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)
- The Wonder That Was India – A.L. Bhasham. (Culture)
- India’s Ancient Past – R.S. Sharma. (Culture)
- Indian Art and Culture – Nitin Singhania. (Culture)
- History Of Modern India – Bipan Chandra. (History)
- India’s Struggle For Independence – Bipan Chandra. (History)
- India After Gandhi – Ramchandra Guha (History – GS1)
- Norman Lowe OR History of Modern World – Jain and Mathur (World History – GS1)
- Social Problems In India – Ram Ahuja. (Indian Society – GS1)
- Geography of India – Majid Husain. (Geography)
- Oxford School Atlas – Oxford. (Geography)
- Certificate Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng Leong. (Geography)
Additional Links:
- Useful Civil Services Books.
- Civil Services Study Materials for Online Preparation.
- IAS Question Papers.
kumar says
October 15, 2015 at 4:59 pmwhat a wounder full site
kumar says
October 15, 2015 at 5:04 pmsir my request is topic wise mains book list,websites and magzines etc……………….
Anoop Ahuje says
October 22, 2015 at 7:33 pmgreat guidence here
suraj says
July 12, 2016 at 8:45 amSir please provide us with topic wise question analysis of previous10 years . I also want it fragment by fragment study chart and planning, how to make notes from NCERTS and basic books,How to arrange them,should I study higher topics simultaneously with the basic book (here I find it very hard to manage my schedule as I m a starter). I find mutation in strategy every time when I come up with a subject..its very stressful.how to cope it..pliz reply..my email id is –[email protected]
Nandana says
July 18, 2017 at 9:39 pmSir,is this general studies Paper-1 syllabus is for preliminary exam or mains.
Arjun says
September 17, 2017 at 8:18 pmVery good question
Urmila says
June 27, 2018 at 3:39 pmMaximum how much time it takes to complete GS 1
Lalit says
May 2, 2019 at 4:41 pmSir is wizard of geography is help full for GS 1 syllabus…?
Sigirala Murali says
June 18, 2019 at 8:13 pmSir please provide us with topic wise question analysis of previous10 years . I also want it fragment by fragment study chart and planning, how to make notes from NCERTS and basic books,How to arrange them,should I study higher topics simultaneously with the basic book (here I find it very hard to manage my schedule as I m a starter). I find mutation in strategy every time when I come up with a subject..its very stressful.how to cope it..pliz reply..my email id is “[email protected] “. Tq sir