UPSC Prelims 2016 History and Culture questions: topic-wise weightage
UPSC Prelims 2016 asked 17 history questions in GS Paper I, spread over 7 topics. See the history weightage for 2016 below, then attempt each question with the official answer and an explanation.
History and Culture 2016: questions by topic
- Buddhism, Jainism and other sects1
- Mauryas to Guptas: Sangam age and early medieval kingdoms2
- Medieval India: Sultanate, Vijayanagara, Mughals, Marathas; Bhakti and Sufi4
- Reform movements, 1857, tribal and peasant revolts, early nationalism (to 1919)4
- Gandhian era to Independence; constitutional development2
- Architecture and sculpture1
- Painting, performing arts, crafts, literature, philosophy and festivals3
Counted from the 17 questions on this page, tagged by topic in the Battle IAS PYQ bank.
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Buddhism, Jainism and other sects 1
With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :
- 1. The concept of Bodhisattva is central to Hinayana sect of Buddhism.
- 2. Bodhisattva is a compassionate one on his way to enlightenment.
- 3. Bodhisattva delays achieving his own salvation to help all sentient beings on their path to it.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: the Bodhisattva ideal is central to Mahayana, not Hinayana. Hinayana (Theravada) aims at becoming an arhat, one who wins his own liberation. A Bodhisattva is a compassionate being on the path to enlightenment (2) who delays his own nirvana to help all sentient beings reach it (3).
Famous Bodhisattvas include Avalokiteshvara, embodying compassion, painted at Ajanta as Padmapani, and Maitreya, the future Buddha. Mahayana grew strong under Kanishka and the Fourth Buddhist Council. Notice how the shift from personal salvation to compassion for all shaped Buddhism across Tibet, China and Japan.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Mauryas to Guptas: Sangam age and early medieval kingdoms 2
Who of the following had first deciphered the edicts of Emperor Ashoka?
Answer (b) & explanation
James Prinsep first deciphered Ashoka's edicts (b). An official of the Calcutta mint and secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, he cracked the Brahmi script in 1837 and read the title "Devanampiya Piyadasi". Georg Bühler (a) later studied Indian scripts and edicts in detail, Max Müller (c) was an Indologist of the Vedas, and William Jones (d) founded the Asiatic Society in 1784.
Prinsep did not know who Piyadasi was; the name Ashoka itself was confirmed only by the Maski edict, found in 1915. Notice how deciphering one script opened up the Mauryan age and the later study of Kharosthi too.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the context of the history of India, consider the following pairs :
| Term | Description
| 1. Eripatti | Land, revenue from which was set apart for the maintenance of the village tank
| 2. Taniyurs | Villages donated to a single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins
| 3. Ghatikas | Colleges generally attached to the temples
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer (d) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 3 are correctly matched (d). In Chola and other south Indian inscriptions, eripatti ("tank land") was land whose income was set aside to maintain the village tank (1). Irrigation tanks were cared for by an eri-variyam (tank committee) of the village assembly. Ghatikas were centres of learning, usually attached to temples (3). The Kanchi ghatika is famous; the Kadamba founder Mayurasharma went there to study. Pair 2 is wrong because taniyurs were large villages made into separate revenue units. A village gifted to Brahmins was a brahmadeya, and one gifted to temples was a devadana.
Notice the Chola village assemblies: the ur (general villages) and the sabha (Brahmin villages). The Uttaramerur inscriptions describe how the sabha's members were chosen by lot.
Many taniyurs were brahmadeyas, so pair 2 looks close. The key wants brahmadeya for a gift to Brahmins.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Medieval India: Sultanate, Vijayanagara, Mughals, Marathas; Bhakti and Sufi 4
Regarding the taxation system of Krishna Deva, the ruler of Vijayanagar, consider the following statements :
- 1. The tax rate on land was fixed depending on the quality of the land.
- 2. Private owners of workshops paid an industries tax.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
Both are correct (c). Under Krishnadevaraya (1509–29), land was surveyed and taxed by its quality: wet, dry, orchard and forest land paid different rates (1). Besides land revenue, the state taxed property, sales and professions, and charged an industries tax on owners of workshops (2), along with tolls and even marriage taxes.
Accounts of foreign travellers such as Domingo Paes and Fernão Nunes describe the empire's wealth. Krishnadevaraya also wrote the Telugu work Amuktamalyada and patronised the Ashtadiggajas. Notice how a strong revenue system funded Vijayanagara's temples, armies and markets.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the cultural history of medieval India, consider the following statements :
- 1. Siddhas (Sittars) of Tamil region were monotheistic and condemned idolatry.
- 2. Lingayats of Kannada region questioned the theory of rebirth and rejected the caste hierarchy.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
Both are correct (c). The Siddhas (Sittars) were Tamil mystics who believed in one god and mocked idol worship, rituals and caste (1). The Lingayats or Virashaivas, founded by Basavanna in the 12th century, worshipped Shiva alone through the personal ishtalinga, rejected caste hierarchy and questioned the theory of rebirth (2). They also allowed widow remarriage.
Basavanna's vachanas, short poems in Kannada, spread these ideas, and the Anubhava Mantapa was a hall for spiritual debate. Notice how these movements challenged hierarchy long before modern social reform.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Banjaras during the medieval period of Indian history were generally
Answer (d) & explanation
Banjaras were mainly traders and carriers (d). They moved in large bullock caravans called tanda, carrying grain, salt and other goods over long distances. They were not chiefly agriculturists (a), warriors (b) or weavers (c), though they served armies as suppliers.
Alauddin Khalji used Banjaras to bring grain to Delhi's markets as part of his price controls. Jahangir described their caravans in his memoirs, and Mughal armies relied on them for supplies on campaign. Notice how such mobile traders knit together a vast internal market long before railways, a point that often appears in questions on medieval trade.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the economic history of medieval India, the term ‘Araghatta’ refers to
Answer (c) & explanation
Araghatta was a water-wheel for irrigation (c). It carried a chain of pots and was turned by bullocks, lifting water from wells to the fields. Early medieval texts and inscriptions mention it, and it later developed into the gear-driven Persian wheel (saqiya/rahat), which spread widely under the Delhi Sultanate. It does not mean bonded labour (a). Land grants to military officers (b) were iqtas under the Sultanate and jagirs under the Mughals. Wasteland brought under the plough (d) does not match the word either.
Notice the story of farm technology: wells, tanks (eri) and the araghatta made it possible to grow two crops a year. Babur's memoirs describe the water-wheels he saw in north India.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Reform movements, 1857, tribal and peasant revolts, early nationalism (to 1919) 4
The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the
Answer (a) & explanation
Swadeshi and Boycott were first adopted during the agitation against the Partition of Bengal (a). The boycott resolution passed at Calcutta Town Hall on 7 August 1905 launched the Swadeshi movement. The Home Rule Movement (b) came in 1916, Non-Cooperation (c) in 1920, and the Simon Commission (d) protests in 1928, all later.
The movement saw bonfires of foreign cloth, national schools, swadeshi industries and Tagore's Raksha Bandhan. The partition was annulled in 1911. Notice how methods first tried in 1905 became the backbone of Gandhian mass movements, which is why the Bengal agitation is called a dress rehearsal for later struggles.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Satya Shodhak Samaj organized
Answer (c) & explanation
Satyashodhak Samaj was an anti-caste movement in Maharashtra (c). Jyotiba Phule founded it in Pune in 1873 to free the lower castes and women from Brahminical domination. It held marriages without priests, and Phule and Savitribai Phule ran schools for girls and Dalits. His book Gulamgiri (1873) compared caste with slavery. The other options are wrong: Bihar's tribal movements were Birsa Munda's Ulgulan (a), Gujarat had no such temple-entry campaign (b), and Punjab's peasant movements were unrelated (d). The best-known temple-entry movements were Vaikom (1924–25) and Guruvayur in Kerala.
Phule was given the title "Mahatma" in 1888. Notice how his ideas later shaped the non-Brahmin movement and Dr Ambedkar, who called him one of his three gurus.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following :
- 1. Calcutta Unitarian Committee
- 2. Tabernacle of New Dispensation
- 3. Indian Reform Association
Keshab Chandra Sen is associated with the establishment of which of the above?
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Keshab Chandra Sen set up the Indian Reform Association in 1870 (3) to work for women's education, temperance and cheap literature. This work helped bring the Native Marriage Act, 1872. After a split, he founded the Naba Bidhan (Church of the New Dispensation) in 1880, whose meeting place was called the Tabernacle (2). Statement 1 is wrong because the Calcutta Unitarian Committee (1821–23) was the work of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and William Adam.
Notice the Brahmo splits: Keshab broke from Debendranath Tagore in 1866 to form the Brahmo Samaj of India. After his daughter's underage marriage in 1878, his followers formed the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What was the main reason for the split in the Indian National Congress at Surat in 1907?
Answer (b) & explanation
The split came from the Extremists' lack of faith in the Moderates' methods (b). After the partition of Bengal (1905), Extremists led by Tilak, Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo wanted to spread swadeshi, boycott and national education across India. They had no faith in the Moderates' petition-and-prayer approach. At Surat (1907) they clashed over the president, Rash Behari Ghosh, and the session broke up. Minto's separate electorates (a) came only in 1909. The Muslim League (c) was founded in 1906 but did not cause the split. Aurobindo was never a presidential candidate (d); the Extremists wanted Lajpat Rai.
Notice the result: the British arrested Tilak (Mandalay, 1908). The two groups came back together at Lucknow in 1916.
Aurobindo was a leading Extremist, but the presidency dispute was a symptom, not the cause, of the split.
