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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Consider the following properties included in the World Heritage List released by UNESCO :
- 1. Shantiniketan
- 2. Rani-ki-Vav
- 3. Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas
- 4. Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodhgaya
How many of the above properties were included in 2023 ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only two were included in 2023 (b). The Riyadh session of the World Heritage Committee in September 2023 added Santiniketan, Tagore's university town in West Bengal, and the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas (Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura) in Karnataka. That made India's count 42. Item 2 is wrong: Rani-ki-Vav, the stepwell at Patan, Gujarat, was listed in 2014. Item 4 is wrong: the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya was listed in 2002.
Notice the later additions: Assam's Moidams of the Ahom kings (2024) and the Maratha Military Landscapes, a group of twelve forts (2025), took India to 44. Do not confuse this list of places with the Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following epithets ?
- 1. Nayaputta
- 2. Shakyamuni
- 3. Tathagata
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Only Shakyamuni and Tathagata are Buddha's epithets (b). Item 2 is right: Shakyamuni means "sage of the Shakyas", the Buddha's clan at Kapilavastu. Item 3 is right: Tathagata means "one who has thus gone" (or thus come), the name the Buddha uses for himself in the suttas. Item 1 is wrong: Nayaputta (Nataputta), "son of the Natas (Jnatrikas)", is the name of Mahavira in the Pali texts, where he appears as Nigantha Nataputta. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice other names of the Buddha: Siddhartha (birth name), Gautama (clan name), Sugata and Bhagavat. Mahavira, in turn, is called Vardhamana, Jina ("conqueror") and Nirgrantha. UPSC likes such swaps between the two teachers, who were contemporaries.
Nigantha Nataputta in the Pali canon is Mahavira, the Buddha's rival teacher.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following information :
| Archaeological Site | State | Description
| 1. Chandraketugarh | Odisha | Trading Port town
| 2. Inamgaon | Maharashtra | Chalcolithic site
| 3. Mangadu | Kerala | Megalithic site
| 4. Salihundam | Andhra Pradesh | Rock-cut cave shrines
In which of the above rows is the given information correctly matched ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Rows 2 and 3 are correctly matched (b). Row 2 is right: Inamgaon, in Pune district of Maharashtra, is a large Chalcolithic village of the Jorwe culture. Row 3 is right: Mangadu, in Kollam district of Kerala, has megalithic urn burials. Row 1 is wrong: Chandraketugarh is in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, not Odisha, though it was indeed a port town known for fine terracottas. Row 4 is wrong: Salihundam, in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, is known for brick stupas and monasteries, not rock-cut caves.
Notice the trick: UPSC often gets one column right and one wrong in a row. Check each detail. For rock-cut Buddhist caves, think of Ajanta, Karla and Bhaja in Maharashtra, or Guntupalli in Andhra.
The descriptions in rows 1 and 4 fit. Check the state and the type of monument separately.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who of the following rulers of medieval India gave permission to the Portuguese to build a fort at Bhatkal ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Krishnadevaraya let the Portuguese build a fort at Bhatkal (a). Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara (1509–29) was friendly with the Portuguese. They were enemies of Bijapur, his rival, and they supplied the Arabian and Persian war horses his cavalry needed. He let them build a fort at Bhatkal, a port on the Karnataka coast. Option (b) is wrong: Narasimha Saluva ruled before the Portuguese arrived in strength. Option (c) is wrong: Muhammad Shah III was a Bahmani sultan. Option (d) is wrong: Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur was their enemy; he lost Goa to Albuquerque in 1510.
Notice the visitors who described Vijayanagara's wealth: the Portuguese Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz. Krishnadevaraya also wrote the Telugu poem Amuktamalyada.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to revenue collection by Cornwallis, consider the following statements :
- 1. Under the Ryotwari Settlement of revenue collection, the peasants were exempted from revenue payment in case of bad harvests or natural calamities.
- 2. Under the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, if the Zamindar failed to pay his revenues to the state, on or before the fixed date, he would be removed from his Zamindari.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
No official answer (question dropped) & notes
UPSC dropped this question, so no answer was counted. Learn the facts anyway. Statement 1 is wrong in its premise: the Ryotwari system was the work of Thomas Munro and Alexander Read in Madras (and later Bombay), not Cornwallis, and it did not give peasants a fixed remission for bad harvests. Statement 2 is right: under Cornwallis's Permanent Settlement (1793) in Bengal, a zamindar who missed the payment date, under the "sunset law", lost his estate at auction. On the facts, option (b) would fit.
