Subjects in GS Paper 1	Sub-Topics
History	Art & Culture
	Modern History
	World History
Geography	Physical Geography of India & World
Geography	Human Geography
Indian Society	Demography, Social Issues, and Developments in Indian Society

Focus Areas in GS Paper-I
Subject	Topics
Art & Culture	Classical dances Temple architecture Themes of ancient Indian history Literature Music and musical instruments
Modern History	Four important agitations/movements: Swadeshi and Boycott movement, Khilafat and Non-cooperation movement, Civil Disobedience movement, Quit India movement. Social/religious reform movements: personalities and their contributions Contributions of important personalities (Indian and foreign)
India after Independence & Political Philosophies	Admission of princely states Role of important personalities Important movements after 1947 Communism Capitalism socialism
World History	American, French, Russian and Industrial Revolution World War I and II Current affairs International pages of The Hindu and The Indian Express
Society of India	Diversity in India Women Empowerment Issues in Indian Society
Geography	Cyclones, hurricanes, earthquakes Location of industries in India Water bodies Climate change Natural Resources

Subject	Sources
History	Art & Culture Books: India’s Ancient Past – RS Sharma Facets of Indian Culture (Spectrum publications) Website: Centre for Cultural Resources & Training (CCRT) website Get previous years’ Art & Culture Questions of UPSC Mains GS 1 in the linked article. Modern History Books: India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra A Brief History of Modern India – Rajiv Ahir (Spectrum Publications) India After Independence Books: India Since Independence – Bipan Chandra World History Books: Mastering World History – Norman Lowe History of the World – Arjun Dev Aspirants can get the previous years’ History Questions of UPSC Mains GS 1 in the linked article.
Society of India	Newspapers Magazines (EPW) Reports of NGOs, international organizations etc. Aspirants can get the previous years’ Indian Society Questions of UPSC Mains GS 1 in the linked article.
Geography	NCERTs from classes VI through XII. Aspirants can get the previous years’ Geography Questions of UPSC Mains GS 1 in the linked article.

Topic	Sub-Topics
History	Modern Indian History from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues. The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country. Post-independence Consolidation and Reorganization within the country. History of the World will include events from the 18th century such as the Industrial Revolution, world wars, Redrawal of National Boundaries, Colonization, Decolonization, political philosophies like Communism, Capitalism, Socialism etc.— their forms and effect on society.
Art & Culture	Salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times
Geography	Salient features of World’s Physical Geography. Distribution of Key Natural Resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India). Important Geophysical Phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
Indian Society	Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India. Role of Women and Women’s Organization, Population and Associated Issues Poverty and Developmental issues, Urbanization, their problems and their remedies. Effects of Globalization on Indian society. Social Empowerment Communalism Regionalism Secularism.

Year	Question	Marks	Nature	Reference
2020	The rock-cut architecture represents one of the most important sources of our knowledge of early Indian art and history. Discuss	10	Static	NCERT Class 11th Fine Arts/Ancient History NCERT
2020	Pala period is the most significant phase in the history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate.	10	Static + Dynamic	Medieval History NCERT/News Sources
2020	Evaluate the policies of Lord Curzon and their long term implications on the national movements	10	Static	Rajiv Ahir’s Brief History of Modern India/Bipan Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence
2020	Indian Philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and their art in India. Discuss	15	Static + Analytical	Reference Book
2020	Persian literary sources of medieval India reflect the spirit of the age. Comment	15	Static	Themes of India NCERT
2020	Since the decade of the 1920s, the national movement acquired various ideological strands and thereby expanded its social base. Discuss.	15	Static	Spectrum/India’s Struggle for Independence
2018	Assess the importance of the accounts of the Chinese and Arab travellers in the reconstruction of the history of India.	10	Static	NCERT Class XII – Themes in Indian History Part-II (Theme 5)
2018	Throw light on the significance of the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi in the present times.	10	Static + Dynamic (Current Affairs-Based)	150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was celebrated
2018	Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Comment	10	Static	NCERT Class XII – Themes in Indian History (Part I, II and III)
2018	The Bhakti movement received a remarkable re-orientation with the advent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Discuss	15	Static	NCERT Class XII
2019	Highlight the Central Asian and Greco Bactrian elements in the Gandhara art.	10	Static	NCERT Class XII (Themes in Indian History)
2019	The 1857 uprising was the culmination of the recurrent, big and small local rebellions that had occurred in the preceding hundred years of British rule. Elucidate.	10	Static	Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir
2019	Examine the linkages between the nineteenth century’s ‘Indian Renaissance’ and the emergence of national identity.	10	Static	NCERT + Any reference book
2019	Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian phase. Elaborate.	15	Static	NCERT + Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir
2019	Assess the role of British imperial power in complicating the process of transfer of power during the 1940s.	15	Static	NCERT + Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir

