Overview
Modern Indian History is one of the highest-yielding sub-subjects within GS1, consistently contributing 6–10 questions every year across the four themes: Modern History (British period), Freedom Struggle, Post-Independence Consolidation, and World History. Over the 2013–2025 window, 53 questions have been mapped across these themes.
Personalities — particularly Mahatma Gandhi — dominate with 8+ questions; British economic policies, the Gandhian phase of the freedom struggle, and socio-religious reform movements each have 5+ questions. World History contributes reliably with 1–2 questions per year focused on revolutions, industrialisation, and the World Wars. The 2025 paper introduced questions on Akbar’s religious syncretism and Mahatma Jotirao Phule, reinforcing the trend of connecting social-reform figures to broader historical narratives.
| Theme | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Modern History (British period) | 24 | 45% |
| Freedom Struggle | 13 | 25% |
| Post-Independence Consolidation | 5 | 9% |
| World History | 14 | 26% |
| Total (incl. 2025) | 53* | 100% |
*2025 adds 2 questions mapped here (Q2 Akbar, Q11 Phule). The 2025 paper also has Q12 (Post-Independence Consolidation) counted separately.
Syllabus Map
Click each theme to expand sub-topics and question counts.
Theme 1 · Modern History — British Period 24 Qs
British Policies (economic, administrative)6
EIC Rule & 1857 Uprising1
Eve of British Conquest / Fragmented Polity2
Miscellaneous (Panipat, etc.)1
Peasant & Tribal Rebellions3
Personalities (Gandhi, Ambedkar, Dalhousie…)8
Socio-Religious Reform Movements2
Women’s Movement (19th century)1
Theme 2 · Freedom Struggle 13 Qs
British Policies (transfer of power, 1940s)1
Final Phase & Naval Mutiny1
Gandhian Phase (CDM, NCM, Quit India)5
Miscellaneous1
Moderate Phase2
Personalities (Gandhi, Curzon)2
Role of Social Groups / Women1
Theme 4 · Post-Independence Consolidation 5 Qs (+ 1 in 2025)
Formation of States & Integration1
Movements (Bhoodan, Gramdan)1
Political History (Tashkent, Bangladesh)3
Early Phase Consolidation (2025)1
Theme 5 · World History 14 Qs
American & French Revolution2
Decolonization (Africa, Malay, Suez)3
Industrial Revolution3
Rise of Nationalism1
Socialism & Communism (NEP)1
World Wars / Interwar Years4
Theme 6 · Miscellaneous History 5 Qs
Ancient/Medieval Misc. (Vedic, Sultanate, Taxila)5
Heatmap — Theme × Year
Darker = more questions that year. Includes all 53 questions (2013–2025).
| Theme | ’13 | ’14 | ’15 | ’16 | ’17 | ’18 | ’19 | ’20 | ’21 | ’22 | ’23 | ’24 | ’25 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Policies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| EIC / 1857 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Eve of Conquest | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Peasant / Tribal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Personalities | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Socio-Rel. Reform | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Women Movement | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Freedom Struggle | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Post-Independence | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| World History | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Year Total | 13 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 67* |
*Row totals exceed 53 due to questions with secondary topic mappings counted in multiple rows. Unique questions = 53.
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Trends
Total PYQs per Year (2013–2025) — Modern Indian History
| Year | ’13 | ’14 | ’15 | ’16 | ’17 | ’18 | ’19 | ’20 | ’21 | ’22 | ’23 | ’24 | ’25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Theme-wise Question Share (2013–2025)
Questions by Theme
British Policies — Economic & Administrative
6 questions
Theme 1: Modern History → British Policies · GS1-U01-T01-S01
How far was the Industrial Revolution in England responsible for the decline of handicrafts and cottage industries in India?
Mapping rationale: Direct link between British industrial capitalism and deindustrialisation of Indian artisan economy — core British policy impact.
Why was there a sudden spurt in famines in colonial India since the mid-eighteenth century? Give reasons.
Mapping rationale: Colonial revenue extraction and land settlement policies as structural causes of famine — British administrative consequence.
Why did the armies of the British East India Company — mostly comprising of Indian soldiers — win consistently against the more numerous and better equipped armies of the then Indian rulers? Give reasons.
