Modern Indian History: syllabus hub.
Syllabus: UPSC Pre GS1: History of India & Indian National Movement; Mains GS1
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World War 2 for UPSC: Versailles, Depression, fascism, appeasement, key battles, atomic bombs, the UN, and India's role, famine and freedom struggle.
Indian National Congress for UPSC: 1885 Bombay session, Hume and the safety-valve theory, Moderates and Extremists, Surat split, key sessions and PYQs.
Cabinet Mission 1946 for UPSC: members, 16 May plan, three-tier union, groups A, B and C, Constituent Assembly, interim government, Direct Action…
Subsidiary Alliance for UPSC: Wellesley's terms, Hyderabad first in 1798, Mysore, Awadh, the Marathas, effects on Indian States, Doctrine of Lapse and…
Land reforms for UPSC: colonial tenures, zamindari abolition, tenancy reform, ceiling laws, Operation Barga, Bhoodan, consolidation, DILRMP, SVAMITVA and PYQs.
Government of India Act 1935 for UPSC: federation, provincial autonomy, dyarchy at the Centre, three lists, residuary powers, 1937 elections, legacy and…
Attempt them here.
The artificially fixed rupee-sterling exchange rate prescribed by the Hilton-Young Commission (1926) was adopted by the British Government for which one of the following reasons ?
The rate helped remittances and India's creditworthiness (a). The Hilton-Young Commission (1926) fixed the rupee at 1s 6d, against the 1s 4d Indian business wanted. A dearer rupee made the Home Charges and other remittances to Britain cheaper to pay in rupees and kept India's credit good in London. Option (c) is wrong: Indian exporters, cotton included, lost out, since a dear rupee makes exports costly. Option (b) is wrong: helping Indian importers was not the aim. Option (d) is wrong: the issue was the sterling rate, not gold.
Notice the nationalist anger: Purshotamdas Thakurdas wrote a dissent, and the "ratio controversy" fed economic nationalism. The commission also proposed a central bank, leading to the RBI (1935).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following statements about the Eka Movement and Bardoli Satyagraha is correct ?
Option (c) is the correct description (c). Bardoli (1928, Surat district) was Vallabhbhai Patel's no-revenue campaign against a 22% land revenue hike. The Eka (unity) movement of 1921–22 rose against rents charged above the recorded amount. Option (a) is wrong: Congress started Eka, but under Madari Pasi it moved outside Congress control. Option (b) is wrong: Eka was led by peasants against taluqdars, and Bardoli was by landholding peasants. Option (d) is wrong: Eka was in Hardoi, Bahraich and Sitapur, and Bardoli is in Gujarat, not Saurashtra.
Notice that Bardoli's women gave Patel the title "Sardar". The Maxwell-Broomfield inquiry cut the hike to 6.03%, a clear win for the peasants.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following factors contributed to the formation of the Forward Bloc by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939 ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Factors 1, 2 and 4 contributed (b). Bose beat Gandhi's choice, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, at Tripuri (1939). Factor 1 is right: Gandhi then held back, Bose could not form a Working Committee, and he resigned. Factor 2 is right: the Congress Left was split and did not back him. Factor 4 is right: CSP leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan and M.N. Roy's supporters put Congress unity first. Factor 3 is not in UPSC's key. So in May 1939 Bose founded the Forward Bloc inside Congress.
Notice what came next: Rajendra Prasad became Congress president. Bose escaped India in 1941, went to Germany and Japan, and led the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) from 1943.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements regarding the British policy in Awadh immediately after its annexation in 1856 :
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (a). Statement 2 is right: the Summary Settlement of 1856 treated taluqdars as middlemen, outsiders with no real claim to the land. Statement 3 is right: the British settled revenue directly with the village holders, removing taluqdars. Statement 1 is wrong: taluqdars were disarmed and their forts pulled down, not allowed to keep them. So options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the result: many angry taluqdars then led the 1857 revolt in Awadh, where Begum Hazrat Mahal led the fight at Lucknow. Awadh was annexed by Dalhousie in 1856 on the ground of "misgovernment", not the Doctrine of Lapse. After 1857, the British reversed course and restored taluqdars.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following assertion :
The genesis of political alliances based on community lay in the very nature of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms, 1919.
