History of Modern India: UPSC Previous Years Solved Papers
“Reviewing solved papers on modern Indian history offers valuable insights into colonial rule, independence movements, and post-independence developments. It aids exam preparation by elucidating key events, leaders, and socio-political changes.”
UPSC CSE 2023
Que. “Colonialism had a twisted logic of its own for commercialization. It emerges on analysis to have been often an artificial and forced process.” Critically examine.
Que. After 1857, “the peasants emerged as the main force in agrarian movements.” Critically examine.
Que. “Awakened political consciousness of Indian masses, bound with dishonourable and cowardly insults of the British led to the movement of Non-Cooperation.” Critically examine.
Que. “When Gandhiji launched the Civil Disobedience Movement, he was ‘desperately in search of an effective formula.” Critically examine.
Que. “If abdication of British responsibility at the time of transfer of power was callous, the speed with which it was done made it worse.” Critically examine.
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Que. The Carnatic Wars, the Anglo-Mysore Wars and the Anglo-Maratha Wars had virtually eliminated the French from the contest of supremacy in South India. Discuss.
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Que. While introducing the Indian Councils Bill of 1861, the British thought that the only Government suitable for India ‘is a despotism controlled from home’. Comment.
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Que. The root of the whole question behind the Indigo Revolt is the struggle to make the raiyats grow indigo plants without paying them the price of it’. Analyse.
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Que. Do you agree that ‘the decline of traditional Indian artisan production was a fact, sad but inevitable’? Discuss.
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Que. The historical significance of tribal and peasant uprisings in India ‘lies in that they established strong and valuable traditions of resistance to British rule’. Discuss.
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Que. To accomplish the aims of education, ‘political propaganda and formation as well as propagation of nationalist ideology’, the press became the chief instrument. Comment.
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Que. The universalist perspective of socio-religious reform movements was not a ‘purely philosophic’ concern; it strongly influenced the political and social outlook of the time’. Examine.
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Que. The Congress Socialist Party agenda was not to cut off from the Congress, but ‘intended to give the Congress and the national movement a socialist direction’. Analyse.
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Que. How did the factionalised Dalit leadership in Hyderabad undergo a period of intense re-organization between 1948 and 1953?
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UPSC CSE 2022
Que. “The Battle of Plassey (1757) was a skirmish while the Battle of Buxar (1764) was a real war.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The Treaty of Amritsar (1809) was significant for its immediate as well as potential effects.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Famines were not just because of foodgrain scarcity, but were a direct result of colonial economic policies.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Penetration of outsiders- called dikus by the Santhals-completely destroyed their familiar world, and forced them into action to take possession of their lost territory.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Within a limited scope the Indian Scientists could pursue original scientific research in colonial India.” Critically examine.
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Que. Explain how the Permanent Settlement initiated a rule of property in Bengal and what were its consequences?
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Que. Was the Western education a harbinger of cultural awakening or an instrument of colonial hegemony? Discuss.
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Que. Can you explain how, after acquiring Diwani, the government of the East India Company functioned like ‘an Indian ruler’?
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Que. Do you think that the Indian National Movement was a ‘multi class movement’ which represented the anti-imperialist interests of all classes and strata? Give reasons in support of your answer.
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Que. The British rule had differential impact on the Indian Society. Describe in what ways, the Indians responded to the Revolt of 1857.
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Que. Analyse how the revolutionaries taught people self confidence and widened the social base of the freedom movement.
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Que. Discuss the policies and programmes of the early nationalists (moderates). To what extent they were able to fulfil the aspirations of the people?
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Que. In the light of contentions over the McMahon Line, analyse the India-China relations in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Que. How did the popular movements help us to understand the nature of environmental crisis in post-colonial India?
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UPSC CSE 2021
Que. “The introduction of Western education transformed India in unforeseen ways.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Tipu Sultan had little success in setting forth a course of change significantly different from the general experience of 18th century crisis of Indian politics and society where public life tended over and over to become a system of plundering.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was designed for better control of the vernacular press and to empower the government with more effective means of punishing and repressing seditious writings.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The rise of the Communist Movement in India in the 1920s lent a militant and revolutionary content to the Trade Union Movement.” Critically examine.
