UPSC Optional · 500 marks

History

Ancient, medieval, modern Indian and world history. Strong GS-I overlap.

Five deep-dives: syllabus, booklist, paper analysis, strategy, PYQ trends (2021–2025).

What UPSC actually asked in History, 2021–2025

80 questions across 5 years, taken from the official papers. Every one has its own page with the directive word, marks, word limit and evaluation rubric.

Paper 1
40 questions · 2000 marks total
Paper 2
40 questions · 2000 marks total

Topics that came up

Ancient Indian historical sites identification · Archaeological sites identification on map · 19th century nationalism, American Revolution, new imperialism · Akbar's Ibadat Khana, Maratha warfare, Asaf Jahi dynasty · Ala-ud-din Khilji, Mansabdari system, Chola maritime expansion · American Revolution, Soviet disintegration, decolonization in Southeast Asia · Ancient Indian history - Neolithic, Indus-Saraswati, Aryan problem · Ancient Indian history - Sangam, Mauryan imperialism, Gupta women status

Directive words used most

discuss (20) · critically examine (14) · comment (9) · analyse (6) · elucidate (6) — see the directive words guide for how each one changes the answer you should write.

Mark distribution

80 questions at 50 marks

Browse all 80 History previous year questions →

Practice History answers, get AI feedback

Write an answer, upload it, and our evaluator scores it on content, structure, examples and directive-word fidelity — trained on UPSC-style marking.