UPSC Mains 2024 History Optional Question Papers with Model Answers

All 52 questions of the 2024 Civil Services Main Examination, History Paper I and History Paper II, with marks and a suggested time per part. Solve each part on paper first, then open the model answer, or send it to answer-writing practice for evaluation.

UPSC Mains 2024 History Paper I

Question 1 (50 marks)

Q1 · Historical Sites for the Map Question · 50 marks≈ 36 min
How to Prepare the Map Question
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.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
आपको दिए गए मानचित्र पर अंकित निम्नलिखित स्थानों की पहचान कीजिए एवं अपनी प्रश्न-सह-उत्तर पुस्तिका में उनमें से प्रत्येक पर लगभग 30 शब्दों की संक्षिप्त टिप्पणी लिखिए। मानचित्र पर अंकित प्रत्येक स्थान के लिए स्थान-निर्धारण संकेत क्रमानुसार नीचे दिए गए हैं : (i) प्रागैतिहासिक स्थल; (ii) शैलोत्कीर्ण का क्षेत्र; (iii) नवपाषाणकालीन स्थल; (iv) हड़प्पाकालीन स्थल; (v) बौद्ध विहार; (vi) ताम्रपाषाणकालीन स्थल; (vii) नवपाषाण और ताम्रपाषाणकालीन स्थल; (viii) महापाषाणकालीन शैलचित्रयुक्त स्थल; (ix) महाजनपदीय राजधानी व बुद्ध चमत्कार से सम्बद्ध; (x) प्राचीन मानव जीवाश्म प्राप्त स्थल; (xi) अशोक का मुख्य शिलालेख; (xii) प्राचीन व्यापारिक केन्द्र; (xiii) करमुक्त भूमि अनुदान को दर्ज करने वाला शिलालेख; (xiv) पारिवारिक रिश्तों के नामकरणवाला शिवमंदिर समूह; (xv) कला-सम्बद्ध अभिलेख स्थल; (xvi) तीन भाषाओं का अभिलेख स्थल; (xvii) मंदिर स्थापत्य की तीनों शैलियों के उदाहरण मिलनेवाला मंदिर स्थल; (xviii) जैन तीर्थस्थान; (xix) गुप्तकालीन शिवमंदिर; (xx) महापाषाणीय स्मारक क्षेत्र.
Practise this question Historical Sites for the Map Question notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q1 (20 places, 2.5 marks each)
Approach: Identify each marked place from its clue and its position on the map, then write about 30 words on it: where it is, its period, and what was found or what happened there.
(i) Prehistoric site: Gudahandi, Odisha (Kalahandi) — Hill site with rock shelters bearing prehistoric paintings in red and black of geometric designs and animals, along with stone tools; part of the rich prehistoric rock art of western Odisha.
(ii) Area of petroglyphs: Konkan geoglyphs (Ratnagiri), Maharashtra (Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg) — Laterite plateaus with hundreds of petroglyphs, or geoglyphs, of animals, humans and geometric forms at sites such as Barsu and Devache Gothane, attributed to prehistoric times and placed on UNESCO's tentative list.
(iii) Neolithic site: Barudih, Jharkhand (Singhbhum region) — Neolithic site of the Chota Nagpur plateau that yielded polished stone celts, ring-stones and handmade pottery, among the main evidence for early farming communities in the Singhbhum region.
(iv) Harappan site: Rakhigarhi, Haryana (Hisar) — Largest Harappan site in India, in the Ghaggar plain, with Early to Mature Harappan phases, fire altars, a cemetery and bead workshops; ancient DNA from a burial published in 2019 showed no Steppe ancestry.
(v) Buddhist monastery: Moghalmari, West Bengal (Paschim Medinipur) — Large Buddhist monastery (c. 6th to 12th century) excavated by Calcutta University from 2003; stucco figures, bronzes and sealings bearing the name of the vihara mark it as a major monastic centre near Tamralipti.
(vi) Chalcolithic site: Navdatoli, Madhya Pradesh (Khargone) — Chalcolithic village on the Narmada opposite Maheshwar, excavated by H.D. Sankalia in the 1950s; Malwa ware, round and square huts, wheat, rice, lentils, copper objects and microlithic blades show a farming culture of the 2nd millennium BCE. (identification from the map uncertain; other sites matching the clue: Kayatha)
(vii) Neo-Chalcolithic site: Jodhpura, Rajasthan (Jaipur) — Site on the Sabi river belonging to the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura copper-using culture, with Ochre Coloured Pottery, copper objects and later Painted Grey Ware levels; it links Chalcolithic Rajasthan with the Khetri copper zone.
(viii) Megalithic site with rock art: Kumittipathi, Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore) — Rock shelter near Madukkarai with white-painted figures of people, animals and a procession, attributed to megalithic communities of the Kongu region, whose cairns and urn burials lie in the same area. (identification from the map uncertain; other sites matching the clue: Mallapadi, Chandrapuram)
(ix) One of the Mahajanapadas’ capital and associated with Buddha’s miracle: Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh (Shravasti) — Capital of the Kosala mahajanapada; the Buddha spent many rainy seasons at the Jetavana gifted by Anathapindika and performed the Twin Miracle here; its ruins are at Saheth-Maheth.
(x) Hominid fossil find site: Hathnora, Madhya Pradesh (Sehore) — On the Narmada, where Arun Sonakia found the Narmada hominin skull in 1982, the only Middle Pleistocene hominin fossil from India (archaic Homo), found with Acheulian tools.
(xi) Major rock edict of Ashoka: Kalsi, Uttarakhand (Dehradun) — At the Yamuna-Tons confluence a quartz boulder bears Ashoka's fourteen Major Rock Edicts with an incised elephant labelled gajatame; it is the only Major Rock Edict in the Himalayan region.
(xii) Ancient trade centre: Dantapuram, Andhra Pradesh (Srikakulam) — Identified with Dantapura, an early capital of Kalinga linked in Buddhist tradition with the tooth relic; excavations revealed a fortified early historic settlement, a Buddhist stupa and finds of long-distance trade.
(xiii) Stone inscription recording land grants with tax exemptions: Nashik (Pandavleni caves), Maharashtra (Nashik) — Cave inscriptions of Gautamiputra Satakarni and Vasishthiputra Pulumavi record grants of land to Buddhist monks with immunities from royal officers and soldiers, early evidence of tax-exempt land grants.
(xiv) Shiva temples named after family relationships: Tala, Chhattisgarh (Bilaspur) — Site of the Devrani-Jethani temples (c. 6th century), two Shiva temples named after sisters-in-law; the Jethani temple is ruined, and a colossal Rudra-Shiva image was found near the Devrani temple. (identification from the map uncertain; other sites matching the clue: Sirpur, Barsur (Mama-Bhanja temple))
(xv) Place of art-related inscription: Kudumiyamalai, Tamil Nadu (Pudukkottai) — Rock-cut Shiva shrine with the famous music inscription (c. 7th century) giving notation for the seven-stringed vina, usually attributed to the Pallava king Mahendravarman I; a key source for early South Indian music. (identification from the map uncertain; other sites matching the clue: Sittanavasal, Mamandur)
(xvi) Place of inscription of three languages: Maski, Karnataka (Raichur) — Site of Ashoka's Minor Rock Edict, the first to name the emperor as Devanampiya Asoka, discovered in 1915; the site also has Neolithic, megalithic and early historic remains and later records.
(xvii) Temple site where three styles of temple architecture are found: Pattadakal, Karnataka (Bagalkot) — UNESCO site on the Malaprabha where Chalukya temples show Nagara and Dravida styles side by side; the Virupaksha temple was built by queen Lokamahadevi (c. 740) after Vikramaditya II's victory over the Pallavas.
(xviii) Jain pilgrimage site: Palitana (Shatrunjaya hill), Gujarat (Bhavnagar) — The holiest Shvetambara Jain tirtha, with over 800 temples on Shatrunjaya hill associated with Rishabhanatha; most shrines were rebuilt from the 16th century onwards under merchant patronage.
(xix) Shiva temple of Gupta period: Dah Parbatiya, Assam (Sonitpur, near Tezpur) — Ruins of a Gupta-period Shiva temple (c. 5th to 6th century) whose carved stone doorframe shows the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna; it is the oldest surviving sculptural relic of Assam.
(xx) Megalithic monumental site: Vangchhia (Kawtchhuah Ropui), Mizoram (Champhai) — Megalithic site with hundreds of menhirs and memorial stones engraved with human figures, animals and weapons, besides rock-cut pools; it is the first ASI-protected archaeological site in Mizoram.

