1. Who launched the first Home Rule League Movement?
(a) Annie Besant
(b) Sarojini Naidu
(c) Surendranath Banerjee
(d) Tilak
[U.P P.C.S. (Pre) 1993, U.P P.C.S. (Pre) 1991]
Ans. (d) Tilak
- During WWI, Mrs. Annie Besant and Tilak wanted to reinvigorate the National Movement in India.
- Instead of using the term ‘Swaraj’, Tilak chose the phrase ‘Home Rule’ as the goal of his Movement.
- He started the Home Rule League in April 1916 in Poona, and Annie Besant followed by creating her own Home Rule League in September 1916 near Madras.
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2. Two Home Rule Leagues were started in 1915-16 under the leadership of:
(a) Tilak and Annie Besant
(b) Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh
(c) Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai
(d) Tilak and Vipin Chandra Pal
[U.P. U.D.A./L.D.A. (Pre) 2001]
Ans. (a) Tilak and Annie Besant
- During World War I, Mrs. Annie Besant and Tilak wanted to revive the National Movement in India.
- Tilak replaced the term ‘Swaraj’ with ‘Home Rule’ as the purpose of his Movement.
- In April 1916, Tilak established the Home Rule League in Poona.
- Annie Besant also founded a Home Rule League in September 1916 with its headquarters at Adyar near Madras.
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3. Annie Besant is mostly associated with :
(a) Civil Disobedience Movement
(b) Home Rule Movement
(c) Khilafat Movement
(d) Non-Co-operation Movement
[U.P.P.C.S. (Mains) 2010]
Ans. (b) Home Rule Movement
- Annie Besant, a theosophist, moved to India and fought for its freedom.
- She was motivated by the Irish Home Rule Movement and created the Home Rule League in India in September 1916 in Adyar, Madras.
- She had already expressed her thoughts about the Movement in Commonweal (a weekly journal) in 1914.
- Annie Besant began the Movement to ask for self-governance in all areas of government.
- Her Home Rule League became active in all of India.
- She and her associates were arrested but were then freed after people protested against the Government’s action.
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4. The movement in India which became popular during the First World War was the :
(a) Swadeshi and Boycott Movement
(b) Home Rule Movement
(c) Separatist Movement
(d) Swaraj Party Movement
[U.P. Lower Sub. (Pre) 2008]
Ans. (b) Home Rule Movement
- Annie Besant, a theosophist, moved to India and fought for its freedom.
- She was influenced by the Irish Home Rule Movement and created the Home Rule League in India in September 1916, at Adyar in Madras.
- Two years before, in 1914, she had written in Commonweal (a weekly magazine) about her beliefs regarding this Movement.
- Annie Besant created this Movement to call for self-governance at all levels of government.
- Her Home Rule League grew active throughout India.
- She was detained with her colleagues and liberated after there was a strong protest against the Government’s action.
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5. Who among the following did not contribute to the Home Rule League?
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(b) Annie Besant
(c) S. Subrahmanyam Ayer
(d) T.S. Alcott
[40th B.P.S.C. (Pre) 1995]
Ans. (d) T.S. Alcott
- T.S. Alcott had no connection to the Home Rule League but was linked to the Theosophical Society.
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak founded the Home Rule League in April 1916, while Annie Besant set up a separate Home Rule League in September 1916.
- S. Subramaniam Iyer was part of Annie Besant’s Home Rule League.
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6. Which of the following is not associated with the Home Rule Movement?
(a) C.R.Das
(b) S.Subrahmaniam Iyer
(c) Annie Besant
(d) B.G. Tilak
[U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2010]
Ans. (a) C.R.Das
- T.S. Alcott was connected to the Theosophical Society but not the Home Rule League.
- Tilak founded the Home Rule League in April 1916 and Annie Besant in September 1916.
- S. Subramaniam Iyer was part of Annie Besant’s Home Rule League.
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7. In which conference could the Home Rule supporters demonstrate their political power successfully?
(a) Lucknow Conference of Congress in 1916
(b) All India Trade Union Conference held at Bombay in 1920
(c) First U.P. Farmers Association held in 1918.
