History and Culture: previous-year questions
270 real UPSC Prelims questions (2011–2026) with the official answer and a clear explanation. 76 of them came in the last five papers.
How often UPSC asks this
Questions per year, counted from the official papers.
Subtopics
Architecture and sculpture
32 questions
British expansion, administration and economic impact
16 questions
Buddhism, Jainism and other sects
28 questions
Gandhian era to Independence; constitutional development
91 questions
Mauryas to Guptas: Sangam age and early medieval kingdoms
66 questions
Medieval India: Sultanate, Vijayanagara, Mughals, Marathas; Bhakti and Sufi
78 questions
Painting, performing arts, crafts, literature, philosophy and festivals
63 questions
Prehistory, Harappan and Vedic India
12 questions
Reform movements, 1857, tribal and peasant revolts, early nationalism (to 1919)
80 questions
Attempt the questions
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Which of the following kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha?
- 1. Avanti
- 2. Gandhara
- 3. Kosala
- 4. Magadha
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
The Buddha lived and taught mostly in Kosala and Magadha, so the answer is (d). In Kosala he spent many rainy seasons at Shravasti, with King Prasenajit. In Magadha he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and was patronised by Bimbisara and later Ajatashatru at Rajagriha. Avanti and Gandhara were mahajanapadas he did not visit, so options with 1 or 2 fail.
Buddhism later spread to Avanti through disciples like Mahakachchana, and Gandhara became a great centre of Buddhist art under the Kushanas. Notice how UPSC repeated this exact question from 2014.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following :
The arrival of Babur into India led to the
- 1. introduction of gunpowder in the subcontinent
- 2. introduction of the arch and dome in the region’s architecture
- 3. establishment of Timurid dynasty in the region
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 3 is correct (b). Babur, descended from Timur on his father's side, founded the Timurid (Mughal) dynasty in India after the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Statement 1 is wrong: gunpowder was known in India before him, though Babur used field artillery to great effect. Statement 2 is wrong: the true arch and dome came with the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century, as in Balban's tomb and the Alai Darwaza.
Babur wrote his memoirs, the Baburnama, in Turkish. Notice how architecture and military technology questions often test the exact period of arrival.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who of the following organized a march on the Tanjore coast to break the Salt Law in April 1930?
Answer (b) & explanation
C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam on the Tanjore coast in April 1930, the southern counterpart of Gandhi's Dandi March (b). V. O. Chidambaram Pillai (a) founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in 1906 and was jailed long before 1930. K. Kamaraj (c) was a younger Congress leader at the time, and Annie Besant (d) led the Home Rule League, not this march.
Other salt marches were led by K. Kelappan in Malabar and Gopabandhu Choudhury in Odisha. Notice how salt, used by everyone, made civil disobedience truly all-India.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who of the following founded a new city on the south bank of a tributary to river Krishna and undertook to rule his new kingdom as the agent of a deity to whom all the land south of the river Krishna was supposed to belong?
Answer (c) & explanation
Harihara I, with his brother Bukka, founded Vijayanagara in 1336 on the south bank of the Tungabhadra, a tributary of the Krishna (c). The kings ruled as agents of Virupaksha, the deity of Hampi, and signed grants as "Sri Virupaksha". Amoghavarsha I (a) was a Rashtrakuta king, Ballala II (b) a Hoysala ruler, and Prataparudra II (d) the last Kakatiya king of Warangal.
The sage Vidyaranya is linked with the founding. Notice how Hampi, now a World Heritage Site, shows the empire's wealth in its temples and bazaars.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The first woman President of the Indian National Congress was Sarojini Naidu.
- 2. The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress was Badruddin Tyabji.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Badruddin Tyabji presided at Madras (1887) as the first Muslim president of the Congress. Statement 1 is wrong: Annie Besant presided at Calcutta (1917) and was the first woman president. Sarojini Naidu, at Kanpur (1925), was the first Indian woman president.
Other firsts worth knowing: W. C. Bonnerjee presided over the first session (Bombay, 1885), and Dadabhai Naoroji was president three times. Nellie Sengupta presided in 1933. Notice how UPSC loves "first" questions, where one word like "Indian" changes the answer.
Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to preside, not the first woman.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the Cabinet Mission, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. It recommended a federal government.
- 2. It enlarged the powers of the Indian courts.
- 3. It provided for more Indians in the ICS.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). The Cabinet Mission (1946), of Pethick-Lawrence, Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander, proposed a loose federal Union of provinces and princely states. The Centre would hold only defence, foreign affairs and communications; the provinces would be grouped into sections A, B and C; and a Constituent Assembly and an interim government would be formed. It said nothing about enlarging court powers (2) or adding Indians to the ICS (3).
The Muslim League's rejection and its Direct Action Day (August 1946) followed. Notice how the Mission's failure made Partition almost certain.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the ‘Sedition Committee’.
- 2. In Rowlatt Satyagraha, Gandhiji tried to utilize the Home Rule League.
- 3. Demonstrations against the arrival of Simon Commission coincided with Rowlatt Satyagraha.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 1 and 2 are correct (b). The Rowlatt Act (March 1919) came from Justice Rowlatt's Sedition Committee and allowed detention without trial. Gandhi formed a Satyagraha Sabha and drew on the Home Rule Leagues for an all-India hartal in April 1919. Statement 3 is wrong: the Simon Commission arrived in 1928, nine years later.
The Rowlatt Satyagraha was Gandhi's first all-India movement. Its sad climax was the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919 in Amritsar. Notice how the anger it created paved the way for the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the art and archaeological history of India, which one among the following was made earliest?
