Question

When was Akali Dal formed?

• A. Year 1920
• B. Year 1936
• C. Year 1994
• D. Year 1963

Hint:

Recall that the Shiromani Akali Dal was created as the enforcement wing for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee during the Punjab Gurdwara Reform Movement. If you can place the founding of that committee on the timeline, the Akali Dal falls in the same year.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Recall the origin of the Akali Dal. The Akali Dal, officially known as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), is a prominent political organization associated with the Sikh community in Punjab.

Step 2: Identify the year of formation. The Shiromani Akali Dal was established in: \[ \boxed{1920} \] during the Gurdwara Reform Movement.

Step 3: Understand its objective. The party was formed to:
• Protect Sikh religious interests
• Support the Gurdwara Reform Movement
• Represent Sikh political aspirations Therefore, \[ \boxed{1920} \] is the correct year of formation. Hence, the correct answer is: \[ \boxed{\text{(A)}} \]

Answer 2

Concept:

• Many important dates in the Indian freedom movement cluster around specific reform campaigns, so anchoring an unfamiliar date to a well known companion event is far more reliable than memorising isolated years.
• The Shiromani Akali Dal emerged directly out of the Punjab Gurdwara Reform Movement of the early 1920s.

Step 1: Identify the parent movement.
In November 1920, Sikh reformers formed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to take control of gurdwara management away from corrupt hereditary mahants.

Step 2: Identify the organisation formed to support it.
Within weeks of the SGPC being formed, the Akali Dal was created in December 1920 as its trained volunteer wing, tasked with enforcing the reform on the ground.

Step 3: Eliminate the remaining options using the same timeline.
Year 1936 falls in a later phase of the freedom movement tied to provincial elections, not the Gurdwara Reform campaign. Year 1963 and Year 1994 belong to post-independence Punjab politics, long after the Akali Dal already existed, so neither can be its founding year.

Final Answer: Year 1920.