Read the passage and answer the questions:
Revolt of 1857: Issues of Rumours
We cannot understand the power of rumours and prophecies in history by checking whether they are factually correct or not. We need to see what they reflect about the minds of people who believed them – their fears and apprehensions, their faiths and convictions. Rumours circulate only when they resonate with the deeper fears and suspicions of people. The rumours in 1857 begin to make sense when seen in the context of the policies the British pursued from the late 1820s. As you know, from that time, under the leadership of Lord William Bentinck, the British adopted policies aimed at “reforming” Indian society by introducing Western education, Western ideas and Western institutions. With the cooperation of sections of Indian society they set up English-medium schools, colleges and universities which taught Western sciences and the liberal arts. The British established laws to abolish customs like sati and to permit the remarriage of Hindu widows. On a variety of pleas, like misgovernment and the refusal to recognise adoption, the British annexed not only Awadh, but many other kingdoms and principalities like Jhansi and Satara. Once these territories were annexed, the British introduced their own system of administration, their own laws and their own methods of land settlement and land revenue collection. The cumulative impact of all this on the people of North India was profound. It seemed to the people that all that they cherished and held sacred – from kings and socio-religious customs to patterns of landholding and revenue payment – was being destroyed and replaced by a system that was more impersonal, alien and oppressive. This perception was aggravated by the activities of Christian missionaries. In such a situation of uncertainty, rumours spread with remarkable swiftness.
Under whose leadership the British adopted policies aimed at reforming Indian society by introducing Western education and Western ideas?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Lord William Bentinck
The passage says that from the late 1820s, under the leadership of Lord William Bentinck, the British adopted policies to ‘reform’ Indian society through Western education, Western ideas and Western institutions. Bentinck was then the Governor-General. Under him the British set up English-medium schools and colleges and passed the law abolishing sati in 1829.
Note: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Rebels and the Raj’, almost word for word. Read every chapter fully, including its boxes and sources; the passages of the paper come from there.
NCERT (2025-26): “1.5 Why did people believe in the rumours? … We cannot understand the power of rumours and prophecies in history by checking whether they are factually correct or not. We need to see what they reflect about the minds of people who believed them – their fears and apprehensions, their faiths and convictions. Rumours circulate only when they resonate with the deeper fears and suspicions of people. The rumours in 1857 begin to make sense when seen in the context of the policies the British pursued from the late 1820s. As you know, from that time, under the leadership of Governor General Lord William Bentinck, the British adopted policies aimed at ‘reforming’ Indian society by introducing Western education, Western ideas and Western institutions.…” |