Which of the following statements support/supports the above assertion ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
All three statements support the assertion (d). Statement 1 is right: the 1919 Act kept separate electorates for Muslims and extended them to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans. Statement 2 is right: the British wanted them to divide the growing national movement. Statement 3 is right: groups that gained from reserved seats organised politically around those favours. So community-based alliances grew from the Act's design, and options (a), (b) and (c) fail.
Notice the history: separate electorates began with the Morley-Minto Reforms (1909) for Muslims. The 1919 Act also brought dyarchy to the provinces. The Communal Award (1932) later tried to extend them to depressed classes, leading to the Poona Pact.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following subjects with regard to Non-Cooperation Programme :
How many of the above were parts of Non-Cooperation Programme?
Three of the four were part of the programme (c). The Nagpur Congress (December 1920) approved the Non-Cooperation programme. Item I is right: it asked people to boycott law-courts, schools, councils and foreign cloth. Item II is right: it demanded strict non-violence. Item IV is right: it asked people to set up panchayats to settle disputes outside British courts. Item III is wrong: people were asked to surrender titles and honours, not keep them.
Notice the positive side: national schools such as Jamia Millia Islamia and Kashi Vidyapith, khadi and the Tilak Swaraj Fund. Gandhi called off the movement after the Chauri Chaura violence in February 1922. He also returned his Kaisar-i-Hind medal.
"Retention" is the word to catch. The programme said surrender.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements in respect of the Non-Cooperation Movement :
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Both statements are correct (c). Statement I is right: at Nagpur (December 1920), the Congress changed its goal from self-government within the Empire to Swaraj by "all legitimate and peaceful means". Statement II is right: Gandhi's plan went in stages. Boycotts came first, then civil disobedience and non-payment of taxes if Swaraj did not come within a year and the government turned to repression. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice the context: anger over the Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh (1919) and the Khilafat issue brought Hindus and Muslims together. The Calcutta special session (September 1920) first approved the programme. The Bardoli no-tax campaign was planned, then dropped after Chauri Chaura.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
“Sedition has become my religion” was the famous statement given by Gandhiji at the time of
Gandhi said it at the time of the Dandi Salt Law breach (b). Gandhi used the line during the Salt Satyagraha of 1930, when he openly broke the salt law and called on Indians to break British laws. Breaking an unjust law was now a duty, so in his words sedition had become his religion. The march left Sabarmati on 12 March and reached Dandi on 6 April 1930. Options (a), (c) and (d), Champaran (1917), the Second Round Table (1931) and Quit India (1942), are wrong.
Notice Quit India's own slogan: "Do or Die". Sedition was Section 124A of the IPC. The new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023) dropped the word "sedition" but its Section 152 punishes acts endangering India's sovereignty.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
11 October is the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan and Nanaji Deshmukh, both Bharat Ratna awardees. The Prime Minister recalled JP's voice during the Emergency and his concern for good governance, and Nanaji's work in rural development and community participation. Treat this as a personality note for Prelims.
UPSC angle: Prelims: personalities, Bharat Ratna years. · Mains: limited; GS-IV examples of public service.
11 Oct 2026
The Archaeological Survey of India's Underwater Archaeology Wing and the National Museum of Denmark (Njord Centre, Copenhagen) signed an MoU to locate and document the Danish ship Oresund, wrecked off Karaikal, Puducherry, in 1619 CE. It is described as the first Danish ship known to have reached India.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Danish settlements in India.
15 Jun 2026
The PM announced the day on 9 January 2022 and the first Veer Bal Diwas was held on 26 December 2022 [PMO].
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sikh history.
26 Dec 2025
Questions on lesser-known regional dynasties are common in Prelims. Stamps and anniversaries often bring them into the news.
UPSC angle: Prelims: early medieval Tamil dynasties.
14 Dec 2025
Constitution Day is a good hook for questions on constitutional morality.
UPSC angle: Prelims: dates of adoption and commencement.
26 Nov 2025
A frequent example of the defence of freedom of conscience in Indian history.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sikh Gurus.
25 Nov 2025