Author: selfstudyhistory

Q. The French Revolution (1789) really achieved far less than what it intended to effect. Do you agree? [UPSC- 1989] Ans: The French Revolution (1789–99) set out to replace absolute monarchy and a society of privilege with a nation built on liberty, equality and fraternity, popular sovereignty and the rights of man. In its own […]

Q. “Curzon’s political obtusely created a breach between government and people which was never wholly closed in the remaining forty-two years of British rule.” Comment. [UPSC- 1984] Ans: Before Curzon (1899–1905), the Moderate leaders of the Congress still believed in British justice and hoped for gradual reform. Curzon’s arrogance, contempt for educated Indians and authoritarian […]

Q. “Curzon’s partition of Bengal gave the unwitting initiative to events of magnitude and returned many years later to port with the cargo of freedom.” Comment. [UPSC- 1987] Ans: The statement uses the image of a ship. The Partition of Bengal (16 October 1905) set out as an administrative measure with a hidden divide-and-rule purpose. […]

Q. “Curzon was an unconscious catalyst who did not understand, let alone desire, what the new century was about to bring forth, but who helped it to be born.” Comment. [UPSC- 1989] Ans: Lord Curzon, Viceroy from 1899 to 1905, was a brilliant but arrogant imperialist. He believed in the permanence of British rule and […]

Q. How would you explain Gandhiji’s ‘rise to power’ or ‘capture’ of national leadership in the course of 1919-20? Was it a very skillful top-level political game? [UPSC- 1987] Ans: Between 1919 and 1920, Gandhi went from being a respected but peripheral figure to the undisputed leader of the Indian National Congress. Congress adopted his […]

Q. “The new attitude of caution and conservatism can be detected in almost every sphere of British activity in India after the Revolt of 1857.” Comment. [UPSC- 1984] Ans: Before 1857, British rule under Bentinck, Macaulay and Dalhousie pursued a reforming and expansionist agenda: Annexation, through the Doctrine of Lapse and conquest. Social reform: abolition […]

Q. Critically examine the political, military and administrative factors that led to the transformation of the Maratha character in the 18th century. How did these changes influence its rise and eventual decline? [UPSC- 2025] Ans: In the 18th century the Maratha state changed character. Under Shivaji, it had been a compact, centralised kingdom (swarajya): A […]

Q. Evaluate the impact of Mughal revenue administration on the agrarian structure of North India. To what extent did it bring continuity and change in the rural socio-economic fabric? [UPSC- 2025] Ans: Mughal revenue administration brought the state deep into the villages of North India. Its main instruments were Akbar’s zabt system (measurement and fixed […]

Q. “Religious themes inspired a large section of literature in provincial languages in late medieval India.” Comment. [UPSC- 2025] Ans: Between about the 13th and 18th centuries, literature in India’s regional languages flourished. A large part of it was inspired by religious themes. These came from the Vaishnava and Shaiva Bhakti traditions, the nirguna sants […]

Q. Discuss the structural features of Todar Mal’s revenue system and evaluate its effectiveness in standardized land revenue assessment in India. [UPSC- 2025] Ans: Raja Todar Mal, Akbar’s diwan (finance minister), developed the zabt system of land revenue, culminating in the Ain-i-Dahsala (1580). He built on Sher Shah’s methods, under which Todar Mal had himself […]