UPSC History Syllabus for 2026 Exam

UPSC History Syllabus For Prelims

Ancient History

Medieval History

Modern History

Prehistoric cultures in India

Early Medieval India: Major dynasties; political and agrarian organisation

British extension, economic and cultural impact, Indian freedom struggle

Indus Civilization – origins, phases, society, economy, culture, contacts, decline

Cultural trends (750–1200), religious circumstances, temples, monastic institutions, Islam, art, literature, science

British rule in India, wars, acts, land revenue settlements, deindustrialisation, and railways

Vedic society – Rigvedic and later Vedic phases, religion, Varna system, monarchy

13th–14th centuries: Ghorian invasions, Delhi Sultanate, Khalji, Tughluq, Lodhi dynasties, Vijayanagara Empire

Indian Renaissance, social reforms, development of the Indian middle class, and vernacular literature

Formation of state and urbanisation (Mahajanapadas–Nandas)

Monotheistic movements: Kabir, Guru Nanak, Sikhism, Bhakti movement; regional literature and art

Early uprisings, the Revolt of 1857, the growth of national consciousness, Indian National Congress

Buddhism and Jainism – spread of Buddhism

Mughal Empire – Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb: administration, policies, art, architecture, economy

Gandhian movements: Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience, Quit India; revolutionaries; Partition & Independence

Mauryan Empire – Chandragupta, Ashoka, inscriptions, dhamma, administration, art

Decline of the Delhi Sultanate, urbanisation, commerce, spiritual movements, literature, and technological changes

India after independence: parliamentary democracy, secularism, Nehru’s vision, planning, industrialisation, agrarian reforms

Post-Mauryan India: society, jatis, Satavahanas, state formation, Sangam texts, contacts

15th–16th centuries: provincial dynasties, Vijayanagara Empire, Lodhis, Sur Empire, Bhakti & Sufi movements, regional literature, art

Modern India: independence, partition, post-independence policies, foreign relations, socio-economic changes

UPSC History Optional Syllabus For Paper I

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Subtopics

Sources

Archaeological sources: Exploration, excavation, epigraphy, numismatics, monuments. Literary sources: Indigenous (Primary and secondary; poetry, scientific literature, literature in regional languages, religious literature). Foreign accounts: Greek, Chinese, and Arab writers.

Pre-history and Proto-history

Geographical factors; hunting and gathering (Paleolithic and Mesolithic); Beginning of agriculture (Neolithic and Chalcolithic).

Indus Valley Civilization

Origin, date, extent, characteristics, decline, survival, and significance; art and architecture.

Megalithic Cultures

Distribution of pastoral and farming cultures outside the Indus; development of community life, settlements, agriculture, crafts, pottery, and iron industry.

Aryans and Vedic Period

Expansions of Aryans in India; Rigvedic and later Vedic phases; religion; Varna system; monarchy; political, social, and economic life; significance of the Vedic Age.

Period of Mahajanapadas

Formation of States: Republics and monarchies; urban centres; trade routes; economic growth; introduction of coinage; spread of Jainism and Buddhism; rise of Magadha and Nandas; Iranian and Macedonian invasions.

Mauryan Empire

Foundation of the empire; Chandragupta; Kautilya and Arthashastra; Ashoka; dhamma; inscriptions; polity; administration; economy; art, architecture, sculpture; external contacts; religion; literature; disintegration of empire; Sungas and Kanvas.

Post-Mauryan Period

Indo-Greeks, Sakas, Kushanas, Western Kshatrapas: Contact with outside world; urban centres; economy; coinage; development of religions; art, architecture, culture, literature, science.

Early State and Society in Eastern India, Deccan, and South India

Kharavela; Satavahanas; Tamil States of Sangam Age; administration; economy; land grants; coinage; trade guilds; Buddhist centres; Sangam literature; art and architecture.

Guptas, Vakatakas, and Vardhanas

Polity and administration; economy; coinage; land grants; decline of urban centres; Indian feudalism; caste system; position of women; education; Nalanda, Vikramshila, Vallabhi; literature; art and architecture.

