Paper: IAS Mains Previous Year Paper History (1995)

Paper-I- History-1995 (Mains)

Section A

1. Write short essays on any three of the following in about 200 words each:
(a) Vedic literature
(b) Essence of -Early Jainism
(c) Inscriptions of Ashoka
(d) Historical significance of the advent of the Arabs in India.

2. Describe the distinguishing features of important archaeological cultures-of the Indian subcontinent datable between c. 2000 B.C. and c. 500 B.C.

3. “The centuries between c. 200 B.C. and-c. AD. 300 constitute a landmark in the socio-religious history of India.” Analyses the proposition.

4. How far is it true to say that the strength and vigour of Indian history during c. A.D. 500-750 lay in the south of the Vindhyas?

5. Mark any 15 of the following places on the map supplied to you and write short notes (about fifty words each) on the answer book on only the places marked on the map:
(i) Ahrnadnagar
(ii) Anhilawara
(iii) Badgara
(iv) Balasore
(v) Bayana
(vi) Bidar
(vii) Chinsura
(viii) Chittor
(ix) Daman
(x) Dharma
(xi) Dipalpur
(xii) Gangaikon-dacholapuram
(xiii) Gaur
(xiv) Ghargaon
(xv) Kamatapura
(xvi) Katehar
(xvii) Kishangarh
(xviii) Lakhnawati
(xix) Madurai
(xx) Mandu
(xxi) Navsari
(xxii) Orchha
(xxiii) Pandharpur
(xxiv) Panipat
(xxv) Patan
(xxvi) Qamarnager
(xxvii) Raichur
(xxviii)Sirohi
(xxix) Somnath
(xxx) Tirhut

Section B

6. Comment on any three of the following in about 200 words each:
(a) Land charters of north India (c. A-D. 750-1200)
(b) Balban’s theory of kingship
(c) Growth of regional languages arid literature during the medieval pei’iod
(d) Changes in the composition of nobility from Akbar to Aurangzeb

7. Make a comparative review of the agrarian reforms of Alauud-Din Khalji and Sher Shah Sun.

8. Do you agree with the view that the advent of the Turks and the Mughals in India heralded many changes in the means of production? Give reasons in support of your answer.



Paper-II- History-1995 (Mains)

Section A

1. Comment on any three of the following statements in about 200 words each:
(a) “By certain of his actions Clive has marred both the glory and usefulness of his work.”
(b) The Government of India from Canning to Curzon was regarded “as a white man’s burden rather than as a call to creative effort or the preparation for a new era.”
(c) The Diarchy provided by the Mont ford reforms “certainly created suspicion without the frictions within.”
(d) ‘Having won political freedom, India had to win economic and cultural freedom.”

2. The British conquest of Sind was both a political and moral sequel to the first afghan war. Comment.

3. Economic changes in India from the late 1920s influenced the course of the country’s politics. Elucidate.

4. Trace the course and comment on the character of caste movements in south India in the 20th century. How far was their object achieved?

Section B

5. Comment on any three of the following statements in about 200 words each:
(a) “The Renaissance and the Reformation are the two springs of modern history, rival sources of the intellectual and moral freshening of modern life.”
(b) The American Revolution “was a natural and even expected event in the history of colonial people who had come of age.”
(c) At the end of the battle of Sedan (1870), “Europe lost a mistress and gained a master.”
(d) “There was an element of system in Hitler’s foreign policy His outlook was continental.”

6. The unification of Italy and that of Germany constituted a contrast in respect of the ways they were affected and impact they left on later international politics. Elucidate.

7. Divided into spheres of influence by foreign powers, Chiri in the 19th century presented a sorry spectacle. How did China react to it?

8. “Corporate State” was Mussolini’s answer to sociopolitical problems of his country. Elucidate.