(d) Joint A.I.T.U.C and N.T.U. Sabha at Nagpur in 1938.
[39th B.P.S.C. (Pre) 1994]
Ans. (a) Lucknow Conference of Congress in 1916
- In December 1916, the Congress meeting in Lucknow gave the Home Rule Leagues a chance to show how strong they were.
- Tilak’s Home Rule League set a precedent that Congress had to follow for a long time.
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8. Home Rule Movement was a symbol of starting a new phase of the freedom movement in India because :
(a) It put a perfect project for self-Government before the nation
(b) Leadership of the movement came into the hands of Gandhiji
(c) Hindus and Muslims started to struggle jointly
(d) It established co-ordination between extremists and moderates
[41st B.P.S.C. (Pre) 1996]
Ans. (a) It put a perfect project for self-government before the nation
- The Home Rule Movement was a major step in the Indian Freedom Movement, as it presented the idea of self-governance to the people of India.
- The goal of the Home Rule League was to achieve self-government within the British Empire with peaceful, constitutional methods.
- Tilak and Besant spread the message of Home Rule across India, which made the Movement a major force during WWI.
- The Movement sought to give India self-rule within the British Empire using legal methods.
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9. Which of the following is not correct about the Home Rule League:
(a) The plan was first presented in 1914-15 by Annie Beasant
(b) The Home Rule League of Tilak was confined to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Central Provinces and Berar
(c) The Home Rule League founded by Tilak was much stronger
(d) Despite the differences between Tilak and Besant, both Leagues continued to exist
[U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2004]
Ans. (*)
- Mrs. Annie Besant first introduced the idea of the Home Rule League.
- The movement began when the weekly magazine Commonweal was published on January 2, 1914. B.G.
- Tilak and Annie Besant began the League in Poona in April 1916 and in Adyar near Madras in September 1916.
- Tilak’s League was mainly concentrated in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Central Province, and Berar.
- The goal of the Movement was to gain self-governance for India as part of the British Empire.
- Tilak’s slogan was ‘Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it’.
- The Maratha and Kesari, New India, Commonweal, and New India newspapers supported the Home Rule League.
- Both Leagues worked together without any disputes, so both options are correct.
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10. The Home Rule Leagues of Tilak and Annie Besant were merged into one in –
(a) 1916
(b) 1918
(c) 1920
(d) I923
[Uttarakhand P.C.S. (Mains) 2002]
Ans. (*)
| Mrs. Annie Besant was the first to introduce the idea of the Home Rule League, a movement advocating for India to be governed by itself within the British Empire. B.G. Tilak and Annie Besant started the Movement in April 1916 in Poona and September 1916 at Adyar near Madras respectively. Tilak’s League operated in four different regions, while Annie Besant’s League operated in the rest of India. The main goal of the Movement was for India to obtain self-governance. Tilak also proposed that language and education should be conducted in the native language. His slogan was “Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it”. Tilak’s Maratha and Kesari and Annie Besant’s New India, Commonweal, and New India were all organs of the Home Rule Movement. Both leagues existed without any conflict between Tilak and Annie Besant. |
11. Who among the following was a proponent of Fabianism as a movement?
(a) Annie Besant
(b) A.O Hume
(c) Michael Madhusudan Dutt
(d) D. R. Palme Dot
[I.A.S. (Pre) 2005]
Ans. (a) Annie Besant
- Annie Besant (1847-1933) supported the Fabian movement.
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12. Annie Besant was –
1. responsible for starting the Home Rule Movement.
2. the founder of the Theosophical Society.
3. once the President of the Indian National Congress.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
(a) Only 1
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3
(d) All of these
[I.A.S. (Pre) 2013]
Ans. (c) 1 and 3
- Annie Besant was not the founder of the Theosophical Society, instead, it was created by Madame Blavatsky and Henry Olcott.
- Statement 2 is wrong. Statement 3 is true, as Annie Besant was the first female President of the Indian National Congress in 1917 at the Calcutta Session.
- Statement 1 is also accurate as Annie Besant and Tilak established the Home Rule League in India, which was similar to the Irish Home Rule Leagues.
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