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UPSC CSE Mains 2024 — History Questions with Answers
All 53 History previous-year questions from UPSC CSE Mains 2024, 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.Freedom Struggle
What were the events that led to the Quit India Movement? Point out its results.
- Q2.World History
How far is it correct to say that the First World War was fought essentially for the preservation of balance of power?
- Q3.History Optional — Paper I
Identify the following places marked on the map supplied to you and write a short note of about 30 words on each of them in your Question-cum-Answer Booklet. Locational hints for each of the places marked on the map are given below seriatim: (i) Prehistoric site (ii) Area of petroglyphs (iii) Neolithic site (iv) Harappan site (v) Buddhist monastery (vi) Chalcolithic site (vii) Neo-Chalcolithic site (viii) Megalithic site with rock art (ix) One of the Mahajanapadas' capital and associated with Buddha's miracle (x) Hominid fossil find site (xi) Major rock edict of Ashoka (xii) Ancient trade centre (xiii) Stone inscription recording land grants with tax exemptions (xiv) Shiva temples named after family relationships (xv) Place of art-related inscription (xvi) Place of inscription of three languages (xvii) Temple site where three styles of temple architecture are found (xviii) Jain pilgrimage site (xix) Shiva temple of Gupta period (xx) Megalithic monumental site
- Q4.History Optional — Paper I
Harappan art contributes to our understanding of their aesthetic sensibilities in addition to spiritual and ritualistic life. Comment.
- Q5.History Optional — Paper I
Discuss different types of Megalithic burial practices in India. How far does the archaeological evidence from it help us to know the religious beliefs and cultural practices?
- Q6.History Optional — Paper I
Western Kshatrapas are known for their socio-economic contribution, particularly in trade, agriculture and urbanization. Examine the statement.
- Q7.History Optional — Paper I
Symbiotic relationships between Buddhist establishments traders, artisan guilds, and royal support led to a close proximity of religion economy and Polity in the Mauryan and post-Mauryan periods. Examine the statement.
- Q8.History Optional — Paper I
Discuss the role of Buddhism in shaping the socio-religious landscape of Mauryan Empire.
- Q9.History Optional — Paper I
Discuss the evolution of State institution and taxation system from Rigvedic period to later Vedic period.
- Q10.History Optional — Paper I
Highlight the contributions of Aryabhatta, Varahamihira and Brahmagupta in the fields of Astronomy and Mathematics.
- Q11.History Optional — Paper I
Examine the course of Pallava-Chalukya conflicts between sixth and eighth century CE.
- Q12.History Optional — Paper I
Examine the role played by the Agraharas in the promotion of education in the early medieval India.
- Q13.History Optional — Paper I
Illustrate the main features of Vesara style temple architecture.
- Q14.History Optional — Paper I
Evaluate Firuz Shah Tughluq's economic policies.
- Q15.History Optional — Paper I
Evaluate the contribution of Qalandariyyah to medieval Indian culture.
- Q16.History Optional — Paper I
Discuss the main features of Malwa school of painting with examples.
- Q17.History Optional — Paper I
Highlight the features of Portuguese colonial enterprise.
- Q18.History Optional — Paper I
Analyze the contributions of Acharya Triumvirate to Indian Vedanta.
- Q19.History Optional — Paper I
Compare and contrast the position of Hindu and Muslim women in 13th and 14th century India.
- Q20.History Optional — Paper I
Examine the causes and consequences of peasants uprising during the reign of Aurangzeb.
- Q21.History Optional — Paper I
"Instead of bringing credit, the Ibadat Khana brought growing discredit to Akbar." Comment.
- Q22.History Optional — Paper I
How did the Maratha guerrilla Warfare tactics contribute to their military successes against larger and more established armies?
- Q23.History Optional — Paper I
Examine the role of Asaf Jahi Dynasty in the political transformation of the State of Hyderabad.
- Q24.History Optional — Paper I
Discuss the contributions of Bahmani Sultans to the development of Indo-Islamic architecture.
- Q25.History Optional — Paper I
Evaluate the impact of the Third Battle of Panipat on the political economy of 18th century India.
- Q26.History Optional — Paper I
Examine the process of urbanization caused by the establishment of European trading companies in India.
- Q27.History Optional — Paper II
After the battle of Plassey, the mercenary became the Kingmaker.
- Q28.History Optional — Paper II
The values of utilitarianism prompted the Company administration to attempt reform of Indian society.
- Q29.History Optional — Paper II
In course of the 19th century, the agenda of social reform was gradually replaced by revivalism.
- Q30.History Optional — Paper II
The federal provisions of the Government of India Act of 1935 foundered on the rock of princely intransigence.
- Q31.History Optional — Paper II
The strength of the Pakistan programme was its vagueness. It meant everything to everyone.
- Q32.History Optional — Paper II
The pace of commercialisation of agriculture increased as a result of British revenue policies in India. Critically examine.
- Q33.History Optional — Paper II
Why was the Great Revolt of 1857 confined only to North India? How did it change the character of British rule in the subcontinent? Explain
- Q34.History Optional — Paper II
Why did the demand for land reform never become an agenda in national politics after 1947? Elucidate.
- Q35.History Optional — Paper II
Political extremism in colonial India often converged with cultural nationalism, but not always. Comment.
- Q36.History Optional — Paper II
Regionalism in India after 1947 was occasioned by developmental imperatives as much as linguistic particularism. – Elucidate.
- Q37.History Optional — Paper II
Twenty years of peace secured by the treaty of Salbai proved very costly to the Marathas in strategic terms. – Elucidate.
- Q38.History Optional — Paper II
The Swadeshi movement of 1905 anticipated many of the tactics that were later developed during the Gandhian mass movement. – Critically examine.
- Q39.History Optional — Paper II
The trade union movement joined forces with the mainstream of nationalist politics to strengthen each other in their struggle against colonial rule. – Comment.
- Q40.History Optional — Paper II
India's developmental strategy after independence was influenced by economic imperatives, not ideological considerations. – Comment.
- Q41.History Optional — Paper II
The ideas raised by Enlightenment thinkers were profoundly unsettling and challenging to old regime society and political order.
- Q42.History Optional — Paper II
The American Civil War was a result of disparity of needs of industrial north and agrarian south.
- Q43.History Optional — Paper II
The unification of Germany was as much a product of coal and iron as it was of blood and iron.
- Q44.History Optional — Paper II
The revolutions of (1989) did not simply destroy governments; they also ended an ideology.
- Q45.History Optional — Paper II
The course of the English industrialization was too long drawn to be considered a revolution. Comment
- Q46.History Optional — Paper II
The social and political landscape of Europe after the first world war was uniquely suited to the rise of Fascism. Discuss.
- Q47.History Optional — Paper II
The state was the most important factor in the industrialization of Russia. Comment.
- Q48.History Optional — Paper II
The second world war was a truly global conflict. Discuss
- Q49.History Optional — Paper II
Trace the different stages of European economic integration.
- Q50.History Optional — Paper II
The nature of apartheid regime undermined South Africa's claim of being a democratic polity.
- Q51.History Optional — Paper II
The emergence of two power blocs not only symbolised two competing ideologies but also two alternative models of economic growth. Explain.
- Q52.History Optional — Paper II
To what extent underdevelopment in Latin America is caused by neo-imperialism?
- Q53.History Optional — Paper II
How did Ho Chi Minh emerge as the central figure in the Vietnamese independence movement?
UPSC CSE Mains 2024 — other subjects
History — other years
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