Thematic Analysis 2006-2024
Section – A : Modern Indian History
- Establishment of British rule in India: factors behind British success against Indian powers such as Mysore, the Maratha Confederacy and Punjab; Policy of Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse.
- Colonial economy: drain of wealth and deindustrialisation; fiscal pressures and revenue settlements (Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari); structure of the British Raj up to 1857, including the Acts of 1773 and 1784.
- Resistance to colonial rule: causes, nature and impact of the Revolt of 1857; reorganisation of the Raj after 1858.
- Socio-cultural impact of colonial rule: official social reform measures (1828–57); Orientalist–Anglicist controversy; English education and the press; Christian missionary activities; Bengal Renaissance; social and religious reform movements; women as a focus of reform.
- Indian economy (1858–1914): railways; commercialisation of agriculture; growth of landless labourers and rural indebtedness; famines; India as a market for British industry; customs policy; limited industrial growth.
- Early Indian nationalism: social background; formation of national associations; peasant and tribal uprisings; foundation of the Indian National Congress; Moderate phase; Extremism; Indian Councils Act, 1909; Home Rule Movement; Government of India Act, 1919.
- Inter-war economy: industrial protection; agrarian distress and the Great Depression; Ottawa agreements; trade unions; Kisan Movement; economic programme of the Congress; Karachi Resolution, 1931.
- Nationalism under Gandhian leadership: Gandhi’s ideas and methods; Rowlatt Satyagraha; Khilafat and Non-Cooperation; Civil Disobedience; Individual Satyagraha; Quit India Movement; States’ People’s Movements.
- Other strands of the national movement:
- Revolutionary movements since 1905
- Constitutional politics: Swarajists, Liberals and Responsive Cooperation
- Ideas of Jawaharlal Nehru
- The Left: Socialists and Communists
- Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army
- Communal politics: Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha
- Women in the national movement
- Towards freedom: Government of India Act, 1935; Congress Ministries (1937–39); Pakistan Movement; post-1945 upsurge including RIN Mutiny and Telangana uprising; transfer of power on 15 August 1947.
- First phase of independence (1947–64): partition and its aftermath; Gandhiji’s assassination; integration of princely states; Constitution of 1950; agrarian reforms; planning and industrialisation; non-aligned foreign policy; relations with neighbours.
- Odisha under colonial rule and after: British conquest; Khurda Rebellion (1817); Kandha rebellions under Dora Bisoyee and Chakra Bisoyee; resistance under Surendra Sai; Odia movement; nationalist movement; merger of states.
Section – B : World History
- Enlightenment and modern ideas: Renaissance background; Enlightenment thinkers such as Kant and Rousseau; spread of Enlightenment outside Europe; rise of socialist ideas up to Marx.
- Origins of modern politics: European state system; American Revolution and Constitution; French Revolution and its aftermath (1789–1815); British democratic politics (1815–1850).
- Industrialisation: English Industrial Revolution and its social impact; industrialisation in USA, Germany, Russia and Japan; socialist industrialisation in the Soviet Union and China.
- Nation-state system: rise of nationalism in the 19th century; unification of Germany and Italy; disintegration of empires.
- Imperialism and colonialism: colonial systems; trans-Atlantic slave trade; types of empires; new imperialism and free trade.
- Revolution and counter-revolution: 19th century European revolutions; Russian Revolution (1917–21); fascism in Italy and Germany; Chinese Revolution of 1949.
- World Wars: First and Second World Wars as total wars; causes and consequences of World War I; political consequences of World War II.
- Cold War: emergence of rival blocs; integration of Western Europe; communist Eastern Europe; Non-Aligned Movement; role of the United Nations.
- Colonial liberation movements: Latin America (Bolivia); Arab world (Egypt); Africa (apartheid to democracy); South-East Asia (Vietnam).
- Decolonisation and underdevelopment: breakup of colonial empires; constraints on development in Latin America and Africa.
- Unification of Europe: post-war foundations; NATO; European Community and European Union.
- Soviet disintegration and the unipolar world: collapse of the Soviet Union (1985–1991); changes in Eastern Europe; end of the Cold War; US ascendancy and globalization.
