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
Newest papers first. Tap an option; the answer and the reason appear instantly.
With reference to the history of ancient India, Bhavabhuti, Hastimalla and Kshemeshvara were famous
Answer (b) & explanation
All three were playwrights (b). They wrote Sanskrit plays. Bhavabhuti (8th century, court of Yashovarman of Kanauj) wrote Uttararamacharita, Mahaviracharita and Malatimadhava, and is often ranked next to Kalidasa. Hastimalla was a Jain dramatist of the Karnataka region, around the 13th century, who wrote plays on Jain and epic themes. Kshemishvara of Kanauj wrote Chandakaushika (10th century) on King Harishchandra. Option (a) is a trap: Hastimalla was a Jain, but not a monk. They were not architects (c) or chiefly philosophers (d).
Notice other Sanskrit dramatists: Bhasa, Shudraka (Mrichchhakatika), Vishakhadatta (Mudrarakshasa) and Harsha himself (Ratnavali, Nagananda, Priyadarshika).
Hastimalla was a Jain, but he is remembered as a playwright, not a monk.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who among the following was associated as Secretary with Hindu Female School which later came to be known as Bethune Female School?
Answer (c) & explanation
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was its secretary (c). J. E. D. Bethune founded the Hindu Female School in Calcutta in 1849, and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar served as its secretary. It later became the Bethune School and Bethune College. Vidyasagar went on to set up 35 or more girls' schools in Bengal, and his campaign led to the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856. Option (a) is wrong: Annie Besant came to India only in 1893. Option (b) is wrong: Debendranath Tagore led the Brahmo Samaj. Option (d) is wrong: Sarojini Naidu was born in 1879.
Notice Vidyasagar's Bengali primer Barnaparichay. Bethune College's early students included Kadambini Ganguly, among India's first women graduates.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Chausath Yogini Temple situated near Morena, consider the following statements :
- 1. It is a circular temple built during the reign of Kachchhapaghata Dynasty.
- 2. It is the only circular temple built in India.
- 3. It was meant to promote the Vaishnava cult in the region.
- 4. Its design has given rise to a popular belief that it was the inspiration behind the Indian Parliament building.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1 and 4 are correct (c). Statement 1 is right: the Chausath Yogini temple at Mitaoli, near Morena in Madhya Pradesh, was built around 1323 under the Kachchhapaghata kings. It is a circular ring of 64 cells around a central Shiva shrine. Statement 2 is wrong: other circular yogini temples exist, at Hirapur and Ranipur-Jharial in Odisha. Statement 3 is wrong: yogini temples belong to Tantric Shakta-Shaiva worship, not the Vaishnava cult. Statement 4 is right: its round plan is popularly said to have inspired the old Parliament House, designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker.
Notice that the old Parliament House is now called Samvidhan Sadan, after the new building opened in 2023.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 recommended granting voting rights to all the women above the age of 21.
- 2. The Government of India Act of 1935 gave women reserved seats in legislature.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 did not give votes to all women above 21. They left women's franchise to the provincial councils. Madras went first in 1921, and only women with property or education qualified. Votes for all adult women came only with the Constitution in 1950. Statement 2 is right: the Government of India Act, 1935 reserved seats for women in the legislatures and widened their franchise.
Notice women leaders of the time: Sarojini Naidu, first Indian woman Congress president (1925), and Muthulakshmi Reddy, first woman legislator (Madras, 1927). The 106th Amendment (2023) reserves one-third of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats for women.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following ancient towns is well-known for its elaborate system of water harvesting and management by building a series of dams and channelizing water into connected reservoirs?
Answer (a) & explanation
Dholavira is famous for its water management (a). Dholavira, on Khadir island in the Rann of Kachchh, Gujarat, stood between two seasonal streams, the Mansar and Manhar. Its people built dams across them and cut huge stone reservoirs along the city walls to store monsoon water in a dry land. Kalibangan (b) in Rajasthan is known for a ploughed field and fire altars. Rakhigarhi (c) in Haryana is among the largest Harappan sites. Ropar (d) in Punjab is known for a burial of a dog with a man.