Question 2 (50 marks)

Q2(a) · Sources, Prehistory and the Indus Civilization · 20 marks≈ 14 min
Harappan Art, Architecture, Decline, Survival and Significance
Harappan art contributes to our understanding of their aesthetic sensibilities in addition to spiritual and ritualistic life. Comment.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
हड़प्पा कला आध्यात्मिक और आनुष्ठानिक जीवन के साथ-साथ उनकी सौंदर्य-सम्बन्धी संवेदनाओं को भी समझने में योगदान करती है। टिप्पणी कीजिए।
Practise this question Sources, Prehistory and the Indus Civilization notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q2(a)
Approach: Comment on both functions of Harappan art: first its aesthetic qualities in sculpture, seals, pottery and ornaments, then what it reveals of belief and ritual, noting that religious readings are inferences since the script is undeciphered.
With the Harappan script undeciphered, art and artefacts are our main window into Harappan minds. They reveal both a refined aesthetic sensibility and, more tentatively, the spiritual and ritual life of the people.
Aesthetic sensibility in sculpture: the bronze dancing girl from Mohenjodaro, made by the lost-wax method, shows a lively, confident stance. The red sandstone torso from Harappa is so naturalistic that John Marshall found it hard to believe it was prehistoric, and the stone priest-king bust shows careful detail in its trefoil-patterned robe.
Seals, pottery and ornament: the steatite seals show a sure handling of animal anatomy in a tiny space. Pottery painted in black on red with pipal leaves, fish-scales and intersecting circles, long carnelian beads reveal a taste for pattern, colour and fine finish.
Spiritual life: terracotta female figurines have been read as mother goddesses, suggesting a fertility cult. The seated figure surrounded by animals on the so-called Pashupati seal was taken by Marshall as a proto-Shiva, a reading Doris Srinivasan and others question.
Ritual life: seals showing a figure in a pipal tree with a kneeling worshipper and a procession, the 'sacred brazier' placed before the unicorn point to ritual use. Beyond art, the Great Bath suggests ritual bathing and the fire altars of Kalibangan and Lothal suggest fire rituals.
Caution: these religious meanings are inferred by analogy with later Hindu practice, and terms such as priest-king and mother goddess are modern labels, so they should be presented as probable rather than proven.
Harappan art thus combines aesthetic refinement with ritual meaning; its small, finely made objects show a society that valued both beauty and belief, even if its gods remain unnamed.
Q2(b) · Megaliths, the Vedic Age and the Mahajanapadas · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Megalithic Cultures of Peninsular and Central India
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?
हिंदी में प्रश्न
भारत में विभिन्न प्रकार की महापाषाणिक शवाधान प्रथाओं पर चर्चा कीजिए। इससे प्राप्त पुरातात्त्विक साक्ष्य हमें धार्मिक मान्यताओं और सांस्कृतिक प्रथाओं को जानने में कितनी मदद करते हैं?
Practise this question Megaliths, the Vedic Age and the Mahajanapadas notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q2(b)
Approach: Two demands: describe the main types of megalithic burial with sites, then judge how far the graves reveal beliefs and practices, noting the limits of mute evidence.
Megaliths are burials or memorials marked by large stones, built in peninsular and central India mainly from c. 1200–1000 BCE to the early centuries CE.
Types: cairn circles and stone circles (Brahmagiri, Maski, Junapani in Vidarbha); cists of stone slabs, often with a port-hole (Hire Benakal, Sanur); dolmens; pit burials; urn burials without stone markers (Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu); terracotta sarcophagi; and in Kerala rock-cut chambers, topikal (hood stones) and kudakkal (umbrella stones). Menhirs stand alone as memorials.
Beliefs: the care taken over the dead points to a belief in life after death. Graves hold pots of food, iron weapons, tools and ornaments for the dead. Fractional burials, in which bones were collected after exposure, show a two-stage ritual.
Cultural practices: horse bones and horse ornaments in Vidarbha graves suggest a cult of the horse and pastoral habits. Richer graves at Adichanallur and Kodumanal reveal ranking, and the labour needed to move huge stones shows organised communities. Sangam poems later mention urn burial and hero stones.
Limits: without texts the graves cannot name gods or explain rites; Upinder Singh warns against reading them as one system. Megalithic evidence thus reveals a strong cult of the dead and social ranking, but only the outlines of belief.
Q2(c) · The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan World · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Indo-Greeks, Sakas, Kushanas and Western Kshatrapas
Western Kshatrapas are known for their socio-economic contribution, particularly in trade, agriculture and urbanization. Examine the statement.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
पश्चिमी क्षत्रप अपने सामाजिक-आर्थिक योगदान के लिए जाने जाते हैं, विशेषकर व्यापार, कृषि एवं नगरीकरण में। कथन का परीक्षण कीजिए।
Practise this question The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan World notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q2(c)
Approach: Examine the claim under its three heads, trade, agriculture and urbanisation, with inscriptional, numismatic and textual evidence, and note the limits of the evidence and other actors.
The Western Kshatrapas, Saka rulers of Gujarat, Malwa and parts of Maharashtra, included the Kshaharata line of Nahapana and the Kardamaka line of Chashtana and Rudradaman. They ruled from the first to the fourth century CE.
Trade: their domain included Barygaza (Bharuch), the chief port of the western coast in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, and the routes from Ujjain to the sea. Their silver coins, dated in the Saka era and the earliest regularly dated coins in India, served trade for three centuries. Nahapana's son-in-law Ushavadata invested endowments with weavers' guilds at Govardhana near Nasik, and his inscriptions record the interest rates, which shows organised credit.
Agriculture: Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription (150 CE) records that he repaired the Sudarshana lake, first built under Chandragupta Maurya, after a storm breached it. It says he did so from his own treasury, without forced labour or extra taxes. Ushavadata also gifted fields, rest houses and ferries.
Urbanisation: Ujjain, Bharuch and Junagadh flourished. The Nasik and Karle caves, with their merchant donors, reflect the wealth of the routes.
Limits: much of the credit belongs to Satavahana rivals and to merchants themselves, and the inscriptions praise rulers.
The statement is broadly valid: the Kshatrapas protected and promoted the commercial and agrarian economy of western India.

