Topic MCQs · General Knowledge
50 MCQs on Pakistan Studies — Black Hole Incident (1756) sit in the GK360 bank, collected from 1 solved papers (2026). Below are the top 50 distinct questions — repeats across papers merged into their strongest version — with the correct answer marked, an explanation where the bank carries one, and the source paper named on every card.
Correct Answer: 1756
The Black Hole incident took place on 20 June 1756, when Siraj-ud-Daulah's forces captured Fort William, Calcutta.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Calcutta (Kolkata)
The incident took place at Fort William in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Siraj-ud-Daulah
Siraj-ud-Daulah was Nawab of Bengal from 1756 to 1757.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: A small prison room
The 'Black Hole' was a small prison cell — the fort's guardroom — in Fort William.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Fort William
Siraj-ud-Daulah captured Fort William, the East India Company's fort at Calcutta, in June 1756.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: 146
According to John Zephaniah Holwell's account, 146 people were confined in the room.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: 23
Holwell's account reports 23 survivors out of the 146 confined; 123 reportedly died.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: 18th century
The incident occurred in 1756, in the 18th century.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Holwell's Narrative
The best-known account is that of John Zephaniah Holwell, a survivor and Company servant.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Fort William
The room was part of Fort William at Calcutta.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: India
Calcutta lies in present-day India (West Bengal).
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: British
The prisoners were servants and associates of the British East India Company.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Bengal
Siraj-ud-Daulah was Nawab of Bengal (which then included Bihar and Orissa).
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Recapture of Calcutta
The incident became the Company's justification for the expedition under Clive and Watson that recaptured Calcutta in January 1757.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: John Zephaniah Holwell
John Zephaniah Holwell, a Company servant and survivor, wrote the famous narrative of the incident.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Hooghly River
Fort William stood on the Hooghly River at Calcutta.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: King George II
George II reigned in Britain from 1727 to 1760, covering June 1756.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Battle of Plassey
Siraj-ud-Daulah was defeated by Clive at Plassey on 23 June 1757, a year after the incident.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Anglo-French rivalry
The incident took place as Anglo-French rivalry in India sharpened on the eve of the Seven Years' War (from 1756); Siraj-ud-Daulah acted amid fears of British fortification against the French.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: British soldiers and civilians
The confined were mainly British soldiers, Company servants and other Europeans at Fort William.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Accuracy of numbers
Historians debate Holwell's figures (146 confined, 123 dead), which rest largely on his single account.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: 18 × 14 feet
Holwell described the room as about 18 feet by 14 feet (14 feet 10 inches in his precise figure).
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: June
The confinement took place overnight on 20–21 June 1756.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Bengal
The incident stiffened the Company's resolve to reassert and expand its power in Bengal.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Siraj-ud-Daulah
Siraj-ud-Daulah — 'Lamp of the State' — was the Nawab's regnal title; his birth name was Mirza Muhammad.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: New Fort William
After recapturing Calcutta, the British built the new Fort William (begun 1758) on a new site.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Battle of Plassey (1757)
The incident (June 1756) preceded the Battle of Plassey (23 June 1757).
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Robert Clive
Robert Clive led the expedition that recaptured Calcutta in January 1757.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Extreme heat and suffocation
Holwell's account describes extreme heat, crowding and suffocation through the June night.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: History
The incident is a standard topic in the history of British India.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Alamgir II
Alamgir II was Mughal emperor from 1754 to 1759; Bengal's Nawab ruled under his nominal suzerainty.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: British East India Company
Fort William was the British East India Company's settlement at Calcutta.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Expansion of British influence
The incident and its aftermath marked a turn toward the expansion of British influence in Bengal.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Air and water
Holwell's account stresses the denial of air and water in the crowded, sealed room.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: 1756
Fort William fell to Siraj-ud-Daulah's forces on 20 June 1756.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Exaggeration claims
Critics argue Holwell exaggerated the death toll and the horrors to justify British retaliation.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Bengal Delta
The British retaliation campaign operated across Bengal and its delta region.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Calcutta
The aftermath led to the British recapture of Calcutta and, after Plassey, effective control of Bengal.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: British
Holwell's narrative was widely circulated by the British as justification for their Bengal campaigns.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Murshidabad
Murshidabad was the capital of the Nawabs of Bengal.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Mughal Empire
By 1756 the Mughal Empire was in decline, with Bengal effectively autonomous under its Nawab.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: The Black Hole of Calcutta
'The Black Hole of Calcutta' is the conventional name for the incident.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: King William III
Fort William was named after King William III (reigned 1689–1702).
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Robert Clive
The incident spurred Clive's Bengal campaign, culminating at Plassey in 1757.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Night
The confinement lasted through the night of 20–21 June 1756.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: 123
Holwell's account reports 123 deaths out of the 146 confined, leaving 23 survivors.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Imperial propaganda
The episode is often cited as an example of imperial propaganda used to justify conquest.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Bengal
The incident belongs to the history of Bengal under the Nawabs and the East India Company.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Guardroom
The room was the fort's guardroom, used as a military prison cell.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Treaty of Alinagar
The Treaty of Alinagar (9 February 1757) followed the recapture of Calcutta and restored the Company's position in Bengal.
From: Black Hole Incident 1756 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
The bank holds 50 questions tagged "Pakistan Studies — Black Hole Incident (1756)" under General Knowledge, drawn from 1 solved papers (2026). After merging the same question asked in multiple papers, 50 are distinct; this page shows the top 50.
They are pulled from the solved papers in the GK360 archive — PMS papers among them — and every card on this page names its source paper and year, so you can open the full paper from the Past Papers archive.
Yes — 50 of the 50 questions shown carry a written explanation under the answer; the rest show the verified correct answer for revision. Every answer passed GK360's three-way check (printed key, worked material, standard fact).
Work through the questions on this page first, note the ones you miss, then attempt the same topic under a timer with the "Practice this topic" button above — it starts a timed Quiz Builder attempt on this exact subject and topic right away.
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