Uttar Pradesh GK Quiz

The revolt of 1857 broke out on 10 May in which cantonment town of present-day Uttar Pradesh?

• Kanpur
• Meerut
• Lucknow
• Jhansi

Answer: Meerut. Sepoys at Meerut rose up and marched to Delhi. Kanpur, Lucknow and Jhansi, all now in UP, became major centres of the revolt soon after.

The Lucknow gharana flourished at the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. It is a school of which classical dance?

• Bharatanatyam
• Odissi
• Kathak
• Kuchipudi

Answer: Kathak. Kathak is the classical dance of north India. The Lucknow gharana is known for grace and expressive storytelling.

Which tall grey bird with a bare red head is Uttar Pradesh's state bird?

• Sarus crane
• Great Indian bustard
• Siberian crane
• Painted stork

Answer: Sarus crane. The sarus crane is the world's tallest flying bird. UP's state animal is the swamp deer, or barasingha.

Lucknow is UP's capital, but in which city does the state's High Court have its principal seat?

• Varanasi
• Kanpur
• Agra
• Prayagraj

Answer: Prayagraj. The Allahabad High Court sits in Prayagraj and keeps the city's old name. It has a bench at Lucknow.

Banaras Hindu University opened in 1916. Which freedom fighter founded it?

• Syed Ahmad Khan
• Madan Mohan Malaviya
• Gopal Krishna Gokhale
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Answer: Madan Mohan Malaviya. Madan Mohan Malaviya founded BHU with support from Annie Besant. Syed Ahmad Khan founded the college at Aligarh that grew into Aligarh Muslim University.

After a police station was set on fire at Chauri Chaura near Gorakhpur in 1922, Gandhi called off which movement?

• Non-Cooperation
• Civil Disobedience
• Quit India
• Khilafat

Answer: Non-Cooperation. Gandhi stopped the Non-Cooperation Movement because it had turned violent. Civil Disobedience (1930) and Quit India (1942) came later.

Uttar Pradesh got its present name in 1950. What was the state called just before that?

• North-Western Provinces
• Central Provinces
• United Provinces
• Bengal Presidency

Answer: United Provinces. The United Provinces became Uttar Pradesh on 24 January 1950, a date now marked as UP Diwas, and the new name kept the same initials, U.P. 'North-Western Provinces' was an older name for part of the region.

Firozabad is known for glass bangles, Aligarh for locks and Kannauj for perfume. Which UP city is famous for brassware?

• Moradabad
• Meerut
• Mirzapur
• Bareilly

Answer: Moradabad. Brassware is Moradabad's product under UP's One District One Product scheme, and the city exports it around the world.

Kushinagar in eastern UP is a major Buddhist pilgrimage site. What happened there, according to Buddhist tradition?

• The Buddha was born
• The Buddha attained enlightenment
• The Buddha gave his first sermon
• The Buddha passed into mahaparinirvana

Answer: The Buddha passed into mahaparinirvana. Kushinagar is where the Buddha died and passed into mahaparinirvana. He was born at Lumbini, gained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and gave his first sermon at Sarnath, also in UP.

Akbar built the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri to celebrate a military victory. Which region had he conquered?

• Bengal
• Gujarat
• Kashmir
• Kabul

Answer: Gujarat. The gateway marks Akbar's Gujarat campaign of 1572-73. Fatehpur Sikri, his short-lived capital, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.