Gandhian Era Top 100 MCQs With Answer and Explanation

1. Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in?
A) 1914
B) 1915
C) 1916
D) 1917

2. Who became Gandhi’s political mentor after his return to India?
A) Dadabhai Naoroji
B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
C) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
D) Motilal Nehru

3. Gandhi established the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad in?
A) 1915
B) 1916
C) 1917
D) 1918

4. The first satyagraha launched by Gandhi in India was at?
A) Kheda
B) Champaran
C) Ahmedabad
D) Bardoli

5. Who invited Gandhi to lead the Champaran Satyagraha?
A) Rajendra Prasad
B) Raj Kumar Shukla
C) J.B. Kripalani
D) Motilal Nehru

6. The issue in Champaran Satyagraha (1917) was?
A) Tax on cotton
B) Indigo cultivation under Tinkathia system
C) Forced plantation of sugarcane
D) Salt tax

7. Gandhi’s first hunger strike in India was during?
A) Champaran Satyagraha
B) Kheda Satyagraha
C) Ahmedabad Mill Strike
D) Rowlatt Satyagraha

8. The Kheda Satyagraha (1918) was related to?
A) Salt tax
B) Indigo
C) Non-payment of land revenue due to famine
D) Factory strike

9. Which Gandhian movement is considered the first non-violent, nationwide struggle?
A) Champaran
B) Kheda
C) Rowlatt Satyagraha
D) Non-Cooperation

10. The Rowlatt Act (1919) was officially known as?
A) Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act
B) Defence of India Act
C) Sedition Act
D) Emergency Powers Act

11. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in?
A) Delhi
B) Lahore
C) Amritsar
D) Lucknow

12. Who headed the Hunter Committee to enquire into the Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
A) Lord Chelmsford
B) Lord Reading
C) Lord Hardinge
D) Lord Hunter

13. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his Knighthood in protest of?
A) Rowlatt Act
B) Jallianwala Bagh massacre
C) Partition of Bengal
D) Montagu Reforms

14. Gandhi’s first nationwide movement against the British was?
A) Champaran
B) Kheda
C) Rowlatt Satyagraha
D) Non-Cooperation

15. Who was the Viceroy of India during Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
A) Lord Hardinge
B) Lord Chelmsford
C) Lord Irwin
D) Lord Reading

16. Gandhi called off the Rowlatt Satyagraha because?
A) He was arrested
B) It turned violent in many places
C) British agreed to repeal the Act
D) Indian leaders opposed him

17. Who among the following leaders was associated with Kheda Satyagraha along with Gandhi?
A) Vallabhbhai Patel
B) Tilak
C) Rajendra Prasad
D) C.R. Das

18. Who gave Gandhi the title of “Mahatma”?
A) Rabindranath Tagore
B) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
C) Lokmanya Tilak
D) Subhas Chandra Bose

19. The Khilafat movement was launched to protest against?
A) Partition of Bengal
B) Turkish Sultan’s removal after WWI
C) Rowlatt Act
D) Simon Commission

20. The leaders of the Khilafat movement were?
A) Jinnah and Liaqat Ali
B) Ali brothers – Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali
C) Gandhi and Tilak
D) Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru

21. Gandhi supported the Khilafat movement because?
A) He wanted Muslim support in freedom struggle
B) He believed in Khilafat
C) He was against British monarchy
D) He wanted to become Caliph

22. Which of the following was a result of Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
A) Suspension of Rowlatt Act
B) Rise of Non-Cooperation Movement
C) Gandhi’s fast in Ahmedabad
D) Bardoli Satyagraha

23. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were introduced in?
A) 1917
B) 1919
C) 1921
D) 1925

24. The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919 (Rowlatt Act) was strongly opposed by?
A) Tilak
B) Gandhi
C) Jinnah
D) All of the above