Notice that Dholavira became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021. It also has a signboard of ten large Harappan letters. Lothal in Gujarat had a dockyard.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who among the following is associated with ‘Songs from Prison’, a translation of ancient Indian religious lyrics in English?
Answer (c) & explanation
Gandhi is linked with "Songs from the Prison" (c). In Yeravda jail in 1930, Gandhi translated Sanskrit hymns and lyrics from the Ashram Bhajanavali into English. John S. Hoyland put them into verse, and they came out in 1934 as "Songs from the Prison". Option (a) is wrong: Tilak wrote the Gita Rahasya in Mandalay jail. Option (b) is wrong: Nehru wrote The Discovery of India in Ahmednagar Fort jail. Option (d) is wrong: Sarojini Naidu wrote her own poems, such as The Golden Threshold, and was called the "Nightingale of India".
Notice that Gandhi also wrote From Yeravda Mandir there. His autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, was written in Gujarati.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the first quarter of seventeenth century, in which of the following was/were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located?
- 1. Broach
- 2. Chicacole
- 3. Trichinopoly
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (a) & explanation
Only Broach had an English factory then (a). After Jahangir's farman in 1613, won after the English beat the Portuguese at Swally, the English East India Company set up its first permanent factory at Surat. In the 1610s it opened factories at Broach, Agra, Ahmedabad and Burhanpur, so item 1 is right. Item 2 is wrong: Chicacole (Srikakulam) on the Andhra coast came under English influence only in the 18th century, as part of the Northern Circars. Item 3 is wrong: Trichinopoly became important only in the Carnatic wars of the 1740s–50s.
Notice Sir Thomas Roe, James I's ambassador to Jahangir (1615–19). The English got Bombay as dowry in 1661 and founded Madras in 1639.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to medieval India, which one of the following is the correct sequence in ascending order in terms of size?
Answer (a) & explanation
Pargana, sarkar, suba is the ascending order (a). In Akbar's administration, the empire was divided into subas (provinces), each suba into sarkars (districts), and each sarkar into parganas, which were groups of villages. So from smallest to largest the order is pargana, sarkar, suba. Options (b), (c) and (d) mix up this order. The suba was run by the subedar (governor) with a diwan for revenue; the sarkar by the faujdar; and the pargana by the shiqdar and the amil.
Notice that Akbar had 12 subas at first, which rose to 15 by the end of his reign. The revenue system was the zabt or dahsala system of Raja Todar Mal.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
From the decline of Guptas until the rise of Harshavardhana in the early seventh century, which of the following kingdoms were holding power in Northern India?
- 1. The Guptas of Magadha
- 2. The Paramaras of Malwa
- 3. The Pushyabhutis of Thanesar
- 4. The Maukharis of Kanauj
- 5. The Yadavas of Devagiri
- 6. The Maitrakas of Valabhi
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
The Later Guptas, Pushyabhutis, Maukharis and Maitrakas held power (b). In the 6th century, after the imperial Guptas declined, north India split among regional powers. Item 1 is right: the Later Guptas ruled Magadha. Item 3 is right: the Pushyabhutis of Thanesar were Harsha's family. Item 4 is right: the Maukharis ruled from Kanauj. Item 6 is right: the Maitrakas ruled Valabhi in Gujarat, a famous centre of learning. Item 2 is wrong: the Paramaras of Malwa rose in the 10th century. Item 5 is wrong: the Yadavas of Devagiri rose in the 12th century.
Notice that Harsha's sister Rajyashri married the Maukhari king Grahavarman, which is how Harsha came to rule Kanauj. Notice Shashanka of Gauda, Harsha's enemy.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the context of Colonial India, Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon are remembered as
Answer (d) & explanation
They were officers of the Indian National Army (d). Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh, were INA officers tried together for treason at the Red Fort in November 1945. Bhulabhai Desai led the defence, with Nehru and Tej Bahadur Sapru on the team. Protests across the country forced the government to remit their sentences. They were not linked with the Swadeshi movement (a), the Interim Government (b) or the Drafting Committee (c).
Notice the slogan "Lal Qila se aai awaaz, Sehgal, Dhillon, Shah Nawaz". The INA trials, along with the Royal Indian Navy mutiny (1946), showed the British they could no longer rely on Indian forces.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, the women in Vijayanagara Empire were expert in which of the following areas?
