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UPSC CSE History of India Flashcards
50 question-and-answer cards covering History of India as it is examined in UPSC CSE. 24 of them are printed below, taken from across the deck — no signup, no paywall on the preview.
24 sample cards from the History of India deck
Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.
Which Mughal emperor built the Taj Mahal and in whose memory?
Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Which Mughal emperor reimposed the jizya tax and is associated with the empire's territorial peak but later decline?
Aurangzeb.
What was the Bhakti movement?
A devotional movement emphasizing intense personal love for a single God, rejecting ritualism and caste barriers, accessible to all through devotion (bhakti).
Name three prominent Bhakti saints.
Examples include Kabir, Guru Nanak, Mirabai, Tulsidas, Chaitanya, and Tukaram.
What is Sufism in the Indian context?
The mystical dimension of Islam emphasizing love of God, devotion, and direct experience, spread in India through Sufi orders (silsilas) like the Chishti and Suhrawardi.
Who was Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti?
A revered Chishti Sufi saint whose shrine (dargah) is at Ajmer; he popularized Sufism in India.
What common social impact did the Bhakti and Sufi movements share?
Both stressed devotion over ritual, promoted equality and harmony, used local/vernacular languages, and helped bridge Hindu-Muslim divides.
Which 1757 battle marked the start of British political dominance in Bengal?
The Battle of Plassey, where Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah.
Which 1764 battle gave the East India Company the Diwani (revenue rights) of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa?
The Battle of Buxar (1765 Diwani grant).
What was the Doctrine of Lapse and who is associated with it?
A British annexation policy (under Lord Dalhousie) by which a princely state without a natural male heir lapsed to the Company, barring adopted heirs from succession.
What was the Permanent Settlement of 1793 and who introduced it?
A land revenue system introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal fixing revenue permanently and recognizing zamindars as landowners.
What is widely regarded as the immediate trigger of the Revolt of 1857?
The introduction of greased cartridges (rumored to be smeared with cow and pig fat) for the new Enfield rifles, offending Hindu and Muslim sepoys.
What major constitutional change followed the Revolt of 1857?
The Government of India Act 1858 transferred power from the East India Company to the British Crown (start of the British Raj).
When and where was the Indian National Congress founded, and by whom?
In 1885 in Bombay; its founding is associated with A.O. Hume.
What was the Partition of Bengal (1905) and how was it perceived?
Lord Curzon's division of Bengal, seen as a 'divide and rule' tactic; it sparked the Swadeshi Movement and was annulled in 1911.
What were the three major mass movements led by Mahatma Gandhi?
Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930, begun with the Dandi Salt March), and Quit India Movement (1942).
What happened in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919?
British troops under General Dyer fired on an unarmed crowd in Amritsar, killing hundreds and galvanizing the freedom struggle.
What was the significance of the Dandi Salt March (1930)?
Gandhi's 240-mile march to make salt in defiance of the salt tax launched the Civil Disobedience Movement and became a symbol of nonviolent resistance.
On what date did India gain independence, and along with what major event?
15 August 1947, accompanied by the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan.
Who became independent India's first Prime Minister and first President?
Jawaharlal Nehru (Prime Minister) and Dr. Rajendra Prasad (President).
Who is called the 'Iron Man of India' for integrating the princely states into the Indian Union?
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
When did the Constitution of India come into force, and who chaired its Drafting Committee?
26 January 1950; the Drafting Committee was chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
What was the States Reorganisation Act of 1956?
Legislation that redrew India's internal state boundaries primarily on a linguistic basis, a key step in post-independence consolidation.
How did the major military action of 1948 contribute to post-independence consolidation?
Operation Polo (the 1948 'Police Action') led to the integration of the princely state of Hyderabad into the Indian Union.
What this deck covers
The History of India deck follows the UPSC CSE History of India syllabus — 3 chapters and 9 topics — so questions land on material that is genuinely examinable rather than trivia around it. That works out to roughly 16.7 cards per chapter.
Answers are written to be recallable, not just readable — averaging about 104 characters, which is long enough to carry the reasoning and short enough to say out loud.
A deck like this earns its keep on the second and third pass. Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then use the cards to find the specific facts that have not stuck.
History of India flashcards FAQ
How many History of India flashcards are in this UPSC CSE deck?
50 cards. This page previews 24 of them, sampled evenly across the deck so you can judge the difficulty before installing anything.
Are these UPSC CSE flashcards free?
Yes. The preview here is free to read with no signup, and the full 50-card deck is free inside the Examius app.
What do the History of India cards cover?
They follow the UPSC CSE History of India syllabus — 3 chapters and 9 topics — so the questions track what is actually examinable.
How should I use these flashcards?
Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then drill the deck. Examius schedules each card with spaced repetition, so cards you keep missing come back sooner and ones you know drift further apart.