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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?
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 2 (2 and 3 only). Below is the comprehensive explanation:
- Statement 1 is incorrect: The Gajapati dynasty ruled Odisha and parts of the East Coast until the mid-16th century (falling around 1541). The Dutch established their first factory in Masulipatnam only in 1605, followed by Pulicat in 1610. By then, the Gajapati rulers had long been superseded by the Golconda Sultanate and other regional powers.
- Statement 2 is correct: In 1510, the Portuguese Governor Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from Ismail Adil Shah, the Sultan of Bijapur. This was a landmark event as it established the first bit of Indian territory under European direct rule since the Alexanderian era.
- Statement 3 is correct: In 1639, Francis Day of the English East India Company obtained a lease for Madras (Fort St. George) from Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka, a local chieftain and representative of the Aravidu Dynasty (the last dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire), then ruling from Chandragiri.
Thus, statements 2 and 3 accurately reflect historical facts, while statement 1 is chronologically impossible.
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Guest previewA classic '2+1' structure: Statements 2 and 3 are direct lifts from standard sources like Spectrum or TN Board (Class XI). Statement 1 is the 'Eliminator'—it doesn't require a specific book source but demands 'Chronological Sense' (Gajapatis declined before the Dutch arrived). If you rely only on rote memorization without timeline mapping, this becomes a trap.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: In Indian history, did the Dutch establish their factories and warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by the Gajapati rulers?
- Statement 2: In Indian history, did Afonso de Albuquerque capture Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate?
- Statement 3: In Indian history, did the English East India Company establish a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara Empire?
Lists several Dutch factories on the Coromandel/east coast (Pulicat, Nagapatam, Balasore, Bimlipatam/Masulipatam), showing a clear pattern of east‑coast establishments.
A student could map these east‑coast sites against regions historically controlled by the Gajapati dynasty to see geographic overlap that would make grants plausible.
Provides a dated list of Dutch factories on the east coast (Masulipatam, Pulicat, Nagapattinam, Karaikal, Balasore), reinforcing the pattern of Dutch presence on the Coromandel and adjacent areas.
Compare the foundation dates of these factories with the period of Gajapati political influence in the relevant coastal areas to judge the likelihood of land grants.
States that the Dutch and English 'were able to acquire territorial rights on the east coast' during the period, indicating Europeans obtained local permissions or rights from Indian authorities.
Use this general rule (Europeans acquired territorial rights from local rulers) plus knowledge of which local polities (such as Gajapatis) controlled specific districts to test if Gajapati grants were a plausible mechanism.
Notes the Dutch East India Company had a charter to 'conclude treaties, acquire territories, and build fortresses', indicating they sought formal agreements and territorial rights rather than purely informal occupation.
Combine this institutional capacity with local political maps to infer that the Dutch would have negotiated with whichever rulers (potentially the Gajapatis where they held sway) to obtain lands.
Describes Pulicat as the Dutch Coromandel headquarters with substantial infrastructure (gun‑powder factory, slave trade operations), implying the Dutch established semi‑permanent bases that likely required local authorization.
Match Pulicat and other permanent bases to the jurisdictional control of regional rulers (including whether the Gajapatis exercised authority there) to evaluate the probability of land grants.
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