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 staple commodities of export by the English East India Company from Bengal in the middle of the 18th century were
Answer (d) & explanation
Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium were the staples (d). In the mid-18th century the Company bought fine cotton cloth (muslins from Dhaka) and raw silk from Bengal. Saltpetre, used for gunpowder, and opium came mainly from Bihar. Opium was later shipped to China to pay for tea, leading to the Opium Wars. Option (a) is wrong because raw cotton and oilseeds became big exports only in the 19th century, when Britain's mills needed raw materials. Option (b) is wrong, as salt was a local monopoly, not an export staple. Option (c) is wrong because the Company brought silver and gold into India to pay for goods, and spices came mainly from the south and Southeast Asia.
Notice the shift: from exporting finished cloth to exporting raw materials.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following events :
- 1. The first democratically elected communist party government formed in a State in India.
- 2. India’s then largest bank, ‘Imperial Bank of India’, was renamed ‘State Bank of India’.
- 3. Air India was nationalised and became the national carrier.
- 4. Goa became a part of independent India.
Which of the following is the correct chronological sequence of the above events ?
Answer (b) & explanation
The order is 3-2-1-4 (b). Air India was nationalised under the Air Corporations Act, 1953, which created Air India International and Indian Airlines. The Imperial Bank of India became the State Bank of India on 1 July 1955, following the Gorwala Committee (All-India Rural Credit Survey). India's first elected communist government came to power in Kerala in 1957, under E.M.S. Namboodiripad. Goa was freed from Portugal by Operation Vijay in December 1961. So 1953, 1955, 1957, 1961.
The Kerala ministry was dismissed under Article 356 in 1959, after the "Liberation Struggle". Notice the reversal of history: Air India was sold back to the Tata group in 2022, and it later merged with Vistara (2024).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran Satyagraha ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Champaran joined peasant unrest to the national movement (c). In 1917, at the request of Raj Kumar Shukla, Gandhi went to Champaran in Bihar, where European planters forced peasants under the tinkathia system to grow indigo on 3/20 of their land. His inquiry led to the Champaran Agrarian Act (1918), which ended the system. It was his first civil disobedience in India. Option (a) is wrong because it was a local struggle, not an all-India movement. Option (b) is wrong because Dalits and tribals were not its focus. Option (d) is wrong because it caused no drastic fall in commercial crops; synthetic dyes had already weakened indigo.
Notice who joined Gandhi: Rajendra Prasad, J.B. Kripalani, Mazharul Haq and Anugraha Narayan Sinha.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who among the following were the founders of the “Hind Mazdoor Sabha” established in 1948 ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Option (d) names the founders. The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) was founded in 1948 by socialists who would not join the communist-led AITUC or the Congress-backed INTUC (1947). Its founders included Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanujam, G.G. Mehta, Basawan Singh and R.S. Ruikar, its first president. Option (a) lists Kerala communist leaders. Option (b) wrongly includes Deen Dayal Upadhyay, of the Jana Sangh, and M.N. Roy, a radical humanist. Option (c) mixes C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer (Dewan of Travancore), K. Kamaraj (Congress) and Veeresalingam, a 19th-century social reformer.
Notice the timeline: AITUC (1920), with Lala Lajpat Rai as first president, came first. The BMS (1955) of the RSS family is now India's largest union.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The well-known painting “Bani Thani” belongs to the
Answer (d) & explanation
Bani Thani belongs to the Kishangarh school (d). It was painted around 1750 by Nihal Chand at the court of Raja Sawant Singh of Kishangarh, who wrote poetry as Nagari Das. The model is said to have been his beloved, the singer Bani Thani. Her long face, arched brows, lotus eyes and pointed chin became the hallmark of the Kishangarh style, and it is often called "India's Mona Lisa." India put it on a postage stamp in 1973. Bundi (a), Jaipur (b) and Kangra (c) are other schools of Rajasthani and Pahari painting.