- 1. Wrestling
- 2. Astrology
- 3. Accounting
- 4. Soothsaying
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
Nuniz described women in all four roles (d). Fernão Nuniz, a Portuguese horse trader in Vijayanagara around 1535, wrote that the palace women included wrestlers (item 1), astrologers (item 2), and soothsayers (item 4). He also wrote that women kept the accounts of expenses inside the palace (item 3), and that some served as clerks and even judges. So all four appear in his chronicle.
Notice the other foreign visitors to Vijayanagara: Domingo Paes (Portuguese, under Krishnadeva Raya), Abdur Razzaq (Persian, under Deva Raya II), and Niccolò de' Conti (Italian). The capital, Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The empire fell after the Battle of Talikota (1565).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian history, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. The Nizamat of Arcot emerged out of Hyderabad State.
- 2. The Mysore Kingdom emerged out of Vijayanagara Empire.
- 3. Rohilkhand Kingdom was formed out of the territories occupied by Ahmad Shah Durrani.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: Arcot was the seat of the Nawabs of the Carnatic, a Mughal province; it was not a Nizamat carved out of Hyderabad, though the Nizam claimed overlordship. Statement 2 is right: the Wodeyars of Mysore began as Vijayanagara feudatories and became independent after 1565. Statement 3 is wrong: Rohilkhand was built by Ali Muhammad Khan Rohilla from Mughal lands in the 1740s, before Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasions; the Rohillas later allied with Durrani.
Notice that Haidar Ali took power in Mysore from the Wodeyars in 1761. The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) saw Durrani defeat the Marathas.
The Carnatic nawab was nominally under the Nizam, so 1 looks right. UPSC's key treats it as wrong.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh, which one of the following statements is correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
Tagore translated the National Anthem into English at Madanapalle (c). In February 1919, Rabindranath Tagore stayed at Besant Theosophical College, Madanapalle, with its principal, the Irish poet James Cousins. There he translated Jana Gana Mana into English as "The Morning Song of India", and Cousins's wife Margaret set the tune. Option (a) is wrong: Pingali Venkayya designed the flag but not at Madanapalle. Option (b) is wrong: Pattabhi Sitaramaiah was linked to Machilipatnam. Option (d) is wrong: the Theosophical Society started in New York (1875) and moved to Adyar, Madras, in 1882.
Notice that Jana Gana Mana was first sung at the Congress session in Calcutta in 1911, and adopted as the anthem on 24 January 1950.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following statements is correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
Ajanta lies in the gorge of the Waghora river (a). The Ajanta caves, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, are cut into a horseshoe-shaped cliff above the Waghora river. There are about 30 Buddhist caves, from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD, famous for murals. Option (b) is wrong: Sanchi stands on a hill near Vidisha in the Betwa valley. Option (c) is wrong: Pandu-lena caves are on a hill at Nashik, near the Godavari. Option (d) is wrong: Amaravati stands on the Krishna, not in a gorge.
Notice that much of Ajanta's later work was under the Vakataka king Harishena. Ajanta was rediscovered by a British officer, John Smith, in 1819.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to 8th August, 1942 in Indian history, which one of the following statements is correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
The AICC adopted the Quit India Resolution (a). On 8 August 1942, the All India Congress Committee passed the Quit India resolution at Gowalia Tank, Bombay, and Gandhi gave the call "Do or Die". The top leaders were arrested early on 9 August, now marked as August Kranti Diwas. Option (b) is wrong: the Viceroy's Executive Council was expanded in 1941 under the August Offer. Option (c) is wrong: the Congress ministries resigned in October–November 1939. Option (d) is wrong: Cripps came in March 1942.
Notice Aruna Asaf Ali, who hoisted the flag at Gowalia Tank, and Usha Mehta, who ran the secret Congress Radio. Parallel governments were set up at Ballia, Tamluk and Satara.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Historical place | Well-known for
| 1. Burzahom | Rock-cut shrines
| 2. Chandra-ketugarh | Terracotta art
| 3. Ganeshwar | Copper artefacts
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer (d) & explanation
Pairs 2 and 3 are correct (d). Pair 1 is wrong: Burzahom in Kashmir is a Neolithic site known for pit dwellings and the burial of dogs with their masters, not rock-cut shrines. Pair 2 is right: Chandraketugarh in West Bengal, near Kolkata, is famous for fine terracotta plaques and figures from the Maurya to Gupta periods. Pair 3 is right: Ganeshwar in Sikar, Rajasthan, had a copper culture near the Khetri mines that supplied copper tools to the Harappans.
