History 2025 Previous Year Paper

Q1.  Which region was called the "nursery of the Bengal Army"?
(A) Mysore        (B) Berar
(C) Awadh         (D) Hyderabad

Q2.In the Mughal Empire, who was the amil-guzar?
(A) Revenue Collector  (B) Merchant
(C) Spy              (D) Military Commander

Q3.   Match List-I with List-II:

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) - (I), (B) - (II), (C) - (III), (D) - (IV)
(B) - (IV), (B) - (I), (C) - (II), (D) - (III)
(C) - (I), (B) - (II), (C) - (IV), (D) - (III)
(D) - (III), (B) - (IV), (C) - (I), (D) - (II)

Q4. In Mughal society, who were identified as the halalkhoran in Muslim communities?
(A) Butchermen             (B) Boatmen
(C) Scavengers              (D) Fishermen

Q5.  Virupaksha, the guardian deity of the Vijayanagara Kingdom, is also recognised as a form of…………
(A) Vishnu                     (B) Agni
(C) Indra                       (D) Shiva

Q6.  Which Articles in the Constitution of India deal with the Fundamental Rights to "freedom of religion"?
(A) Articles 14–16        

(B) Articles 17–19
(C) Articles 29–30         

(D) Articles 25–28

Q7.  Match List-I with List-II:

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) - (III), (B) - (I), (C) - (IV), (D) - (II)
(B) - (I), (B) - (III), (C) - (II), (D) - (IV)
(C) - (I), (B) - (II), (C) - (IV), (D) - (III)
(D) - (III), (B) - (IV), (C) - (I), (D) - (II)

Q8. A philosopher named Ajita Kesakambalin taught: "A human being is made up of the four elements.
When he dies the earthy in him returns to the earth, the fluid to water, the heat to fire, the windy to air, and his senses pass into space...". Ajita Kesakambalin belonged to which tradition?

(A) Ajivikas                   (B) Lokayatas
(C) Mahayana               (D)Theravadins

Q9. Which famous film by Satyajit Ray on the decline of the aristocratic zamindari style of living was shot in the Andul Raj Palace?

(A) Pather Panchali     (B) Apur Sansar
(C) Aparajita               (D) Jalshaghar

Q10. Who deciphered the 'Brahmi' and 'Kharosthi' scripts?
(A) Colin Mackenzie

(B) Alexander Cunningham
(C) James Prinsep
(D) D.C. Sircar

Q11. At which Harappan sites were the entire settlements fortified?
(A) Dholavira and Lothal
(B) Harappa and Mohenjodaro
(C) Cholistan and Banawali
(D) Nageshwar and Balakot

Q12. Who moved the resolution proposing that the National Flag of India be a "horizontal tricolour of saffron, white and dark green in equal proportion", with a wheel in navy blue at the centre?
(A) J.B. Kripalani      

(B) H.C. Mookerjee
(C) Jawaharlal Nehru

(D) M.N. Venkatachaliah

Q13.  Where is the dargah of Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar located?
(A) Ajmer                      (B) Delhi
(C) Ajodhan                   (D) Lucknow

Q14.      In the 1800s, who were referred to as the dikus?
(A) Merchants               (B) Santhals
(C) Moneylenders          (D) Artisans

Q15.  Which foreign traveller wrote, "I am expected to keep two good Turkoman horses, and I also take with me a powerful Persian camel and driver, a groom for my horses, a cook and a servant to go before my horse with a flask of water in his hand, according to the custom of the country."
(A) François Bernier
(B) Antonio Monserrate
(C) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
(D) Duarte Barbosa

Q16. The Ain-i Akbari is made of five books. Which book of the Ain deals with the fiscal side of the Mughal Empire?
(A) Manzil-abadi    (B) Sipah-abadi
(C) Mulk-abadi       (D) Suyurghal-abadi

Q17.     Who gave the famous speech that began with the following lines: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially."
(A) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
(B) Jawaharlal Nehru
(C) Subhas Chandra Bose
(D) Vallabhbhai Patel

Q18.  Who coined the terms "great and little traditions" in the twentieth-century to describe the cultural practices of peasant societies?
(A) Richard M. Eaton
(B) John Stratton Hawley
(C) David N. Lorenzo
(D) Robert Redfield

Q19. Where was British colonial rule first established in the Indian subcontinent?
(A) Calicut         (B) Surat
(C) Bengal         (D) Hyderabad

Q20. Arrange the following landmarks in the discovery and preservation of early monuments and sculpture in a chronological order:

(A) H.H. Cole appointed Curator of Ancient Museums.

(B) Alexander Cunningham published Bhilsa Topes, one of the earliest works on Sanchi.

(C) Rajendra Lala Mitra published Buddha Gaya: The Heritage of Sakya Muni.