Kishangarh's paintings often show Radha–Krishna themes. Notice the main Rajasthani schools: Mewar, Bundi–Kota, Kishangarh, Marwar and Jaipur. The Pahari schools are Basohli, Guler and Kangra.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
He wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shrikrishna; stayed in America for some time; and was also elected to the Central Assembly. He was
Answer (c) & explanation
The person is Lala Lajpat Rai (c). Lala Lajpat Rai wrote Urdu biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shrikrishna to inspire nationalism. He lived in the USA from 1914 to 1919, where he founded the Indian Home Rule League of America and wrote Young India and Unhappy India. He was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly in 1926. Aurobindo (a) turned to spirituality at Pondicherry. Bipin Chandra Pal (b) went to England, not America. Motilal Nehru (d) led the Swaraj Party in the Assembly but wrote no such biographies.
He was one of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio. He died after a police lathi-charge during the Simon Commission protest in Lahore (1928). Notice his other legacies: Punjab National Bank and the Servants of the People Society.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the religious practices in India, the “Sthanakvasi” sect belongs to
Answer (b) & explanation
The Sthanakvasis belong to Jainism (b). They are a Shvetambara Jain sect that rejects idol worship. They pray in simple halls called sthanakas, not temples, and their monks wear a cloth over the mouth (muhpatti). They grew out of the reform of Lonka Shah in the 15th century, who argued that idol worship was not in the scriptures. The Terapanthis, founded by Acharya Bhikshu in 1760, later split from them. The sect has no link to Buddhism (a), Vaishnavism (c) or Shaivism (d).
Notice the main divide: Digambaras (sky-clad monks) and Shvetambaras (white-clad) split after the Council of Vallabhi fixed the canon. Shvetambara murtipujakas do worship images.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Regarding Wood’s Dispatch, which of the following statements are true ?
- 1. Grants-in-Aid system was introduced.
- 2. Establishment of universities was recommended.
- 3. English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education was recommended.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (a) & explanation
Statements 1 and 2 are correct (a). Wood's Despatch (1854), sent by Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control, is called the "Magna Carta of English education in India". It introduced grants-in-aid to help private schools (1). It proposed universities on the model of London University (2), and Calcutta, Bombay and Madras universities followed in 1857. Statement 3 is wrong because it wanted English for higher education, but vernacular languages at the school level.
It also set up a separate education department in each province and called for teacher training and women's education. Notice the earlier step, Macaulay's Minute (1835) and the "downward filtration" idea, and the later Hunter Commission (1882) on primary education.
"At all levels" is the trap. Wood's Despatch gave primary education to the vernaculars.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the cultural history of India, consider the following statements :
- 1. White marble was used in making Buland Darwaza and Khankah at Fatehpur Sikri.
- 2. Red sandstone and marble were used in making Bara Imambara and Rumi Darwaza at Lucknow.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). Statement 1 is wrong because Akbar's Fatehpur Sikri is built of red sandstone. The Buland Darwaza (1575–76), built to celebrate his Gujarat victory, uses white marble only as inlay and trim. Only Salim Chishti's tomb inside the complex is of white marble, added later. Statement 2 is wrong because Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula's Bara Imambara and Rumi Darwaza (1784) at Lucknow were built of lakhori brick and lime plaster, with no sandstone or marble. It was built as a famine-relief project, and the Imambara's hall has a vast arched roof without beams, plus the Bhulbhulaiya maze.
Notice the trend: Akbar used red sandstone, while Shah Jahan made white marble the Mughal hallmark.
The marble trim on the Buland Darwaza and Salim Chishti's white tomb make statement 1 look true. The key says neither.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Tradition | State
| 1. Chapchar Kut festival | Mizoram
| 2. Khongjom Parba ballad | Manipur
| 3. Thang-Ta dance | Sikkim
Which of the pairs given above is/are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 2 are correct (b). Chapchar Kut (1) is Mizoram's spring festival, held in March after the bamboo forests are cleared for jhum (shifting) cultivation, with the Cheraw bamboo dance. Khongjom Parba (2) is a Manipuri ballad about the Battle of Khongjom in the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891, sung to the dholak. Pair 3 is wrong because Thang-Ta, the art of sword (thang) and spear (ta), is a Manipuri martial art. It is not from Sikkim.
