History, Art & Culture are important topics in the Civil Services Examination. Hence, it has to be given importance to ensure that you are not pulled back. I will explain how these areas have to be handled for Prelims and Mains. Looking at the syllabus, you can understand that History contains three parts- Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Indian History.

History and Art & Culture play a significant role in Prelims for securing your ticket to Mains. Approximately 10 to 15 questions are asked from this area for Prelims every year. More questions are asked from Modern India and Art & Culture if you look at it closely. Hence, try to study accordingly. For the commonly repeated topics, you should focus on the NCERTs, both for Modern India and Art & Culture. For other topics in Modern India, you may either go with the NCERT or Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence. This can be supplemented with Spectrum for additional reading. It would be best if you kept in mind not to mug up information from these books, rather understand the events and remember the important facts. Try to recognize the flow of these events and understand the context of these happenings. Questions from these areas are based not only on facts but also on a more profound understanding of the topic.

For subjects like Ancient and Medieval India, comparatively fewer questions are asked, but you still have to go through these topics to ensure that your preparation is not flawed. You may use previous years’ question papers to understand the repeated topics to make your preparation easier. Focus on these critical topics to get the maximum reward with the least time.

For Art and Culture, it is better to start with the NCERT and then move on to your reference textbook-like Nitin Singhania. Here, you will have to make sure that you memorize the necessary information related to various topics like art, architecture, cultural aspects, important personalities, etc. Also, there is an overlap between Medieval India and Art & Culture in many areas. Hence what you have already studied in Medieval India can aid you while studying Art & Culture. Please click here to get free NCERT textbooks from our website.

For Mains, fewer questions are asked from History and Art & Culture. Hence, it won’t trouble you much if you have already studied well for Prelims. These questions are asked in the GS1 paper, and around three to four questions are asked. Out of this, usually, questions are asked from Modern Indian History and Art & Culture. An additional element you have to focus on for Mains is the World History, which is not a part of the Prelims exam. World history constitutes major historical events of the world, predominantly European and American History. Since world history is quite vast and just one question may be asked for the Mains, you should not try to complete it, instead focus on understanding the important events to ensure basic understanding. Please remember, you will be short of time once the Mains preparation starts, and hence, allocate time accordingly.

Both History and Art & Culture are rewarding areas that can play to your strengths if approached correctly. Kindly make sure that you solve the  previous years’ questions and attempt as many mocks as possible, to ensure the maximum marks from these topics. If you wish to do so, please make use of this free initiative by clicking on the link. All the best!