How to Study Modern Indian History for UPSC?

History is an umbrella term that encompasses past events, journeys, discoveries, etc. History is a fascinating subject. You find History a tedious and lengthy topic, but once you develop an interest in reading history books, you will find History as a set of real-life past stories. However, History is seen as the most scoring and significant subject from the UPSC point of view. Talking of History, Indian History is the oldest and most diverse subject, and it can be categorised into (i) Ancient history, (ii) Medieval History, and (iii) Modern-day India. 

In this section of the article, we will deal with modern Indian History and focus on some tips and tricks to study modern Indian History effectively for the UPSC exam. But, first, let’s know some important facts related to the questions from the UPSC exam’s current history section. 

To begin with, modern Indian History is the most scored subject in the UPSC exam. You can expect at least 7-8 questions in the preliminary paper and about 3-4 out of 20 questions in the GS paper 1 of the main exams. People usually find History annoying because of memorising several dates, movements, organisations, revolts, etc. Now to fit all these things in your mind, more than hard work is needed as you can waste a lot of your precious time. It would help if you were intelligent and quick so let’s move on to tips and hacks to study modern History for UPSC. 

But before jumping straight into the tips and tricks, here is something that can guide you throughout your preparations. 

Modern History has seven sections.

1. India in the early 1750s. 

2. British Expansion and rule. 

3. Changes brought up by the British. 

4. Uprising Revolts against the British. 

5. Socio-Religious Movements in India. 

6. Emerging Nationalism in India 

7. Struggle for independence.

These are seven main sections or topics you must cover while preparing for the modern history section of the exam. Only read these topics; however, read stuff relating to or leading to these sections. Now let’s see how to prepare modern History in three basic steps. 

Tips to prepare for Modern History

1. Understand the Causes

Try to understand the causes of movement and discover why revolutions are caused. It will improve your perception and analysing power which is the most required skill set during the interviews. Study History as something other than a subject; instead, try taking in the subject as a story. You can quickly grasp a story rather than reading technical terms, so try understanding each cause behind every movement. 

1. Keep Solving Questions

Practice as many questions, MCQs, and mock test papers as possible. These will help improve your speed and, at some point, help you revise topics as you can cover more syllabi by solving questions. For example, while solving MCQs, make sure you have an explanation for your answers. This trick will help you revise some parts of the topics after every question you solve. 

1. Try to Relate

Try to find links and note down the role of essential personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh, etc., in forming various movements and revolts that drove the country’s independence. UPSC expects their aspirants to know about activities and multiple missions, for example, the formation of the Indian national congress party in Bengal and the salt satyagraha, which were some early stages where the country was striving for independence from British rule. So make sure to study these things and relate these super essential things. Sometimes you even get to see the involvement of the same person in various movements. It will help you get a better picture of the country’s independence. 

Steps on how to Prepare any Movement

1. Look for what caused the movement 

2. Personalities participating in the movement 

3. Whether the movement is Nonviolent or Violent 

4. Important Leaders leading the movement 

5. Congress sessions before and after any movement 

6. Did the movement bring out desired changes

7. Drawbacks of the movement 

8. Reasons behind the failure or withdrawal of the movement 

9. Aftermath movement 

Conclusion

You must focus on these steps while preparing the modern history section for UPSC. Leaving even a single step could cause an inability to solve questions.

You are always free to read beyond these points, but again take it only a little, as you can end up wasting time and confusing yourself. 

History is a diverse subject, and it becomes more challenging as you go deeper into understanding concepts. Use limited and trusted sources to study Modern History. 

You can join The Thought Tree for UPSC preparation. This article helped clarify your doubts regarding how one must study Modern History.