The following describe people in the countryside of North India during the British reconquest of 1857-58. Which one is the odd one out?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → They escaped into Nepal, where many died of illness or starvation.
Option (1) They pressed down on the British line of communication from the North. — Incorrect. A British officer in rural Awadh reported this about the Oude villagers. It belongs to his account.
Option (2) They were reported to number a very large body of men with guns. — Incorrect. The Civil Authorities reported these Awadh villagers as a very large number of men, with a number of guns. It is part of the same account.
Option (3) They melted away before European troops and collected again. — Incorrect. The same officer found the Awadh villagers nearly intangible. They vanished before European troops and gathered again.
Option (4) They escaped into Nepal, where many died of illness or starvation. — Correct. This is the odd one. It describes landholders of present-day Uttar Pradesh who fled to Nepal after the British crushed them. The other three come from one officer's report on the villagers of Awadh.
NCERT (2026-27): “4. Repression … “… In large parts of present-day Uttar Pradesh, where big landholders and peasants had offered united resistance, the British tried to break up the unity by promising to give back to the big landholders their estates. Rebel landholders were dispossessed and the loyal rewarded. Many landholders died fighting the British or they escaped into Nepal where they died of illness or starvation.” |