Answer (b) & explanation
The Dhauli elephant, carved above Ashoka's rock edict near Bhubaneswar, dates to about the 3rd century BCE, making it the earliest (b). The Udayagiri Varaha (d) belongs to Chandragupta II's time, about 401 CE. Mahabalipuram's rock-cut monuments (c) are Pallava work of the 7th century, and the Lingaraja temple (a) dates to the 11th century.
Dhauli is believed to be near the site of the Kalinga war, after which Ashoka turned to dhamma. Notice how a quick timeline of dynasties (Mauryas, Guptas, Pallavas, Somavamshis and Gangas) solves "which came first" questions.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who of the following was/were economic critic/critics of colonialism in India?
- 1. Dadabhai Naoroji
- 2. G. Subramania Iyer
- 3. R. C. Dutt
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
All three were economic critics of colonialism (d). Dadabhai Naoroji put forward the drain theory in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. R. C. Dutt wrote The Economic History of India, tracing the ruin of Indian industry and heavy land revenue. G. Subramania Iyer, a founder of The Hindu, wrote Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India.
These economic nationalists showed that British rule drained India's wealth, which gave the freedom struggle a strong intellectual base. Notice how their ideas later shaped the Swadeshi movement and India's planned economy after independence.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian history, which of the following is/are the essential element/elements of the feudal system?
- 1. A very strong centralized political authority and a very weak provincial or local political authority
- 2. Emergence of administrative structure based on control and possession of land
- 3. Creation of lord-vassal relationship between the feudal lord and his overlord
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). In the debate on early medieval "Indian feudalism", led by historians such as R. S. Sharma, land grants created a ladder of power resting on the control and possession of land (2). Local chiefs called samantas owed service and tribute to their overlord in a lord–vassal relationship (3). Statement 1 is the opposite of feudalism, which means a weak central authority and strong local lords.
Historians like Harbans Mukhia questioned whether European feudalism fits India. Notice how land grants also spread agriculture and Brahmanical culture into new areas.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Congress Socialist Party, consider the following statements :
- 1. It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes.
- 2. It wanted to establish the dictatorship of proletariat.
- 3. It advocated separate electorate for minorities and oppressed classes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
None of the statements is correct (d). The Congress Socialist Party (1934) of Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Minoo Masani worked inside the Congress to push it towards socialism: land to the tiller, rights for workers and peasants, and nationalisation of key industries. It did not seek a dictatorship of the proletariat, the communist goal (2), or separate electorates for minorities (3), which nationalists opposed. Boycott and tax evasion (1) were not its distinct programme.
Notice how the CSP gave the Congress a left wing, and how JP later led the 1974 movement against the Emergency-era government.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Kalamkari painting refers to
Answer (a) & explanation
Kalamkari ("pen-work") is a hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile of South India (a), mainly Andhra Pradesh. The Srikalahasti style is drawn freehand with a bamboo kalam and shows scenes from the epics and temple themes. The Machilipatnam style uses carved wooden blocks. Both use natural dyes and have GI tags. It is not a North-East bamboo craft (b), a Himalayan woollen cloth (c) or a silk cloth of the North-West (d).
Notice how Kalamkari links art, trade and history: Machilipatnam's printed cloth was a major export when European companies traded on the Coromandel coast.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following movements has contributed to a split in the Indian National Congress resulting in the emergence of ‘moderates’ and ‘extremists’?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Swadeshi Movement (1905–08) split the Congress into Moderates and Extremists (a). The Extremists, led by Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal, wanted to take boycott and passive resistance across India, while the Moderates wanted to limit it to Bengal and continue petitioning. The quarrel ended in the Surat split of 1907. Non-Cooperation (c), Civil Disobedience (d) and Quit India (b) came much later.
The two wings reunited at the Lucknow session of 1916. Notice how the Swadeshi era also gave India national education and swadeshi industries.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Government of India Act of 1919 clearly defined
Answer (b) & explanation
The Government of India Act, 1919 clearly defined the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments (b). Its Devolution Rules split subjects into central and provincial lists, loosening central control over the provinces. Provincial subjects were further split into reserved and transferred under dyarchy. It did not set out a separation of powers between judiciary and legislature (a), and the powers of the Secretary of State and Viceroy (c) were not its defining feature, so (d) also fails.
The Act followed the Montagu–Chelmsford reforms. Notice how it also brought bicameralism at the Centre.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following was given classical language status recently?
Answer (a) & explanation
Odia became India's sixth classical language in 2014 (a), after Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu and Kannada (2008) and Malayalam (2013). In 2015, Konkani (b), Bhojpuri (c) and Assamese (d) did not have the status.
Since then the list has grown: in October 2024, Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali were added, making eleven in all. So today Assamese is also classical, though Konkani and Bhojpuri are not. Notice how such questions can change over time; always read them in their year and know the latest position too.
Assamese was not classical in 2015. It was added only in 2024, so the answer then was Odia.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Medieval Indian State | Present Region
| 1. Champaka | Central India
| 2. Durgara | Jammu
| 3. Kuluta | Malabar
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only pair 2 is correct (b). Early medieval hill states are named in Kalhana's Rajatarangini and in inscriptions. Durgara is the Jammu (Dogra) region. Champaka is Chamba, in Himachal Pradesh, not central India. Kuluta is Kullu, also in Himachal, not Malabar.
Chamba is known for its temples, Chamba rumal embroidery and Pahari miniature painting, while Kullu is famous for its Dussehra fair and woollen shawls. Notice how many old names survive in modern ones: Champaka–Chamba, Kuluta–Kullu and Durgara–Dogra. Spotting such links makes medieval geography questions easier.
Pair 3 is a sound trap: Kuluta sounds southern but is Kullu.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.