Punjabi Literature

About this optional

Punjabi Literature is one of the optional subjects of the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination. The Commission's list of optional subjects includes the literature of any one of 23 languages, Punjabi among them. A candidate chooses one optional subject, 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 the answers

• The syllabus states, for both papers, that answers must be written in Punjabi in the Gurumukhi script.
• The notice's general rule for all literature papers: a candidate may be required to answer some or all of the questions in the language concerned, and any question not required to be answered in a specific language is answered in the medium the candidate has chosen for the Essay, General Studies and optional papers.
• In this examination Punjabi is written in the Gurumukhi script.
• The rule that question papers are set in Hindi and English only applies to the other papers, not to the literature papers.

Paper I

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

Answers must be written in Punjabi in Gurumukhi script

Section A

(a) Origin of Punjabi Language; different stages of development and recent development in Punjabi Language; characteristics of Punjabi phonology and the study of its tones; classification of vowels and consonants.
(b) Punjabi morphology; the number-gender system (animate and inanimate), prefixes, affixes and different categories of Post positions; Punjabi word formation; Tatsam. Tad Bhav. forms; Sentence structure, the notion of subject and object in Punjabi; Noun and verb phrases.
(c) Language and dialect: the notions of dialect and idiolect: major dialects of Punjabi: Pothohari, Majhi, Doabi, Malwai, Paudhi; the validity of speech variation on the basis of social stratification, the distinctive features of various dialects with special reference to tones Language and script; origin and development of Gurumukhi; Suitability of Gurumukhi for Punjabi.
(d) Classical background: Nath Jogi Sahit.
Medieval Literature: Gurmat, Suti, Kissa and Var: janamsakhis.

Section B

(a) Modern trends: Mystic, romantic, progressive and neomystic (Vir Singh, Puran Singh, Mohan Singh, Amrita Pritam, Bawa Balwant, Pritam Singh Safeer, J. S. Neki).
Experimentalist (Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Ravinder Ravi, Ajaib Kamal).
Aesthetes (Harbhajan Singh, Tara Singh). Neo-progressive (Pash, Jagtar, Patar).

(b) Folk Literature: Folk songs, Folk tales, Riddles, Proverbs.
Epic (Vir Singh, Avtar Singh Azad, Mohan Singh).
Lyric (Gurus, Sufis and Modern Lyricists-Mohan Singh, Amrita Pritam, Shiv Kumar, Harbhajan Singh).

(c) Drama (I.C. Nanda, Harcharan Singh, Balwant Gargi, S.S. Sekhon, Charan Das Sidhu).
Novel (Vir Singh, Nanak Singh, Jaswant Singh Kanwal, K.S. Duggal, Sukhbir, Gurdial Singh, Dalip Kaur Tiwana, Swaran Chandan).
Short Story (Sujan Singh, K. S. Virk, Prem Parkash, Waryam Sandhu).

(d) Socio-cultural Literary influences: Sanskrit, Persian and Western.
Essay (Puran Singh, Teja Singh, Gurbaksh Singh).
Literary Criticism (S.S. Sekhon, Attar Singh, Kishan Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Najam Hussain Sayyad).

Paper II

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

Answers must be written in Punjabi in Gurumukhi script

This paper will require first-hand reading of the texts prescribed and will be designed to test the candidate's critical ability.

Section A

(a) Sheikh Farid: The complete Bani as included in the Adi Granth.
(b) Guru Nanak: Japu Ji. Baramah. Asa di Var.
(c) Bulleh Shah: Kafian
(d) Waris Shah: Heer

Section B

(a) Shah Mohammad: Jangnama (Jang Singhante Firangian)
Dhani Ram Chatrik (Poet): Chandan Vari; Sufi Khana; Nawan Jahan
(b) Nanak Singh (Novelist): Chitta Lahu; Pavittar Papi; Ek Mian Do Talwaran
(c) Gurbaksh Singh (Essayist): Zindagi-di-Ras; Nawan Shivala; Merian Abhul Yadaan.
Balraj Sahni (Travelogue): Mera Roosi Safarnama; Mera Pakistani Safarnama
(d) Balwant Gargi (Dramatist): Loha Kutt; Dhuni-di-Agg; Sultan Razia
Sant Singh Sekhon (Critic): Sahityarth; Parsidh Punjabi Kavi; Punjabi Kav Shiromani.

Note: the notice prints Paper I, Section B and Paper II as a table (a label or author on the left, the works or names on the right); the rows are given here one per line.

Overlaps with General Studies

• General Studies I: Indian culture includes the salient aspects of literature from ancient to modern times. The bani of Sheikh Farid and Guru Nanak, the Sufi kafis of Bulleh Shah and the qissa of Waris Shah's Heer are core material for answers on the Bhakti and Sufi movements; Shah Mohammad's Jangnama, on the war between the Sikh kingdom and the British in the 1840s, is a contemporary account of a chapter of modern Indian history.
• General Studies II: Punjabi is one of the languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution (one of the languages listed since the Constitution came into force); the Schedule and the official-language provisions are part of the polity syllabus.
• Indian Language (qualifying): a candidate who also takes Punjabi as the Paper A language gets daily practice in reading and writing it, though Paper A is only of Matriculation standard and qualifying.
• Essay: wide reading in a literature, and the habit of critical writing, help with essays on culture, society and values.

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.