Khongjom Day is marked on 23 April. Notice other northeastern traditions often asked: Hornbill Festival (Nagaland), Sangai Festival (Manipur), Losar (Sikkim/Arunachal), and the Manipuri dance Ras Lila.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following foreign travellers elaborately discussed about diamonds and diamond mines of India ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier wrote about diamonds (b). Tavernier was a French jewel merchant who made six trips to India between 1640 and 1667. In his Travels, he described the Golconda diamond mines, such as Kollur on the Krishna, along with how they were mined and traded. He sold the large blue "Tavernier Blue" to Louis XIV; it was later recut into the Hope Diamond. Bernier (a) was a doctor who wrote on Mughal politics and argued there was no private land ownership. Thevenot (c) wrote about western and southern India. Carré (d) wrote on politics and French trade.
Notice the famous Golconda diamonds: the Koh-i-Noor and the Daria-i-Noor.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the Federation established by The Government of India Act of 1935, residuary powers were given to the
Answer (b) & explanation
The Governor-General held the residuary powers (b). The Government of India Act, 1935 split subjects into three lists: Federal (59 items), Provincial (54) and Concurrent (36). Residuary powers, covering subjects in none of the lists, went to neither the Federal Legislature (a) nor the Provincial Legislature (c). The Governor-General decided, at his discretion, which level could legislate on them, under Section 104. Provincial Governors (d) did not hold them.
Under today's Constitution, residuary power lies with Parliament (Article 248 and Entry 97 of the Union List), following the Canadian model. Notice the 1935 Act's other features: provincial autonomy, dyarchy at the Centre, a Federal Court (1937), and the RBI (1935).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian history, who among the following is a future Buddha, yet to come to save the world ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Maitreya is the future Buddha (c). In Buddhist belief, Maitreya is the bodhisattva now living in the Tushita heaven. He will come down to Earth and teach the dharma afresh when Gautama's teaching has been forgotten. Avalokiteshvara (a) is the bodhisattva of compassion. Lokeshvara (b), "lord of the world", is another name for him. Padmapani (d), "lotus in hand", is his form holding a lotus, as in the famous Ajanta Cave 1 painting. None of them is the future Buddha.
Notice the context: bodhisattvas are central to Mahayana Buddhism, which grew under the Kushanas. Other key figures are Manjushri (wisdom) and Vajrapani (power). The Dalai Lama is seen as a form of Avalokiteshvara.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the difference between the culture of Rigvedic Aryans and Indus Valley people, which of the following statements is/are correct ?
- 1. Rigvedic Aryans used the coat of mail and helmet in warfare whereas the people of Indus Valley Civilization did not leave any evidence of using them.
- 2. Rigvedic Aryans knew gold, silver and copper whereas Indus Valley people knew only copper and iron.
- 3. Rigvedic Aryans had domesticated the horse whereas there is no evidence of Indus Valley people having been aware of this animal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (c). The Rigveda mentions armour (varman) and helmets (shipra), while no such gear has been found at Harappan sites (1). The horse is central to Rigvedic life, pulling chariots and appearing in the ashvamedha, but solid evidence of horses at Harappan sites is weak, apart from disputed finds at Surkotada (3). Statement 2 is wrong because the Harappans used gold, silver, copper, tin and bronze, but not iron. Iron came into use only around 1000 BCE, in the later Vedic period and the Painted Grey Ware culture.
The Rigvedic people knew copper and bronze (ayas). Notice the contrast between the two cultures: the Harappans were urban, while the Rigvedic people were pastoral and rural, counting wealth in cattle.
"Copper and iron" is the slip. The Harappan age is a Bronze Age.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Person | Association
| 1. Radhakanta Deb | First President of the British Indian Association
| 2. Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty | Founder of the Madras Mahajana Sabha
| 3. Surendranath Banerjee | Founder of the Indian Association
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 3 are correct (b). Radhakanta Deb was the first president of the British Indian Association (1851) in Calcutta, with Debendranath Tagore as its secretary (1). Surendranath Banerjea and Ananda Mohan Bose founded the Indian Association in 1876 (3). Pair 2 is wrong because Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty founded the Madras Native Association (1852). The Madras Mahajana Sabha (1884) came from M. Viraraghavachari, G. Subramania Iyer and P. Ananda Charlu.
