Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
Swami Dayananda Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875, giving the call "Go back to the Vedas" and writing Satyarth Prakash. Keshab Chandra Sen was instead a Brahmo Samaj leader who founded the Brahmo Samaj of India (1866), Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission (1897), and Atmaram Pandurang founded the Prarthana Samaj (1867) in Bombay.
- The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in 1897.
- The Satyashodhak Samaj was founded by Jyotiba Phule in 1873.
Statement 1 is incorrect — the Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897, in memory of his guru, as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had died in 1886. Statement 2 is correct, since Jyotiba Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 to fight caste discrimination and work for the rights of lower castes and women.
Pair (d) is incorrectly matched — Sati was abolished by Regulation XVII of 1829 under Governor-General Lord William Bentinck, with strong support from Raja Ram Mohan Roy, whereas Dalhousie is associated with the Widow Remarriage Act, 1856 and the Doctrine of Lapse. Pairs (a), (b), and (c) are all correct — Atmaram Pandurang founded the Prarthana Samaj in 1867; Derozio, a teacher at Hindu College, Calcutta, inspired the radical Young Bengal movement; and Sayyid Ahmad Khan led the Aligarh Movement and founded the MAO College (1875).
- Assertion (A): Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar is closely associated with the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856.
- Reason (R): Vidyasagar used scriptural arguments to show that widow remarriage was sanctioned by the shastras, and he petitioned the government for legislation.
Assertion A is correct — Vidyasagar was the leading campaigner behind the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856. Reason R is correct and explains A, since he cited the Parashara Smriti to show that widow remarriage had scriptural sanction and then mobilised petitions to the government, which is precisely why he is linked to the Act.
- Self-Respect Movement — E.V. Ramasamy Periyar
- Vaikom Satyagraha — Jyotiba Phule
- Theosophical Society — founded in India by Annie Besant in 1875
Pair 1 is correct — Periyar launched the Self-Respect Movement (1925) in Tamil Nadu against caste and Brahminical dominance. Pair 2 is incorrect — the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25) in Travancore was led by T.K. Madhavan, K.P. Kesava Menon and others, with Periyar also taking part, while Jyotiba Phule had died in 1890. Pair 3 is incorrect — the Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875 by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott; its headquarters moved to Adyar, Madras in 1886, and Annie Besant became its leader later.