25. In which year was the Satyagraha Sabha formed by Gandhi against Rowlatt Act?
A) 1915
B) 1917
C) 1919
D) 1920

26. The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched in?
A) 1917
B) 1919
C) 1920
D) 1922

27. The main form of protest in the Non-Cooperation Movement was?
A) Armed struggle
B) Boycott of foreign goods, titles, law courts, and schools
C) Partition of Bengal
D) Tax refusal only

28. The Non-Cooperation Movement was withdrawn after which incident?
A) Jallianwala Bagh massacre
B) Bardoli Satyagraha
C) Chauri Chaura violence
D) Simon Commission protests

29. Chauri Chaura incident (1922) took place in?
A) Gujarat
B) Bihar
C) Uttar Pradesh (Gorakhpur district)
D) Bengal

30. The Khilafat Committee merged with Congress in?
A) 1917
B) 1920
C) 1922
D) 1924

31. The first session of All India Khilafat Conference (1919) was held at?
A) Delhi
B) Lucknow
C) Nagpur
D) Allahabad

32. The Swaraj Party was founded in?
A) 1920
B) 1922
C) 1923
D) 1925

33. The main objective of Swaraj Party was?
A) Armed struggle
B) Enter councils and wreck them from within
C) Organize peasants
D) Negotiate with British

34. The Swaraj Party was also called?
A) Pro-changers
B) No-changers
C) Extremists
D) Moderates

35. The “No-changers” group led by Gandhi emphasized?
A) Legislative obstruction
B) Constructive programmes (spinning, khadi, Hindu–Muslim unity, removal of untouchability)
C) Negotiation with British
D) Boycotting foreign education only

36. The Simon Commission was appointed in?
A) 1925
B) 1927
C) 1928
D) 1929

37. Why was Simon Commission boycotted?
A) It opposed Swaraj Party
B) It had no Indian members
C) It suggested dominion status
D) It divided Bengal

38. The Simon Commission arrived in India in?
A) 1927
B) 1928
C) 1929
D) 1930

39. Who was brutally lathi-charged during Simon Commission protests, later leading to his death?
A) Lala Lajpat Rai
B) Motilal Nehru
C) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
D) C.R. Das

40. Bhagat Singh and his associates avenged Lala Lajpat Rai’s death by killing?
A) General Dyer
B) Saunders (Assistant Superintendent of Police, Lahore)
C) Lord Irwin
D) Jallianwala Bagh officer

41. The Nehru Report (1928) was prepared under the chairmanship of?
A) Jawaharlal Nehru
B) Motilal Nehru
C) C.R. Das
D) M.A. Jinnah

42. The Nehru Report recommended?
A) Dominion status for India
B) Federal structure with provincial autonomy
C) Universal adult franchise
D) All of the above

43. Which resolution was passed at Lahore session of Congress (1929)?
A) Dominion status
B) Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence)
C) Acceptance of Simon Commission
D) Dyarchy in provinces

44. The Lahore session of Congress in 1929 was presided over by?
A) Motilal Nehru
B) Jawaharlal Nehru
C) Gandhi
D) Subhas Chandra Bose

45. The slogan “Purna Swaraj” was adopted at?
A) Nagpur Session, 1920
B) Calcutta Session, 1928
C) Lahore Session, 1929
D) Karachi Session, 1931

46. The Simon Commission recommended?
A) Immediate independence
B) Abolition of dyarchy in provinces
C) Separate electorates for women
D) Dominion status

47. Who gave the slogan “Simon Go Back”?
A) Subhas Chandra Bose
B) Lala Lajpat Rai
C) Jawaharlal Nehru
D) Yusuf Meherally

48. The All Parties Conference (1928) appointed the committee to draft constitution, chaired by?
A) Motilal Nehru
B) Gandhi
C) C.R. Das
D) Jinnah

49. Jinnah’s famous “14 Points” were formulated in response to?
A) Lahore Session, 1929
B) Nehru Report, 1928
C) Khilafat Committee
D) Montagu-Chelmsford reforms

50. 26 January was first observed as Independence Day in?
A) 1928
B) 1929
C) 1930
D) 1931

