With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements : 1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers. 2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate. 3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire. Which of the statements given above are correct ?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only ✓ UPSC's answer
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Why the answer is (b)
• Statement 2 is correct: Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Adil Shahi Sultanate of Bijapur in 1510, making it the capital of Portuguese India.
• Statement 3 is correct: in 1639 Francis Day obtained the site of Madras (Fort St George) on lease from the Nayak of Chandragiri, a representative of the declining Vijayanagara empire.
• Statement 1 is wrong: the Dutch built their east-coast factories (Masulipatnam 1605, Pulicat 1610) on lands granted by the Qutb Shahi Sultan of Golconda and local Nayaks, not by the Gajapati rulers of Odisha, whose dynasty had ended by 1541.
• Hence 2 and 3 only, option (b).
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- Statement 1 is wrong: the Gajapatis did not grant land to the Dutch.
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- Statement 1 is wrong; statement 2 is correct.
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
- Statement 1 is wrong, so all three cannot be correct.
Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2022, held on 5 June 2022. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.