Notice the order of pre-Congress bodies: the Landholders' Society (1838), British Indian Association (1851), Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1870, M. G. Ranade), Indian Association (1876), Bombay Presidency Association (1885), and then the INC in December 1885.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following was a very important seaport in the Kakatiya kingdom ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Motupalli was the main Kakatiya port (b). Motupalli, in present-day Prakasam/Bapatla district, Andhra Pradesh, was the leading seaport of the Kakatiyas of Warangal. Ganapatideva left an abhaya-shasana (assurance inscription) there in 1244–45. It promised foreign merchants fair customs duties and protection from the old custom of seizing shipwrecked goods. Marco Polo came during Rudramadevi's reign and praised the region's diamonds and fine cloth. Kakinada (a) and Machilipatnam (c) became important later, Machilipatnam under the Golconda Qutb Shahis and European companies. Nellore (d) was not the Kakatiya port.
Notice the Kakatiya legacy: tank irrigation such as Ramappa and Pakhal lakes, and the Ramappa Temple, a UNESCO site since 2021.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :
- 1. Sautrantika and Sammitiya were the sects of Jainism.
- 2. Sarvastivadin held that the constituents of phenomena were not wholly momentary, but existed forever in a latent form.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong because the Sautrantikas and Sammitiyas were early Buddhist schools, not Jain ones. The Sautrantikas relied on the sutras rather than the Abhidharma. The Sammitiyas were the main pudgalavada ("person-exists") school, and Xuanzang found them strong in western India. Statement 2 is right because the Sarvastivadins ("all exists") held that dharmas, the building blocks of reality, exist in past, present and future in a latent form. They are not purely momentary.
The Sarvastivadins were strong in Kashmir and Gandhara and linked to Kanishka's Fourth Council. Notice the Jain sects to keep apart: Digambara and Shvetambara, which split after Bhadrabahu's migration south.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the context of Indian history, the principle of ‘Dyarchy (diarchy)’ refers to
Answer (d) & explanation
Dyarchy split the subjects given to the provinces into two groups (d). The Government of India Act, 1919 brought dyarchy to the provinces. Provincial subjects were divided into reserved subjects, such as police, justice, land revenue and irrigation, which stayed with the Governor and his executive council. Transferred subjects, such as education, health, local government and agriculture, went to Indian ministers answerable to the legislature. Option (a) describes bicameralism, a separate change made by the same Act. Options (b) and (c) are not what dyarchy meant.
Dyarchy failed because ministers had no control over money. The 1935 Act ended it in the provinces and moved it to the Centre, but that part was never put into effect. Notice that the term comes from Lionel Curtis.
The 1919 Act also made the central legislature bicameral, so (a) sounds familiar. That was a different change, not dyarchy.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Traditions | Communities
| 1. Chaliha Sahib Festival | Sindhis
| 2. Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra | Gonds
| 3. Wari-Warkari | Santhals
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only pair 1 is correct (a). Chaliha Sahib is a 40-day fast and prayer by Sindhis to Jhulelal, their patron saint, held each July–August (1). Pair 2 is wrong because the Nanda Devi Raj Jat is a pilgrimage held about every 12 years in the Garhwal–Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand. It escorts Goddess Nanda to Homkund and has no connection with the Gonds of central India. Pair 3 is wrong because the Wari is the Warkari foot-pilgrimage to Vitthala (Vithoba) at Pandharpur, Maharashtra, carrying the palkhis of saints Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram. It has nothing to do with the Santhals.
Notice the Santhal festivals to keep apart: Sohrai and Karam. The Santhal rebellion was the Hul of 1855.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following is/are famous for Sun temples ?
- 1. Arasavalli
- 2. Amarakantak
- 3. Omkareshwar
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (a) & explanation
Only Arasavalli is famous for a Sun temple (a). Arasavalli in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, has an old Surya temple, believed to date from the 7th century under the Eastern Gangas. It was built so that on certain days of the year the morning sun falls on the deity's feet. Amarkantak (2), in Anuppur district of MP, is the source of the Narmada and Son rivers. Omkareshwar (3), on an island in the Narmada, is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva, with a giant statue of Adi Shankaracharya unveiled in 2023.
Notice the other famous Sun temples: Konark (Odisha, Narasimhadeva I, UNESCO), Modhera (Gujarat, the Solankis), Martand (Kashmir, Lalitaditya) and Katarmal (Uttarakhand).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.