Notice the third system: the Mahalwari settlement, made with whole village communities, by Holt Mackenzie in the North-Western Provinces. The harsh sunset law ruined many old zamindar families within a few decades.
UPSC did not evaluate this question, so no official answer exists. Use it for practice only.
UPSC dropped this question from evaluation; there is no official answer.
Which one of the following was the latest inclusion in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Garba was the latest inclusion among these (c). Garba of Gujarat was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2023, as India's 15th element. Option (b) is wrong: Durga Puja in Kolkata was added earlier, in 2021. Option (d) is wrong: Kumbh Mela was added in 2017. Option (a) is wrong: Chhau dance, of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, was added in 2010. So Garba is the most recent of the four.
Notice the later addition: Deepavali, inscribed in December 2025 at the session hosted in New Delhi. Other Indian elements include Yoga, Vedic chanting, Ramlila, Kalbelia and Navroz. Do not confuse this list with the World Heritage list of sites.
The question says "latest", so you have to know the years. Durga Puja is the next most recent and catches people who know only the 2021 entry.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the Government of India Act, 1935, consider the following statements :
- 1. It provided for the establishment of an All India Federation based on the union of the British Indian Provinces and Princely States.
- 2. Defence and Foreign Affairs were kept under the control of the federal legislature.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). Statement 1 is right: the Government of India Act, 1935 planned an All-India Federation of British Indian provinces and princely states that chose to join. It never came into force because too few princes joined. Statement 2 is wrong: the Act brought dyarchy to the Centre. Defence, foreign affairs, ecclesiastical affairs and tribal areas were "reserved" subjects run by the Governor-General, outside the legislature's control.
Notice the parts that did work: provincial autonomy from 1937, when Congress formed ministries in most provinces. The Act also set up a Federal Court (1937) and the RBI framework. Much of our Constitution's structure, such as three lists of subjects, was borrowed from it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who among the following rulers of Vijayanagara Empire constructed a large dam across Tungabhadra River and a canal-cum-aqueduct several kilometres long from the river to the capital city?
Answer (a) & explanation
Devaraya I built the Tungabhadra dam and canal (a). Devaraya I (1406–22) of the Sangama dynasty built a dam across the Tungabhadra and a long canal-cum-aqueduct that brought water to the capital, Vijayanagara (Hampi). This boosted farming and the state's revenue. The Portuguese visitor Nuniz described such works. Mallikarjuna (b), Vira Vijaya (c) and Virupaksha (d) were later Sangama rulers of a weaker period; none built this dam.
Notice the Italian traveller Nicolo de Conti, who visited under Devaraya I. The Hampi ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage site, still show tanks and channels, such as the stepped tank and the Kamalapura tank. The modern Tungabhadra dam came up in 1953.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who among the following rulers of medieval Gujarat surrendered Diu to Portuguese?
Answer (c) & explanation
Bahadur Shah gave Diu to the Portuguese (c). Under pressure from the Mughal Humayun, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat signed the Treaty of Bassein (1534) and let the Portuguese build a fort at Diu in 1535. He was killed in 1537 during a meeting on a Portuguese ship. Option (b) is wrong: Mahmud Begarha fought the Portuguese at sea with Egyptian help, winning at Chaul (1508) but losing at Diu (1509). Option (a) is wrong: Ahmad Shah founded Ahmedabad in 1411. Option (d) is wrong: Muhammad Shah was a 15th-century ruler.
Notice that Diu stayed Portuguese until 1961, when India took Goa, Daman and Diu. Today Diu is part of the merged UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
By which one of the following Acts was the Governor General of Bengal designated as the Governor General of India?
Answer (d) & explanation
The Charter Act of 1833 made the post Governor-General of India (d). The Charter Act of 1833 turned the Governor-General of Bengal into the Governor-General of India, with all civil and military powers. William Bentinck was the first to hold the title. Option (a) is wrong: the Regulating Act (1773) made the Governor of Bengal the Governor-General of Bengal, and Warren Hastings was the first. Option (b) is wrong: Pitt's India Act (1784) set up the Board of Control, creating dual government. Option (c) is wrong: the Charter Act of 1793 only renewed the Company's charter for 20 years.
Notice what else 1833 did: it ended the Company's trade role entirely, and added a law member (Macaulay) to the council. After 1858, the title became Viceroy, first held by Canning.
The Regulating Act created the "Governor-General of Bengal". The India title came 60 years later.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
“Souls are not only the property of animal and plant life, but also of rocks, running water and many other natural objects not looked on as living by other religious sects.”
