The Eighteenth Century: History Optional PYQs

Factors for the decline of the Mughal Empire;

The regional principalities: Nizam’s Deccan, Bengal, Awadh;

Maratha ascendancy under the Peshwas;

The Maratha fiscal and financial system; •

Emergence of Afghan Power, Battle of Panipat: 1761;

State of political, cultural and economic, on the eve of the British conquest.

The Eighteenth Century closes Paper I and is one of its most heavily examined units. UPSC has set 36 questions on it between 1986 and 2026, and it has appeared in every one of the last ten papers — four questions in 2023, three in 2024. It is also the unit with the clearest historiographical debate in the whole of Paper I.

Every question the Commission has asked on this topic is listed below, newest first, with a written model answer linked against each one.

Questions asked (1986–2026)	36
Appeared in	10 of the last 10 papers
Paper	Paper I, Section B (Medieval India)
Usual mark value	10, 15 or 20 marks
Model answers available	34 of 36

PYQs: The Eighteenth Century [1985-2026]

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Year	Question	Answer
2026	Would you consider eighteenth century in India an era of 'Dark Age', or a period of economic growth? Elucidate.
2026	Trace the trajectory of Maratha polity from Shivaji to Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao. What was the impact of the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) on the Maratha State? Analyze.
2025	Critically examine the political, military and administrative factors that led to the transformation of the Maratha character in the 18th century. How did these changes influence its rise and eventual decline?	View answer
2024	How did the Maratha guerilla warfare tactics contribute to their military successes against larger and more established armies?	View answer
2024	Examine the role of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty in the political transformation of the State of Hyderabad.	View answer
2024	Evaluate the impact of the Third Battle of Panipat on the political economy of 18th-century India.	View answer
2023	The Marathas posed a significant threat to the integrity of the Mughal Empire. Discuss.	View answer
2023	"Haidar Ali was born to build an empire, and Tipu Sultan to lose one”. Comment.	View answer
2023	Analyze the rise of the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh.	View answer
2023	The economy of India was not stagnant in the eighteenth century. Discuss.	View answer
2022	Aurangzeb's Deccan policy was a major factor in Mughal decline. Discuss.	View answer
2022	Account for the rise of the Maratha power in the eighteenth century.	View answer
2021	How far is it justified to consider the states like Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad as ‘successor states’ of the Mughal state?	View answer
2020	Critically evaluate history of the Eighteenth century India with reference to culture and economy.	View answer
2019	"It was as much the court intrigues as also the defiance of the provincial powers that hastened the decline of the Mughals in the 18th Century. Comment.	View answer
2018	"The Afghan invasions in the Eighteenth Century not only signified the military irrelevance of the Mughal Empire but also hastened its decline". Explain.	View answer
2017	"The political disintegration was responsible for the socio- economic decline in India during the 18th century." Comment.	View answer
2017	How will you view the Maratha policy of expansion? Delineate.	View answer
2016	Do you think that the agrarian crisis of the 17th century led to the disintegration of the Mughal empire? Discuss.	View answer
2016	Was it the weakening of the Mughal empire or the rise of regional power that led to British conquest of India? Discuss.	View answer
2016	Is it true that the court intrigues and weak revenue system led to the collapse of the Maratha empire? Comment.	View answer
2015	Compare the Peshwas’ bureaucratic management with that of the Imperial Mughal administration.	View answer
2012	How was the Afghan nobility responsible for the decline of the Afghan empires? Discuss.	View answer
2011	Discuss the causes of the rise and growth of regional kingdoms with special reference to the Deccan in the 18th century.	View answer
2008	What are the distinguishing components of the debate on “The Eighteenth Century"?	View answer
2007	Write brief essay on Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of the Maratha rulers.	View answer
2005	How would you like to characterize the eighteenth century in Indian history?	View answer
2004	Write brief essay on the system of the collection of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi by the Maratha rulers.	View answer
2003	Write brief essay on Chauth and Sardeshmukhi.	View answer
2002	Write brief essay on Consequences of the Third Battle of Panipat.	View answer
2001	Were the Marathas restricted by their geopolitical limitations from becoming the paramount power of India?	View answer
2001	Write brief essay on Savai Jai Singh the astronomer.	View answer
1998	Write brief essay: Third Battle of Panipat.	View answer
1988	“The expansion of Mughal empire in Deccan brought about its decline.” Discuss.	View answer
1987	Write short answer of not more than 200 words: Structure and role of the Maratha Confederacy.	View answer
1986	Account for the rise of the Marathas as a political power. How did they influence the course of history?	View answer

What UPSC keeps asking about the Eighteenth Century

Thirty-six questions fall into four threads, and the first frames all the others: was this century a dark age of decline or a period of regional vitality?

