RAS question
Annie Besant's Home Rule League was established in which year?
Correct answer: (A) 1916.
Annie Besant's Home Rule League was formally inaugurated in September 1916 at Madras, now Chennai.
Explanation
Annie Besant established her Home Rule League in September 1916 at Madras, now Chennai. IGNOU places this within the Home Rule movement that arose during the First World War and notes that Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak launched separate Home Rule Leagues in 1916. Their work was not overlapping: Tilak's league was assigned Maharashtra, Karnataka, the Central Provinces and Berar, while Annie Besant's league worked in the rest of India. Besant's league was formally inaugurated in September 1916, fixing 1916 as the year asked in the question.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) 1914 marks the start of the First World War context, but the Home Rule Leagues were launched in 1916, not 1914.
- (C) 1917 relates to Annie Besant's later election as Congress president, whereas her Home Rule League had already been formally inaugurated in September 1916.
- (D) 1915 was the year Gandhi returned to India, but the question asks about Besant's Home Rule League, which dates to 1916.
Concept
This tests the chronology of the Home Rule movement within Modern Indian History. RAS often asks such questions because the movement links wartime politics, Congress revival and the shift towards more assertive nationalist mobilisation.