Kashmiri Literature

About this optional

Kashmiri Literature is one of the optional subjects of the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination: the notice offers the literature of any one of a list of languages as an optional subject, and Kashmiri is one of them. A candidate chooses one optional subject from the Commission's list, and it is examined in two papers: Paper VI (Optional Subject Paper 1) and Paper VII (Optional Subject Paper 2) of the Main Examination. Both papers are counted for merit. See UPSC Mains: Optional Subject (two papers) for the full list of optional subjects.

• Questions are of the conventional (essay) type.
• The two papers carry 500 of the 1,750 marks of the written part; the written marks and the Personality Test (275 marks) together decide the final ranking.
• The scope of the optional papers is broadly of the honours degree level: higher than the bachelor's degree and lower than the master's degree.
• Language of answers: the syllabus says, for both papers, that answers must be written in Kashmiri. The notice adds, for every literature optional, that a candidate may be required to answer some or all of the questions in the language concerned, and that questions not required to be answered in a specific language are answered in the medium the candidate has chosen for the Essay, General Studies and optional papers.
• Script: the notice prescribes the Persian script for Kashmiri.
• The rule that question papers are set in Hindi and English only does not apply to the literature papers.

Paper I

The official syllabus of Kashmiri Literature Paper I, as printed in the notice (the Commission's own wording, spelling and numbering).

(Answers must be written in Kashmiri)

Section A

• 1. Genealogical relationship of the Kashmiri language: various theories.
• 2. Areas of occurrence and dialects (geographical/social)
• 3. Phonology and grammar:
  i. Vowel and consonant system;
  ii. Nouns and pronouns with various case inflections;
  iii. Verbs: various types and tenses.
• 4. Syntactic structure:
  i. Simple, active and declarative statements;
  ii. Coordination;
  iii. Relativisation.

Section B

• 1. Kashmiri literature in the 14th century (Socio-cultural and intellectual background with special reference to Lal Dyad and Sheikhul Alam).
• 2. Nineteenth century Kashmiri literature (development of various genres: vatsun; ghazal and mathnavi.
• 3. Kashmiri literature in the first half of the twentieth century (with special reference to Mahjoor and Azad; various literary influences).
• 4. Modern Kashmiri literature (with special reference to the development of the short story, drama, novel and nazm).

Paper II

The official syllabus of Kashmiri Literature Paper II, as printed in the notice (the Commission's own wording, spelling and numbering).

(Answers must be written in Kashmiri)

Section A

• 1. Intensive study of Kashmiri poetry up to the nineteenth century:
  (i) Lal Dyad,
  (ii) Sheikhul Aalam
  (iii) Habba Khatoon
• 2. Kashmiri poetry: 19th Century
  (i) Mahmood Gami (Vatsans)
  (ii) Maqbool shah (Gulrez)
  (iii) Rasool Mir (Ghazals)
  (iv) Abdul Ahad Nadim (N’at)
  (v) Krishanjoo Razdan (Shiv Lagun)
  (vi) Sufi Poets (Test in Sanglaab, published by the Deptt. of Kashmiri, University of Kashmir)
• 3. Twentieth Century Kashmiri poetry (text in Azich Kashir Shairi, published by the Deptt. of Kashmiri, University of Kashmir).
• 4. Literary criticism and research work: development and various trends.

Section B

• 1. An analytical study of the short story in Kashmiri.
  (i) Afsana Majmu’a, published by the Deptt. of Kashmiri, University of Kashmir.
  (ii) Kashur Afsana Az, published by the Sahitya Akademi.
  (iii) Hamasar Kashur Afsana, published by the Sahitya Akademi.
  The following short story writers only: Akhtar Mohi-ud Din, Kamil, Hari Krishan Kaul, Hraday Kaul Bharti, Bansi Nirdosh, Gulshan Majid.
• 2. Novel in Kashmiri:
  (i) Mujrim by G. N. Gowhar
  (ii) Marun—Ivan Ilyichun, (Kashmiri version of Tolstoy’s) The Death of Ivan Ilyich (published by Kashmiri Deptt.)
• 3. Drama in Kashmiri:
  (i) Natuk Kariv Band by Hari Krishan Kaul
  (ii) Qk Angy Natuk, ed. Motilal Keemu, published by the Sahitya Akademi.
  (iii) Razi Oedipus, tr. Naji Munawar, published by the Sahitya Akademi.
• 4. Kashmiri Folk Literature:
  (i) Kashur Luki Theatre by Mohammad Subhan Bhagat, published by the Deptt. of Kashmiri, University of Kashmir.
  (ii) Kashiry Luki Beeth (all volumes) published by the J&K Cultural Akademy.

Overlaps with General Studies

• General Studies I: Indian culture (literature as an art form). The fourteenth-century poetry of Lal Dyad and Sheikhul Alam belongs to the mystic and devotional traditions of medieval India, and Paper II adds the nineteenth-century Sufi poets; literature is part of what the culture section of the paper covers.
• Prelims General Studies Paper I: Indian culture, including the Bhakti and Sufi movements.
• Essay: examples from Kashmiri literature for essays on culture, syncretism and regional identity.

Source: UPSC Examination Notice No. 05/2026-CSE, 4 February 2026 (Civil Services Examination, 2026), Appendix I, Section III, Part B, PDF. Last checked 11 November 2026.