History

History subject can be taken as an optional paper for UPSC CSE exam. The History optional subject for UPSC includes two papers of 250 marks each. UPSC History optional for Mains exam includes various subject topics such as pre-history, ancient history, early medieval India, european penetration, economic impact of british colonial rule, etc. 

UPSC preparation takes about 6 months to 2 years on an average depending upon the aspirant. History subject provides a measurable weightage in the UPSC Prelims exam as well. 

Students can check the complete syllabus details of History optional for UPSC exam below:

UPSC History Syllabus with Important Topics

History is one of the best scoring subjects for UPSC exam preparation and very popular among UPSC aspirants. UPSC is a civil services exam which is conducted once a year for recruitment of government officials for administration and other services. 

UPSC is considered one of the toughest exams to crack and highly regarded in Indian society. The UPSC CSE exam is conduted in three main stages including UPSC Prelims, UPSC Mains and Interview round. 

History is one of the UPSC Mains general subjects and Prelims subjects. Taking History as an optional adds to advantage of the candidate as it is already covered Mains. The familiarity of students with History subject from school makes it easier for them to learn faster and score better in the UPSC exam. 

UPSC syllabus for History remains constant and hardly changes which adds to the preparation of students learning throughout the years and provide them better chance at clearing the final UPSC exam.

Allahabad University provides an extensive set of subjects in their BA syllabus for economic philosophy and medieval history. Students of economic philosophy study naturalism alongside idealism and pragmatism and realism and existentialism in addition to educational sociology and philosophy. The course of medieval history in educational institutions teaches the development of Indian cultures from their the earliest phases starting with the Harappan Civilization through Chalcolithic Cultures to reach up to the Kushanas period. Students at the institution can take additional courses to specialize in ancient history as well as philosophy and English literature among other electives.

The closing date for applying to the M.A. in History at Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU) in the year concerned is rather loose; an open university is not expected to have strict score cutoffs.

Admission is based on merit, requiring a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 50% marks in History or related subjects. Eligibility was open to all graduates who qualify for admission for the session 2024-25, with no entrance test or cutoff percentile. Come March 28, 2025, the cycle for the 2025-26 session follows suit—application processes remain open until the filling up of the seats, normally during June and July. The fees are around INR 7,600 per annum.