Year	Question	Mark	Nature	Asked From/Why
2020	Discuss the geophysical characteristics of Circum- Pacific Zone	10	Static + Dynamic	Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung Volcanic Eruption was in the news
2020	The process of desertification does not have climate boundaries. Justify with examples.	10	Static + Dynamic	UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) moderated a panel marking panel the ‘Desertification and Drought Day 2020’
2020	How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a far- reaching impact on the water resources of India?	10	Static + Current Affairs	The Hindu’s coverage on ‘Government plans to measure depth of Himalayan glaciers to assess water availability’
2020	Account for the present location of iron and steel industries away from the source of raw material, by giving examples.	10	Static	NCERTs
2020	The interlinking of revivers can provide viable solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related problems of droughts, floods and interrupted navigation. Critically examine.	15	Static + Dynamic + Current Affairs	Cauvery-Gundar river linking project was in the news. The Hindu’s coverage, ‘Centre working on exclusive body for river-linking projects.’
2020	Account for the huge flooding of million cities in India including the smart ones like Hyderabad and Pune. Suggest lasting remedial measures.	15	Static + Current Affairs	Urban Flooding in Hyderabad and Rains in Pune remained in the news
2018	Why is the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) needed? How does it help in navigation?	10	Current Affairs	IRNSS was successfully launched
2018	Why is India taking a keen interest in the Arctic region?	10	Static + Dynamic	India was an observer at the Council from 2013 onwards and re-elected as the observer
2018	Define mantle plume and explain its role in plate tectonics.	10	Static	NCERT
2018	What are the consequences of spreading ‘Dead Zones’ on the marine ecosystem?	10	Current Affairs-Based	In News
2018	“The ideal solution of depleting groundwater resources in India is a water harvesting system.” How can it be made effective in urban areas?	15	Current Affairs + Static	NCERT + News
2018	Defining the blue revolution, explain the problems and strategies for pisciculture development in India.	15	Static	NCERT
2019	Assess the impact of global warming on the coral life system with examples.	10	Static + Current Affairs-Based	In News
2019	Discuss the causes of depletion of mangroves and explain their importance in maintaining coastal ecology.	10	Current Affairs-Based	In News
2019	What is water stress? How and why does it differ regionally in India?	15	Static + Current Affairs-Based	NCERT + Newspapers’ Editorials

UPSC IAS Exam	Pattern of IAS Exam
Preliminary Examination	General Studies Aptitude Test
Mains Examination	Qualifying Paper-A (One of the 22 Indian Languages) Paper-B (English) Papers to be counted for merit Paper-I (Essay) Paper-II (GS-I) Paper-III (GS-II) Paper-IV (GS-III) Paper-V (GS-IV) Paper-VI (Optional Paper-I) Paper-VI (Optional Paper-II)
Personality Test	–

UPSC Prelims	Previous Year UPSC Question Papers	UPSC 2024
IAS Questions & Answers (History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Environment & More)	UPSC Mains Syllabus	UPSC Notes PDF

IAS General Studies Notes Links
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient	India'S Struggle For Independence
Devadasi System - UPSC	Lord Lytton
Stockholm Conference	Highest Peak In India
Difference Between Internet And Www	Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
Self Help Groups	National Flower Of India

Year	Question	Marks	Nature	Asked From/Why
2020	Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree?	15	Static + Analytical	General Topic
2020	Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalisation? Justify your answer.	15	Static	General Topic/Any Reference Book
2020	Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue	10	Static + Analytical	Direct Topic from Syllabus
2018	“Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, the caste system cannot be eradicated in India.” Comment.	10	Static	General topic, direct from the syllabus
2018	‘Despite the implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing’. Explain by giving reasons	10	Static + Current Affairs-Based	Reference Book + News Topic – ‘Poverty and Development Issues’
2018	How is the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism? Discuss.	10	Static	Any reference book
2019	What makes Indian society unique in sustaining its culture? Discuss.	10	Static	Class 12 NCERT + Newspaper
2019	“Empowering women is the key to control population growth.” Discuss.	10	Static	Direct from the topic mentioned in the syllabus
2019	What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism?	10	Static	Direct from the topic (Communalism) mentioned in the syllabus
2019	What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?	15	Static + Dynamic	Direct from the topic (Role of women and women’s organization) mentioned in the syllabus

UPSC Mains General Studies Paper 1 Syllabus, Strategy & Structure

IAS Mains General Studies – I

Strategy for UPSC Mains GS Paper 1

GS Paper-I Structure

Detailed Structure of Mains General Studies Paper-I for IAS

GS 1 Syllabus

Must-Read Important Topics in GS-I for UPSC

GS Paper 1 Trend Analysis

IAS Exam Pattern

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