Question

UPSC Prelims 2018 Question:

He wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shrikrishna; stayed in America for some time; and was also elected to the Central Assembly. He was:

1. Aurobindo Ghosh
2. Bipin Chandra Pal
3. Lala Lajpat Rai
4. Motilal Nehru

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 3: Lala Lajpat Rai

Detailed Solution

Explanation:

Lala Lajpat Rai was a prolific writer and authored several works like – “Unhappy India”, “Young India: An Interpretation”, “History of Arya Samaj”, “England’s Debt to India” and a series of popular biographies on Mazzini, Garibaldi and Swami Dayanand.
He founded the Punjab National Bank, the Lakshmi Insurance Company and the Servants of the Peoples Society at Lahore.
During World War I, Lajpat Rai lived in the United States, where he founded the Indian Home Rule League of America (1917) in New York City.
He returned to India in early 1920, and later that year he led a special session of the Congress Party that launched Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation movement. Imprisoned from 1921 to 1923, he was elected to the legislative assembly on his release.

Therefore, option (3) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | Important Personalities

Latest UPSC Exam 2026 Updates

Last updated on Sep, 2026

→ UPSC 2027 Notification will be released on 13 January 2027 at upsconline.nic.in.

Tags: factual UPSC Prelims 2018 UPSC Prelims 2018 Question

Prafulla Vats

Prafulla Vats is an experienced SEO and content strategist with over 4 years of expertise in driving organic growth across education and service niches. He specializes in crafting data-driven content strategies that help students and professionals access accurate, well-researched information. Through his work, he focuses on improving visibility, engagement, and trust through high-quality, SEO-optimized content.