The Portuguese followed the Blue Water Policy or cartaze system.

In 1507, the Portuguese squadron (led by Francisco De Almeida) was defeated in a naval battle of Diu by the combined Egyptian and Gujarat navies. During the conflict, Almeida’s son was killed.  Next year, Almeida avenged his defeat by totally crushing the two navies. Almeida’s vision was to make the Portuguese the master of the Indian Ocean. His policy was known as the Blue Water Policy (cartaze system).

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A Brief History of Modern India

Page number 29; Chapter 3

Panipat was a favourite battlefield and most of the decisive battles of Indian history were fought in Panipat due to the following reasons:

Panipat had a strategic location. One of the parties of the war generally came from the north/northwest through the Khyber Pass to get hold over Delhi, the political capital of northern India. The rulers at Delhi considered Panipat as a confrontable strategic ground and hence they preferred to take the fight there.

Panipat's proximity to Delhi made it easier for the Indian rulers to transport weapons, military and food supplies etc., to the battleground, and still keep the capital insulated from the conflict at hand. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

Panipat’s surrounding region has a flat ground that was suitable for cavalry movement—the main mode of warfare at the time.

After the construction of the Grand Trunk Road by Sher Shah Suri (1540-45), Panipat was on this route. It became easier for conquerors to find their way there. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

The duration of monsoon rainfall in the region is short in comparison to other areas making it easier to fight. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

The artisans/smiths of these regions were experts in making warfare-related materials and hence it became easier for forces of both parties to replenish their war materials. Hence, statement 4 is correct.

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A Brief History of Modern India

Chapter 4; page number 66

Statement 1 is incorrect. Alfonso de Albuquerque succeeded Almeida as the Portuguese governor in India. He was the real founder of the Portuguese power in the East, a task he completed before his death. He secured for Portugal the strategic control of the Indian Ocean by establishing bases overlooking all the entrances to the sea.

Statement 2 is correct. Albuquerque acquired Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 with ease; the principal port of the Sultan of Bijapur became “the first bit of Indian territory to be under the Europeans since the time of Alexander the Great”.

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A Brief History of Modern India

Page number 30; Chapter 3

Statement 1, 2 and 3 are correct. India, except Gujarat (ruled by the powerful Mahmud Begarha (1458-1511)), the northern part was much divided among many small powers. In the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom was breaking up into smaller kingdoms. None of the powers had a navy worth its name, nor did they think of developing their naval strength. As regards the Arab merchants and ship-owners who until then dominated the Indian Ocean trade, they had nothing to match the organization and unity of the Portuguese. The Portuguese had cannons placed on their ships.

In the Far East, the imperial decree of the Chinese emperor limited the navigational reach of the Chinese ships. Hence, statement 4 is incorrect.

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A Brief History of Modern India

Chapter 3; Page number 31

Statement 1 is correct. The Portuguese, the first Europeans to come to India, were also the last to leave this land. It was 1961 before the Government of India recaptured Goa, Daman and Diu from them.

Statement 2 is correct. The Moors were the bitter enemies of the Portuguese in North Africa. So were the Arabs. Arriving in the East, the Portuguese brought with them the same zeal to promote Christianity and the wish to persecute all Muslims. Intolerant towards the Muslims. The Portuguese were initially quite tolerant towards the Hindus. However, over time, after the introduction of the Inquisition in Goa, there was a change and Hindus were also persecuted.

Statement 3 is incorrect. In spite of this intolerant behaviour, the Jesuits made a good impression at the court of Akbar, mainly due to the Mughal emperor’s interest in questions of theology. In September 1579, Akbar forwarded a letter to the authorities at Goa requesting them to send two learned priests. The Church authorities in Goa eagerly accepted the invitation, seeing in it a chance to convert the emperor to Christianity, and with him his court and the people.

Jesuit fathers Rodolfo Aquaviva and Antonio Monserrate reached Fatehpur Sikri on February 28, 1580, they were received with honour. The second mission called by Akbar in 1590 also ended on a similar note in 1592. The third mission, again invited by Akbar, arrived in 1595 at Lahore (where the court was then residing) and continued as a sort of permanent institution, thereby extending its influence on secular politics.

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A Brief History of Modern India

Chapter 3; Page number 33s

All the statements are correct. By the 18th century, the Portuguese in India lost their commercial influence, though some of them still carried on trade in their individual capacity and many took to piracy and robbery. Hooghly was used by some Portuguese as a base for piracy in the Bay of Bengal.