Question 3 (50 marks)

Q3(a) · The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan World · 20 marks≈ 14 min
Post-Mauryan Economy, Trade and Coinage
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.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
बौद्ध प्रतिष्ठानों, व्यापारियों व शिल्पकार श्रेणी के बीच सहजीवी सम्बन्धों व राजाश्रय के कारण मौर्य एवं उत्तर-मौर्य काल में धर्म, अर्थव्यवस्था एवं राजनीति में निकटता पैदा हुई। कथन का परीक्षण कीजिए।
Practise this question The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan World notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q3(a)
Approach: Examine the four-way relationship: show how each party (monasteries, traders, guilds, rulers) gained from the others, with epigraphic and archaeological evidence from Mauryan and post-Mauryan sites, and assess the statement.
From the Mauryan period to the third century CE, Buddhist monasteries, traders, artisan guilds and rulers formed a mutually supporting network. Himanshu Prabha Ray's Monastery and Guild (1986) sees it as central to the economy of the Deccan.
Monasteries and trade: monasteries were built along trade routes and near ports and passes: Sanchi on the route from Ujjain, Karle, Bhaja, Kanheri and Nasik on the passes from the western coast, and Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda in the Krishna delta. They offered rest, storage and a moral community for travellers.
Traders and guilds as donors: inscriptions at Sanchi, Bharhut, Karle and Amaravati record gifts by merchants (setthis), caravan leaders (sarthavahas) and guilds. A gateway at Sanchi was carved by the ivory workers of Vidisha.
Ushavadata's Nasik inscription shows endowments invested with weavers' guilds, whose interest fed the monks. In this way guilds acted as banks.
Buddhist ethics and commerce: Buddhism accepted trade, lending and wealth earned rightly, and gift (dana) gave merchants merit and status.
Royal support: Ashoka built stupas and granted Lumbini tax relief. The Satavahanas granted villages to monks, and Gautami Balashri's Nasik inscription records such a cave and grant. The Kushana king Kanishka built a great stupa at Peshawar.
Rulers gained legitimacy, trade revenues and stable routes; the Arthashastra too recognises the shrenis as part of the state.
Assessment: the statement holds for Buddhism, though Jainism and Brahmanical shrines also received such gifts. The network was strongest in the Deccan and north-west, and it weakened as trade declined after the third century.
The proximity of religion, economy and polity was a defining feature of this age.
Q3(b) · The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan World · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Ashoka: Dhamma and the Edicts
Discuss the role of Buddhism in shaping the socio-religious landscape of the Mauryan Empire.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
मौर्य साम्राज्य के सामाजिक-धार्मिक परिदृश्य को आकार देने में बौद्ध धर्म की भूमिका पर चर्चा कीजिए।
Practise this question The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan World notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q3(b)
Approach: Discuss how Buddhism, mainly through Ashoka's patronage, changed the religious and social landscape of the empire: sangha, missions, monuments, ethics and social practice, and note the plural context.
Buddhism had spread in the middle Ganga plain before the Mauryas, but under Ashoka (c. 268–232 BCE) it became a religion of the whole subcontinent and beyond.
Royal patronage: Minor Rock Edict I says that Ashoka became a lay follower (upasaka) and grew zealous after more than a year. The Bairat (Bhabru) edict names Buddhist texts for monks and nuns to study, and the Lumbini pillar records his visit to the Buddha's birthplace and a cut in that village's tax.
The sangha: the schism edicts at Sarnath, Sanchi and Kaushambi order dissident monks expelled. Sri Lankan chronicles place the third council at Pataliputra under Moggaliputta Tissa in his reign.
Spread: according to the same chronicles, missions went to Kashmir, Gandhara, the Himalayas and Suvarnabhumi, and Mahinda and Sanghamitta took Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
Landscape of monuments: stupas at Sanchi and Bharhut and Bodh Gaya became pilgrimage centres, and pillars marked sacred places.
Social practice: Buddhist ethics shaped the Dhamma: non-violence, the ban on animal sacrifice in samajas (Rock Edict I), kindness to slaves and servants, and the criticism of mangala rituals (Rock Edict IX).
Plural context: Ashoka also gave caves at Barabar to the Ajivikas and asked respect for Brahmanas and shramanas (Rock Edict XII). Jainism and Brahmanism continued to thrive.
Buddhism thus became a pan-Indian institution with royal support, while the landscape remained plural.
Q3(c) · Megaliths, the Vedic Age and the Mahajanapadas · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Later Vedic Age: Monarchy, Varna and Economy
Discuss the evolution of State institution and taxation system from Rigvedic period to later Vedic period.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
ऋग्वैदिक काल से उत्तरवैदिक काल के बीच राज्य संस्था और करप्रणाली के उद्विकासक्रम की चर्चा कीजिए।
Practise this question Megaliths, the Vedic Age and the Mahajanapadas notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q3(c)
Approach: Trace the change in two linked institutions, the state and taxation, from tribal chiefdom and voluntary gifts in the Rig Vedic period to territorial kingship and regular tribute in the later Vedic age, and explain the causes.
In the Rig Vedic period (c. 1500–1000 BCE) political life was organised around the tribe (jana), not territory. By the later Vedic period (c. 1000–600 BCE) a territorial kingdom (rashtra) and a regular system of tribute had begun to emerge.
Rig Vedic polity: the rajan was a war leader whose main duty was to protect cattle and lead raids (gavishti). He was checked by the tribal assemblies: the sabha, the samiti and the vidatha.
Rig Vedic taxation: bali was a voluntary offering to the chief, and wealth was shared through booty and gift exchange. There was no standing army or regular tax.
Later Vedic state: the raja was linked with territory and the term rashtra appears. Sacrifices such as the rajasuya, vajapeya and ashvamedha raised him above his kinsmen and gave priestly sanction to his rule. The Shatapatha Brahmana lists the ratnins, royal officers including the sangrahitri (treasurer) and the bhagadugha (collector of shares). The vidatha disappeared, and the sabha and samiti lost power.
Later Vedic taxation: bali became a regular levy, and the Aitareya Brahmana calls the vaishya 'tributary to another'.
Iron, plough agriculture and settled villages made a surplus possible. The change was incomplete: there was still no standing army or regular bureaucracy, which arrived with the Mahajanapadas.

