RAS question
Begum Hazrat Mahal led the revolt of 1857 in which city?
Correct answer: (C) Lucknow.
Begum Hazrat Mahal led the Revolt of 1857 in Lucknow and proclaimed her son Birjis Qadr as the ruler of Awadh.
Explanation
Begum Hazrat Mahal is linked with the Lucknow centre of the Revolt of 1857. She was the wife of the deposed Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah, and led the revolt in Lucknow. Her political act was not only military leadership: she also proclaimed her son, Birjis Qadr, as the ruler of Awadh. That is why Lucknow is the substantive answer, not merely a place-name guess. The other options point to different centres and leaders of the same uprising, so the question tests whether the candidate can match the 1857 revolt’s regional leadership correctly.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Delhi is wrong because the question’s leadership clue is Begum Hazrat Mahal, while Delhi was under Bahadur Shah Zafar.
- (B) Kanpur is wrong because that centre was associated with Nana Sahib, not Begum Hazrat Mahal.
- (D) Jhansi is wrong because it was under Rani Lakshmibai, whereas Begum Hazrat Mahal led the revolt in Lucknow.
Concept
This tests the Modern Indian History theme of the Revolt of 1857, especially matching centres with their local leaders. It recurs in RAS because 1857 questions often distinguish similar-looking city-leader pairs rather than asking broad narrative history.