Ancient Indian History · UPSC Civil Services

What the official syllabus says

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, General Studies Paper I:
History of India and Indian National Movement.

This page covers the ancient period of the history line, from prehistory to about the 8th century CE.

Literary sources: Vedic literature, epics and Puranas, Sangam literature, Buddhist (Pali canon, Jatakas) and Jain texts
Foreign accounts: Megasthenes' Indica, Fa-Hien and Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang), Greek and Roman writers
Archaeological sources: inscriptions (Ashokan edicts, first read by James Prinsep in 1837), coins, monuments and excavated sites

Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures: tools, way of life and main sites
Rock shelters and paintings at Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh)
Early farming at Mehrgarh; Neolithic pit dwellings at Burzahom (Kashmir)
Chalcolithic cultures of Rajasthan, central India and the Deccan (Ahar-Banas, Malwa, Jorwe)

Extent, phases and chronology; town planning, drainage, the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro
Major sites and their features: Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal (dockyard), Kalibangan (ploughed field), Dholavira (water management), Rakhigarhi, Banawali
Economy: agriculture, crafts, seals, weights and measures, trade with Mesopotamia
Religious beliefs, the undeciphered script, and theories of decline

Early Vedic (Rig Vedic) society and polity: tribes, the sabha and samiti, pastoral economy, Rig Vedic rivers
Later Vedic period: iron, agriculture in the Ganga plains, Painted Grey Ware, territorial kingdoms, rituals
The four Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Vedangas
Varna and ashrama, position of women, the idea of dharma

The sixteen Mahajanapadas, ganas or sanghas, and the rise of Magadha under the Haryanka, Shishunaga and Nanda dynasties
Second urbanisation, punch-marked coins and trade routes
Buddhism: life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, Buddhist councils, Theravada and Mahayana
Jainism: Mahavira, the triratna, Svetambara and Digambara sects
Other sects such as the Ajivikas; Persian (Achaemenid) contact; Alexander's invasion and the battle of the Hydaspes (326 BCE)

Chandragupta Maurya, Kautilya and the Arthashastra, Megasthenes' account
Ashoka: the Kalinga war, dhamma, rock and pillar edicts, spread of Buddhism
Mauryan administration, economy, art (pillars, stupas, Barabar caves) and the causes of decline

Shungas, Kanvas and Satavahanas; land grants and trade in the Deccan
Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Parthians and Kushanas; Kanishka and the Fourth Buddhist Council
Gandhara and Mathura schools of art
The Sangam age: Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas, Sangam literature, Indo-Roman trade (Arikamedu, Muziris)

Chandragupta I, Samudragupta (the Prayaga prashasti on the Allahabad pillar, by Harisena), Chandragupta II and Fa-Hien's visit
Gupta administration, land grants, coinage and the debate over a 'golden age'
Science and literature: Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Kalidasa; Nalanda mahavihara
Harshavardhana of Kannauj: Banabhatta's Harshacharita, Hiuen Tsang's account
Peninsular kingdoms: Pallavas of Kanchi, Chalukyas of Badami and their rivalry

Varna and jati, slavery, position of women, marriage forms
Guilds (shreni), trade routes, ports and coinage
Mathematics and astronomy (the decimal place-value system and zero), medicine (Charaka, Sushruta)
Education centres such as Taxila and Nalanda

The art and architecture of this period are covered on Indian Art and Culture. Ancient history returns in Mains General Studies I through Indian heritage and culture.