Q186
Indian National MovementRise of Nationalism & the Congress
Which of the following factors caused the greatest racial cleavage in India before the foundation of the Indian National Congress?
- a.The Ilbert Bill Controversy
- b.The reductions of age for entry to the Civil Services
- c.The Arms Act of 1878
- d.The Vernacular Press Act
Answer: (A) The Ilbert Bill Controversy
The Ilbert Bill (1883), drafted by Law Member C. P. Ilbert under Lord Ripon, proposed to let Indian district magistrates and sessions judges try European accused. The European community reacted with a furious, openly racist agitation (the "White Mutiny"), and the Bill was diluted in 1884 so that a European could demand a jury of which half were Europeans. The episode exposed racial arrogance as nothing else had, and taught Indians the value of organised agitation, hastening the birth of the Congress in 1885. The other three were Lord Lytton's measures: the Vernacular Press Act (1878), the Arms Act (1878) and the lowering of the ICS age limit from 21 to 19.