(D) Founding of the Indian Museum, Calcutta.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) (A), (B), (C), (D)
(B) (D), (B), (C), (A)
(C) (B), (A), (D), (C)
(D) (C), (B), (D), (A)

Q21.  What did the Greek word "Erythraean" refer to?
(A) Red Sea         (B) Mediterranean Sea
(C) Caspian Sea   (D) Black Sea

Q22.  In the Mauryan Empire, which centres were situated on important long-distance trade routes?
(A) Taxila          (B) Ujjayini
(C) Pataliputra   (D) Sarnath
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) (A) and (B) only
(B) (B) and (C) only
(C) (C) and (D) only
(D) (D) and (A) only

Q23.  Who brought the ruins of 'Hampi' to light in 1800?
(A) Colin Mackenzie
(B) John Marshall
(C) J.F. Fleet
(D) Alexander Greenlaw

Q24. Which of the following statements about the language of the text of the Mahabharata are true:
(A) The Sanskrit used in the Mahabharata is far simpler than that of the Vedas.
(B) The sections in the Mahabharata that contain stories are designated as the narrative.
(C) The sections in the Mahabharata that contain prescriptions about social norms are designated as didactic.
(D) The Mahabharata was meant to be a dramatic, moving story, and the narrative portions were probably added later.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) (A), (B) and (D) only
(B) (A), (B) and (C) only
(C) (A), (B), (C) and (D)
(D) (B), (C) and (D) only

Q25.  Match List-I with List-II:

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) (A)-(I), (B)-(II), (C)-(III), (D)-(IV)
(B) (A)-(III), (B)-(I), (C)-(IV), (D)-(II)
(C) (A)-(I), (B)-(III), (C)-(IV), (D)-(II)
(D) (A)-(III), (B)-(IV), (C)-(I), (D)-(II)

Q26.  What stone was used in making the Harappan weights?
(A) Chert          (B) Carnelian
(C) Steatite        (D) Quartz

Q27.  In popular traditions of Vijayanagara, who are termed as ashvapati?
(A) Rulers of Orissa
(B) Deccan Sultans
(C) Rayas
(D) Mughal Emperors

Q28.  In which Pali text, was the 'Bodhisattva' (the Buddha in a previous birth) identified as a chandala?
(A) Uttaradhyana Sutta
(B) Dipavamsa
(C) Mahavamsa
(D) Matanga Jataka

Q29.  Which satyagraha made M.K. Gandhi a 'truly national leader'?
(A) Champaran Satyagraha
(B) Kheda Satyagraha
(C) Ahmedabad Satyagraha
(D) Rowlatt Satyagraha

Q30.     Which foreign traveller described what he saw in India as 'a bleak situation in comparison to developments in Europe'?
(A) Ibn Battuta
(B) Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi
(C) François Bernier
(D) Mahmud Wali Balkhi

Q31. When was the 'Treasure Trove Act', giving the government the right to acquire all objects of archaeological interest, passed?
(A) 1854           (B) 1878
(C) 1880           (D) 1888

Q32. When was the first issue of Epigraphia Indica published?
(A) 1877           (B) 1886
(C) 1888           (D) 1890

Q33.     In Francis Buchanan's survey of the Dinajpur district in North Bengal, the class of rich peasants were known as………………
(A) Zamindars               (B) Jotedars
(C) Adhiyars                  (D) Bargadars

Q34. Who was M.K. Gandhi's acknowledged political mentor?
(A) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(B) Lala Lajpat Rai
(C) Bipin Chandra Pal
(D) Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Q35. Who composed Amuktamalyada, a work on statecraft in Telugu?
(A) Bukka                    (B) Harihara
(C) Krishnadeva Raya  (D) Rama Raya

Q36. Which among the following rules about gotra are correct:
(A) Women were expected to give up their father's gotra and adopt that of their husband on marriage.
(B) Members of the same gotra could marry.
(C) Members of the same gotra could not marry.
(D) Women were expected to retain their father's gotra and not adopt that of their husband on marriage.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) (C) and (D) only 

(B) (A) and (B) only
(C) (A) and (C) only     

(D) (B) and (D) only

Q37. In which annual session of the Indian National Congress was the proclamation of commitment to "Purna Swaraj", or complete independence, taken?
(A) Lahore, December 1929
(B) Lucknow, December 1916
(C) Calcutta, December 1920
(D) Delhi, December 1928

Q38. Where did the Buddha attain nibbana?
(A) Lumbini
(B) Bodh Gaya
(C) Sarnath
(D) Kusinagara

Q39. In the context of the Revolt of 1857, what does the term "revolt" refer primarily to?
(A) The uprising of the sepoys
(B) The uprising of the peasants
(C) The uprising of the zamindars
(D) The uprising of the civilian population

Q40. Match List-I with List-II:

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) (A)-(I), (B)-(II), (C)-(III), (D)-(IV)
(B) (A)-(I), (B)-(III), (C)-(II), (D)-(IV)
(C) (A)-(I), (B)-(III), (C)-(IV), (D)-(III)
(D) (A)-(IV), (B)-(I), (C)-(II), (D)-(III)