51. The Civil Disobedience Movement was launched in?
A) 1928
B) 1930
C) 1932
D) 1935

52. Gandhi began the Civil Disobedience Movement with which symbolic act?
A) Burning foreign cloth
B) Refusal to pay land revenue
C) Salt March to Dandi
D) Boycotting elections

53. The Dandi March began from?
A) Sabarmati Ashram
B) Wardha Ashram
C) Bombay
D) Delhi

54. The Dandi March ended at?
A) Bardoli
B) Dandi (Navsari district, Gujarat)
C) Surat
D) Ahmedabad

55. The Civil Disobedience Movement included?
A) Refusal to pay taxes
B) Boycott of foreign goods
C) Salt law violation
D) All of the above

56. Who wrote the famous report on the Salt March, describing Gandhi as “a strange mixture of saint and politician”?
A) Jawaharlal Nehru
B) Subhas Chandra Bose
C) Louis Fischer (American journalist)
D) C.F. Andrews

57. The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was signed in?
A) 1929
B) 1930
C) 1931
D) 1932

58. Under Gandhi–Irwin Pact, Gandhi agreed to?
A) Suspend Civil Disobedience Movement
B) Attend Second Round Table Conference
C) Stop boycott of British goods
D) Both A and B

59. The first Round Table Conference (1930) was held in?
A) London
B) Delhi
C) Bombay
D) Karachi

60. The only Round Table Conference attended by Gandhi was?
A) First (1930)
B) Second (1931)
C) Third (1932)
D) None

61. The Second Round Table Conference ended in failure because of?
A) Gandhi’s arrest
B) British refusal to concede Purna Swaraj
C) Separate electorates issue raised by Ambedkar
D) World War II

62. The Poona Pact (1932) was signed between?
A) Gandhi and Jinnah
B) Gandhi and Ambedkar
C) Gandhi and Irwin
D) Gandhi and Bose

63. The Poona Pact (1932) provided?
A) Separate electorates for Dalits
B) Joint electorates with reserved seats for Dalits
C) No representation for Dalits
D) Dominion status

64. The Civil Disobedience Movement was finally withdrawn in?
A) 1932
B) 1933
C) 1934
D) 1935

65. The Quit India Movement was launched in?
A) 1939
B) 1940
C) 1942
D) 1945

66. The Quit India Movement was launched during which Viceroy’s tenure?
A) Lord Irwin
B) Lord Linlithgow
C) Lord Wavell
D) Lord Mountbatten

67. The Quit India Movement is also called?
A) August Revolution
B) Indian Spring
C) Satyagraha II
D) Bombay Mutiny

68. Who gave the famous slogan “Do or Die”?
A) Jawaharlal Nehru
B) Subhas Chandra Bose
C) Mahatma Gandhi
D) Sardar Patel

69. The Congress Working Committee passed the Quit India resolution at?
A) Lahore
B) Karachi
C) Bombay (Gowalia Tank ground)
D) Delhi

70. The immediate impact of Quit India Movement was?
A) Complete independence
B) British left India
C) Severe repression and mass arrests
D) Dominion status granted

71. The Indian National Army (INA) was formed under the leadership of?
A) Gandhi
B) Subhas Chandra Bose
C) M.N. Roy
D) Motilal Nehru

72. Who first established the Indian National Army (INA) before Bose?
A) Rashbehari Bose
B) Mohan Singh
C) Sardar Patel
D) C. Rajagopalachari

73. Subhas Chandra Bose gave the famous slogan?
A) “Do or Die”
B) “Inquilab Zindabad”
C) “Give me blood, I will give you freedom”
D) “Jai Hind”

74. Which slogan is attributed to Subhas Chandra Bose and INA?
A) Vande Mataram
B) Jai Hind
C) Bharat Chhodo
D) Inquilab Zindabad

