History — UPSC Mains Optional PYQ (2023–2025)

(a) “The Sikh monarchy was Napoleonic in the suddenness of its rise, the brilliancy of its success and the completeness of its overthrow.” [10M]

(b) “The seeds of domestic dissensions were thickly and deeply sown in the Maratha system under the Peshwas.” [10M]

(c) “Bhagat Singh and his comrades significantly expanded the meaning and scope of revolution, redefining it beyond mere political upheaval to include social and ideological transformation.” [10M]

(d) “The significant feature of the Indian Councils Act of 1892 was the principle of election which it introduced, though the word ‘election’ was very carefully avoided in it.” [10M]

(e) “The colonial rule opened the Indian markets for British-manufactured goods and led to ‘deindustrialization’ or destruction of indigenous handicraft industries.” [10M]

(a) “The French Revolution started and led to the victory in its first phase by the aristocracy.” [10M]

(b) “With the Reform Act of 1832 began an activity in reconstructing legislation to which there had been no parallel in British history.” [10M]

(c) “The First World War did not produce just political consequences, it also had a deep impact on the ways of thinking.” [10M]

(d) “In the Soviet Union, as also in China, there was a strong belief that anti-imperial movements in the colonies would result in their moving into the socialist orbit.” [10M]

(e) “The pre-Marxian socialist thinkers envisioned socialist societies without fully considering the practical mechanisms for achieving or maintaining them.” [10M]

(a) After the battle of Plassey, the mercenary became the Kingmaker. [10M]

(b) The values of utilitarianism prompted the Company administration to attempt reform of Indian society. [10M]

(c) In course of the 19th century, the agenda of social reform was gradually replaced by revivalism. [10M]

(d) The federal provisions of the Government of India Act of 1935 foundered on the rock of princely intransigence. [10M]

(e) The strength of the Pakistan programme was its vagueness. It meant everything to everyone. [10M]

(a) Illustrate the main features of Vesara style temple architecture. [10M]

(b) Evaluate Firuz Shah Tughluq’s economic policies. [10M]

(c) Evaluate the contribution of Qalandariyyah to medieval Indian culture. [10M]

(d) Discuss the main features of Malwa school of painting with examples. [10M]

(e) Highlight the features of Portuguese colonial enterprise. [10M]

(a) The ideas raised by Enlightenment thinkers were profoundly unsettling and challenging to old regime society and political order. [10M]

(b) The American Civil War was a result of disparity of needs of industrial north and agrarian south. [10M]

(c) The unification of Germany was as much a product of coal and iron as it was of blood and iron. [10M]

(d) The new regime in China addressed the peasant question by instituting wholesale land redistribution, which was carried out swiftly and ruthlessly. [10M]

(e) The revolutions of 1989 did not simply destroy governments; they also ended an ideology. [10M]

(a) "Colonialism had a twisted logic of its own for commercialization. It emerges on analysis to have been often an artificial and forced process." [10M]

(b) After 1857, "the peasants emerged as the main force in agrarian movements." [10M]

(c) "Awakened political consciousness of Indian masses, bound with dishonourable and cowardly insults of the British led to the movement of Non-Cooperation." [10M]

(d) When Gandhiji launched the Civil Disobedience Movement he was "desperately in search of an effective formula." [10M]

(e) "If abdication of British responsibility at the time of transfer of power was callous, the speed with which it was done made it worse." [10M]

(a) Discuss the various proponents of Indian feudalism. [10M]

(b) Examine the defects in Alberuni’s assessment of the Indian society. [10M]

(c) Discuss the importance of Sufic literature as an important source of history. [10M]

(d) What factors do you attribute for the decline of the Delhi Sultanate? [10M]

(e) The motive of Alauddin Khalji’s agrarian policy was to curb the powers of the intermediaries. Examine the measures which he adopted to achieve his objective. [10M]

(a) "The American War of Independence finally ended in 1783 when Britain acknowledged the independence of the United States of America." [10M]

(b) "The Chartist Movement not only fulfilled some of the demands of the middle class, but its ramifications were felt among the working class and the colonies as well." [10M]

(c) "The Revolutions of 1848 were shaped by the ideas of democracy and nationalism." [10M]

(d) "The British imperialism in South Africa from 1867 to 1902 was influenced to a large extent by the capitalist mining of diamonds." [10M]

(e) "The supremacy of USA after the end of Cold War had its challenges as well." [10M]