IAS Mains 2009: History Paper 2

Candidates should attempt Question No. 1 and 5 which are
compulsory and any three of the remaining questions selecting
at least one question from each Section.

SECTION – A
( Modern India )

1. Comment on any three of the following statements in about
200 words each : 20×3=60

a). “ Though the Permanent Settlement had serious defects , it
gave tranquility to the countryside and stability to the
government”.
b). “ The Arya Samaj may quite logically be pronounced as
the outcomes of conditions imported into India by the
west.” ( Lala Lajpat Rai)
c). “Please remember, in granting separate electorates we are
sowing the dragons’s teeth and harvest will be bitter.”
( Morley)
d). “ The annexation of Awadh shook the loyalty of the
Sepoy’s , as it was for them an ultimate proof of
untrustworthiness of the British.”

2.a). Why was Mysore considered a threat by the British to
their possessions and mercantile interests in the south ? Do
You think that Tipu Sultan’s posturing became his undoing?

b). How did the East India Company became the dejure power in
India? 30

3. a). How did social legislation in the nineteenth century
improve the condition of women in India? 30
b). Analyze the social composition of the early Congress
leadership. 30

4. a). Discuss as to why the congress accepted the partition
of India in 1947. 30
b). Do you think that Quit India movement was
a Spontaneous Revolution ? 30

SECTION B : ( World History )

5. Comment on any three of the following statements in about
200 words each : 20×3=60

a). “ The capitalism which gave the European empires their
apparent solidarity and permanence also hastened their
downfall.”
b). “ In all the long annals of Imperialism , the partition of
Africa is a remarkable freak.”
c). “ Hitler did not really want a world War. His intention was
only a short war with Poland.” ( A. J. P. Taylar )
d). “Arab nationalism and oil – these were the principal
Factors in complicating the relations of middle eastern
countries with the outside world.”

6. a) Discuss the emergence of neo-imperialism in the late
nineteenth century. 30
b). What was the extent of industrilisation in western Europe
by the end of the nineteenth century? 30

7. a). How did Nepoleon Bonapart fuse the old France with
the new ? 30
b). Why did Vietnam go through thirty years of war after
the second world war? 30

8. a). Account for the overthrow of the Tsarist regime in
Russia 30
b). Examine the peace keeping efforts of the United
Nations Organization. 30