IAS Mains Previous Year Paper History (1979)

1. Mark any fifteen of the following on the map supplied to you and give descriptive notes on, them:
(i) Avanti
(ii) Asirgarh
(iii) Amaravati
(iv) Aihole
(v) Brahmagiri
(vi) Daulatabad
(vii) Fathrpur Sikri
(viii) Golkonda
(ix) Gangaikondacholapuram
(x) Hampi
(xi) Jaunpur
(xii) Kapilavastu
(xiii) Kanauj
(xiv) Kanchipuram
(xv) Lothal
(xvi) Paithan
(xvii) Panipat
(xviii) Ranthambhor
(xix) Rupar
(xx) Samugarh
(xxi) Salsette
(xxii) Tamralipti
(xxiii) Takshashila
(xxiv) Talikota
(xxv) Somnath
(xxvi) Kalinjar
(xxvii) Mandu
(xxviii)Warangal
(xxiv) Murshidabad

Section A

2. Give an appraisal of town planning of the Indus cities and evaluate the various reasons for their decline.

3. Give an account of the Geography of the Vedic texts and describe the social life during the Vedic times.

4. Discuss the nature of Ashoka's Dhamma. Was it responsible for the downfall of his empire?

5. Describe the expansion of the Gupta empire under Samudragupta with the help of the Allahabad pillar inscription.

6. Discuss the contribution of the Pallavas to South Indian art. Was this art wholly indigenous?

Section B

7. Describe the village administration of the Chola period as known from the Uttaramerur inscriptions.

8. Bring out the essential features of the administration of Ala-ud-din Khalji.

9. Give an account of the polity and society of Vijayanagara empire under Krishnadevaraya.

10. In which respects did the policies of Aurangzeb contribute to the disintegration of the Mughal empire?

11. Examine the economic condition of the rural agricultural classes and of the urban artisans and traders during the Mughal period.



Paper-II- History 1979 (Mains)

Section A

1. Assess critically the economic impact of the British rule in India till the end of the nineteenth century.

2. "1858 is the Great Divide in modern Indian history, as the policy, practice and ideals of the government that followed differed fundamentally from the government of the Company which it displaced." Discuss.

3. Examine the main trends in social reform and social change in India between 1829 and 1929.

4. Discuss the nature, methods and activities of the Terrorist Revolutionary Movement and assess its place in India's Freedom Struggle.

5. Analyze the circumstances, between 1942 and 1947, that led to freedom and partition of India.


Section B (Modern World)

6. The period 1500 to 1700 in Europe has been called 'the heyday of the Commercial Revolution.' Explain the causes that led to this Revolution & examine its impact on society.

7. What do you understand by Imperialism? How did it affect the people of Asia in the nineteenth century?

8. What were the ideals of the French Revolution of 1789? How far is it correct to say that it overthrew mercantilism and the surviving relics of feudalism and contributed to the political supremacy of the middle class?

9. Account for the rise of militarism in Japan between the two World Wars. How did it affect the peace of the world?

10. "Holland was engaged in a systematic exploitation of Indonesia in the nineteenth century." Elucidate.

11. Discuss the internal problem of China after the First World War and account for the establishment of Communist rule in the China in 1949.