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    History Optional — UPSC Notes

    UPSC History Optional notes for Papers I and II: sources and prehistory, the Indus civilization, ancient, early medieval and medieval India, the map question, colonial India and the national movement, India after 1947 and world history from the Enlightenment to the end of the Cold War, with every previous-year question (2014–2026) and model answers, in English and Hindi.

    How to study History OptionalShow

    What UPSC asks most

    Optional Papers I and II (250 marks each): ancient and medieval India with the compulsory map question (Paper I), modern India and world history (Paper II).

    Traps to avoid

    • Narrating events without sources, historians and the debate the question asks about.
    • Losing easy marks on the map question by skipping its daily practice.

    How to study it here

    1. Read one chapter, then write two of its past questions under time and compare with the model answers.
    2. Learn map places by period and region, with one line on what was found or what happened there.

    Mains: Optional: open with the source or historian, weigh evidence on both sides of the debate, and end with a balanced judgement.

    History Optional

    UPSC History Optional: Papers I and II

    Restoring your chapter…

    History Optional: chapter-wise UPSC notes

    Read any chapter as a full page in English or Hindi. 26 chapters · 194 topics.

    1. 1. Exam Pattern, Syllabus and Strategyहिंदी
    2. 2. Sources, Prehistory and the Indus Civilizationहिंदी
    3. 3. Megaliths, the Vedic Age and the Mahajanapadasहिंदी
    4. 4. The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan Worldहिंदी
    5. 5. The Deccan, the Sangam Age and the Guptasहिंदी
    6. 6. Regional States and Early Indian Cultural Historyहिंदी
    7. 7. Early Medieval India, 750–1200हिंदी
    8. 8. The Delhi Sultanate, 13th–14th Centuriesहिंदी
    9. 9. Society, Culture and Economy under the Sultanateहिंदी
    10. 10. The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuriesहिंदी
    11. 11. Akbar and the Mughal State in the 17th Centuryहिंदी
    12. 12. Mughal Economy, Society and Cultureहिंदी
    13. 13. The Eighteenth Centuryहिंदी
    14. 14. Historical Sites for the Map Questionहिंदी
    15. 15. European Penetration and British Expansionहिंदी
    16. 16. Early British Raj and Its Economic Impactहिंदी
    17. 17. Social, Cultural and Reform Movementsहिंदी
    18. 18. Peasant and Tribal Uprisings and the Revolt of 1857हिंदी
    19. 19. The Rise of Indian Nationalismहिंदी
    20. 20. The Gandhian Era, 1915–1947हिंदी
    21. 21. Constitutional Developments, Other Strands and Partitionहिंदी
    22. 22. India after Independenceहिंदी
    23. 23. Enlightenment, Revolutions and Modern Politicsहिंदी
    24. 24. Industrialisation, Nationalism and Imperialismहिंदी
    25. 25. Revolutions, World Wars and the Post-War Worldहिंदी
    26. 26. Decolonisation, European Unity and the End of the Cold Warहिंदी