Challenges of Nation Building

Question 1

India attained independence on

______

Answer 1

15th August, 1947

Question 2

________ was the first PM of free India.

Answer 2

Jawaharlal Nehru

Question 3

The two goals everyone agreed to achieve after freedom was _____ and ____.

Answer 3

1) to run a democratic country

2) government should run for the good of all society, especially the weaker sections

Question 4

What were the three main challenges that a newly independent India faced ?

Answer 4

1) They wanted to have a united nation that incorporated the diversity of India
2) They wanted to establish democracy. India adopted a representative democracy based on a parliamentary form of government
3) Ensuring development and well-being of weaker sections of society. They wanted to make effective policies for economic development and or eradication of poverty

Question 5

Who wrote the dawn of freedom ?

Answer 5

Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a Pakistani poet

Question 6

Who wrote Today I call Waris Shah ?

Answer 6

Amrita Pritam, a Punjabi poet

Question 7

Who addressed the constituent assembly of Pakistan on 11th August 1947 ?

Answer 7

Mohammed Ali Jinnah

Question 8

Nehru wrote a letter to the chief ministers on _____

Answer 8

15th October, 1947

Question 9

The two nation theory was supported by which part ?

Answer 9

Muslim League

Question 10

What did the two nation theory propose ?

Answer 10

It proposed the division of British India into India and Pakistan because India consisted of “two people”, Hindus and Muslims.

Question 11

What were the 4 challenges that British India faced during the process of partition ?

Answer 11

1) There was no one single are of Muslim majority. There was one in the west and another in the East on India. It was decided that Pakistan would comprise of west and east Pakistan, with a strip of India dividing the two.
2) Not all Muslims wanted to go to Pakistan. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, leader of the North West Frontier Province, also known as Frontier Gandhi, did not want this division. However ultimately NWFP was forced to merge with Pakistan.
3) The most traumatic division was between Punjab and Bengal where there were Muslims as well as Non-Muslims. It was decided that West Punjab and East Bengal would be a part of Pakistan.
4) There were also other religions present like the Sikhs. This was the problem of minorities. Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan and Muslims in India were trapped and were undesired in their homes. They became easy targets to attack and were subject to communal violence. In the end they had to leave their homes and travel to the other side.

Question 12

What were the consequences of the partition in 1947 ?

Answer 12

1) communal violence in the name of religion, mostly in Amritsar, Lahore and Kolkata.
2) minorities on either side were target to violence and were forced to live in refugee camps.
3) Women were raped and killed, sometimes by their own family members to protect the family’s honor. Women were also forced to convert religion and marry their abductors.
4) writers and poets described the killings and violence as a division of hearts.
5) the land wasn’t the only thing that was divided, even the financial assets as well as government employees were divided.
6) 80 lakh people migrated and 5-10 lakh people were killed
7) The deeper issue was whether India was to be solely a Hindu state even though after partition 12% of its population is Muslim. Indian leaders believed that religion and faith would not be the deciding factor for citizenship and India would be a secular state.

Question 13

What are princely states ?

Answer 13

British India was divided into British Indian states and Princely states. British Indian states were under rule of the British govt. and princely states were ruled by princes. They were allowed to rule their state as long as they accepted British supremacy. This was known as paramountcy or suzerainty of the British empire.

Question 14

Princely states covered _____ of India and ____ out of ____ Indians lived in Princely states.

Answer 14

1/3rd of British India and 1 out of 4 lived in Princely states.

Question 15

What was to be done with the princely states after independence ?

Answer 15

The British announced that with the end of their rule, the paramountcy on princely states also ended. They could either join India or Pakistan or remain independent and this was a problem.

Question 16

How many princely states are there ?

Answer 16

565

Question 17

The princely states of ____, ____ and ____ wanted to remain independent.

Answer 17

Travancore, Hyderabad and Bhopal

Question 18

What post did Sardar Patel occupy in the parliament ?

Answer 18

Deputy PM and Home minister

Question 19

Orissa had ____ small states and Saurashtra region of Gujarat has ____ big states and ___ small states.

Answer 19

1) 26
2) 14
3) 119

Question 20

What was the government’s approach in unifying the princely states into the union of India ?

Answer 20

1) They knew that the people of these states wanted to be a part of India
2) They gave them some autonomy in running their own state
3) Integration and consolidation of territorial boundaries was their main focus

Question 21

The rulers of most states signed a document called the ______

Answer 21

Instrument of accession

Question 22

The accession of ____,____,____ and ___ into India was the most difficult.

Answer 22

Junagadh, Manipur, Kashmir and Hyderabad

Question 23

______ was the largest of the princely states.

Answer 23

Hyderabad

Question 24

Some parts of then Hyderabad is included in today’s parts of _____,____ and____.

Answer 24

Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh

Question 25

______ was the title given to the ruler of Hyderabad.

Answer 25

Nizam, one of the world’s richest men

Question 26

In ________, Hyderabad entered into a _____ with India.

Answer 26

November 1947, A standstill agreement

Question 27

______ was the nerve center of the movement in Hyderabad.

Answer 27

Hyderabad town

Question 28

______ and _____ were at the forefront of the movement in Hyderabad.

Answer 28

The communists and the Hyderabad Congress.

Question 29

The Nizam released a force on the people who started the movement. This para-military force was called _____.

Answer 29

Razakars

Question 30

On ______, The Indian army moved to control the Nizam’s forces.

Answer 30

September 1948

Question 31

________ was the Maharaja of Manipur.

Answer 31

Bodhachandra Singh

Question 32

The first election in Manipur were held on _____.

Answer 32

June 1948

Question 33

Manipur signed a _____ with India on ____.

Answer 33

Merger agreement on September 1949

Question 34

The Nagpur session of congress was held in ___.

Answer 34

1920

Question 35

the _____ movement demanded that the Telegu speaking must be separate from the Madras region.

Answer 35

Vishalandhra

Question 36

______ was the congress leader who died 56 days after a fast.

Answer 36

Potti Sriramulu

Question 37

Andhra Pradesh was declared a separate state in _____

Answer 37

December 1952

Question 38

The government appointed a states reorganization commission in____

Answer 38

1953. They stated that states should be divided in terms of linguistic principles.

Question 39

The States Reorganization Act was established in_____.

Answer 39

1956

Question 40

The states reorganization Act led to the creation of _____ states and ____ union territories.

Answer 40

14 states and 6 union territories

Question 41

_____ and ____ were carved out of Bombay in ____

Answer 41

Gujarat, Maharashtra, 1960

Question 42

_____ and ____ were carved out of Punjab in _____

Answer 42

Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, 1966

Question 43

___,____ and ___ was carved out of Assam in ____.

Answer 43

Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura, 1972

Question 44

_____ and ____ were states in 1987.

Answer 44

Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh

Question 45

______ was a state in 1963.

Answer 45

Nagaland

Question 46

______,_____ and ____ were formed due to region imbalance and political grounds.

Answer 46

Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand