We have finished Enlightenment. In next few days, I will also try to post some related practice questions from our DAMP course.

Meanwhile, we will proceed further with the daily lecture coverage. Now begins the topic of American Revolution, Constitution and Civil War. Although it seems very familiar, the questions that UPSC asks are so peculiar that they need some important conceptial as well as factual understanding.

Even if you have read this part from anywhere else in the past, I am sure you will benefit immensely by these lectures.

It appeared in Today's TheHindu.

"There has never been a single, pure Western or European culture. So called western values like freedom, rationality, justice and tolerance are not originally western, and the West itself is in large part a product of long-standing links with a much larger network of societies, to south and north as well as east."

This is the exact thing we tried to understand when we studied the global history of Renaissance or that of Enlightenment. Try to recall...

This is a lecture from our History Optional Crash Course for Mains 2024. From medieval India section.

https://youtu.be/Y9SmxyyI8C4

Hello students,

I want to make a personal appeal. If you are finding the Youtube initiative helpful, and the quality of lectures useful, do recommend it to your friends and post it's link in various channels and groups that you are a part of.

As I had pointed out earlier, this is a new and bold initiative from our side. We have never experimented with this before. It's success will determine it's longevity. Only if we are able to reach relevant students in more number, it can become succesful and we can think of bringing more such initiatives in future.

So, please share with anyone who might be benefited by this initiative. Every single share counts.

Nikhil.

https://youtu.be/qZnGHG81UJE?si=bnUEKninD4D86yXh

Here I have discussed a question on Enlightenment. Approach, structure etc along with historiography. Do watch the lecture till the end for the full understanding. It is a multi-layered discussion.

This clip is from our Daily Answer Writing Program (DAMP) that we do every year from October onwards. For every question, there is such a detailed discussion provided. I will try to find out some more questions from last years' DAMP and upload them occasionally. I am sure they will provide enough insight into the answer-writing process.

Today, we finished the French Revolution. Now, this is the schedule for Week 3. After the week 3, almost half of our World History syllabus would be over.

Keep watching every day if you want to finish it on time. I can already see that the students who are watching regularly are dropping gradually as the syllabus progresses.

The backlog once created is difficult to remove later. The burden keeps on piling higher with time. Only solution is to give 3-4 hours every day - watch the lecture, revise the notes, make short notes. Keep doing it everyday.

Carpe Diem.

A new book. This time issued from a library. Eager to read.

Appeal to all aspirants,

After Pooja Khedkar scam, many officers' names are being circulated in media and social media, pointing towards a larger trend in using forged documents - either non creamy layer in OBC or EWS, or PwBD.

Forging income documents, hiding real income, showing fake divorce of parents, getting private hospital certification for disability etc seem to be happening more frequently than suspected earlier. Nepotism is also there. The issue is no more about Pooja Khedkar alone. These are all serious allegations and I am sure it is being seriously taken note of by the government.

However, I want to make a serious appeal to all aspirants. Don't get emotional. The social media creators and youtubers are pointing out about a dozen cases over last many years. Every year about a 1000 candidates are selected. Not everyone is selected through fraudulent means. Majority are still honest candidates.

However, the border between public vigilance and media trial is very thin. Also understand that questioning upsc's credibility and calling it a UPSC scam may be one way to garner attention, incite passion and attract eyeballs.

In all these, a serious aspirant would still continue working hard, with head down and focus om exam. The not-so-serious ones would get diverted, feel disillusioned or demotivated, spend a lot of time with friends over chaay discussing desh ka kya hoga, ye sab bike huwe hai. Now they have got something to blame for not getting selected. Don't be one of them.

Follow the news, follow the developments but at the end of the day, it should not come at the cost of your time of quality study.

Your time is precious. Your focus is precious. It must not get diluted.

Nikhil

What does the voyage of Vasco da Gama have to do with tobacco? On July 8, 1497, began the historic voyage of Vasco da Gama.

Tobacco, originally cultivated by Native Americans, was brought to Europe in the 16th Century and, soon after, introduced to South Asia by European traders and colonisers. The Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and the British, were instrumental in spreading tobacco use. Tobacco quickly embedded itself into the cultural and social fabric of South Asian societies. Yet, it is essential to remember that smoking was alien to Indian ethos and culture. Despite the linguistic diversity in India, with as many as five linguistic families (thousands of languages), none of the Indian languages have a native or original word for “tobacco”.

Surprisingly, there has not been a robust enough critique of the British Raj for tobacco. Indeed, it isn’t the Kohinoor that should symbolise European exploitation. The introduction of tobacco in India has left a lasting legacy of addiction and disease.

🔴Students, this is the class schedule for Week 4 of FREE History Optional Foundation Lectures for UPSC CSE 2025

Here is the Youtube channel where lectures will get uploaded daily, at 9 am, without fail: https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryOptionalforUPSC?sub_confirmation=1

Do subscribe.

Join History Optional Telegram: https://t.me/nikhilhistoryoptional

These are the History questions from UPSC IFoS (Main) Exam, from General Studies paper. I have collected questions from 2009 to 2023 and categorized them era-wise for ease of use.

There are some very good questions which we can try for our practice purpose.

Hello students,

We will have a meeting (both online and offline) coming Sunday (28July). It is for the aspriants who are preparing for 2025 and 2026. Both Vishal sir and Me will conduct it.

Agenda of the meeting is
1. Discuss the approach to study history optional over next 6 months and strategy to follow.
2. We will have a separate segment on how to cover World History and what sources to follow. (I had promised a video on this, but a conversation is better suited).
3. We will also discuss how to maximize the utility of Sunday Live annual mentorship program.

The format will be conversational and we intend to resolve all the doubts you may have. Each and every doubt regarding history optional preparation strategy will be entertained.

PS 1: The details of time, link and registration will be shared with you soon.

PS2: The recording of the meeting will not be available later. So you are advised to attend it live. Offline or online.