Notice other Neolithic sites: Gufkral in Kashmir, Chirand in Bihar and Mehrgarh in Pakistan. Notice too Daimabad in Maharashtra, famous for its bronze chariot.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. 21st February is declared to be the International Mother Language Day by UNICEF.
- 2. The demand that Bangla has to be one of the national languages was raised in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: UNESCO, not UNICEF, declared 21 February as International Mother Language Day in 1999. The date marks the students killed by police in Dhaka on 21 February 1952 during the Bhasha Andolan (Language Movement). Statement 2 is right: in February 1948, Dhirendranath Datta asked the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to accept Bangla as a state language beside Urdu and English.
Notice that the language movement fed Bengali nationalism, which led to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. Bangla became a state language of Pakistan in 1956. The Shaheed Minar in Dhaka honours the martyrs.
UNICEF and UNESCO are a standard swap. Culture and language days come from UNESCO.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the book “Desher Katha” written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during the freedom struggle, consider the following statements :
- 1. It warned against the Colonial State’s hypnotic conquest of the mind.
- 2. It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs.
- 3. The use of ‘desh’ by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal.
Which of the statements given above are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Statements 1 and 2 are correct (a). Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar, a Marathi scholar living in Bengal, wrote the Bengali book Desher Katha (1904). It set out the British economic drain of India, drawing on Naoroji and others. Statement 1 is right because it warned against the colonial state's "hypnotic conquest" of Indian minds, which made people accept British rule as natural. Statement 2 is right because it sold thousands of copies, inspired swadeshi street plays (jatras) and folk songs, and was banned in 1910. Statement 3 is wrong because Deuskar's "desh" meant India as a whole, not Bengal alone.
Deuskar was among the first to use the word "swaraj" in Bengal. Notice the other swadeshi writers: Rabindranath Tagore, Mukunda Das (jatra) and Aurobindo.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the cultural history of India, consider the following pairs :
- 1. Parivrajaka — Renunciant and Wanderer
- 2. Shramana — Priest with a high status
- 3. Upasaka — Lay follower of Buddhism
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 3 are correct (b). Pair 1 is right: a parivrajaka was a wandering renouncer who left home to seek truth, common in the age of the Buddha and Mahavira. Pair 2 is wrong: shramanas were ascetics outside the Brahmanical order, such as Buddhist, Jain and Ajivika monks, and they rejected priestly rank and Vedic ritual. A priest of high status would be a Brahmin or purohita. Pair 3 is right: an upasaka (male) or upasika (female) was a lay Buddhist who took the three refuges and the five precepts but did not become a monk.
Notice the Buddhist community: the sangha of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, plus lay followers. Notice too Makkhali Gosala, who led the Ajivikas.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Gandhi-Irwin Pact included which of the following ?
- 1. Invitation to Congress to participate in the Round Table Conference
- 2. Withdrawal of Ordinances promulgated in connection with the Civil Disobedience Movement
- 3. Acceptance of Gandhiji’s suggestion for enquiry into police excesses
- 4. Release of only those prisoners who were not charged with violence
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
No official answer (question dropped) & notes
UPSC dropped this question from evaluation, so no answer was scored. Under the Gandhi–Irwin Pact (5 March 1931), the Congress agreed to suspend Civil Disobedience and attend the Second Round Table Conference (1). The government agreed to withdraw the ordinances issued against the movement (2) and to release political prisoners not charged with violence (4). It also allowed people near the coast to make salt for their own use and gave back confiscated land not yet sold. Statement 3 was rejected: Irwin refused Gandhi's demand for an enquiry into police excesses. So options with 1, 2 and 4 come closest, but the wording "only those prisoners" made the question unclear.
Notice the Karachi session (1931), which approved the pact and passed the Fundamental Rights resolution. Bhagat Singh was hanged that same month.
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.