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Que. “In the first decade of the 20th century, the atmosphere was ripe for the emergence of revolutionary groups to fill up the vacant space in the political map of the country.” Critically examine.
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Que. India had been the world leader in the field of hand spun and hand-woven yarn and cloth for many centuries. Many nationalist and Marxist critiques considered that the British dominion deliberately shattered the traditional and world famous handicrafts of India. Comment.
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Que. What were the various ways in which nationalism manifested itself in India during colonial rule?
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Que. The East India Company had thought that they had found an ideal puppet in Mir Kasim. Mir Kasim, however, belied the expectation of the company. Examine critically.
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Que. How did English utilitarian thinking impact India in the British era?
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Que. The same Gandhiji who withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement on the issue of violence at Chauri-Chaura, refused to condemn people’s violence during the Quit India Movement. Do you think that he was losing his faith in the efficacy of non-violence and was willing to deviate from this path? Elucidate.
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Que. While individually the Marathas were clever and brave, they lacked the corporate spirit so essential for national independence. Discuss with reasons.
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Que. Discuss the major constitutional developments in India after 1858 and their impact on society and polity.
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Que. Discuss the changing nature of Dalit assertion in India in the twentieth century.
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Que. How were the Princely States integrated in the Indian Union after the partition? What role did Sardar Patel play in it?
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UPSC CSE 2020
Que. “Maharaja Ranjit Singh died in 1839. His death was the signal for an outburst of anarchy all over the Punjab.” Critically examine.
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Que. “In the initial stages, when Indian nationalism was immature, just sprouting, it found expression in many liberal religio-reform movements.” Critically examine.
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Que. “In the early twentieth century, there came into existence a number of women’s organisations, which operated more actively in the public arena and focused more directly on women’s political and legal rights.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The Trade Union movement in India not only supported the call for national struggle at critical juncture, but also impact its course and character in several ways.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Based on his discussion with Indian leaders , as well as his own perception, Lord Mountbatten soon came to the conclusion that partition was the only practicable and feasible solution.” Critically examine.
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Que. “It was Dupleix who had first showed the way of intervening in disputes of the Indian rulers and thereby acquiring political control over vast territories- a technique which was later perfected by the English East India Company.” Elaborate.
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Que. For long, the Revolt of 1857, has been mistaken to be a mere mutiny of the Indian sepoys in the Bengal army. However, its causes need to be searched for not only in the dissatisfaction of the army, but in a long-drawn process of fundamental social and economic change that upset the peasant communities. Discuss.
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Que. Do you feel that the Santhal Hool (rebellion) 1855-56, was the most effective tribal movement in pre-1857 India?
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Que. In its political behaviour the Indian National Congress in its early career was never a radical organisation, besides the founders of the congress involved A.O. Hume in their project. Do these facts verify that congress was founded as a ‘safety valve’? Explain.
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Que. Do you agree with the fact that the virtual failure of the Non-cooperation and the gloom that descended on nationalist scene, created conditions for revolutionary activities? Discuss.
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Que. Planning was seen as a powerful instrument that could be used to remove regional inequality. Examine.
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Que. “In the divided and contestable space of Indian politics, Gandhiji could claim for himself a centrist position because he alienated neither and tactically combined the goal of the moderates with the means of the extremists.” Discuss.
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Que. “After Indian Independence, India-China relations started on a high note, but during the course of the coming years India had to face a bitter experience due to the Chinese aggression.” Elaborate.
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Que. “The Reorganisation of the states on the basis of language was a major aspect of national consolidation and integration. Comment.
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UPSC CSE 2019
Que. “Tipu Sultan was trying to build in Mysore a strong centralised and militarised state, with ambitious territorial designs.” Critically examine.
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Que. “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.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Two important intellectual criteria which informed the reform movements were rationalism and religious universalism.” Critically examine.
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Que. “…the Kol Insurrection was mainly a war of the tribal inhabitants of Chotanagpur against the non-tribal settlers and service-holders.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The Cripps Mission was plagued throughout, and ultimately torpedoed.” Critically examine.