The above statement reflects one of the core beliefs of which one of the following religious sects of ancient India?
Answer (b) & explanation
This is a core belief of Jainism (b). Jainism holds that the world is full of jivas, or souls. Not only plants and animals but also earth, water, fire and air bodies have souls. Even these beings with just one sense, touch, are alive and can suffer. That is why Jain ahimsa is so strict: monks sweep their path, cover their mouths and strain water. Option (a) is wrong: Buddhism does not accept a permanent soul (anatta). Options (c) and (d), Shaivism and Vaishnavism, centre on devotion to a personal God, not souls in rocks and water.
Notice the Jain idea of anekantavada, many-sidedness of truth, and the three jewels: right faith, right knowledge and right conduct.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the Indian History, Alexander Rea, A. H. Longhurst, Robert Sewell, James Burgess and Walter Elliot were associated with
Answer (a) & explanation
They were associated with archaeological excavations (a). All five worked on South Indian antiquities in the colonial era. Walter Elliot dug at Amaravati in 1845. Robert Sewell listed the monuments of the Madras Presidency and wrote A Forgotten Empire (1900) on Vijayanagara. James Burgess led the Archaeological Survey of India and studied cave temples. Alexander Rea excavated the Iron Age burial site of Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu. A.H. Longhurst excavated Nagarjunakonda and wrote on Hampi. Options (b), (c) and (d) do not fit any of them.
Notice the ASI's founding by Alexander Cunningham in 1861. John Marshall later led the Harappa and Mohenjo-daro digs of the 1920s. Adichanallur is being dug again today, with Keeladi nearby.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Site | Well known for
| 1. Besnagar | Shaivite cave shrine
| 2. Bhaja | Buddhist cave shrine
| 3. Sittanavasal | Jain cave shrine
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Answer (b) & explanation
Two pairs are correctly matched (b). Pair 2 is right: Bhaja in Maharashtra, near Lonavala, has early Buddhist chaitya and vihara caves of about the 2nd century BCE. Pair 3 is right: Sittanavasal in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, is a Jain cave shrine with fine paintings of a lotus pond. Pair 1 is wrong: Besnagar, near Vidisha, is known for the Heliodorus pillar (about 113 BCE), raised by a Greek envoy in honour of Vasudeva, a Vaishnava monument, not a Shaivite cave.
Notice that Heliodorus, envoy of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, called himself a Bhagavata, an early sign of Bhagavatism. Other famous Buddhist caves of the area are Karla, Kanheri and Ajanta.
Udayagiri, near Besnagar, has Gupta cave shrines. Do not let the nearby caves pull Besnagar into pair 1.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In which one of the following regions was Dhanyakataka, which flourished as a prominent Buddhist centre under the Mahasanghikas, located?
Answer (a) & explanation
Dhanyakataka was in Andhra (a). Dhanyakataka, today's Dharanikota next to Amaravati on the lower Krishna, was a capital of the Satavahanas and a great Buddhist centre of the Mahasanghika school, with sub-sects such as the Purvashaila and Aparashaila. Tradition links Nagarjuna and the Kalachakra teaching to the place. Option (b) is wrong: Gandhara, in the north-west, was a centre of Mahayana and Greco-Buddhist art. Option (c) is wrong: Kalinga is Odisha. Option (d) is wrong: Magadha is Bihar, home of Nalanda.
Notice the Amaravati school of art, in white marble-like limestone, one of three great schools along with Gandhara and Mathura. Andhra's new capital, Amaravati, is named after this ancient site.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ancient India, consider the following statements :
- 1. The concept of Stupa is Buddhist in origin.
- 2. Stupa was generally a repository of relics.
- 3. Stupa was a votive and commemorative structure in Buddhist tradition.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Two statements are correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: burial mounds over the remains of important people go back to Vedic and pre-Buddhist times. The Buddhists took up the stupa and made it their own, but they did not invent it. Statement 2 is right: stupas were usually built over relics of the Buddha or of revered monks. Statement 3 is right: stupas were also votive and commemorative: pilgrims offered small votive stupas as acts of merit, and some marked places linked to the Buddha's life.
