General Studies 1 Paper Syllabus – Civil Services Mains Exam UPSC

General Studies 1 Paper Syllabus for UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam consists of the below major areas: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society. Detailed syllabus is given below:

General Studies 1 Paper Syllabus for UPSC Civil Services Mains

• Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
• Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
• The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.
• Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
• History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars,
• redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism,
• capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.
• Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
•  Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and
• developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
• Effects of globalization on Indian society
• Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
• Salient features of world’s physical geography.
• Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent);
• factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in
• various parts of the world (including India)
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,
• geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

Reference Books for General Studies Paper 1 [Suggestions by ClearIAS.com]

The basic book-list recommended by many toppers is provided in the link IAS Books for UPSC Mains. If you need additional books/weblinks for reference, the below mentioned links might turn useful. Tip : You can search/buy online these books using the Flipkart/Amazon Search Box provided in this website. (Right Side Bar)

1. The Wonder That Was India – A.L. Bhasham. (Culture)
2. India’s Ancient Past – R.S. Sharma. (Culture)
3. Indian Art and Culture – Nitin Singhania. (Culture)
4. History Of Modern India – Bipan Chandra. (History)
5. India’s Struggle For Independence – Bipan Chandra. (History)
6. India After Gandhi – Ramchandra Guha (History – GS1)
7. Norman Lowe OR History of Modern World – Jain and Mathur (World History – GS1)
8. Social Problems In India – Ram Ahuja. (Indian Society – GS1)
9. Geography of India – Majid Husain. (Geography)
10. Oxford School Atlas – Oxford. (Geography)
11. Certificate Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng Leong. (Geography)

Additional Links:

1. Useful Civil Services Books.
2. Civil Services Study Materials for Online Preparation.
3. IAS Question Papers.