Question 4 (50 marks)

Q4(a) · The Deccan, the Sangam Age and the Guptas · 20 marks≈ 14 min
Education, Literature, Science and Art in the Gupta Age
Highlight the contributions of Aryabhatta, Varahamihira and Brahmagupta in the fields of Astronomy and Mathematics.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
खगोल विज्ञान और गणित के क्षेत्र में आर्यभट्ट, वराहमिहिर और ब्रह्मगुप्त के योगदानों पर प्रकाश डालिए।
Practise this question The Deccan, the Sangam Age and the Guptas notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q4(a)
Approach: Take each scientist in turn, giving his works and main contributions in astronomy and mathematics, then sum up their joint significance and influence abroad.
The Gupta and post-Gupta centuries (c. fifth to seventh century CE) were the classical age of Indian astronomy (jyotisha) and mathematics (ganita), when the siddhanta tradition took shape.
Aryabhata (born 476 CE) wrote the Aryabhatiya (499 CE) at Kusumapura, 121 verses in four sections. He used a place-value system, gave pi as about 3.1416 and called it approximate, and gave a sine table (jya), rules for series and roots, and the kuttaka method for linear indeterminate equations. He held that the earth rotates on its axis and explained eclipses by the shadows of the earth and moon, not by Rahu.
Varahamihira (died c. 587 CE) of Ujjain wrote the Pancha-siddhantika, summarising five astronomical systems including the Romaka and Paulisha, which shows the absorption of Greek ideas. His Brihat Samhita is an encyclopaedia of planets, weather, architecture and omens, and he refined trigonometric relations.
Brahmagupta (born 598 CE) wrote the Brahmasphuta-siddhanta (628 CE) and Khandakhadyaka (665 CE). He gave the first clear rules for arithmetic with zero and negative numbers, solved quadratic equations, worked out the second-order indeterminate equation (varga-prakriti, later called Pell's equation) and gave the area of a cyclic quadrilateral. He rejected Aryabhata's rotating earth.
Significance: their works turned calendar-making into mathematical astronomy. Brahmagupta's works were translated into Arabic at Baghdad in the eighth century as the Sindhind, and through al-Khwarizmi Indian numerals and methods reached Europe.
Together they made the age a high point of Indian science: Aryabhata for theory, Varahamihira for synthesis, and Brahmagupta for algebra and zero.
Q4(b) · Regional States and Early Indian Cultural History · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Kadambas, Pallavas and Chalukyas of Badami
Examine the course of Pallava-Chalukya conflicts between sixth and eighth century CE.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
छठी और आठवीं शताब्दी ई० सं० के बीच पल्लव-चालुक्य संघर्ष-क्रम का परीक्षण कीजिए।
Practise this question Regional States and Early Indian Cultural History notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q4(b)
Approach: "Examine the course" asks for the phases of the conflict in order, with the evidence for each from both sides' records, and a brief assessment of the outcome.
The Pallava-Chalukya conflict between Kanchi and Vatapi (Badami) ran from the early seventh to the mid-eighth century. It is known from the Aihole inscription (634 CE), Pallava copper plates such as the Kasakudi and Kuram plates, Chalukya grants and the account of Xuanzang.
Phase I, Pulakeshin II and Mahendravarman I: Pulakeshin II (c. 610–642) took Vengi and advanced on Kanchi. The Aihole inscription says he forced the Pallava king to shelter behind the walls of Kanchi, while Pallava records claim Mahendravarman routed his enemies at Pullalur.
Phase II, Narasimhavarman I: he defeated Pulakeshin at Manimangalam and other battles named in the Kuram plates. In c. 642 his general Paranjoti took and sacked Vatapi, where a Pallava inscription records the victory, and he took the title Vatapikonda. Pulakeshin probably died in this war.
Phase III, Vikramaditya I: after a gap of about thirteen years he recovered Vatapi (c. 655) and pushed towards Kanchi, though Paramesvaravarman I claims a victory over him at Peruvalanallur.
Phase IV, Vikramaditya II: in the 740s he occupied Kanchi but spared it, returning treasures to the Rajasimheshvara (Kailasanatha) temple, as his Kannada inscription there records. His queen Lokamahadevi then built the Virupaksha temple at Pattadakal.
The war ended without a final victor. In 753 the Chalukyas fell to the Rashtrakutas, who inherited the rivalry with Kanchi.
Q4(c) · Regional States and Early Indian Cultural History · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Temples, Mathas, Agraharas, Education and Literature
Examine the role played by the Agraharas in the promotion of education in the early medieval India.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
आरंभिक मध्ययुगीन भारत में शिक्षा के प्रचार-प्रसार में अग्रहारों की भूमिका का परीक्षण कीजिए।
Practise this question Regional States and Early Indian Cultural History notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q4(c)
Approach: Define agraharas, show their educational role with named institutions and inscriptions from different regions, and examine the limits (who was taught and what).
Agraharas or brahmadeyas were villages granted tax-free to learned brahmanas, multiplying from the Gupta age. In early medieval India (c. 600–1200 CE) many became centres of Vedic and Sanskrit learning, often with colleges (ghatikas, salais) and mathas attached.
South India: the Talagunda inscription says the Kadamba founder Mayurasharman went to the ghatika at Kanchi to study the Vedas. Chola inscriptions record endowed colleges: Ennayiram under Rajendra I (c. 1023) fed 340 students and paid teachers of the Vedas, grammar and Mimamsa; Tribhuvani (1048) had about 260 students; Tirumukkudal (1067) had a school, hostel and hospital. In Kerala the Parthivapuram salai (ninth century) supported Vedic students.
Deccan: the Salotgi inscription (945 CE, Rashtrakuta Krishna III) records a college with hostels for students from many regions. Agraharas of the Kalyana Chalukyas such as Balligave had mathas teaching grammar, logic and philosophy.
Their role: they preserved Vedic recitation, Sanskrit literature and law, trained temple priests and court officials, and spread brahmanical culture into new regions.
Limits: learning was largely for brahmana males and Sanskrit-based. Others learnt crafts through guilds, and Jaina and Buddhist monasteries had their own schools.
Agraharas were therefore the backbone of Sanskrit education in the period, but an exclusive one.