Notice the parts of a stupa: the dome (anda), the railing (vedika), the gateways (torana) and the umbrella (chhatra). Great examples are Sanchi, Bharhut and Amaravati. Ashoka is said to have built 84,000 stupas.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ancient South India, Korkai, Poompuhar and Muchiri were well known as
Answer (b) & explanation
Korkai, Poompuhar and Muchiri were ports (b). These were the three main Sangam-age ports. Korkai was the Pandya port, famous for pearls. Poompuhar, or Kaveripattinam, at the mouth of the Kaveri, was the Chola port, described in the Silappatikaram. Muchiri, or Muziris, on the Periyar, was the Chera port that traded pepper with Rome. Option (a) is wrong: the capitals were Madurai (Pandya), Uraiyur (Chola) and Vanji (Chera). Options (c) and (d) do not fit.
Notice the Muziris Papyrus, a Roman loan contract for a cargo from Muziris. Excavations at Pattanam in Kerala are linked to Muziris, and Arikamedu near Puducherry was another Indo-Roman trading site.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- Statement-I : 7th August is declared as the National Handloom Day.
- Statement-II : It was in 1905 that the Swadeshi Movement was launched on the same day.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer (a) & explanation
Both statements are correct and II explains I (a). Statement II is right: on 7 August 1905, a meeting at the Calcutta Town Hall passed the boycott resolution against the partition of Bengal, formally starting the Swadeshi movement. Statement I is right: the government chose this date for National Handloom Day, first marked in 2015 by the Prime Minister in Chennai, because swadeshi meant using Indian-made cloth, especially handloom, and burning foreign goods. So II explains I.
Notice the swadeshi leaders: Lal, Bal, Pal, and Aurobindo. The partition took effect on 16 October 1905, which Tagore marked with Raksha Bandhan. India's handloom sector employs about 35 lakh people, many of them women, and is promoted through GI tags and India Handloom branding.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following explains the practice of ‘Vattakirutal’ as mentioned in Sangam poems?
Answer (d) & explanation
Vadakkiruttal was a defeated king's ritual fast to death (d). Vadakkiruttal, "sitting facing north", was a ritual fast unto death by a king or warrior who had been defeated or shamed. The best-known case is the Chola king Kopperuncholan, who chose it after a quarrel with his sons; his friend, the poet Pisirandaiyar, joined him. Puram poems record it as an honourable death. Option (a) is wrong: there is no such term for women bodyguards. Option (b) describes the poets' Sangam assemblies. Option (c) describes girls guarding millet fields, a theme of the kurinji poems.
Notice the parallel with the Jain practice of sallekhana, a ritual fast to death, which Chandragupta Maurya is said to have taken at Shravanabelagola.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following dynasties :
- 1. Hoysala
- 2. Gahadavala
- 3. Kakatiya
- 4. Yadava
How many of the above dynasties established their kingdoms in early eighth century AD?
Answer (d) & explanation
None of them was founded in the early eighth century (d). All four are later dynasties. The Hoysalas of Karnataka rose in the 11th century, with capitals at Belur and Halebidu. The Gahadavalas took Kanauj around 1090. The Kakatiyas of Warangal and the Yadavas of Devagiri became independent in the 12th century, after the Western Chalukya power fell. So options (a), (b) and (c) are wrong.
Notice who did rise in the eighth century: the Rashtrakutas (Dantidurga, about 753), the Gurjara-Pratiharas and the Palas of Bengal. These three later fought the tripartite struggle for Kanauj. The Hoysalas are famous for star-shaped temples, now a UNESCO World Heritage site (2023).
"How many" with an option "None": dynasties of the 11th–13th centuries are put here to look as if they rose earlier.
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Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ancient Indian History, consider the following pairs :
| Literary work | Author
| 1. Devichandragupta | Bilhana
| 2. Hammira-Mahakavya | Nayachandra Suri
| 3. Milinda-panha | Nagarjuna
| 4. Nitivakyamrita | Somadeva Suri
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Answer (b) & explanation
Two pairs are correctly matched (b). Pair 2 is right: Nayachandra Suri wrote the Hammira-Mahakavya on the Chauhan king Hammira of Ranthambhore. Pair 4 is right: Somadeva Suri wrote the Nitivakyamrita, a Jain work on statecraft. Pair 1 is wrong: the Devichandragupta is a play by Vishakhadatta, who also wrote the Mudrarakshasa; Bilhana wrote the Vikramankadevacharita. Pair 3 is wrong: the Milinda-panha records the dialogue of the monk Nagasena with the Indo-Greek king Menander; its author is unknown, and Nagarjuna is not linked to it.
Notice the theme of the Devichandragupta: it tells how Chandragupta II killed a Shaka king to save Queen Dhruvadevi, a story used to fill gaps in Gupta history.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.