History Syllabus UPSC Mains Exam

History Syllabus – Paper 1

Sources

• Archaeological sources

• Exploration, excavation, epigraphy, numismatics, monuments

• Literary sources

• Indigenous →  Primary and secondary; poetry, scientific literature, literature, literature in regional languages, religious literature.
• Foreign accounts →  Greek, Chinese and Arab writers.

Pre-history and Proto-history

• Geographical factors
• Hunting and gathering (paleolithic and mesolithic)
• Beginning of agriculture (neolithic and chalcolithic)

Indus Valley Civilization

• Origin, date, extent, characteristics, decline
• Survival and significance
• Art and architecture

Megalithic Cultures

• Distribution of pastoral and farming cultures outside the Indus,
• Development of community life, Settlements,
• Development of agriculture, Crafts, Pottery, and Iron industry.

Aryans and Vedic Period

• Expansions of Aryans in India
• Vedic Period à Religious and philosophic literature; Transformation from Rig Vedic period to the later Vedic period; Political, social and economical life
• Significance of the Vedic Age; Evolution of Monarchy and Varna system.

Period of Mahajanapadas

• Formation of States (Mahajanapada)

• Republics and monarchies
• Rise of urban centres; Trade routes; Economic growth; Introduction of coinage
• Rise of Magadha and Nandas

• Spread of Jainism and Buddhism
• Iranian and Macedonian invasions and their impact.

Mauryan Empire

• Foundation of the Mauryan Empire
• Chandragupta, Kautilya and Arthashastra;
• Ashoka; Concept of Dharma; Edicts; Polity, Administration; Economy; Art, architecture and sculpture;
• External contacts; Religion; Spread of religion; Literature.
• Disintegration of the empire; Sungas and Kanvas.

Post – Mauryan Period (Indo-Greeks, Sakas, Kushanas, Western Kshatrapas)

• Contact with outside world; growth of urban centres, economy, coinage
• Development of religions, Mahayana, social conditions,
• Art, architecture, culture, literature and science.

Early State and Society in Eastern India, Deccan and South India

• Kharavela, The Satavahanas, Tamil States of the Sangam Age;
• Administration, economy, land grants, coinage, trade guilds and urban centres;
• Buddhist centres; Sangam literature and culture; Art and architecture.

Guptas, Vakatakas and Vardhanas

• Polity and administration, Economic conditions, Coinage of the Guptas, Land grants,
• Decline of urban centres, Indian feudalism, Caste system, Position of women,
• Education and educational institutions; Nalanda, Vikramshila and Vallabhi,
• Literature, scientific literature, art and architecture.

Regional States during Gupta Era

• The Kadambas, Pallavas, Chalukyas of Badami;
• Polity and Administration, Trade guilds, Literature; growth of Vaishnava and Saiva religions.
• Tamil Bhakti movement, Shankaracharya; Vedanta; Institutions of temple and temple architecture;
• Palas, Senas, Rashtrakutas, Paramaras, Polity and administration; Cultural aspects.
• Arab conquest of Sind; Alberuni, The Chalukyas of Kalyana, Cholas, Hoysalas, Pandyas;
• Polity and Administration; local Government; Growth of art and architecture, religious sects,
• Institution of temple and Mathas, Agraharas, education and literature, economy and society.

Themes in Early Indian Cultural History

• Languages and texts, major stages in the evolution of art and architecture
• Major philosophical thinkers and schools, ideas in Science and Mathematics.

Early Medieval India, 750-1200

• Polity à Major political developments in Northern India and the Peninsula
• Origin and the rise of Rajputs – The Cholas → administration, village economy and society
• “Indian Feudalism”
• Agrarian economy and urban settlements
• Trade and commerce
• Society → the status of the Brahman and the new social order
• Condition of women
• Indian science and technology

Cultural Traditions in India, 750-1200

• Philosophy à Skankaracharya and Vedanta, Ramanuja and Vishishtadvaita, Madhva and Brahma-Mimansa
• Religion àForms and features of religion, Tamil devotional cult, growth of Bhakti, Islam and its arrival in India, Sufism
• Literature à Literature in Sanskrit, growth of Tamil literature, literature in the newly developing languages, Kalhan’s Rajtarangini, Alberuni’s India
• Art and Architecture à Temple architecture, sculpture, painting

The Thirteenth Century

• Establishment of the Delhi Sultanate à The Ghurian invasions – factors behind Ghurian success – Economic, social and cultural consequences
• Foundation of Delhi Sultanate and early Turkish Sultans – Consolidation à The rule of Iltutmish and Balban

