On the British takeover of Awadh, which statements are correct?
(A) The British felt that the region was ideally located to be developed into the principal market of Upper India.
(B) By the early 1850s the Maratha lands, the Doab, the Carnatic, the Punjab and Bengal had been conquered.
(C) The takeover of Awadh was expected to complete a process of territorial annexation that had begun with the conquest of the Punjab almost a century earlier.
(D) When Wajid Ali Shah left Lucknow, many followed him all the way to Kanpur singing songs of lament.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A, B and D only
(A) The British felt that the region was ideally located to be developed into the principal market of Upper India. — Correct. The British found Awadh's soil good for indigo and cotton, and saw the region as ideally located for the principal market of Upper India.
(B) By the early 1850s the Maratha lands, the Doab, the Carnatic, the Punjab and Bengal had been conquered. — Correct. By the early 1850s all the major areas, including the Maratha lands, the Doab, the Carnatic, the Punjab and Bengal, had been conquered.
(C) The takeover of Awadh was expected to complete a process of territorial annexation that had begun with the conquest of the Punjab almost a century earlier. — Incorrect. The annexation process began with the conquest of Bengal almost a century before 1856. The Punjab was among the areas taken only by the early 1850s.
(D) When Wajid Ali Shah left Lucknow, many followed him all the way to Kanpur singing songs of lament. — Correct. Wajid Ali Shah was widely loved, and many followed him from Lucknow all the way to Kanpur singing songs of lament.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.1 “A cherry that will drop into our mouth one day” … “Lord Dalhousie’s annexations created disaffection in all the areas and principalities that were annexed but nowhere more so than in the kingdom of Awadh in the heart of North India. Here, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta on the plea that the region was being misgoverned. The British government also wrongly assumed that Wajid Ali Shah was an unpopular ruler. On the contrary, he was widely loved, and when he left his beloved Lucknow, there were many who followed him all the way to Kanpur singing songs of lament.” |