Question 5 (50 marks)

Q5(a) · Early Medieval India, 750–1200 · 10 marks≈ 7 min
Literature, Science and Art, 750–1200 (Kalhana, Alberuni, Temple Styles)
Illustrate the main features of Vesara style temple architecture.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
वेसर शैली के मंदिर स्थापत्य की मुख्य विशेषताएँ बताइए।
Practise this question Early Medieval India, 750–1200 notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q5(a)
Approach: Define Vesara as the Deccan style mixing Nagara and Dravida features, list its main features with dated examples from the Kalyani Chalukyas and Hoysalas, and note its roots in early Chalukya experiments.
Vesara is the name given to the hybrid temple style of the Deccan, which combined features of the northern Nagara and the southern Dravida styles. Its roots lie in the experiments of the early Chalukyas at Aihole and Pattadakal, where both styles stood side by side; it matured under the Chalukyas of Kalyani (10th–12th centuries) and the Hoysalas.
Main features: the superstructure keeps the storeyed form of Dravida but reduces the height of each tier and adds Nagara-like vertical bands, giving a stepped, conical profile. Plans become stellate or staggered, with many projections. Walls carry miniature shrine motifs and rich carving, pillars are lathe-turned, and soapstone or fine schist allows minute detail, as in Hoysala temples.
Representative temples: the Kashi Vishveshvara at Lakkundi and the Mahadeva temple at Ittagi (1112), praised in its inscription as an emperor among temples; the Doddabasappa at Dambal with a star-shaped plan; and the Hoysala temples at Belur (1117) and Halebidu.
Vesara thus shows the Deccan's position between north and south and the creativity of regional patrons.
Q5(b) · The Delhi Sultanate, 13th–14th Centuries · 10 marks≈ 7 min
Firuz Tughluq, Decline of the Sultanate and Ibn Battuta
Evaluate Firuz Shah Tughluq’s economic policies.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
फिरोज शाह तुगलक की आर्थिक नीतियों का मूल्यांकन कीजिए।
Practise this question The Delhi Sultanate, 13th–14th Centuries notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q5(b)
Approach: Evaluate Firuz's economic policies under agrarian, irrigation, fiscal and welfare heads, then weigh their gains against their costs for the state and the people.
Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351–1388) inherited a Sultanate exhausted by his predecessor's projects and revolts. His policies, described in his Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi and in Afif's history, aimed at recovery through conciliation.
Agrarian and fiscal: a survey fixed the revenue (jama) at 6 crore 75 lakh tankas, not revised thereafter; he abolished about two dozen cesses, kept the four taxes allowed by Islamic law and wrote off takavi loans.
Irrigation: canals from the Yamuna and the Sutlej watered Hisar and Haryana, allowing two crops and sugarcane, on payment of an irrigation tax (haqq-i-sharb).
Towns and welfare: he founded Firuzabad, Hisar and Jaunpur, ran royal karkhanas, and set up the Diwan-i-Khairat, the Dar-ul-Shifa and an employment bureau.
Costs: jizya was extended to brahmanas; hereditary iqtas and 180,000 slaves (Afif) strained the treasury. Afif's praise needs caution. The policies brought prosperity to the core but weakened the central authority on which the Sultanate depended.
Q5(c) · Society, Culture and Economy under the Sultanate · 10 marks≈ 7 min
Bhakti and Sufi Movements under the Sultanate
Evaluate the contribution of Qalandariyyah to medieval Indian culture.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
मध्यकालीन भारतीय संस्कृति में कलंदरिया के योगदान का मूल्यांकन कीजिए।
Practise this question Society, Culture and Economy under the Sultanate notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q5(c)
Approach: Define the Qalandars and their practices, name the main figures in India, then evaluate their cultural contribution and its limits.
The Qalandariyya were wandering dervishes who rejected the discipline of the khanqah and social convention. The movement took shape in Iran and Syria in the 13th century (Jamaluddin Savi is seen as a founder) and reached India with the Turks.
Practices: Qalandars shaved the head, beard and eyebrows, wore blankets, carried iron rings and lived on alms, despising wealth and rank. Ahmet Karamustafa (God's Unruly Friends, 1994) calls this renunciation through social deviance.
Figures in India: Lal Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan in Sindh (13th century) and Bu Ali Qalandar of Panipat (d. 1324), a Persian poet.
Contribution: They carried Sufi ideas to the poor, mixed with Nath yogis and other ascetics, and shaped popular devotion, music and dance such as the dhamal at Sehwan; their mockery of formal religion fed the critical strand of mysticism.
Though the Chishtis and the ulama viewed them with suspicion, their contribution to popular culture was real: they widened Sufism's social reach and helped create a shared culture of shrines.
Q5(d) · Mughal Economy, Society and Culture · 10 marks≈ 7 min
Provincial Art, Classical Music, Science and Technology
Discuss the main features of Malwa school of painting with examples.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
मालवा चित्रकला शैली की मुख्य विशेषताओं की उदाहरण सहित चर्चा कीजिए।
Practise this question Mughal Economy, Society and Culture notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q5(d)
Approach: Place the Malwa school in time and context, describe its stylistic features and main themes with known sets, and contrast it briefly with the Mughal style.
The Malwa school was a branch of Rajasthani painting that flourished in central India, especially in the 17th century. It drew on the earlier indigenous style seen in the Chaurapanchasika group of manuscripts.
Features: compositions are flat and simple, often divided into compartments or horizontal bands. Strong colours are set against plain backgrounds of red, brown or black. Figures are stylised, with large eyes and sharp profiles, and architecture frames the scenes. Rows of trees, stylised water and patterned skies complete the design.
Themes: painters illustrated love poetry and devotion: sets of the Rasikapriya of Keshavdas, the Amarushataka, the Ramayana and the Bhagavata Purana, and especially Ragamala series showing the moods of musical modes as scenes of lovers and gods.
Unlike the Mughal style, Malwa painting showed little interest in naturalism or portraiture. Its strength lay in bold colour and lyrical, conventional imagery that preserved an older Indian tradition.
Q5(e) · The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries · 10 marks≈ 7 min
Portuguese Colonial Enterprise
Highlight the features of Portuguese colonial enterprise.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
पुर्तगाली औपनिवेशिक उपक्रम की विशेषताओं पर प्रकाश डालिए।
Practise this question The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q5(e)
Approach: Highlight the main features in clear heads: naval and fortified basis, the Estado da India, the cartaz and monopoly, religion, and social policy, ending with a line on its character.
After Vasco da Gama's voyage to Calicut (1498), the Portuguese built an Asian empire, the Estado da India, governed from Goa (taken in 1510).
Sea power and forts: It rested on armed fleets and a chain of fortified ports, Goa, Diu, Daman, Cochin, Malacca and Hormuz, rather than on territorial conquest. Albuquerque's strategy was to hold key points that controlled the sea lanes.
Crown monopoly: The spice trade, especially pepper, was a royal monopoly shipped to Lisbon by the Carreira da India.
Cartaz system: Asian ships had to buy a cartaz (pass) and pay duties at Portuguese ports, or risk seizure.
Religion: Missionary work was central; Francis Xavier arrived in 1542, and the Goa Inquisition was set up in 1560.
Social policy: Albuquerque encouraged Portuguese men to marry local women to create a settled population.
The enterprise thus combined commerce, coercion and crusade, a maritime 'empire of the sea' rather than of land.

