Question

Fill in the blank with the appropriate word from the options given below:
The Government of India pressurised the Government of _________ to set-up a commission of enquiry to investigate into the causes of the ‘Deccan Riots'.

• A. Calcutta
• B. Madras
• C. Delhi
• D. Bombay

Hint:

The Deccan Riots (1875) happened in the districts of Pune and Ahmedgar, which were part of the Bombay Presidency. Thus, the Bombay government was the body tasked with running the official inquiry.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Concept: Agrarian unrest in British India often forced the colonial administration to set up investigative committees to address systemic flaws in land revenue frameworks before local uprisings could spread further.

Step 1: Contextualizing the Deccan Riots.
In May 1875, an agrarian revolt erupted in the village of Supa in the Pune district of Maharashtra, spreading quickly across the rural Deccan. Peasant farmers (*ryots*) rose up in armed protest against local moneylenders (*sahukars*), systematically burning debt bonds, account ledgers, and property documents.

Step 2: Identifying the responsible provincial administration.
The affected districts fell directly under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bombay Presidency. Terrified by the intensity of the rural uprising and its potential to spark a wider revolt, the central Government of India forced the provincial Government of Bombay to form an official investigative body.

Step 3: Alyzing the historical outcome.
This directive led to the formation of the Deccan Riots Commission, which compiled an exhaustive report presented to the British Parliament in 1878. This report eventually formed the basis for the *Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act of 1879*. This confirms Option (D) as the correct choice.