1. The eighteenth-century debate — decline or transition? (2005, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2023, 2026)

Asked directly in 2008 as “the debate”, and again in 2026 as dark age or period of transition.
The examiner wants the historiography by name: the older decline school and Jadunath Sarkar, against C. A. Bayly, Muzaffar Alam, Richard Barnett and P. J. Marshall on regional dynamism.
2023 asked whether the economy was stagnant — the economic version of the same question. The answer is no, and you should be able to say why with evidence from Bengal, Awadh and Gujarat.

2. Causes of Mughal collapse (1988, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025)

Agrarian crisis (2016), court intrigue and weak revenue (2016, 2019), the Deccan (1988, 2022), political, military and administrative factors (2025).
2016 asked whether it was Mughal weakening or regional rise that came first — the chicken-and-egg question at the heart of the unit.

3. The Marathas (1986, 1987, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2015, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026)

Twelve questions — the largest thread.
Chauth and sardeshmukhi as a short answer (asked three times, 2003–2007). The Peshwa bureaucracy compared with the Mughal (2015), the policy of expansion (2017), guerrilla tactics (2024), the threat to the empire (2023), the arc from Shivaji to Balaji Baji Rao (2026).
2001 asked whether geography limited Maratha ambitions — a question worth preparing in advance.

4. Regional states, Panipat and the Afghans (1998, 2001, 2002, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024)

Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad as successor states (2021), the Asaf Jahis (2024), Haidar Ali and Tipu (2023), the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh (2023).
The Third Battle of Panipat has been asked three times (1998, 2002, 2024); the Afghan invasions in 2018. Sawai Jai Singh the astronomer (2001) is the outlier worth one prepared paragraph.

The model answers to this unit, in one place

Knowing the questions is half the work. The other half is seeing what a full-mark answer to each one looks like — not a hint or a bullet outline, but a complete answer at the mark and the word limit, with the historians named inside the argument.

The History Optional PYQ Master Pack carries the same for every question the Commission has set since 1985, across the whole syllabus.

PYQs 1985–2025, arranged topic-wise — revise a theme and see every way it has been asked
Model answers with historiography — the debate cited where it belongs, not bolted on
Map sections solved — the full 50-mark section, every year
PDF plus online access — any device, permanently, no subscription

₹1,499 (regular ₹2,500). One-time payment, instant access.

See the model answers

How to use this topic list

Reading a question list feels like preparation and is not. Three sittings turn it into marks.

Sitting 1 — sort before you read (30 minutes)

Copy the questions above into the threads identified in the previous section.
Note which thread has gone longest without being asked — that is your priority, not the one you find most interesting.

Sitting 2 — write three answers cold (45 minutes)

Pick the most recent question from three different threads.
Seven minutes for a 10-marker, fifteen for a 20-marker. Stop when the time is up, even mid-sentence.
Mark every place you wanted a historian’s name and could not produce one.

Sitting 3 — compare, then rewrite (45 minutes)

Put your script beside the model answer for the same question.
Compare structure first: opening claim, evidence, counter-view, judgement.
Rewrite your weakest answer using that structure and no new content. Most candidates gain four to six marks from structure alone.

Two ways to prepare this optional

Two routes, depending on what is actually missing.

	PYQ Master Pack	Mains Master Kit 2027
Best when	Your notes are done; answer-writing is the gap	You are still building the subject
What you get	Model answers to every question since 1985, topic-wise, map sections included	4,500+ pages of notes, full mapping coverage, 12 months of article access
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Frequently asked questions

Thirty-six times between 1986 and 2026, appearing in every one of the last ten papers, with four questions in 2023 alone.

The examiner expects you to reject the label with evidence. The Mughal centre declined, but successor states such as Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad were administratively capable and economically active. C. A. Bayly and Muzaffar Alam are the historians to cite against the older decline view.

Maratha claims to a quarter and a further tenth of the revenue of territories outside their direct control. They were asked as short answers three times between 2003 and 2007.

Supply failure, the absence of allies among the Rajputs, Jats and Sikhs, the encumbrance of non-combatants and Abdali’s superior cavalry. Its consequences for the balance of power were asked in 2002 and 2024.

Yes. Thirty-four of the thirty-six questions listed above link to a written model answer on this site.