Home › UPSC CSE Mains › 2019 › History
UPSC CSE Mains 2019 — History Questions with Answers
All 76 History previous-year questions from UPSC CSE Mains 2019, each with the correct answer and a full explanation. Practise them as a free, timed mock test with instant scoring.
Practice History as a timed test →- Q1.Revolt of 1857
The 1857 Uprising was the culmination of the recurrent big and small local rebellions that had occurred in the preceding hundred years of British rule. Elucidate.
- Q2.Socio-Religious Reform
Examine the linkages between the nineteenth century's 'Indian Renaissance' and the emergence of national identity.
- Q3.Freedom Struggle
Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian phase. Elaborate.
- Q4.World History
Assess the role of British imperial power in complicating the process of transfer of power during the 1940s.
- Q5.World History
Explain how the foundations of the modern world were laid by the American and French Revolutions.
- Q6.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Brick temple site
- Q7.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Early Harappan site
- Q8.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient seaport and trade centre
- Q9.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Stone age site
- Q10.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Harappan site
- Q11.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Neolithic site
- Q12.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Archaeological site
- Q13.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient capital city
- Q14.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient capital
- Q15.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient inscriptions site
- Q16.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: A Rock-cut cave site
- Q17.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient capital city
- Q18.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Famous temple site
- Q19.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Centre of School of art
- Q20.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Early inscriptional site
- Q21.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient inscriptional site
- Q22.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient education centre
- Q23.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: pre-Harappan site
- Q24.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Chalcolithic period site
- Q25.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following place marked on the map and write a short note of about 30 words on it: Ancient petroglyphs site
- Q26.History Optional — Paper I
Do you agree that archaeological evidence often helps in the better understanding of literary sources? Comment.
- Q27.History Optional — Paper I
The development of art and architecture during the Sunga period belies the belief that they were anti-Buddhist. Discuss.
- Q28.History Optional — Paper I
Did the mastery over agriculture act as a leverage for the rise of Harappan towns and cities? Discuss.
- Q29.History Optional — Paper I
The flourishing international trade during the Kushana period gave tremendous impetus to the development of art. Discuss.
- Q30.History Optional — Paper I
Examine how the transformation of the Varna system from the Rigvedic to the Later-Vedic period affected the position of women.
- Q31.History Optional — Paper I
There is no literary sources for the Harappan culture and no archaeological evidence for the Vedic period. Explain the phenomenon.
- Q32.History Optional — Paper I
Explain how Ashoka used religion as a tool of political aggrandizement.
- Q33.History Optional — Paper I
Do you agree that the system of land grants from the Gupta-Vakataka period was connected with the decentralisation of state in any way?
- Q34.History Optional — Paper I
The discovery of monsoons by Hippalus gave a new direction to Indo-Roman trade during the Satavahana period. Comment.
- Q35.History Optional — Paper I
Discuss how Vijayanagar empire became the cultural capital of the south?
- Q36.History Optional — Paper I
Examine the status of Sanskrit in Mughal India.
- Q37.History Optional — Paper I
Assess the rule of Zainul Abedin in Kashmir.
- Q38.History Optional — Paper I
The economic measures of Alauddin Khalji were aimed at greater political control. Discuss.
- Q39.History Optional — Paper I
Examine the European impact on Mughal paintings.
- Q40.History Optional — Paper I
Assess the statement that 'the philosophy of Shankaracharya revolutionised religious thoughts in India'.
- Q41.History Optional — Paper I
Delineate the state of agriculture during Sultanate period.
- Q42.History Optional — Paper I
Sufi and Bhakti thoughts ennobled Indian psyche amidst the vagaries of time. Elucidate.
- Q43.History Optional — Paper I
The emergence of early capitalism in the Mughal period was primarily due to urbanisation and commercialisation. Comment.
- Q44.History Optional — Paper I
Internal strife and conflict beset with personal ambitions was enough of an invitation for the Ghurids to invade India. Discuss.
- Q45.History Optional — Paper I
The Mughals built like Titans and embellished like jewellers. Comment.