Read the passage and answer the questions:
        Images of the Revolt of 1857
Newspaper reports have a power over public imagination; they shape feelings and attitudes to events. Inflamed particularly by tales of violence against women and children, there were public demands in Britain for revenge and retribution. The British government was asked to protect the honour of innocent women and ensure the safety of helpless children. Artists expressed as well as shaped these sentiments through their visual representations of trauma and suffering. ... "In Memoriam" was painted by Joseph Noel Paton two years after the mutiny. It does not show gory violence; it only suggests it. It stirs up the spectator's imagination, and seeks to provoke anger and fury. Miss Wheeler stands firmly at the centre, defending her honour, single-handedly killing the attacking rebels. In one of the cartoons published in the pages of Punch, a British journal of comic satire, Canning is shown as a looming father figure, with his protective hand over the head of a sepoy.... Art and literature, as much as the writing of history, have helped in keeping alive the memory of 1857. Rani of Jhansi was represented as a masculine figure chasing the enemy, slaying British soldiers and valiantly fighting till her last. Children in many parts of India grow up reading the lines of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan: "... Like a man she fought, she was the Rani of Jhansi". In popular prints Rani Lakshmi Bai is usually portrayed in battle armour, with a sword in hand and riding a horse — a symbol of the determination to resist injustice and alien rule.

Q41.  A British journal illustrated a cartoon/sketch captioned, "Well, then they shan't blow him from nasty guns; but he must promise to be a good little sepoy". Identify the illustration.
(A) Execution of Mutinous Sepoys in Peshawar
(B) Execution of Mutineers in Peshawar: Blowing from the Guns
(C) The Clemency of Canning
(D) The British Lion's Vengence on the Bengal Tiger

Q42.  Who painted "In Memoriam" after the Revolt of 1857?
(A) Thomas Jones Barker
(B) Joseph Noel Paton
(C) Henry Lawrence
(D) Colin Campbell

Q43.  In which sketch/painting, a figure stands firmly at the centre defending her honour, single-handedly killing the attacking rebels?
(A) Relief of Lucknow
(B) In Memoriam
(C) Miss Wheeler
(D) Justice

Q44.  Which of the following statement is not true about the painting "In Memoriam"?
(A) It shows glory violence.
(B) It represents the rebels as violent and brutish.
(C) It seeks to provoke anger and fury.
(D) In the background, it shows the British rescue forces arriving as saviours.

Q45.  Who is the author of the famous lines, "Khoob lari mardani woh to Jhansi wali rani thi" in reference to Rani Lakshmi Bai?
(A) Mahadevi Verma
(B) Jai Shankar Prasad
(C) Prem Chand
(D) Subhadra Kumari Chauhan

Read the passage and answer the questions:
Vision of the Constitution
On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced the "Objectives Resolution" in the Constituent Assembly. It was a momentous resolution that outlined the defining ideals of the Constitution of Independent India, and provided the framework within which the work of constitution-making was to proceed. It proclaimed India to be an "Independent Sovereign Republic", guaranteed its citizens justice, equality and freedom. In the winter of 1946–47, as the Assembly deliberated, the British were still in India. An interim administration headed by Jawaharlal Nehru was in place, but it could only operate under the directions of the Viceroy and the British Government in London. Lahiri exhorted his colleagues to realise that the Constituent Assembly was British-made and was "working the British plans as the British should like it to be worked out". The Constituent Assembly was expected to express the aspirations of those who had participated in the movement for independence. On 27 August 1947, B. Pocker Bahadur from Madras made a powerful plea for continuing separate electorates. Minorities exist in all lands, argued Bahadur; they could not be wished away, they could not be "erased out of existence". Most nationalists saw separate electorates as a measure deliberately introduced by the British to divide the people. "The English played their game under the cover of safeguards," R.V. Dhulekar told Bahadur. "With the help of it they allured you (the minorities) to a long lull. Give it up now." ...The Draft Constitution provided for three lists of subjects: Union, State, and Concurrent. The subjects in the first list were to be the preserve of the Central Government, while those in the second list were vested with the states. As for the third list, here Centre and state shared responsibility. ...In one of the earliest sessions of the Constituent Assembly, R. V. Dhulekar, a Congressman from the United Provinces, made an aggressive plea that Hindi be used as the language of constitution-making.

Q46.  Who exhorted his colleagues to realise that the Constituent Assembly was British-made and was "working the British plans as the British should like it to be worked out"?
(A) B.R. Ambedkar   (B) K. Santhanam
(C) Somnath Lahiri   (D) G. Durgabai

Q47. The Draft Constitution provided for three lists of subjects. Which among the following is not one of them?
(A) Union List
(B) State List
(C) Concurrent List
(D) Emergency List

Q48.  Who advocated that 'Hindi' must be used as language of constitution-making in the Constituent Assembly?
(A) Jawaharlal Nehru
(B) Somnath Lahiri
(C) R.V. Dhulekar
(D) M.K. Gandhi

Q49.  Who made a powerful plea in the Constituent Assembly for continuing separate electorates for the minorities?
(A) B. Pocker Bahadur
(B) B.R. Ambedkar
(C) R.V. Dhulekar
(D) Govind Ballabh Pant

Q50. Which of the following term did not exist in the Objectives Resolution introduced in the Constituent Assembly on 13 December 1946?
(A) Independent            (B) Sovereign
(C) Republic                   (D) Socialist