UPSC Civil Services Examination (Prelims) 2026 History Previous Year Questions

In which one among the following texts does the term kshetra-patni ("mistress of the field") originate?

Consider the following statements about the archaeological findings in Harappan towns:

I. There is wide occurrence of spindle-whorls in the houses but absence of spinning wheels.
II. Weights and measurement scales, complete with graduations have been discovered.
III. There are houses built in large part with baked bricks, around relatively spacious courtyards, with their own wells, bathing platforms, and large rooms.

Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above statements?

1. Statement I suggests that spinning was a laborious activity done at home.
2. Statement II suggests the extent of the scientific knowledge that the Harappans possessed.
3. Statement III suggests the emergence of a common property system.

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Which of the following pairs of ancient and modern names of rivers is/are correctly matched?

1. Vitasta : Chenab
2. Asikni : Jhelum
3. Parushni : Ravi
4. Yavyavati : Beas

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Which of the following pairs of the king and his dynasty in early historical Tamilakam is/are not correctly matched?

1. Senguttuvan : Chera
2. Udiyanjeral : Chola
3. Nedunjeliyan : Pandya
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Consider the following statements relating to the use of the place-value system in India:

1. The earliest epigraphic use of the place-value system in India is found in the Mankani plates from Gujarat (AD 595–596).
2. In the ninth century, place-values become general in inscriptions all over India.
3. The place-values have been found in Sanskrit inscriptions in South-east Asia as early as the seventh century.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

The artificially fixed rupee-sterling exchange rate prescribed by the Hilton-Young Commission (1926) was adopted by the British Government for which one of the following reasons?

Consider the following statements:
I. Pali texts contain the first definite references to coins, e.g., kahapana, nikkha, kamsa, and kakanika.
II. The literary evidence from Pali texts is corroborated by archaeological evidence of punch-marked coins from many sites, most of them made of silver.
The above statements have been associated with which of the following?

1. Emergence of urban life
2. Transition to money economy Select the answer using the code given below:

Consider the following statements about the Rigvedic period:

I. Irrigation from wells allowed agriculture to expand away from flood plains and strips on river margins into the present Punjab and Haryana plains having underground water levels reasonably close to the surface.
II. Draught-animal power was employed to draw up water out of the wells.

Which of the following information support/supports the above statements?

1. There is evidence in the Rigveda of the use of ashma chakra (stone pulley wheel) and ahava (strapped wooden pails) to draw up water.
2. Mention has been made in the Rigveda of the use of implements like parashu/ kulisha (axe) and datra/ sreni (sickle).
3. There is a history of the use of ox, even before the Rigveda, for ploughing the land and pulling the carts.

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Which one of the following statements about the Eka Movement and Bardoli Satyagraha is correct?

Which of the following factors contributed to the formation of the Forward Bloc by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939?

1. Bose failed to win the confidence of Mahatma Gandhi.
2. The Congress Left was disunited and failed to support Bose.
3. The Communists did not support Bose in his endeavours.
4. The supporters of M.N. Roy and socialist leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan preferred Congress unity to supporting Bose.
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Consider the following statements regarding the British policy in Awadh immediately after its annexation in 1856:

1. The taluqdars were dispossessed of their estates but allowed to retain their arms and forts.
2. A Summary Revenue Settlement was made in 1856 assuming that the taluqdars were outsiders.
3. The British believed in taking revenue directly from the peasants by removing the taluqdars.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Consider the following assertion:
"The genesis of political alliances based on community lay in the very nature of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms, 1919."
Which of the following statements support/supports the above assertion?

1. Reforms retained and extended the principle of separate electorates.
2. Separate electorates were supposed to counter Indian nationalism, which was growing stronger.
3. Deprived classes rallied around the favours inherent in separate electorates.
   Select the answer using the code given below: