo
   • Rangoon

   Answer: Rangoon. He was tried in Delhi and exiled to Rangoon in Burma, where he died in 1862 — the end of the Mughal dynasty.

10. Consider the following statements about the aftermath of 1857: 1. The Government of India Act 1858 transferred power from the Company to the Crown. 2. The Queen's Proclamation was read out by Lord Canning at Allahabad on 1 November 1858. 3. The policy of annexation through the Doctrine of Lapse was given up. Which of the statements given above are correct?

    • 1 and 2 only
    • 2 and 3 only
    • 1, 2 and 3
    • 1 and 3 only

    Answer: 1, 2 and 3. All three are correct. The Proclamation promised to respect the rights of Indian princes, effectively ending annexations like those under Lapse.