UPSC Modern History Syllabus Topics for IAS Exam 2024
Indian Administrative Services 2025 ( IAS )
UPSC does not define the topics of the Indian National Movement. To prepare for the IAS prelims exam, it is important to know all the topics of the Indian National Movement so that they can answer the questions asked from this section.
UPSC Modern History Syllabus
UPSC Modern History Syllabus: The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the UPSC CSE (IAS) prelims exam 2024 on June 16, 2024. The Commission is expected to ask around 10 -12 questions from the Modern History and Indian National Movement section of the UPSC IAS syllabus. The Commission asks deep-rooted questions from the Modern History and Indian National Movement syllabus. The candidates should prepare the Modern History syllabus topics thoroughly for the UPSC IAS exam. Only NCERT Books will not suffice and the candidates will be required to prepare from the standard UPSC IAS books to study in depth.
Also Read: UPSC Answer Key 2024 Live Updates
IAS Prelims exam is the first stage and the most important stage of the IAS exam because most candidates are filtered out at this stage only. Some of the well-deserving candidates also could not qualify the IAS prelims exam because of a shortage of one or two marks from the cutoff. Candidates must prepare for the IAS prelims exam in the last two months to cover all the topics of the UPSC IAS syllabus. UPSC does not define the topics of the Indian National Movement. To prepare for the IAS prelims exam, it is important to know all the topics of the Indian National Movement so that they can answer the questions asked from this section. Indian National Movement can be considered as the events related to the struggle for freedom. The events and the leaders are the two most important parts of this section. The third important point is the British policy and actions taken to neutralise the Indian efforts.
Any of the topics of the Indian National Movement can not be studied in isolation because all the events are related to each other. The candidates must comprehend the events and make notes so that they can revise the important events speedily.
The candidates can see the Indian National Movement Topics:
- India on the Eve of British Conquest
- Expansion and Consolidation of British Power in India
- Causes of British Success in India
- British Conquest of Bengal
- Mysore’s Resistance to the Company
- Anglo-Maratha Struggle for Supremacy
- Conquest of Sindh
- Conquest of Punjab
- Extension of British Paramountcy through Administrative Policy
- Relations of British India with Neighbouring Countries
- British India and the North-West Frontier
- Resistance against British Before 1857
- The Revolt of 1857: Causes, Events, Spread, Leaders
- Suppression of the Revolt, Reasons of its failure
- Socio-Religious Reform Movements
- Beginning of Modern Nationalism in India
- Foundation of Indian National Congress
- Era of Militant Nationalism (1905-1909)
- First Phase of Revolutionary Activities (1907-1917)
- First World War and Nationalist Response
- Emergence of Gandhi
- Non-Cooperation Movement and Khilafat Andolan
- Emergence of Swarajists, Socialist Ideas, Revolutionary Activities and Other New Forces
- Simon Commission and the Nehru Report
- Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Table Conferences
- Debates on the Future Strategy after Civil Disobedience Movement
- Congress Rule in Provinces
- Nationalist Response in the Wake of World War II
- Quit India Movement, Demand for Pakistan, and the INA
- Post-War National Scenario
- Independence with Partition
- Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments
- Survey of British Policies in India
- Economic Impact of British Rule in India
- Development of Indian Press
- Development of Education
- Peasant Movements 1857-1947
- Movement of the Working Class
- Challenges Before the Newborn Nation
- Indian States
- Making of the Constitution for India
- The Evolution of Nationalist Foreign Policy
- First General Elections
- Developments under Nehru’s Leadership (1947-64)
- Prime Ministers after Nehru
There are various topics which have overlapping with Modern History topics but they are important because it forms the basis and background. By studying these topics, the candidates will relate more with the situation of those times and it will help them construct the worldview of those times. IAS 2024 Prelims exam can also asked a good number of questions from the Indian National Movement section of the IAS Syllabus.
The candidates should note that the IAS syllabus is not released separately on the official website. The Union Public Service Commission releases the IAS syllabus as a section in the IAS notification. The candidates can download the IAS syllabus pdf as given here for all their preparation references.
The candidates can check the subject-wise IAS main syllabus in the official pdf.
The Union Public Service Commission releases the IAS syllabus as a part of the Civil Service Exam notification PDF. The candidates are required to download the Notification PDF to get the IAS syllabus PDF. The candidates can download the IAS syllabus PDF available here.