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Que. How far was the drain theory a focal point of nationalist critique of colonialism?
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Que. Examine the forces at work for the introduction of western education in India. Analyse the thrust given to it by the Christian Missionaries.
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Que. Do you subscribe to the view that the Anglo-French tussle in Carnatic demonstrated the internal decay of the provincial chieftains of South India?
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Que. How would you explain the major trends of the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal?
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Que. Is it justified to say that the Government of India Act of 1935 had all brakes, but no engine?
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Que. How far was the widow remarriage movement effective in arousing social concern for Indian women?
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Que. Why is the Quit India Movement characterised as a ‘Spontaneous Revolution’? Did it accelerate the process of Indian independence?
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Que. Assess the role of Subhas Chandra Bose in India’s struggle for independence.
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Que. How did the introduction of Community Development Programme and Panchayati Raj promote welfare of rural India?
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UPSC CSE 2018
Que. “The Battle of Plassey (1757) thus marked the beginning of political supremacy of the English East India Company in India.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The passing of the land from the hands of the peasant proprietors into the hands of non-cultivating landlords brought about increasing polarization of classes in agrarian areas.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Faced with the challenge of the intrusion of colonial culture and ideology, an attempt to reinvigorate traditional Institutions and to realize the potential of traditional culture developed during the nineteenth century.” Critically examine.
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Que. “An ideology of paternalistic benevolence, occasionally combined with talk of trusteeship and training towards self-government. thinly veiled the realities of a Raj uncompromisingly white and despotic.” Critically examine.
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Que. “States’ reorganization did not, of course, resolve all the problems relating to linguistic conflicts.” Critically examine.
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Que. Wax the Moplah Rebellion in Malabar an expression of anti-landlord and anti-foreign discontent? Discuss.
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Que. Analyse various trends in Dalit Movements in various parts of post-independent India.
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Que. Could Dyarchy (1919) satisfy the national sentiments of the Indians?
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Que. Underline the growth of various forms of Socialist ideologies in the Indian National Movement between World Wars and II.
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Que. Trace the development of land reforms in India between 1947 and the early 1960s.
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Que. What was the significance of the Orientalist-Anglicist Controversy in nineteenth-century India? Analyze.
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Que. Do you consider the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement an emotional calamity?
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Que. Critically examine the turns and twists in the politics of partition in the 1930s and 1940s.
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Que. Can the methods and policies of the moderates be referred to as ‘political mendicancy’?
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UPSC CSE 2017
Que. “The Maratha polity disintegrated through internal stress.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The chief value of Raja’s (Raja Rammohan Roy) labours seems to lie in his fight against the forces of medievalism in India.” Critically examine.
Que. “The British railway construction policy in India benefitted the British economy in the nineteenth century.” Critically examine.
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Que. “The Arya Samaj may quite logically be pronounced as the outcome of conditions imported into India from the West.” Critically examine.
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Que. “Sri Narayana Guru’s was a major intervention in the social reform movement from a subaltern perspective.” Critically examine.
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Que. Explain the factors responsible for the recurrence of famines in the nineteenth century. What remedial measures were adopted by the British Indian Government?
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Que. Assess the role of the press in arousing awareness on important social issues in the second half of the nineteenth century.
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Que. Underline the major considerations of the British imperial power that led to the annexation of Punjab.
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Que. Trace the origin of the Ghadar movement and discuss its impact on the revolutionaries in India.
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Que. Explain why the efforts at finding solution to India’s constitutional impasse failed during 1942-1946.
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Que. Discuss the nature of peasant movements under the Kisan Sabhas during 1920-1940.
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Que. Discuss how the Satyagrahas of Gandhi removed the spell of fear among Indians and thus knocked off an important pillar of imperialism.
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Que. How far did the developments in science and technology in the post-Independence period put India on the path of modernity?
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Que. Throw light on the nature of the ‘Instrument of Accession’ and ‘Standstill Agreement’ signed by the Princely States with the Indian Union.
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