Regional States during Gupta Era

Kadambas, Pallavas, Chalukyas of Badami; polity; administration; trade guilds; literature; Vaishnava and Saiva religions; Bhakti movement; Shankaracharya; Vedanta; temple architecture; Palas, Senas, Rashtrakutas, Paramaras; Chalukyas of Kalyana; Cholas, Hoysalas, Pandyas; polity; local government; art; architecture; education; economy; society.

Themes in Early Indian Cultural History

Languages and texts; evolution of art and architecture; philosophical thinkers and schools; science and mathematics.

Early Medieval India, 750–1200

Political developments in Northern India and peninsula; rise of Rajputs; Cholas – administration, village economy, society; Indian feudalism; agrarian economy; urban settlements; trade and commerce; society, caste, women; science and technology.

Cultural Traditions in India, 750–1200

Philosophy: Shankaracharya and Vedanta, Ramanuja, Vishishtadvaita, Madhva, BrahmaMimansa; Religion: Bhakti, Islam, Sufism; Literature: Sanskrit, Tamil, regional languages, Rajtarangini, Alberuni’s India; Art and Architecture: temple architecture, sculpture, painting.

The Thirteenth Century

Establishment of Delhi Sultanate; Ghurian invasions; consequences; early Turkish Sultans; rule of Iltutmish, Balban.

The Fourteenth Century

Khalji Revolution; Alauddin Khalji – conquests, expansion, agrarian measures; Muhammad Tughluq – projects, agrarian measures, bureaucracy; Firuz Tughluq – agrarian measures, civil works, decline of Sultanate, foreign contacts.

Society, Culture, and Economy (13th–14th Century)

Rural society, ruling classes, town dwellers, women, caste, slavery; Bhakti and Sufi movements; Persian and regional literature; Sultanate architecture; painting; composite culture; agricultural production; urban economy; trade and commerce.

The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Century – Politics & Economy

Rise of provincial dynasties: Bengal, Kashmir, Gujarat, Malwa, Bahmanids; Vijayanagara Empire; Lodis; Babur, Humayun; Sur Empire – administration; Portuguese enterprise; Bhakti and Sufi movements.

The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Century – Society & Culture

Regional cultural specificities; literary traditions; provincial architecture; society, literature, art in Vijayanagara Empire.

Akbar

Conquests; consolidation; jagir and mansab systems; Rajput policy; religious outlook; Sulh-i-kul; art and technology.

Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth Century

Jahangir, Shahjahan, Aurangzeb – administration, policies, religious views; zamindars; state nature; revolts; Ahom kingdom; Shivaji; early Maratha kingdom.

Economy and Society (16th–17th Century)

Population; agriculture; craft production; towns; trade with Europe; mercantile classes; banking; credit systems; peasants’ conditions; women; Sikh community and Khalsa Panth.

Culture during Mughal Empire

Persian histories; Hindi and religious literatures; architecture; painting; provincial art; classical music; science and technology.

The Eighteenth Century

Decline of Mughal Empire; regional principalities – Nizam’s Deccan, Bengal, Awadh; Maratha ascendancy; Maratha fiscal system; Afghan power; Battle of Panipat (1761); political, cultural, economic conditions before British conquest.

History Optional Syllabus for UPSC Paper 2

Topics

Subtopics

European Penetration into India

Early European settlements: Portuguese and Dutch; English and French East India Companies; struggle for supremacy; Carnatic Wars; Bengal – conflict between English and Nawabs of Bengal; Siraj and the English; Battle of Plassey; significance of Plassey.

British Expansion in India

Bengal – Mir Jafar and Mir Kasim; Battle of Buxar; Mysore; Marathas; three Anglo-Maratha Wars; Punjab.

Early Structure of the British Raj

Early administrative structure; from diarchy to direct control; Regulating Act (1773); Pitt’s India Act (1784); Charter Act (1833); free trade and British colonial rule; English utilitarian ideas and India.

Economic Impact of British Colonial Rule

Land revenue settlements: Permanent, Ryotwari, Mahalwari; economic impact; commercialization of agriculture; landless agrarian labourers; rural impoverishment; decline of traditional crafts; drain of wealth; railways; communication; famine; European business enterprise.