The candidates can download here the IAS Syllabus PDF
Upcoming Sarkari Exam Dates
Also Read
The Union Public Service Commission mention the Ethics syllabus in the IAS notification. The candidates can see below the IAS main Ethics syllabus as mentioned in the official notification:
- Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships. Human Values - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; the role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
- Attitude: Content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
- Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.
- Emotional intelligence: Concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
- Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world.
- Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
- Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of
- Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, and challenges of corruption.
- Case Studies on the above issues.
The above syllabus is taken from the official notification of UPSC CSE.
The Union Public Service Commission introduced the Ethics paper in 2013. The ethics paper is an essential component of the IAS Main Examination. The Ethics syllabus is important because the right strategy can fetch good marks in the paper. The Ethics papers is designed to check the Integrity and Moral principles in the candidates.
News & Updates
Explore Other Exams
19 Dec '25 | SSC JE Tier 1 Provisional Answ... |
19 Dec '25 - 22 Dec '25 | SSC JE Tier 1 Answer Key Objec... |
4 Oct '25 - 6 Oct '25 | Application Correction |
1 Oct '25 - 3 Oct '25 | HP TET Nov 2025 Application Wi... |
24 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25 | SBI PO Group Exercises & Inter... |
19 Nov '25 | SBI PO Pysychometric Test |
Dec '25 | CSIR NET 2025 Dec Provisional ... |
18 Dec '25 | CSIR NET 2025 Dec Exam Date |
28 Dec '25 | IBPS RRB 2025 Single Online Ex... |
28 Dec '25 | IBPS RRB PO 2025 Mains Exam |
Aug '25 | Kerala SET 2025 July Exam |
12 Jun '25 | Kerala SET 2025 July Applicati... |
29 Sep '25 | KTET Answer Key |
18 Sep '25 - 19 Sep '25 | KTET Exam Date |
10 Dec '25 - 17 Dec '25 | IBPS PO 2025 Mains Scorecard |
9 Dec '25 - 24 Dec '25 | IBPS PO 2025 Interview Call Le... |
31 Dec '25 - 7 Jan '26 | UGC NET 2025 Dec Exam Date |
27 Dec '25 | UGC NET 2025 Dec Admit Card Ou... |
17 Dec '25 | OTET Exam Date |
10 Dec '25 | OTET Admit Card |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a week ago
No, the Commission do not mention any Minimum Qualifying Marks for the General Studies Paper 1. But there is a criteria of Minimum 33 % for the General Studies Paper 2 (Aptitude) paper.
N
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a week ago
The IAS Prelims exam is conducted offline in the pen and paper mode. There is no sectional cutoff in the IAS prelims exam because the number of questions from a section is not fixed and they vary year to year.
S
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a week ago
The Union Public Service Commission conduct the Civil Service (IAS) main (written) exam offline in pen and paper mode. This exam is a descriptive type exam where the candidates are required to breach this cutoff score to get a call for the interview phase.
R
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a week ago
The IAS prelims cutoff means the minimum marks required to clear the prelims exam in the category of the candidate. The Union Public Service Commission conduct the IAS prelims exam to filter the candidates and limit the numbers for the main (written) exam. The Commission conduct the prelims in offli
A
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 2 weeks ago
No, the number of IAS vacancies is fixed to 180. Every year, the Commission recommend 180 candidates for the Indian Administrative Services (IAS). In case of any change, the Commission will notify.
M
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 3 weeks ago
The Union Public Service Commission is expected to conduct the UPSC Civil Service (IAS) interviews till March/April 2026. The Commission is expected to release the UPSC CSE (IAS) Final Result in April 2026.
A
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
A: BEL 2022 recruitment applications were started on February 22, 2022.
N
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
A: BEL accepted the applications till March 16, 2022, only.
M
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
The Union Public Service Commission released the Civil Service (IAS) Main result 2025 on its portal - upsc.gov.in. The Commission selected 2,736 candidates for the interview stage. The Commission will start conducting the interviews in December 2025.
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 2 months ago
The Union Public Service Commission conduct the Civil Service Exam every year to recruit the candidates for the All India Services and Central Civil Services. There are around 25 Central Civil Services whose exam is combinedly conducted as Civil Service Exam.
R
Beginner-Level 5
The candidates must prepare the five fundamental subjects as notified for the IAS prelims exam. These are History, Geography, Economy, Polity, Current Affairs, General Science. The candidates should also prepare the Environmental issues too.