Question 6 (50 marks)

Q6(a) · Early Medieval India, 750–1200 · 20 marks≈ 14 min
Philosophy: Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva
Analyze the contributions of Acharya Triumvirate to Indian Vedanta.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
भारतीय वेदांत में आचार्य-त्रय (आचार्य तिकड़ी) के योगदान का विश्लेषण कीजिए।
Practise this question Early Medieval India, 750–1200 notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q6(a)
Approach: Analyse the contribution of Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva in turn (doctrine, key texts, method, institutions), then compare them and assess their combined legacy for Vedanta and bhakti.
The Acharya Triumvirate of Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva gave Vedanta its three classical schools. Each wrote commentaries (bhashya) on the prasthanatrayi, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra, so their debate was about how to read the same scriptures.
Shankara (traditionally 788–820) taught Advaita: Brahman alone is real, attributeless (nirguna) and identical with the self (atman); the world is an appearance produced by maya, and liberation comes through knowledge (jnana). He distinguished two levels of truth, practical (vyavaharika) and ultimate (paramarthika), which allowed worship at the lower level. He defended Vedic authority against Buddhism and Mimamsa ritualism, and tradition credits him with four mathas and the Dashanami order.
Ramanuja (traditionally 1017–1137), of Srirangam, taught Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) in the Shri Bhashya and Vedarthasamgraha: Brahman is Vishnu, a personal God with real attributes; souls and matter are real and form his body, as the body relates to the soul. He rejected Shankara's maya and made bhakti and surrender (prapatti) the path to liberation, giving the Alvars' devotion a philosophical basis.
Madhva (traditionally 1238–1317), of Udupi, taught Dvaita: God (Vishnu), souls and matter are eternally distinct, expressed in five differences (pancha-bheda). Souls are graded, and liberation depends on God's grace through bhakti; he founded the Udupi Krishna matha.
Comparison: the three move from strict non-dualism to qualified non-dualism to dualism, and from knowledge to devotion. S.N. Dasgupta and S. Radhakrishnan treat them as successive answers to the relation of Brahman, world and self; Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya criticised Advaita's idealism as devaluing the material world.
Together they made Vedanta the dominant intellectual framework of Hinduism, gave institutional form through mathas, and provided the theology of later bhakti movements, from Ramanand to Chaitanya.
Q6(b) · Society, Culture and Economy under the Sultanate · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Women, Religious Classes, Caste and Slavery
Compare and contrast the position of Hindu and Muslim women in 13th and 14th century India.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
भारत में 13वीं और 14वीं शताब्दी में हिन्दू और मुस्लिम महिलाओं की स्थिति की तुलना कीजिए और अंतर बताइए।
Practise this question Society, Culture and Economy under the Sultanate notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q6(b)
Approach: A compare-and-contrast question: set out the common features first, then the differences in law, marriage and public life, and close with the role of class.
The position of women in the 13th and 14th centuries depended as much on class as on religion. Evidence comes from the Dharmashastra commentaries, Persian chronicles, Sufi malfuzat and Ibn Battuta (in India 1333–42).
Common features: In both communities the household was patriarchal and upper-class women lived in seclusion (purdah). Peasant and artisan women of both faiths worked in fields and at the spinning wheel, and both communities kept female slaves.
Hindu women: The smriti tradition (the Mitakshara) gave women limited property rights through stridhana, upper castes forbade widow remarriage and married girls young, and sati was practised among some high-status groups; Battuta describes a sati he saw near Amjhera in Malwa and says it was praised but not compulsory.
Muslim women: Sharia gave them a fixed share in inheritance (half a son's share), the mahr (dower), the right to seek divorce and the freedom to remarry as widows, though polygamy was permitted to men. Raziya (1236–40) ruled at Delhi, while Firuz Shah, in his Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi, forbade women to visit shrines outside the city.
Thus Muslim women had firmer legal rights and Hindu women faced harsher customs such as sati and enforced widowhood, but seclusion and dependence were common to elite women of both faiths, and class shaped daily life more than creed.
Q6(c) · Akbar and the Mughal State in the 17th Century · 15 marks≈ 11 min
The Late 17th-Century Crisis and the Revolts
Examine the causes and consequences of peasants uprising during the reign of Aurangzeb.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
औरंगजेब के शासनकाल के दौरान किसान विद्रोह के कारणों एवं परिणामों का परीक्षण कीजिए।
Practise this question Akbar and the Mughal State in the 17th Century notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q6(c)
Approach: Identify the main uprisings (Jats, Satnamis, Sikhs, Bundelas, with the Marathas), explain their economic, social and religious causes with the historians' views, and then set out their consequences for the empire.
Aurangzeb's reign (1658–1707) saw a chain of risings in which peasants joined their zamindars and caste or sect leaders against the Mughal state.
The uprisings: the Jats of the Mathura region rose under Gokula in 1669 and later under Raja Ram and Churaman. The Satnamis, a sect of peasants and artisans, revolted near Narnaul in 1672. The Sikhs resisted after Guru Tegh Bahadur's execution in 1675, and the Bundelas fought under Chhatrasal.
Economic causes: Irfan Habib argues that the revenue demand had reached the limit of the peasant's surplus, and that jagirdars, insecure because of frequent transfers, squeezed the peasants further. Peasant flight and armed resistance followed.
Social causes: the risings were led by zamindars and bound by caste or sect, which gave them leadership and cohesion.
Religious causes: the Mathura temple demolition (1670), the reimposition of jizya (1679) and the execution of the Sikh Guru gave the revolts a religious edge, though Satish Chandra sees this as a contributing, not a primary, cause.
Consequences: revenue collection in the Agra–Delhi region was disrupted and roads became unsafe; Raja Ram's Jats raided Akbar's tomb at Sikandra in 1688. The revolts laid the foundations of the Jat state of Bharatpur and of Sikh power in Punjab.
The uprisings thus exposed the agrarian and political strains of the empire and hastened the rise of regional powers in the 18th century.