- Q46.History Optional — Paper I
Critically analyse whether the success of the Mughals is to be credited to their robust Jagirdari and Mansabdari system.
- Q47.History Optional — Paper I
It was as much the court intrigues as also the defiance of the provincial powers that hastened the decline of the Mughals in the 18th century. Comment.
- Q48.History Optional — Paper I
Shivaji was not merely a military conqueror but also was an enlightened ruler. Discuss.
- Q49.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "Tipu Sultan was trying to build in Mysore a strong centralised and militarised state, with ambitious territorial design."
- Q50.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "Not until independence, when economic development became a conscious and pursued policy, did the Railways begin to realize their potential for assisting in the transformation of the Indian economy."
- Q51.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "Two important intellectual criteria which informed the reform movements were rationalism and religious universalism."
- Q52.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "… the Kol Insurrection was mainly a war of the tribal inhabitants of Chotanagpur against the non-tribal settlers and service-holders."
- Q53.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "The Cripps Mission was plagued throughout, and ultimately torpedoed."
- Q54.History Optional — Paper II
How far was the drain theory a focal point of nationalist critique of colonialism?
- Q55.History Optional — Paper II
Examine the forces at work for the introduction of western education in India. Analyse the thrust given to it by the Christian Missionaries.
- Q56.History Optional — Paper II
Do you subscribe to the view that Anglo-French tussle in Carnatic demonstrated the internal decay of the provincial chieftains of South India?
- Q57.History Optional — Paper II
How would you explain the major trends of the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal?
- Q58.History Optional — Paper II
Is it justified to say that the Government of India Act of 1935 had all brakes, but no engine?
- Q59.History Optional — Paper II
How far was the widow remarriage movement effective in arousing social concern for Indian women?
- Q60.History Optional — Paper II
Why is the Quit India Movement characterised as a 'Spontaneous Revolution'? Did it accelerate the process of Indian independence?
- Q61.History Optional — Paper II
Assess the role of Subas Chandra Bose in India's struggle for independence.
- Q62.History Optional — Paper II
How did the introduction of Community Development Programme and Panchayati Raj promote welfare of rural India?
- Q63.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "The arguments of the free traders were a curious mixture of economic hard-headedness, social benevolence, cosmopolitan idealism and class prejudice."
- Q64.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "There are many ways in which the war of 1914-18 was unprecedented, and in human history, entirely novel."
- Q65.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "The effectiveness of the League of Nations to prevent or to check Japanese aggression against China was the first serious blow to its prestige as an agency for providing security."
- Q66.History Optional — Paper II
Critically examine the following statement: "Non-alignment came to symbolize the struggle of India and other newly independent nations to retain and strengthen their independence from colonialism and imperialism."
- Q67.History Optional — Paper II
How would you explain the nature of pre-Marxian Socialism?
- Q68.History Optional — Paper II
How did the policies of governments facilitate the process of industrialisation in Europe?
- Q69.History Optional — Paper II
How was Italy transformed from 'a geographical expression' to a nation-state?
- Q70.History Optional — Paper II
How far did the Napoleonic preferential stance to help out the French economy result in embroiling France in continental conflict?
- Q71.History Optional — Paper II
Which factors would you attribute to the British colonial intervention in Malaya in the 19th century? How did Malays react to British colonial rule?
- Q72.History Optional — Paper II
Explain why Latin America was beset with chronic political instability and endemic military conflicts throughout most of the 19th century.
- Q73.History Optional — Paper II
Do you agree with the view that the formation of NATO marked a revolution in American attitude to the world problems?
- Q74.History Optional — Paper II
Do you subscribe to the view that the Greek War of Independence was mired in contrasts of the best and the worst episodes? How did it affect the Concert of Europe?
- Q75.History Optional — Paper II
Was Czechoslovakia served on a dish to Hitler at Munich? What were its implications?
- Q76.History Optional — Paper II
Analyze the role of Egypt after the Second World War in bringing about Arab unity.
UPSC CSE Mains 2019 — other subjects
History — other years
Ready to test yourself on UPSC CSE Mains 2019?
Start the timed mock free →