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USS · Paper I

History

Ancient to modern India, the freedom movement, and Kerala’s own story.

9 of the 50 questionsWrite this topic →
What the paper asks

Nine questions — the heaviest single topic in Paper I. Ancient India, the freedom movement, and Kerala's own reform history. Dates matter, but the order of events matters more: the paper often asks which came first rather than which year it was.

The freedom movement — a timeline worth memorising
YearEvent
1857The revolt — the First War of Indian Independence
1885Indian National Congress founded by A. O. Hume
1919Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Amritsar
1920Non-Cooperation Movement
1930Civil Disobedience — the Dandi (Salt) March
1942Quit India Movement — 'Do or Die'
1947Independence, 15 August
1950Constitution in force, 26 January
Ancient India — the four things asked most
  • Indus Valley — Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Famous for town planning and drainage, not for temples.
  • Buddha — born at Lumbini, enlightened at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath, died at Kushinagar. Four places, four events; the paper swaps them.
  • Mauryas — Chandragupta with Kautilya (Chanakya), who wrote the Arthashastra. Ashoka turned to Buddhism after the Kalinga war.
  • Mughals — Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri; Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal.
Kerala's reform movements
Event / personWhat it was
Vaikom Satyagraha, 1924The right for all castes to use the roads round the temple
Guruvayur Satyagraha, 1931Temple entry; led by K. Kelappan
Temple Entry Proclamation, 1936Travancore opened state temples to all Hindus
Malayali Memorial, 1891Demanded posts in the administration for Malayalis
Sree Narayana Guru'One caste, one religion, one God for man'
AyyankaliRights and schooling for Dalit children
K. KelappanCalled Kerala Gandhi
Kerala and the colonial powers
  • Vasco da Gama landed at Kappad near Kozhikode in 1498 and was received by the Zamorin — the ruler of Kozhikode, not of Kochi.
  • Kunjali Marakkar was the Zamorin's naval chief against the Portuguese.
  • Pazhassi Raja fought the British East India Company in Wayanad and Malabar.
  • Velu Thampi Dalawa resisted the British in Travancore.
  • Battle of Plassey, 1757 — Robert Clive's win over Siraj-ud-Daulah started British political power in India.
Modern Kerala
  • Kerala state formed on 1 November 1956, on linguistic lines.
  • First Chief Minister: E. M. S. Namboodiripad, 1957.
  • Punnapra–Vayalar uprising, 1946.
  • The state formation (1956) and the first elected government (1957) are separate events in separate years.
Worked through

Which came first — the Dandi March or the Quit India Movement?

  1. Dandi March: 1930, part of Civil Disobedience.
  2. Quit India: 1942.
  3. 1930 is earlier.

Who led the Vaikom Satyagraha's cause, and what was demanded?

  1. It was a Kerala movement of 1924.
  2. The demand was the right to use the public roads around the Vaikom temple.
  3. It was among the earliest organised movements against untouchability in India.
Where the marks go

These are the mistakes, not the rules — each one is something a student who knows the topic still does under time pressure.

  1. Confusing 1947 and 1950. Independence is 1947; the Constitution coming into force is 1950.
  2. Putting Gandhi at the founding of the Congress. He was sixteen in 1885.
  3. Mixing up the four Buddha places. Born Lumbini, enlightened Bodh Gaya, first sermon Sarnath, died Kushinagar.
  4. Saying Vasco da Gama landed in Kochi. It was Kappad, near Kozhikode, and the Zamorin received him.
  5. Treating 1956 and 1957 as the same event for Kerala. The state came first, the elected government a year later.
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Sit 10 questions on this topic

Read the explanation on every one you get wrong — that is where the revision above actually sticks.

 Or the whole paper

Sit Paper I against the clock

Fifty questions in ninety minutes, drawn to the real subject mix. The scorecard will tell you what to revise next.

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