Question 7 (50 marks)

Q7(a) · Akbar and the Mughal State in the 17th Century · 20 marks≈ 14 min
Akbar's Rajput Policy, Sulh-i-kul and Court Patronage
“Instead of bringing credit, the Ibadat Khana brought growing discredit to Akbar.” Comment.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
“श्रेय दिलाने के बजाय, इबादतखाना ने अकबर की बदनामी बढ़ा दी।” टिप्पणी कीजिए।
Practise this question Akbar and the Mughal State in the 17th Century notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q7(a)
Approach: Comment on the statement by tracing the Ibadat Khana debates (1575–c.1582), setting out the discredit they brought among the orthodox and the 1580–81 revolt, and then the lasting credit in sulh-i-kul and Akbar's reputation.
Akbar built the Ibadat Khana (House of Worship) at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575 for discussions on religion. The statement echoes the hostile account of Abd al-Qadir Badauni in his Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, while Abul Fazl's Akbarnama presents the debates as a search for truth.
The course of the debates: at first only Sunni ulama took part, and the meetings turned into quarrels over seating and precedence. The leading theologians, Makhdum-ul-Mulk Abdullah Sultanpuri and the sadr Shaikh Abdun Nabi, abused each other in open court.
From 1578 Akbar opened the hall to Shias, Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians such as Dastur Meherji Rana, and, from 1580, the Jesuits of the first mission, including Rudolf Acquaviva and Antonio Monserrate.
Discredit: the orthodox saw the emperor humiliating the ulama and listening to infidels. The mahzar of 1579, which let Akbar decide between conflicting juristic opinions, deepened suspicion. In 1580–81 the qazi Mulla Muhammad Yazdi issued a fatwa calling for rebellion, and nobles in Bihar and Bengal revolted while Mirza Hakim of Kabul was invited to take the throne.
The Jesuits, expecting his conversion, left disappointed and wrote of him as inconstant, and Akbar himself closed the debates around 1582 because they bred bitterness rather than agreement.
Credit: the debates convinced Akbar that truth was found in all faiths, which led to sulh-i-kul, the translation of Sanskrit texts, and a policy that won the loyalty of Rajputs and Hindu subjects. The revolt was crushed, and in the long run the Ibadat Khana became the symbol of Akbar's enquiring and tolerant rule.
The statement is therefore true of the short term and of orthodox opinion, as Badauni's bitterness shows. Judged by its results in policy and reputation, however, the experiment brought Akbar more credit than discredit.
Q7(b) · Akbar and the Mughal State in the 17th Century · 15 marks≈ 11 min
The Ahom Kingdom, Shivaji and the Early Marathas
How did the Maratha guerrilla warfare tactics contribute to their military successes against larger and more established armies?
हिंदी में प्रश्न
मराठा गुरिल्ला युद्ध रणनीति ने बड़ी और अधिक स्थापित सेनाओं के खिलाफ उनकी सैन्य सफलताओं में कैसे योगदान दिया?
Practise this question Akbar and the Mughal State in the 17th Century notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q7(b)
Approach: Explain the elements of Maratha guerrilla warfare (ganimi kava) with examples from Shivaji to the 1690s, show why they worked against heavy Mughal and Bijapuri armies, and note their limits.
The Marathas called their method ganimi kava, the art of the raider: avoiding pitched battle, striking by surprise and wearing down a larger enemy. It suited the hills and forests of the Sahyadri.
Elements: light cavalry, both bargirs mounted by the state and shiledars with their own horses, moved fast without heavy baggage, lived off the land and cut enemy supplies. Hill forts gave secure bases, and the Mavala infantry knew every pass.
Examples: Shivaji killed Afzal Khan at Pratapgarh in 1659 and routed his army in the forest. In 1663 he raided Shaista Khan's quarters at Pune at night, and he struck the rich port of Surat in 1664 and 1670. After 1689 Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav ranged across the Deccan, defeating isolated Mughal forces such as Qasim Khan's at Dodderi in 1695.
Why it worked: Mughal armies moved with vast camps, heavy artillery and slow baggage, as Bhimsen describes, and depended on long supply lines. The monsoon, rough terrain and dispersed targets blunted their strength, while chauth raids carried the war into Mughal territory.
Limits: guerrilla war could not stop sieges; Jai Singh's siege of Purandar forced Shivaji to cede forts in 1665, and Aurangzeb took many forts in the 1690s.
Guerrilla tactics thus turned Maratha weakness in numbers into strategic advantage and made the Deccan war unwinnable for the Mughals.
Q7(c) · The Eighteenth Century · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Regional States: The Nizam's Deccan, Bengal and Awadh
Examine the role of Asaf Jahi Dynasty in the political transformation of the State of Hyderabad.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
हैदराबाद राज्य के राजनीतिक परिवर्तन में आसफ जाही वंश की भूमिका का परीक्षण कीजिए।
Practise this question The Eighteenth Century notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q7(c)
Approach: Trace how Nizam-ul-Mulk and his successors turned a Mughal province into a hereditary regional state, covering foundation, administration, relations with the Marathas and Europeans, and the slide into subsidiary alliance.
The Asaf Jahi dynasty was founded by Chin Qilich Khan, a Turani noble titled Nizam-ul-Mulk and later Asaf Jah. Under it the Mughal Deccan, six subas ruled by appointed viceroys, became a hereditary regional state that lasted until 1948.
Foundation: after a frustrating spell as wazir (1722–24) he defeated the Mughal governor Mubariz Khan at Shakar Kheda (1724) and took control of the Deccan. He never declared independence: coins and the khutba stayed in the emperor's name, making Hyderabad a classic successor state.
Administration: he kept the Mughal jagirdari system, used revenue farming, and drew local zamindars, deshmukhs, bankers and Telugu and Marathi-speaking officials into the regime rather than displacing them; Munis Faruqui sees this as a Mughal successor working within imperial norms.
Limits of power: Baji Rao I defeated him at Palkhed (1728) and near Bhopal (1738), forcing him to concede chauth and sardeshmukhi. After his death (1748) the succession war between Nasir Jang and Muzaffar Jang drew in the French under Dupleix and Bussy and the English, and the Nizams became pawns in the Carnatic wars.
Dependence: after defeat by the Marathas at Kharda (1795) the Nizam became the first ruler to accept Wellesley's subsidiary alliance (1798).
The Asaf Jahis transformed a Mughal province into a durable dynastic state, but military and financial weakness turned it from an autonomous power into a British ally.

