: Sample questions from recent years #IndiaNEWS #Education Today Hyderabad: Today, we will discuss the questions asked from history syllabus of the UPSC in the recent UPSC Mains – 2022 GS – 1 Paper.

Sample questions from recent years #IndiaNEWS #Education Today
Hyderabad: Today, we will discuss the questions asked from history syllabus of the UPSC in the recent UPSC Mains – 2022 GS – 1 Paper. Decoding and solving recent year’s questions will help us in understanding the most important areas in the syllabus and recent trends of the examination. Focusing more on these areas/topics will help in the upcoming State PCS mains examination too. If we observe the recent mains questions in other State PSCs, a few themes are repeating from the UPSC Mains exam.
The topic for today is “Famines during colonial India since 18th century�?. This question is related to Modern India part of the history syllabus in the UPSC and has been asked in the recent Mains 2022 question paper. Now, we will see how to address this topic in a question-and-answer format.
Why was there a sudden spurt in famines in colonial India since the mid-18th century? Give reasons. (2022)
Before we see the framework and model answer for this question, we shall analyse the question briefly. Generally, in prelims we tend to memorise important events in modern history, say important British reforms, INC events, famines, etc. Here our thought process is in when, where, what questions about the event.
When coming to the Mains, one needs to focus on analysis of these important events. To analyse, we should think about why, and how questions apart from when, where and what. This is the key point one needs to keep in mind during the preparation stage itself – while reading and making notes.
Introduction:
In the mid-18th century, British India was hit by terrible famines on a regular basis due to natural reasons and due to British apathy and economic and administrative policies.
More than 85 million Indians died in these famines.
Examples: Great Bengal Famine (1770), The Chalisa Famine (1783-84), etc
Body: Reasons for sudden spurt in famines since the mid-18th century:
1) Economic exploitation of peasants: After obtaining Diwani rights in 1765, the company increased revenue from 1/10th of produce to 50% of the produce which left peasants with little money to purchase grain seeds for subsequent crops.
2) Commercialisation of agriculture: Farmers were forced to grow cash crops such as cotton, opium, indigo. It reduced the areas under food grains which led to famines.
3) Deindustrialisation: This had led to increased unemployment and enhanced pressure on land with many people were dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and this further increased the intensity of famines.
4) Prohibition of storage of food: The company prohibited storage of food grains by farmers in order to prevent the tax evasion by the farmers.