Mapping rationale: British military superiority as a policy and organizational advantage enabling conquest — EIC strategic dominance.
Why was indentured labour taken by the British from India to other colonies? Have they been able to preserve their cultural identity over there?
Mapping rationale: British labour policy of indenture as colonial exploitation and its cultural aftermath in diaspora populations.
It would have been difficult for the Constituent Assembly to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India in just three years but for the experience gained with the Government of India Act, 1935. Discuss.
Mapping rationale: Government of India Act 1935 as a British constitutional policy that provided the institutional scaffolding for independent India’s Constitution.
Examine critically the various facets of economic policies of the British in India from mid-eighteenth century till independence.
Mapping rationale: Broad survey question on British economic policy — drain of wealth, deindustrialisation, land revenue systems, and trade policy.
EIC Rule & The 1857 Uprising
1 question
Theme 1: Modern History → East India Company Rule · GS1-U01-T01-S02
Explain how the uprising of 1857 constitutes an important watershed in the evolution of British policies towards colonial India.
Mapping rationale: 1857 as a turning point in British colonial administration — shift from EIC to Crown rule, new racial and divide-and-rule policies.
Eve of British Conquest & Fragmented Polity
3 questions
Theme 1: Modern History → Eve of British Conquest · GS1-U01-T01-S03
The political and administrative reorganization of states and territories has been a continuous ongoing process since the mid-nineteenth century. Discuss with examples.
Mapping rationale: Doctrine of Lapse and territorial annexation as British administrative reorganization — connects mid-19th century reorganization to post-independence state reorganization.
Clarify how mid-eighteenth century India was beset with the spectre of a fragmented polity?
Mapping rationale: Mughal decline, rise of regional powers, and the political vacuum that facilitated British expansion — structural conditions preceding conquest.
The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why were so many empire-shaking battles fought at Panipat?
Mapping rationale: Panipat’s strategic geography as gateway to the Indo-Gangetic plain — geopolitical significance of the site for imperial control.
Peasant & Tribal Rebellions
3 questions
Theme 1: Modern History → Peasant and Tribal Rebellions · GS1-U01-T01-S05
How did the colonial rule affect the tribals in India and what was the tribal response to the colonial oppression?
Mapping rationale: Impact of forest laws and land alienation on tribal communities; major tribal uprisings as colonial-era resistance movements.
The 1857 Uprising was the culmination of the recurrent big and small local rebellions that had occurred in the preceding hundred years of British rule. Elucidate.
Mapping rationale: 1857 as the apex of a continuum of peasant, tribal, and sepoy rebellions against colonial economic and cultural oppression.
Examine how the decline of the traditional artisanal industry in colonial India crippled the rural economy.
Mapping rationale: Deindustrialisation creating rural distress as a root cause of peasant unrest and agrarian rebellions under colonialism.
Personalities of the British Period
9 questions (incl. 2025)
Theme 1: Modern History → Personalities · GS1-U01-T01-S06
Examine the main aspects of Akbar’s religious syncretism.
Mapping rationale: Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi, Sulh-i-kul policy and engagement with diverse religious traditions as a case study in Mughal-era religious accommodation — connects to socio-religious history of medieval/early modern India.
Mahatma Jotirao Phule’s writings and efforts of social reforms touched issues of almost all subaltern classes. Discuss.
Mapping rationale: Phule as a 19th century social reformer whose anti-caste, anti-Brahmin, and agrarian writings addressed the intersecting oppressions of caste, gender, and class — central to socio-religious reform sub-theme.
What was the difference between Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore in their approach towards education and nationalism?
Mapping rationale: Competing visions of Indian identity — Gandhi’s village-centred nationalism vs. Tagore’s universalist humanism, both shaping the freedom movement’s intellectual culture.
Throw light on the significance of thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi in the present times.
Mapping rationale: Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence, trusteeship, and village swaraj assessed for contemporary relevance — personality and ideology.
Highlight the difference in the approach of Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for freedom.
Mapping rationale: Ideological divergence within the freedom movement — Gandhi’s non-violence vs. Bose’s militant nationalism and INA strategy.
How different would have been the achievement of Indian independence without Mahatma Gandhi? Discuss.
Mapping rationale: Counter-factual analysis of Gandhi’s indispensable role in mass mobilisation and giving the freedom movement a moral-ethical framework.
Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate.
Mapping rationale: Contrasting personalities with shared anti-oppression goals — Gandhi-Ambedkar relationship as a defining tension of the independence era.
Several foreigners made India their homeland and participated in various movements. Analyze their role in the Indian struggle for freedom.
Mapping rationale: Role of Annie Besant, A.O. Hume, C.F. Andrews etc. — foreign contributors to Indian nationalism as a sub-theme of personalities.
“In many ways, Lord Dalhousie was the founder of modern India.” Elaborate.
Mapping rationale: Dalhousie’s railways, telegraph, postal reforms, and annexation policies as constitutive of the modern Indian administrative state.
Discuss the contribution of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to pre- and post-independent India.
Mapping rationale: Azad as nationalist Muslim leader, education minister, and synthesiser of composite culture — personality spanning freedom struggle and post-independence consolidation.
Socio-Religious Reform Movements
2 questions
Theme 1: Modern History → Socio-Religious Reform · GS1-U01-T01-S07
Trace the rise and growth of socio-religious reform movements with special reference to Young Bengal and Brahmo Samaj.
Mapping rationale: 19th century reform movements as precursors to Indian nationalism — Derozio’s rationalism and Brahmo Samaj’s monotheist reform as transformative social forces.
Examine the linkages between the nineteenth century’s “Indian Renaissance” and the emergence of national identity.
Mapping rationale: The Bengal Renaissance, print culture, and reform movements creating a modern Hindu-Indian consciousness that fed into nationalist politics.
Women’s Movement (19th Century)
1 question
Theme 1: Modern History → Women Movement · GS1-U01-T01-S08
The women’s question arose in modern India as a part of the 19th century social reform movement. What are the major issues and debates concerning women in that period?
Mapping rationale: Sati abolition, widow remarriage, women’s education as central debates of 19th century reform — women’s question as integral to social modernity in colonial India.
Freedom Struggle — British Policies & Final Phase
2 questions
Theme 2: Freedom Struggle → British Policies / Final Phase · GS1-U01-T02-S01 / S02
Assess the role of British imperial power in complicating the process of transfer of power during the 1940s.
Mapping rationale: Divide-and-rule strategy, communal award, and rushed withdrawal as British policy choices that shaped Partition and independence.
In what ways did the naval mutiny prove to be the last nail in the coffin of British colonial aspirations in India?
Mapping rationale: RIN Mutiny 1946 as the signal that British military control over India was untenable — final phase of freedom struggle.
Gandhian Phase of Freedom Struggle
5 questions
Theme 2: Freedom Struggle → Gandhian Phase · GS1-U01-T02-S03
What were the events that led to the Quit India Movement? Point out its results.
Mapping rationale: Cripps Mission failure, Wardha Resolution, and the August Kranti as the arc of the Quit India Movement — key episode of the Gandhian phase.
Since the decade of the 1920s, the national movement acquired various ideological strands and thereby expanded its social base. Discuss.
Mapping rationale: Entry of peasants, workers, women, and minorities into nationalist politics under Gandhi’s mass-mobilisation strategy in the 1920s onward.
Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian phase. Elaborate.
Mapping rationale: Contributions of Nehru, Patel, Bose, Ambedkar, and others alongside Gandhi — diversity of leadership enriching the independence movement.
Highlight the importance of new objectives that got added to the vision of Indian independence since the twenties of the last century.
Mapping rationale: From ‘self-government’ to Purna Swaraj, economic justice, and social equality — the expanding ideological vision of the Gandhian era nationalism.
Discuss the role of women in the freedom struggle especially during the Gandhian phase.
Mapping rationale: Women’s participation in NCM, Salt March, CDM as a defining feature of Gandhian mass politics — intersection of gender and nationalism.
Moderate Phase & Personalities (Freedom Struggle)
4 questions
Theme 2: Freedom Struggle → Moderate Phase / Personalities · GS1-U01-T02-S05 / S06
To what extent did the role of moderates prepare a base for the wider freedom movement? Comment.
Mapping rationale: Moderates’ constitutional methods, economic critique, and institution-building as precondition for the mass nationalist movement.
Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during Non-Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement.