75. The INA trials were held at?
A) Lahore Fort
B) Delhi Red Fort
C) Calcutta High Court
D) Bombay High Court

76. Gandhi’s political philosophy is often called?
A) Marxism
B) Liberalism
C) Gandhism (Non-violence, Truth, Sarvodaya)
D) Capitalism

77. The concept of Satyagraha means?
A) Passive resistance
B) Force of truth and non-violence
C) Revolutionary violence
D) Armed struggle

78. Gandhi’s idea of village self-sufficiency is known as?
A) Gram Rajya / Gram Swaraj
B) Dominion status
C) Panchsheel
D) Trusteeship

79. Gandhi’s economic philosophy is best described as?
A) Laissez-faire capitalism
B) Socialist planning
C) Trusteeship – rich as trustees of wealth for society
D) Mercantilism

80. Gandhi called untouchables as?
A) Shudras
B) Dalits
C) Harijans (Children of God)
D) Bahujan

81. The weekly journal started by Gandhi in South Africa was?
A) Young India
B) Harijan
C) Indian Opinion
D) Navajivan

82. Gandhi started which journal after returning to India?
A) Young India
B) Harijan
C) Navajivan
D) All of the above

83. Gandhi’s ashram was shifted from Sabarmati to Wardha in?
A) 1927
B) 1930
C) 1933
D) 1940

84. Gandhi’s constructive programme included?
A) Promotion of khadi
B) Hindu–Muslim unity
C) Removal of untouchability
D) All of the above

85. Who said “Gandhi is a half-naked fakir”?
A) Winston Churchill
B) Clement Attlee
C) Lord Wavell
D) Stafford Cripps

86. The Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) was accepted by Gandhi because?
A) It rejected partition
B) It offered complete independence immediately
C) It suggested provincial groupings
D) It provided separate electorates for Muslims

87. Who described Gandhi as “the Father of the Nation”?
A) Nehru
B) Bose
C) Patel
D) Tagore

88. Gandhi was assassinated on?
A) 15 August 1947
B) 30 January 1948
C) 2 October 1948
D) 26 January 1949

89. The assassin of Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, was associated with?
A) Hindu Mahasabha
B) Congress
C) Muslim League
D) Communist Party

90. Gandhi’s famous book “Hind Swaraj” was written in?
A) 1905
B) 1909
C) 1915
D) 1921

91. In “Hind Swaraj,” Gandhi opposed?
A) Industrialization and Western civilization
B) Education
C) Agriculture
D) Self-rule

92. Gandhi’s concept of non-violence was influenced most by?
A) Tolstoy, Ruskin, and Jain philosophy
B) Marx
C) Hegel
D) Machiavelli

93. Gandhi’s experiments with non-violence in South Africa were against?
A) Slavery
B) Discrimination against Indians
C) Land taxes
D) Industrial laws

94. Gandhi’s principle of Sarvodaya means?
A) Upliftment of the poor only
B) Welfare of all
C) Dominance of rich
D) Abolition of agriculture

95. Gandhi’s policy of non-violence was criticized by?
A) Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose
B) B.R. Ambedkar
C) Revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh
D) All of the above

96. Which British PM announced the decision to quit India in 1947?
A) Winston Churchill
B) Clement Attlee
C) Neville Chamberlain
D) Lord Wavell

97. Gandhi’s last fast (January 1948) was undertaken for?
A) Partition issue
B) Hindu–Muslim unity in Delhi after communal riots
C) Release of political prisoners
D) Independence

98. Gandhi’s close associate who later became Governor-General of India was?
A) Jawaharlal Nehru
B) C. Rajagopalachari
C) Sardar Patel
D) Rajendra Prasad

99. Which statement best describes Gandhi’s role in Indian independence?
A) He alone achieved independence
B) He unified masses with non-violence and mass mobilization
C) He was irrelevant after 1942
D) He supported partition wholeheartedly

100. Gandhi’s legacy in world politics includes?
A) Inspiration to Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela
B) Techniques of peaceful resistance
C) Human rights and civil rights movements
D) All of the above