Social and Cultural Developments

Indigenous education and its decline; Orientalist-Anglicist controversy; introduction of western education; rise of press, literature, public opinion; vernacular literature; science; Christian missionary activities.

Social and Religious Reform Movements

Ram Mohan Roy and Brahmo Movement; Devendranath Tagore; Iswarchandra Vidyasagar; Young Bengal Movement; Dayananda Saraswati; reforms – sati, widow remarriage, child marriage; Indian renaissance; Islamic revivalism – Feraizi, Wahabi Movements.

Indian Response to British Rule

Peasant and tribal uprisings (18th–19th century); Rangpur Dhing (1783), Kol Rebellion (1832), Mopla Rebellion, Santal Hul, Indigo Rebellion, Deccan Uprising, Munda Ulgulan; Revolt of 1857 – origin, causes, failure, consequences; post-1857 peasant movements; peasant movements of 1920s–30s.

Factors Leading to Indian Nationalism

Politics of Association; Indian National Congress; Safety-valve thesis; programme and objectives of early Congress; moderates and extremists; Partition of Bengal (1905); Swadeshi Movement; economic and political aspects; revolutionary extremism.

Rise of Gandhi

Gandhian nationalism; Gandhi’s appeal; Rowlatt Satyagraha; Khilafat Movement; Non-Cooperation Movement; Civil Disobedience Movement; Simon Commission; Nehru Report; Round Table Conferences; peasant and working-class movements; women, youth, students in politics; elections of 1937; Cripps Mission; Quit India Movement; Wavell Plan; Cabinet Mission.

Other Strands in the National Movement

Revolutionaries in Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra, U.P., Madras Presidency, outside India; the Left in Congress – Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Congress Socialist Party; Communist Party of India, other left parties.

Politics of Separatism

Muslim League; Hindu Mahasabha; communalism; partition politics; transfer of power; independence.

Consolidation as a Nation

Nehru’s foreign policy; India and neighbours (1947–1964); linguistic reorganisation of states (1935–1947); regionalism; integration of princely states; princes in politics; national language question.

Caste and Ethnicity after 1947

Backward castes and tribes in politics; Dalit movements.

Economic Development and Political Change

Land reforms; planning and rural reconstruction; ecology and environmental policy; science and technology progress.

Enlightenment and Modern Ideas

Major ideas of Enlightenment – Kant, Rousseau; spread in colonies; rise of socialist ideas up to Marx; spread of Marxian socialism.

Origins of Modern Politics

European state system; American Revolution and Constitution; French Revolution; American Civil War; British democratic politics; reform movements.

Industrialization

English Industrial Revolution – causes and impact; industrialization in USA, Germany, Russia, Japan; industrialization and globalisation.

Nation-State System

Rise of nationalism in 19th century; state building in Germany and Italy; disintegration of empires and emergence of nationalities.

Imperialism and Colonialism

South and South-East Asia; Latin America, South Africa, Australia; imperialism and free trade; neo-imperialism.

Revolution and Counter-Revolution

19th century European revolutions; Russian Revolution (1917–1921); fascist counter-revolutions in Italy and Germany; Chinese Revolution (1949).

World Wars

World War I and II as total wars; causes and consequences of both wars.

The World after World War II

Emergence of two power blocs; emergence of Third World and non-alignment; UNO and global disputes.

Liberation from Colonial Rule

Latin America – Bolivar; Arab world – Egypt; Africa – apartheid to democracy; South-East Asia – Vietnam.

Decolonisation and Underdevelopment

Factors constraining development in Latin America and Africa.

Unification of Europe

Post-war foundations; NATO and European Community; consolidation and expansion of European Community; European Union.

Disintegration of Soviet Union and Rise of the Unipolar World

Collapse of Soviet communism and USSR (1985–1991); political changes in East Europe (1989–2001); end of Cold War; US ascendancy as lone superpower.

Constitutional Developments (1858–1935)

UPSC History Preparation Books by PW

Book Name

PDF

PWONLYIAS UPSC Wallah Complete History Combo Set of 6

Link

UPSC Prelims Wallah Q & A Bank Ancient and Medieval India, Modern India, Art and Culture

Link

UPSC Mindmaps Modern Indian History

Link

UPSC Mindmaps Ancient and Medieval India

Link