Mapping rationale: Khadi, village industries, Hindu-Muslim unity, and national education as Gandhi’s constructive agenda alongside civil resistance.
Evaluate the policies of Lord Curzon and their long-term implications on the national movement.
Mapping rationale: Curzon’s Partition of Bengal as the catalyst for Swadeshi movement and radicalisation of the Congress — British policy producing nationalist response.
Why did the ‘Moderates’ fail to carry conviction with the nation about their proclaimed ideology and political goals by the end of the nineteenth century?
Mapping rationale: Limitations of petitionary politics, English-educated elite disconnect from masses, and rise of extremism as response to moderate failure.
Freedom Struggle — Miscellaneous & Role of Social Groups
2 questions
Theme 2: Freedom Struggle → Miscellaneous / Social Groups · GS1-U01-T02-S04 / S07
What were the major political, economic and social developments in the world which motivated the anti-colonial struggle in India?
Mapping rationale: Russian Revolution, Wilsonian self-determination, Irish independence etc. as global influences on Indian nationalism.
Defying the barriers of age, gender, and religion, the Indian women became the torchbearer during the struggle for freedom in India. Discuss.
Mapping rationale: Diverse participation of women across castes and communities in the national movement — social groups transcending conventional boundaries in freedom struggle.
Post-Independence Consolidation
6 questions (incl. 2025)
Theme 4: Post-Independence Consolidation · GS1-U01-T04
Trace India’s consolidation process during early phase of independence in terms of polity, economy, education and international relations.
Mapping rationale: Integration of princely states, planned economy, Nehruvian foreign policy, and national education as the four pillars of post-independence consolidation.
Assess the main administrative issues and socio-cultural problems in the integration process of Indian Princely States.
Mapping rationale: Sardar Patel’s integration strategy, accession disputes (Hyderabad, Junagadh, Kashmir), and the administrative challenge of merging over 500 states.
Critically discuss the objectives of Bhoodan and Gramdan Movements initiated by Acharya Vinoba Bhave and their success.
Mapping rationale: Post-independence Gandhian land reform movement as a non-statutory alternative to land redistribution — agrarian social movement of the Nehru era.
Write a critical note on the evolution and significance of the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”.
Mapping rationale: Lal Bahadur Shastri’s wartime nationalism linking agrarian self-reliance with military defence — post-independence political symbolism.
Analyze the circumstances that led to Tashkent Agreement in 1966. Discuss the highlights of the agreement.
Mapping rationale: 1965 Indo-Pak War, Soviet mediation, and Shastri’s death at Tashkent — key episode in early post-independence diplomatic history.
Critically examine the compulsions which prompted India to play a decisive role in the emergence of Bangladesh.
Mapping rationale: Humanitarian crisis, strategic interests, and Indira Gandhi’s foreign policy as factors in India’s decisive 1971 intervention enabling Bangladesh’s creation.
World History
14 questions
Theme 5: World History · GS1-U01-T05
How far is it correct to say that the First World War was fought essentially for the preservation of balance of power?
Mapping rationale: Alliance systems, imperial rivalries, and power-balance considerations as causes of WWI — World Wars / Interwar sub-theme.
Bring out the socio-economic effects of the introduction of railways in different countries of the world.
Mapping rationale: Railways as driver of industrial capitalism, urbanisation, and colonialism globally — Industrial Revolution sub-theme with comparative dimension.
“There arose a serious challenge to the democratic state system between the two world wars.” Evaluate the statement.
Mapping rationale: Rise of fascism, Nazism, and authoritarian regimes in the interwar period as a systemic challenge to liberal democracy.
Explain how the foundations of the modern world were laid by the American and French Revolutions.
Mapping rationale: Enlightenment ideals, constitutionalism, popular sovereignty, and human rights as legacies of the Atlantic revolutions — American & French Revolution sub-theme.
What problems were germane to the decolonization process of Malay Peninsula?
Mapping rationale: Emergency, communist insurgency, ethnic complexity, and British management of decolonisation in Malaya — Decolonization sub-theme.
The anti-colonial struggles in West Africa were led by the new elite of Western-educated Africans. Examine.
Mapping rationale: Role of Western-educated intelligentsia in African nationalism — Decolonization sub-theme examining elite-led movements in Ghana, Nigeria etc.
