Lesson Y8-U02-L02

Y8-U02-L02 The British in India Company to Raj Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 8

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U02-L02, The British in India Company to Raj: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 8: Year 8: Empire, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which period is known as 'the Raj'?

    • The years of East India Company trading and commerce across India from 1600 onwards
    • The period of direct British government rule of India, 1858 to 1947
    • The Indian rebellion of 1857, when sepoys rose against the Company's officers and rule
    • The battle of 1757 in Bengal, where Robert Clive defeated the local ruler's army

  2. In which year did the Raj begin?

    • 1858
    • 1600
    • 1757
    • 1877

  3. How did the East India Company win the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in part?

    • By sending a fleet of ships up the Thames
    • By signing a peace treaty with France
    • By marrying the Nawab's daughter
    • By bribing the enemy commander to switch sides

  4. What were sepoys?

    • Royal Navy sailors who were stationed on British ships in the Indian Ocean
    • British merchants living and trading in the port city of Calcutta during the 1800s
    • Mughal emperors who ruled most of India before the Company took over their lands
    • Indian soldiers serving in the East India Company's army

  5. What rumour helped spark the 1857 Rebellion?

    • New rifle cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat
    • The Company would close all schools and force children to learn only English
    • The King would ban Hinduism and Islam across all of his Indian territories
    • Indian soldiers would be sent to fight in Scotland and far away in Europe

  6. What title was Queen Victoria given in 1877?

    • Viceroy of Calcutta
    • Queen of the Ocean
    • Protector of Bengal
    • Empress of India

  7. Who governed India in the Queen's name after 1858?

    • The Mughal emperor
    • The East India Company's shareholders
    • The Viceroy
    • A council of Scottish lords

  8. What was the 'drain of wealth' that Dadabhai Naoroji criticised?

    • Profits sent from India to Britain
    • Soldiers moving from India to Britain
    • Gold looted from Mughal palaces
    • Cloth shipped from Britain to Canada

  9. Which British politician's 1835 'Minute on Education' aimed to create an Indian class that was English in tastes?

    • Dadabhai Naoroji
    • Robert Clive
    • Thomas Cromwell
    • Thomas Macaulay

  10. What was 'Diwani' granted to the Company in 1765?

    • The right to collect taxes in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
    • A royal title for Robert Clive, given by the King as a reward for his victory
    • A kind of fine Indian cotton cloth that was sold in great quantities in London
    • A treaty with the Scots that gave the Company trading rights in Edinburgh

  11. Which famine, partly worsened by Company tax demands, killed about a third of Bengal's population?

    • The Black Death of 1348
    • The Irish Potato Famine of 1845
    • The Bengal Famine of 1770
    • The Great Fire of London in 1666

  12. What did the Government of India Act of 1858 do?

    • Gave India its own king, who ruled independently of the British government
    • Abolished Company rule and gave power to the Crown
    • Made the East India Company bigger, with a larger army and more trading posts
    • Ended all British trade with India and closed every port to British shipping

  13. A British official praises railways as a gift to India. What is the best reason to question this?

    • Railways only carried mail for the Queen and her household in London and Windsor
    • Railways were never really built in India at all, and the official's claim is entirely false
    • Railways were built mainly to move British goods and troops, and Indians paid for them through taxes
    • Railways were a Mughal invention that the Company simply copied from the old emperors

  14. Why did Indian weavers lose their work in the 1800s?

    • The Mughal emperor banned weaving across all of his provinces and cities
    • Parliament ordered all cloth burned in the squares of London and Bristol
    • Weavers moved to Scotland to work in the mills there for better wages
    • Cheap machine-made British cloth flooded India

  15. Source A says British rule gave India 'the gifts of civilisation'. Why should we question this claim?

    • It was written by a British official defending British rule
    • It was an official Indian census recording the population of the provinces in 1880
    • It was written by a Mughal emperor reflecting on his own long and glorious reign
    • It was written in 1600, long before the British had established any real rule in India

  16. Why did famines under British rule matter for judging the Raj?

    • The Raj banned all farming across India in order to protect British industry
    • Famines were caused by the Pope, who ordered the crops to be burned each year
    • Food was still exported and relief was often inadequate
    • Famines only hit Britain, so the Raj could not be blamed for their effects

  17. Which pair of items on the balance sheet are both costs of British rule?

    • Law and order and post, which were paid for by Indian taxes and run by British officers
    • English schools and courts, which trained Indian officials to serve British rule
    • Railways and the telegraph, which were built mainly to serve British trade and control
    • Wrecked textile industry and famine

  18. Why was the 1857 Rebellion a turning point?

    • It made the East India Company more powerful, with a larger army and more land
    • It ended the East India Company's rule and moved power to the British government
    • It was a victory for the Mughal Empire, which regained control of the northern provinces
    • It led to independence in 1857, when India was declared free from British control

  19. Why do historians say British rule had mixed effects?

    • Historians agree it had no effects at all, so the whole question is simply a debate about words
    • Historians agree the Raj had no costs, since its benefits outweighed every harm it caused
    • Historians think rule was entirely good for everyone who lived under the British flag and its laws
    • Some improvements such as railways were real but mainly served Britain, while costs like famine were severe

  20. Why was the Company's rise described as a shift from 'trader' to 'ruler'?

    • It became a royal navy that patrolled the Indian Ocean and protected the coast
    • It handed control to the Mughal emperor, who then appointed the Company's directors
    • After Plassey it collected taxes and controlled land, instead of only trading
    • It stopped trading altogether in 1757 and turned its warehouses into royal forts

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