• The local advantages gained by the Portuguese in India were reduced with the emergence of powerful dynasties in Egypt, Persia and North India and the rise of the turbulent Marathas as their immediate neighbours. The Marathas captured Salsette and Bassein in 1739 from the Portuguese.
• The religious policies of the Portuguese, such as the activities of the Jesuits, gave rise to political fears. Their antagonism for the Muslims apart, the Portuguese policy of conversion to Christianity made Hindus also resentful.
• Their dishonest trade practices also evoked a strong reaction. The Portuguese earned notoriety as sea pirates. Their arrogance and violence brought them the animosity of the rulers of small states and the imperial Mughals as well.
• The discovery of Brazil diverted colonizing activities of Portugal to the West. The union of the two kingdoms of Spain and Portugal in 1580-81, dragging the smaller kingdom into Spain's wars with England and Holland, badly affected the Portuguese monopoly of trade in India. The earlier monopoly of knowledge of the sea route to India held by the Portuguese could not remain a secret forever; soon enough the Dutch and the English, who were learning the skills of ocean navigation, also learned of it.

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A Brief History of Modern India

Chapter 3; page number 3

The correct sequence of arrival of European Traders in India during the 17th and 18th centuries is Portuguese; Dutch; English; French; Danes.

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A Brief History of Modern India

Chapter 3

Statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.

1. First Carnatic War: Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

2. Second Carnatic War: Treaty of Pondicherry

3. Third Carnatic War: Treaty of Paris. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Source)

A Brief History of Modern India

Chapter 3; page number 55

Explanation:

• The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive.
• The Battle of Chinsurah also known as the Battle of Biderra or Battle of Hooghly took place near Chinsurah, India on 25 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War between a force of British troops mainly of the British East India Company and a force of the Dutch East India Company which had been invited by the Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar to help him eject the British and establish themselves as the leading commercial company in Bengal.
• Battle of Wandiwash, (Jan. 22, 1760), in the history of India, a confrontation between the French, under the Comte de Lally, and the British, under Sir Eyre Coote. It was the decisive battle in the Anglo-French struggle in southern India during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63).

Explanation:

• Chatuspathis or Tols, as they were called in Bihar and Bengal, were the centres of Higher Education. Some of the famous centres for Sanskrit education were Kasi(Varanasi), Tirhut(Mithila), Nadia and Utkala.

Explanation:

• The book "Zij Muhammad Shahi" related to knowledge of Astrology produced in 1733 is written by Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur. Zij is the generic name applied to Islamic astronomical books that tabulate parameters used for astronomical calculations of the positions of the Sun, moon, stars, and planets. The Zij-i Muhammad Shahi was one of the most famous Zij compiled at Jai Singh II of Amber's Jantar Mantar observatories. It is notable for employing the use of telescopic observations.

Explanation:

• Items of Export by the European Power from India in the Middle of 18th Century as follows: Cotton Textiles, Raw silk and Silk Fabrics, Hardware, Indigo, Saltpetre, Opium, Rice, Wheat, Sugar, Pepper and Other Spices, Precious stones and Drugs.

Explanation:

• Dupleix succeeded Dumas as the French governor of Pondicherry. His ambition now was to acquire for France vast territories in India, and for this purpose, he entered into relations with the native princes and adopted a style of oriental splendour in his dress and surroundings. He built an army of native troops, called sepoys, who were trained as infantrymen men in his service also included the famous Hyder Ali of Mysore.

Explanation:

• The Mughal Empire declined because:
  • Weak Successors of Aurangzeb
  • Absence of Definite Law of Succession
  • Aurangzeb’s Religious and Deccan Policies
  • Degeneration of Rulers and nobles
  • Deterioration of Army
  • Vast empire difficult to administer
  • External Invasions
  • Advent of Europeans
  • Shifting Allegiance of Zamindars
  • Rise of Regional Aspirations

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is Incorrect: Cornelis de Houtman was the First Dutchman to reach Sumatra and Bantam in 1596
• Statement 2 is Correct: The Dutch established factories on the Coromandel coast, in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar. In 1609, they opened a factory in Pulicat, north of Madras. Their other principal factories in India were Surat, Bimlipatam, Karaikal, Chinsura, Baranagar, Kasimbazar, Balasore, Patna, Nagapatnam and Cochin.

Explanation:

• Masulipatnam was the first Dutch factory established in 1605 on the Coromandel Coast of India.
• The First Carnatic War (1746–1748) was the Indian theatre of the War of the Austrian Succession and the first of a series of Carnatic Wars that established early British dominance on the east coast of the Indian subcontinent.

• The Battle of Chinsurah also known as the Battle of Biderra or Battle of Hoogly took place near Chinsurah, India on 25 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War between a force of British troops mainly of the British East India Company and a force of the Dutch East India Company which had been invited by the Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar to help him eject the British and establish themselves as the leading commercial company in Bengal.

Explanation:

• Ahmad ibn Majid was an Arabian navigator and cartographer born in 1421 in Oman. He was raised with a family famous for seafaring; at the age of 17, he was able to navigate ships. He was so famous that he was known as the first Arab seaman. The exact date is not known, but ibn Majid probably died in 1500. He became famous in the West as the navigator who helped Vasco da Gama to find his way from Africa to India.

Explanation:

• Alfonso de Albuquerque was the first Portuguese Governor in India who captured Goa from the ruler of Bijapur in 1510 AD.