The Fourteenth Century

• “The Khalji Revolution”
• Alauddin Khalji à Conquests and territtorial expansion, agrarian and economic measures
• Muhammad Tughluq à Major projects, agrarian measures, bureaucracy of Muhammad Tughluq
• Firuz Tughluq à Agrarian measures, achievements in civil engineering and public works, decline of the Sultanate, foreign contacts and Ibn Battuta’s account

Society, Culture and Economy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

• Society → composition of rural society, ruling classes, town dwellers, women, religious classes, caste and slavery under the Sultanate, Bhakti movement, Sufi movement
• Culture → Persian literature, literature in the regional languages of North India, literature in the languages of South India, Sultanate architecture and new structural forms, painting, evolution of a composite culture
• Economy → Agricultural production, rise of urban economy and non-agricultural production, trade and commerce

The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Century – Political Developments and Economy

• Rise of Provincial Dynasties → Bengal, Kashmir (Zainul Abedin), Gujarat, Malwa, Bahmanids
• The Vijayanagra Empire
• Lodis
• Mughal Empire, First phase → Babur and Humayun
• The Sur Empire → Sher Shah’s administration
• Portuguese Colonial enterprise
• Bhakti and Sufi Movements

The Fifteenth and early Sixteenth Century – Society and Culture

• Regional cultural specificities – Literary traditions
• Provincial architecture
• Society, culture, literature and the arts in Vijayanagara Empire.

Akbar

• Conquests and consolidation of the Empire
• Establishment of Jagir and Mansab systems
• Rajput policy
• Evolution of religious and social outlook, theory of Sulh-i-kul and religious policy
• Court patronage of art and technology

Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth Century

• Major administrative policies of Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb
• The Empire and the Zamindars
• Religious policies of Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb
• Nature of the Mughal State
• Late Seventeenth century crisis and the revolts
• The Ahom Kingdom
• Shivaji and the early Maratha Kingdom.

Economy and Society in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

• Population, agricultural production, craft production
• Towns, commerce with Europe through Dutch, English and French companies → a trade revolution – Indian mercantile classes, banking, insurance and credit systems
  – Condition of peasants, condition of women
• Evolution of the Sikh community and the Khalsa Panth

Culture in the Mughal Empire

• Persian histories and other literature
• Hindi and other religious literature
• Mughal architecture
• Mughal painting
• Provincial architecture and painting – Classical music
• Science and technology

The Eighteenth Century

• Factors for the decline of the Mughal Empire
• The regional principalities → Nizam’s Deccan, Bengal, Awadh
• Maratha ascendancy under the Peshwas
• The Maratha fiscal and financial system
• Emergence of Afghan Power, Battle of Panipat → 1761
• State of politics, culture and economy on the eve of the British conquest

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History Syllabus – Paper 11

European Penetration into India

• The Early European Settlements; The Portuguese and the Dutch; The English and the French East India Companies;
• Their struggle for supremacy; Carnatic Wars;
• Bengal -The conflict between the English and the Nawabs of Bengal; Siraj and the English; The Battle of Plassey; Significance of Plassey.

British Expansion in India

• Bengal – Mir Jafar and Mir Kasim; The Battle of Buxar;
• Mysore; The Marathas; The three Anglo-Maratha Wars; The Punjab.

Early Structure of the British Raj

• The early administrative structure; From diarchy to direct control;
• The Regulating Act (1773); The Pitt’s India Act (1784); The Charter Act (1833);
• The voice of free trade and the changing character of British colonial rule;
• The English utilitarian and India.

Economic Impact of British Colonial Rule

• Land revenue settlements in British India;
• The Permanent Settlement;
• Ryotwari Settlement;
• MahalwariSettlement

• Economic impact of the revenue arrangements
• Commercialization of agriculture
• Rise of landless agrarian labourers
• Impoverishment of the rural society

• Dislocation of traditional trade and commerce; De -industrialisation; Decline of traditional crafts; Drain ofwealth;

• Economic transformation of India;
• Railroad and communication network including telegraph and postal services;
• Famine and poverty in the rural interior; European business enterprise and its limitations.

Social and Cultural Developments

• The state of indigenous education, its dislocation; Orientalist-Anglicist controversy, The introduction of western
• Education in India; The rise of press, literature and public opinion; The rise of modern vernacular literature;
• Progress of science; Christian missionary activities in India.

Social and Religious Reform movements in Bengal and Other Areas

• Ram Mohan Roy, The Brahmo Movement; Devendranath Tagore; Iswarchandra Vidyasagar;
• The Young Bengal Movement; Dayanada Saraswati;
• The social reform movements in India including Sati, widow remarriage, child marriage etc.;
• The contribution of Indian renaissance to the growth of modern India;
• Islamic revivalism – the Feraizi and Wahabi Movements.