Question 8 (50 marks)

Q8(a) · The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries · 20 marks≈ 14 min
Regional Cultures, Literature, Provincial Architecture and Vijayanagara Arts
Discuss the contributions of Bahmani Sultans to the development of Indo-Islamic architecture.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
इंडो-इस्लामिक वास्तुकला के विकास में बहमनी सुल्तानों के योगदान की चर्चा कीजिए।
Practise this question The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q8(a)
Approach: Trace the Bahmani buildings in two phases, Gulbarga and Bidar, naming the main monuments and their features and influences, then assess the overall contribution and legacy.
The Bahmani Sultans (1347–1527) created a distinct Deccani style of Indo-Islamic architecture, which drew on the Tughluq style of Delhi, on Persian and Central Asian models brought by immigrant nobles, and on local building traditions.
Gulbarga phase (1347–c. 1429): The fort of Gulbarga enclosed the Jami Masjid (1367), built under Muhammad Shah I and, by its inscription, designed by Rafi of Qazvin. It is unique in India for covering the entire courtyard with small domes, with wide, low arches and a large dome over the mihrab. The royal tombs, such as the Haft Gumbad group, are square domed chambers with sloping walls in the Tughluq manner, which grow more ornate in the double-storeyed tomb of Firoz Shah Bahmani.
Daulatabad: The Chand Minar (1435), a tall tower raised by Alauddin Ahmad Shah, shows Persian influence and glazed tile work.
Bidar phase (from c. 1429): Ahmad Shah Wali moved the capital to Bidar and built a great fort. His tomb at Ashtur has interiors painted with calligraphy and floral designs. The Solah Khamba mosque in the fort has a long prayer hall of pillars.
Mahmud Gawan's madrasa (1472) is the finest example of Persian influence: a three-storeyed building around a courtyard, with tall minarets and a facade once covered with coloured glazed tiles in the Timurid style of Khurasan.
Features: The Bahmani style used massive forts with bastions, wide arches, bulbous domes, glazed tile decoration and stucco, and adapted local stone and craftsmen.
Legacy: The successor Sultanates developed this style into the masterpieces of Bijapur (the Gol Gumbaz) and Golconda (the Qutb Shahi tombs), and it influenced the Mughal Deccan.
The Bahmanis thus gave Indo-Islamic architecture a regional Deccani form that combined Delhi, Persian and local traditions.
Q8(b) · The Eighteenth Century · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Afghan Power and the Third Battle of Panipat (1761)
Evaluate the impact of the Third Battle of Panipat on the political economy of 18th century India.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
18वीं सदी के भारत की राजनीतिक अर्थव्यवस्था पर पानीपत के तीसरे युद्ध के प्रभाव का मूल्यांकन कीजिए।
Practise this question The Eighteenth Century notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q8(b)
Approach: Give the battle in one line, then assess its effects on each power and on the political economy of north India (revenue, plunder, the Punjab, the Company's opening), and judge whether it was decisive.
On 14 January 1761 Ahmad Shah Abdali, allied with Najib-ud-daula's Rohillas and Shuja-ud-daula of Awadh, destroyed the Maratha army of Sadashiv Rao Bhau at Panipat after a long blockade.
Marathas: Bhau, Vishwas Rao and many commanders died, and the Peshwa died in June 1761. The flow of chauth and tribute from the north stopped for a decade, worsening the Peshwa's debts, and the great chiefs gained at the centre's expense. Recovery came under Madhav Rao I, and Mahadji Scindia was back in Delhi in 1772.
Afghans: Abdali could not stay, as his troops wanted to go home. His hold on Punjab collapsed as the Sikh misls took Lahore (1765) and its revenue.
North Indian powers: Suraj Mal's Jats took Agra (1761); Najib-ud-daula controlled Delhi; Shah Alam II stayed away from his capital. Delhi, the Doab and Punjab suffered plunder and disrupted trade, and the Mughal fiscal system in the north was finally fragmented among regional chiefs.
The Company: with the Marathas and Afghans both weakened, no northern power could check the English during Buxar (1764) and the grant of the diwani of Bengal (1765), which gave the Company the richest revenue base in India.
Panipat did not decide who would rule India, but it removed the strongest Indian contender at the critical moment and shifted the balance of revenue and power towards the regional chiefs and the English.
Q8(c) · Mughal Economy, Society and Culture · 15 marks≈ 11 min
Towns and the European Trade Revolution
Examine the process of urbanization caused by the establishment of European trading companies in India.
हिंदी में प्रश्न
भारत में यूरोपीय व्यापारिक कंपनियों की स्थापना के फलस्वरूप हुई नगरीकरण की प्रक्रिया का परीक्षण कीजिए।
Practise this question Mughal Economy, Society and Culture notes
Model answer
Paper and question: Paper I, Q8(c)
Approach: Describe the new towns founded or transformed by the European companies (Goa, Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Pondicherry and the Dutch settlements), their features and the effect on older Indian ports, then assess the scale of this urbanisation in the 17th century.
The European trading companies created a new kind of town in India: the fortified coastal settlement built around a factory (trading post). These towns later became the colonial port cities.
The new towns: the Portuguese made Goa (1510) their Asian capital. The English founded Madras around Fort St George (1639–40), took Bombay from the Portuguese crown in 1661 (it passed to the Company in 1668) and settled at Calcutta in 1690 under Job Charnock. The French founded Pondicherry (1674) and Chandernagore, and the Dutch held Pulicat, Nagapattinam and Chinsura.
Features: each had a fort, warehouses and a church, with a European quarter and a separate Indian town, the White Town and Black Town of Madras. Low duties and security drew Indian merchants, bankers, brokers (dubashes and banians) and weavers to settle there.
Effects: trade gradually shifted from Mughal ports. Hugli declined after the Mughals expelled the Portuguese in 1632, Masulipatnam lost ground, and Ashin Das Gupta has shown how Surat declined in the early 18th century as Bombay rose.
Scale: in the 17th century these settlements were small beside Agra, Delhi, Lahore or Surat. Their great growth came in the 18th century, when political disorder inland made their security attractive.
European companies therefore began a new pattern of coastal urbanisation whose full effect was felt only after the decline of the Mughal empire.

UPSC Mains 2024 History Paper II