Indus Valley Civilisation
In which year was Harappa discovered, and Mohenjo-daro?
Harappa in 1921 and Mohenjo-daro in 1922. The civilisation is named after Harappa because that was the first site excavated, which is why it is called the Harappan Civilisation as well as the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Where was the Great Bath found, and where was the dockyard?
The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro and the dockyard at Lothal in Gujarat. Site-to-feature matching is the most common Indus Valley question, so learn the pairs: Mohenjo-daro for the Great Bath and Great Granary, Lothal for the dockyard, Kalibangan for ploughed fields, Dholavira for water management.
Has the Indus script been deciphered?
No. It remains undeciphered, which is why so much about the civilisation's language, administration and religion is still inferred from material remains rather than known from texts.
What were the main features of Harappan town planning?
A grid layout with streets meeting at right angles, a raised citadel separate from the lower town, standardised baked bricks, and covered drainage - the last being unusually advanced for the period and a favourite exam point.
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Vedic period, Mauryas and Guptas
Which is the oldest of the four Vedas?
The Rigveda, followed by the Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. The Gayatri Mantra appears in the Rigveda, and India's national motto 'Satyameva Jayate' comes from the Mundaka Upanishad.
Who founded the Mauryan Empire and who was his adviser?
Chandragupta Maurya, around 322 BCE, advised by Chanakya (also called Kautilya), the author of the Arthashastra - a treatise on statecraft and economics that is itself a frequent exam answer.
Which war changed Ashoka, and what did he adopt afterwards?
The Kalinga war, around 261 BCE. Its bloodshed led him to embrace Buddhism and to propagate dhamma through edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars across his empire.
Who deciphered Ashoka's inscriptions, and which Ashokan monument is India's national emblem?
James Prinsep deciphered the Brahmi script of the edicts in 1837. The Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath was adopted as India's State Emblem.
Which Greek ambassador visited the Mauryan court, and what did he write?
Megasthenes, ambassador of Seleucus at Chandragupta Maurya's court, who wrote the Indica - the main foreign account of Mauryan India.
Why is the Gupta period called the Golden Age, and who were its notable figures?
Because of achievements in literature, art, mathematics and astronomy. Kalidasa wrote in this era, Aryabhata worked on astronomy and mathematics, and the Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien visited during the reign of Chandragupta II, also known as Vikramaditya.
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Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals
The three Battles of Panipat are the highest-frequency questions in this entire period. Learn them as a set.
| Battle | Year | Combatants | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 1526 | Babur vs Ibrahim Lodi | Founded the Mughal Empire |
| Second | 1556 | Akbar's forces (Bairam Khan) vs Hemu | Secured Mughal rule |
| Third | 1761 | Marathas vs Ahmad Shah Abdali | Marathas defeated; checked their expansion |
Who founded the Delhi Sultanate, and who was its only woman ruler?
Qutb-ud-din Aibak founded it, beginning the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty. Razia Sultana, daughter of Iltutmish, was the only woman to rule Delhi in this period.
Who began the Qutb Minar and who completed it?
Qutb-ud-din Aibak began it and Iltutmish completed it. Monument-to-builder matching is a standard question type in this era.
Which Sultan shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad?
Muhammad bin Tughlaq, whose transfer of the capital and introduction of token currency are both remembered as failed experiments - and both are frequently asked.
What was Din-i-Ilahi, and who wrote the Akbarnama?
Din-i-Ilahi was the syncretic set of beliefs promoted by Akbar. Abul Fazl, one of his court's leading figures, wrote the Akbarnama, whose third volume is the Ain-i-Akbari.
Which battle was fought between Akbar's forces and Maharana Pratap?
The Battle of Haldighati, in 1576.
Who built the Taj Mahal, and for whom?
Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. He also built the Red Fort at Delhi and the Jama Masjid.
Who founded the Vijayanagara Empire, and which battle marked its decline?
Harihara and Bukka founded it in 1336; Krishnadevaraya was its greatest ruler. The Battle of Talikota in 1565 broke its power.
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British rule and the revolt of 1857
Which battle established British political power in Bengal, and which confirmed it?
The Battle of Plassey in 1757, where Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, established it. The Battle of Buxar in 1764 confirmed it and led to the grant of Diwani rights to the East India Company.
When and where did the revolt of 1857 begin, and who is remembered as its first martyr?
It began at Meerut on 10 May 1857. Mangal Pandey's earlier act of defiance at Barrackpore in March 1857 is remembered as the spark, and Bahadur Shah Zafar was proclaimed emperor by the rebels.
What changed in Indian administration after 1857?
Control passed from the East India Company to the British Crown under the Government of India Act 1858, and the office of Viceroy was created - Lord Canning being the first.
Which Viceroy partitioned Bengal, and in which year?
Lord Curzon, in 1905. The partition triggered the Swadeshi movement, and it was annulled in 1911.
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The freedom movement
Match each movement to its year, its cause and the reason it ended. That triple is what most questions in this section are testing.
When was the Indian National Congress founded, and who was its first president?
In 1885, with W.C. Bonnerjee as its first president. A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant, was instrumental in its formation.
What happened at Jallianwala Bagh, and when?
On 13 April 1919, troops under General Dyer fired on an unarmed gathering at Amritsar, killing hundreds. It transformed moderate Indian opinion and directly fed into the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Why was the Non-Cooperation Movement called off?
After the Chauri Chaura incident in February 1922, in which a crowd set fire to a police station. Gandhi withdrew the movement because it had turned violent - a decision that itself became a frequent exam question.
When did the Dandi March take place and what was it against?
It began on 12 March 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, about 385 kilometres, in defiance of the salt tax. It launched the Civil Disobedience Movement.
When was the Quit India Movement launched, and what was its slogan?
On 8 August 1942, with the call to 'Do or Die'. It was the last mass movement before independence and led to the immediate arrest of the Congress leadership.
Match the slogan to the leader: 'Swaraj is my birthright', 'Give me blood and I will give you freedom', 'Jai Hind', 'Inquilab Zindabad'.
'Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it' - Bal Gangadhar Tilak. 'Give me blood and I will give you freedom' and 'Jai Hind' - Subhas Chandra Bose. 'Inquilab Zindabad' is associated with Bhagat Singh and the revolutionary movement, the phrase having been coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani.
Who was the last Viceroy of India, and who was the first Indian Governor-General?
Lord Mountbatten was the last Viceroy and became the first Governor-General of independent India. C. Rajagopalachari was the first - and only - Indian to hold the post of Governor-General.
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How to revise history so the dates stay put
- ✓Build one timeline per era rather than memorising isolated dates. A date attached to a sequence is remembered; a date on its own is not.
- ✓For every dynasty, learn four things: the founder, the greatest ruler, the foreign traveller who described it, and the battle that ended it.
- ✓Group the confusable sets deliberately - the three Panipats, the three Anglo-Maratha wars, the Round Table Conferences - and revise them together.
- ✓Pair each movement with its cause and its ending. 'Non-Cooperation, 1920, Jallianwala Bagh and Khilafat, ended by Chauri Chaura' is one memory item, not four.
- ✓Test yourself rather than re-reading. History is pure recall, which makes it the subject where active testing pays off most.
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