Indian Response to British Rule

• Peasant movements and tribal uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries including

• the Rangpur Dhing (1783),
• the Kol Rebellion (1832),
• the Mopla Rebellion in Malabar (1841-1920),
• the Santal Hul (1855),
• Indigo Rebellion (1859-60),
• Deccan Uprising (1875)
• the Munda Ulgulan (18991900);

• The Great Revolt of 1857 – Origin, character, causes of failure, the consequences;
• The shift in the character of peasant uprisings in the post-1857 period; the peasant movements of the 1920s and 1930s.

Factors leading to the birth of Indian Nationalism

• Politics of Association; The Foundation of the Indian National Congress;
• The Safety-valve thesis relating to the birth of the Congress;
• Programme and objectives of Early Congress; the social composition of early Congress leadership;
• the Moderates and Extremists;
• The Partition of Bengal (1905); The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal;
• the economic and political aspects of Swadeshi Movement;
• The beginning of revolutionary extremism in India.

Rise of Gandhi

• Character of Gandhian nationalism; Gandhi’s popular appeal;
• Rowlatt Satyagraha; the Khilafat Movement; the Non-cooperation Movement;
• National politics from the end of the Non-cooperation movement to the beginning of the Civil Disobedience movement; the two phases of the Civil Disobedience Movement;
• Simon Commission; The Nehru Report; the Round Table Conferences;
• Nationalism and the Peasant Movements; Nationalism and Working class movements;
• Women and Indian youth and students in Indian politics (1885-1947);
• the election of 1937 and the formation of ministries;
• Cripps Mission; the Quit India Movement; the Wavell Plan; The Cabinet Mission.

Constitutional Developments in the Colonial India between 1858 and 1935

Other strands in the National Movement

• The Revolutionaries → Bengal, the Punjab, Maharashtra, U.P, the Madras Presidency, Outside India.
• The Left; The Left within the Congress → Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, the Congress Socialist Party; the Communist Party of India, other left parties.

Politics of Separatism

• the Muslim League; the Hindu Mahasabha;
• Communalism and the politics of partition;
• Transfer of power; Independence.

Consolidation as a Nation

• Nehru’s Foreign Policy; India and her neighbours (1947-1964);
• The linguistic reorganization of States (1935-1947);
• Regionalism and regional inequality; Integration of Princely States;
• Princes in electoral politics; the Question of National Language.

Caste and Ethnicity after 1947

• Backward castes and tribes in postcolonial electoral politics;
• Dalit movements.

Economic development and political change

• Land reforms; the politics of planning and rural reconstruction;
• Ecology and environmental policy in post – colonial India;
• Progress of science.

Enlightenment and Modern ideas

• Major ideas of Enlightenment → Kant, Rousseau
• Spread of Enlightenment in the colonies
• Rise of socialist ideas (up to Marx); spread of Marxian Socialism.

Origins of Modern Politics

• European States System.
• American Revolution and the Constitution.
• French revolution and aftermath, 17891815.
• American Civil War with reference to Abraham Lincoln and the abolition of slavery.
• British Democratic Politics, 18151850; Parliamentary Reformers, Free Traders, Chartists.

Industrialization

• English Industrial Revolution → Causes and Impact on Society
• Industrialization in other countries → USA, Germany, Russia, Japan
• Industrialization and Globalization.

Nation-State System

• Rise of Nationalism in 19th century
• Nationalism → state-building in Germany and Italy
• Disintegration of Empires in the face of the emergence of nationalities across the world.

Imperialism and Colonialism

• South and South-East Asia
• Latin America and South Africa
• Australia
• Imperialism and free trade → Rise of neo-imperialism.

Revolution and Counter-Revolution

• 19th Century European revolutions
• The Russian Revolution of 19171921
• Fascist Counter-Revolution, Italy and Germany
• The Chinese Revolution of 1949

World Wars

• 1st and 2nd World Wars as Total Wars → Societal implications
• World War I → Causes and consequences
• World War II → Causes and consequence

The World after World War II

• Emergence of two power blocs
• Emergence of Third World and non-alignment
• UNO and the global disputes.

Liberation from Colonial Rule

• Latin America-Bolivar
• Arab World-Egypt
• Africa-Apartheid to Democracy
• South-East Asia-Vietnam

Decolonization and Underdevelopment

• Factors constraining development → Latin America, Africa

Unification of Europe

• Post War Foundations → NATO and European Community
• Consolidation and Expansion of European Community
• European Union.

Disintegration of Soviet Union and the Rise of the Unipolar World

• Factors leading to the collapse of Soviet communism and the Soviet Union, 1985-1991
• Political Changes in Eastern Europe 1989-2001.
• End of the cold war and US ascendancy in the World as the lone superpower.

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