Why did the industrial revolution first occur in England? Discuss the quality of life of the people there during the industrialization. How does it compare with that in India at present?
Mapping rationale: Pre-conditions of British industrialisation (capital, resources, enclosures, Protestantism) and its social costs — Industrial Revolution sub-theme with India comparison.
To what extent can Germany be held responsible for causing the two World Wars? Discuss critically.
Mapping rationale: Fischer controversy, Nazi aggression, and debates on German war guilt — World Wars sub-theme.
What were the events that led to the Suez Crisis in 1956? How did it deal a final blow to Britain’s self-image as a world power?
Mapping rationale: Nationalisation of the Canal, Anglo-French-Israeli invasion, US pressure and British humiliation as the death of Britain’s imperial self-image — Decolonization sub-theme.
The New Economic Policy — 1921 of Lenin had influenced the policies adopted by India soon after independence. Evaluate.
Mapping rationale: Soviet NEP’s mixed-economy model as intellectual influence on Nehruvian planning and state capitalism in India — Socialism & Communism sub-theme.
American Revolution was an economic revolt against mercantilism. Substantiate.
Mapping rationale: Navigation Acts, taxation without representation, and colonial economic grievances as the material basis of the American independence movement.
Africa was chopped into states artificially created by accident of European competition. Analyse.
Mapping rationale: Berlin Conference 1884-85, Scramble for Africa, and arbitrary boundary-drawing as the origin of post-colonial African state fragility — Rise of Nationalism sub-theme.
“Latecomer” industrial revolution in Japan involved certain factors that were markedly different from what the West had experienced.
Mapping rationale: State-led Meiji industrialisation, zaibatsu system, and technology import as features distinguishing Japanese from Western industrial development.
What policy instruments were deployed to contain the great economic depression?
Mapping rationale: New Deal, Keynesian fiscal policy, gold standard abandonment, protectionism — interwar economic policy responses as World Wars / Interwar sub-theme.
Insights
How to use: Focus on Personalities and Freedom Struggle first — they account for nearly 50% of all questions. Prepare World History as a reliable 1–2 question sub-section every year. Post-Independence is low-frequency but has reappeared in 2025.
High Yield Topics
Personalities is the single highest-yield sub-theme with 12 questions. Mahatma Gandhi alone features (directly or comparatively) in at least 8 of these. Students must prepare Gandhi across multiple frames — his philosophy, his methods, comparisons with Ambedkar, Tagore, Bose, and Nehru, and his contemporary relevance. The Gandhian phase of the Freedom Struggle adds 5 more questions, making the entire Gandhi-centred cluster nearly 25% of this subject. British economic policies (6+ questions) is the second most reliable cluster: always prepare drain theory, deindustrialisation, land revenue, and indentured labour together.
Trend Shifts (2013–2025)
The years 2013–2015 were unusually heavy with 4–6 questions per year; the paper has since stabilised to 3–4 history questions per year. World History was highly active in 2013 (4 questions) and has stabilised to 1 question annually — typically from the revolutions, World Wars, or industrial revolution sub-themes. Post-Independence questions disappeared for nearly a decade (2014–2020) but have re-emerged: 2021 saw Princely States integration and 2025 brought a broad consolidation question. Social reform is a growing trend: Socio-religious reform (Brahmo Samaj, Indian Renaissance) appeared in 2019 and 2021, and 2025’s Phule question signals UPSC’s growing interest in subaltern social reform figures.
Recurring Directive Verbs
Across 53 questions: Discuss (18), Examine/Critically Examine (9), Elucidate/Elaborate (8), Analyze/Assess (7), Explain (5), Comment (4), Highlight (2). Note that 10-mark questions use Discuss/Explain for 150-word answers, while 15-mark questions often use Critically Examine or Evaluate — prepare both summary and critical analytical registers for the same topic.
Coverage Gaps (Low/Zero PYQ Frequency)
The following syllabus areas have received minimal direct questions and could be emerging topics: The Press Act and Censorship as a British Policy; Role of the Indian States (princely rulers) in the freedom struggle; Azad Hind Fauj (INA trials) beyond Bose himself; Decolonization in Asia beyond Malaya; Comintern’s influence on Indian communist movements. Prepare these as supplementary material but do not neglect primary clusters.
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