IPMAT Indore 2023 · Verbal Ability · Question 32

Step 1 — find the opener. Sentence 3 states the accepted historical fact in full, with no connective and no pronoun:

“The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 in the garrison town of Meerut is regarded as the First War of Independence.”

Sentence 1 begins “But”, 4 begins “It”, and 2 begins “Instead” — all three are disqualified from opening.

Step 2 — the correction. Sentence 1: “But the mutiny of Visakhapatnam predates this.” This refers to the 1857 mutiny, and But signals the challenge to the accepted view. It must follow 3.

Step 3 — the date. Sentence 4: “It happened in 1780…” — it is the Visakhapatnam mutiny of sentence 1, and 1780 indeed predates 1857, confirming the claim. Mandatory pair: 1\to 4.

Step 4 — the events. Sentence 2: “Instead of going against their heroic leader, the sepoys attacked the British soldiers…” This only makes sense after 4 has explained that the officers asked the sepoys to fight against Hyder Ali — the “heroic leader” in question.

The sequence:

3\to 1\to 4\to 2

Answer: 3142

Shortcut. The chronology is a trap, not a guide. The paragraph mentions 1857 before 1780, because it moves from the accepted account to the earlier, lesser-known one. Never order a jumble by date alone.

Order it by the argument instead: received view (3) → challenge (1) → evidence (4) → detail (2).

The clinching link is semantic: “their heroic leader” in sentence 2 has no referent until sentence 4 names Hyder Ali. Whenever a sentence uses a definite phrase like their heroic leader, find where that person is introduced — it must come earlier.