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Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Gandhian era to Independence; constitutional development 2
The Montague-Chelmsford Proposals were related to
Answer (d) & explanation
The Montagu-Chelmsford proposals were constitutional reforms (d). Secretary of State Edwin Montagu's August 1917 declaration promised a step-by-step move towards responsible government. His 1918 report with Viceroy Lord Chelmsford led to the Government of India Act, 1919. It brought dyarchy in the provinces, with subjects split into transferred and reserved, a two-house central legislature, and wider separate electorates, including for Sikhs. It was not mainly about social reform (a), education (b), or police administration (c), even though education became a transferred subject.
Congress rejected the reforms as disappointing, and the Rowlatt Act came soon after. Notice the chain that followed: the Simon Commission (1927) reviewed the 1919 Act, and that led to the 1935 Act.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The plan of Sir Stafford Cripps envisaged that after the Second World War
Answer (d) & explanation
Cripps promised Dominion status after the war (d). The Cripps Mission (March 1942) came when Japan was advancing in Asia. It offered Dominion status after the war, with the right to leave the Commonwealth. It also offered an elected constitution-making body, with provinces and princely states free to stay out. It did not offer complete independence (a). It did not propose partition outright (b), though the opt-out idea pointed that way. It did not offer a republic tied to the Commonwealth (c).
Gandhi called it a "post-dated cheque". Congress rejected it because defence stayed with the British and the opt-out threatened unity, and the League rejected it too. Notice what came next: the Quit India resolution, five months later in August 1942.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Architecture and sculpture 1
What is/are common to the two historical places known as Ajanta and Mahabalipuram?
- 1. Both were built in the same period.
- 2. Both belong to the same religious denomination.
- 3. Both have rock-cut monuments.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 3 is correct (b). The Ajanta caves in Maharashtra are Buddhist. They were cut in two phases: about the 2nd–1st century BCE under the Satavahanas and the 5th century CE under the Vakatakas. Mahabalipuram's rathas, mandapas and reliefs are Hindu and were made by the Pallavas in the 7th–8th centuries, under rulers like Narasimhavarman I. So statement 1 (same period) and statement 2 (same religion) are wrong. Only the rock-cut technique is common to both.
Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and Ajanta is famous above all for its murals. Notice that Mahabalipuram also has the structural Shore Temple, built under Rajasimha. It marks the move from rock-cut to stone-built temples in the south.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Painting, performing arts, crafts, literature, philosophy and festivals 3
Which one of the following books of ancient India has the love story of the son of the founder of Sunga dynasty?
Answer (b) & explanation
Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitram tells the love story of Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra Shunga, founder of the Shunga dynasty, for the maid Malavika at his court in Vidisha (b). Svapnavasavadatta (a), by Bhasa, is about Udayana of Vatsa. Ratnavali (d), by Harsha, also has Udayana as its hero. The Meghaduta (c) is Kalidasa's lyric poem of a yaksha sending a message through a cloud.
Pushyamitra overthrew the last Mauryan king, Brihadratha, around 185 BCE. Notice how literature can preserve history: this play is a key source on the early Shungas.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the cultural history of India, the memorizing of chronicles, dynastic histories and epic tales was the profession of who of the following?
Answer (d) & explanation
Memorising chronicles and epic tales was the job of the Magadha (d). The Magadhas and Sutas were court bards who learnt by heart and recited royal genealogies, dynastic histories and epic stories. The Puranas and the Mahabharata were passed down partly through them. In the Mahabharata, the suta Sanjaya narrates the war to Dhritarashtra. A shramana (a) was an ascetic of non-Vedic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism. A parivrajaka (b) was a wandering mendicant. An agraharika (c) was linked with an agrahara, a tax-free land grant to Brahmins.
Notice how ancient Indian history depended on oral traditions. Bards kept the genealogies the Puranas later wrote down, which is why historians check them against inscriptions.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Famous place | Region
| 1. Bodhgaya | Baghelkhand
| 2. Khajuraho | Bundelkhand
| 3. Shirdi | Vidarbha
| 4. Nasik (Nashik) | Malwa
| 5. Tirupati | Rayalaseema
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
Only pairs 2 and 5 are correct (c). Khajuraho (Chhatarpur, MP) lies in Bundelkhand (2), the land of its Chandela builders. Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) is in Rayalaseema (5), the southern part of Andhra Pradesh. Pair 1 is wrong because Bodhgaya is in Gaya district of Bihar, the ancient Magadha region. Baghelkhand is Rewa–Satna in MP. Pair 3 is wrong because Shirdi is in Ahmednagar (now Ahilyanagar) in western Maharashtra, not Vidarbha (Nagpur–Amravati). Pair 4 is wrong because Nashik is also in western Maharashtra, while Malwa is the plateau around Indore and Ujjain.
Notice how these regional names keep showing up in questions. Learn them with their key districts, since they decide many map-based questions.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
All years by topic
Every question from 2011 to 2026, grouped by syllabus topic, with year-wise trends.