History Optional (UPSC)
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I am Nikhil Sheth, History faculty at Level Up IAS. This channel is started to cater to the needs of History Optional in UPSC CSE.
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🔴Cover entire History Optional syllabus through 500 Questions - HOT 500 for UPSC CSE 2025

Starts: 7th Oct 2024

- 70 lectures in 3.5 months
- Topic wise and thematic syllabus coverage
- Master answer writing through 500+ questions
- Get mentored by top History Optional faculty - Nikhil sir and Vishal sir
- 8 tests (sectional and FLTs)

Download PDF schedule & enrol here: https://www.levelupias.com/upsc-cse-history-optional-through-500-questions/

Queries? Call at: 08045248491 / 7041021151
Students, here is the schedule for Week 15 of History Optional Foundation 2025. We have made a change from this week. We'll keep Sundays off so that you can revise previous 6 day's lectures.

We'll also be starting with Medieval Indian History in this week.

Watch lectures here - https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryOptionalforUPSC?sub_confirmation=1

Note: Full History Optional program is available for FREE with classes uploaded daily at 9 am on Youtube channel given below.

Enrol here in HOT 500 - https://www.levelupias.com/upsc-cse-history-optional-through-500-questions/
I am preparing for the HOT500 lecture in the morning. It is about Enlightenment. Everytime I read this chapter, newer meanings start unlocking...

Was it really so much of a new thing? Christians said that paganism was darkness and their religion brought light. Reformation said that the Roman Church was the darkness and protestsntism brought light. Enlightenment thinkers said that the entire Christinity was the darkness and philosophy brought light.

Europeans almost always create an enemy. The process has continued. Communism, Political Islam, China etc are few such enemies created by them in the recent time.

However in our syllabus we don't open up these dimensions. So, in the morning lecture, I would stick to the syllabus and discuss the questions-answers one by one.
A sample answer. Just prepared. Fresh out of oven. A 2023 PYQ.

Somehow I have not seen anyone talking about this debate in this way. All the typical answers peddled in the market or discussed in YT videos by various experts/teachers don't even indicate towards such a debate to which this question is specifically referring. Only if they read standard books by standard historians, they would know what to teach about.

I generally don't like to criticize teachers. However, if we as teachers don't decode the demand of the question properly, how to expect upsc to award marks to students properly? If some students don't score well in History, some amount of blame for that should be shared by the teachers as well.

Teachers need to read continuously. Exhaustion of attempts and beginning of teaching don't make them omniscient automatically. They have to keep updating themselves everyday and every year. If they don't, they get ossified, students get sacrificed... UPSC doesn't anyway bother.
UPSC has so far not asked a question on George Washington, in the world history. We have both American revolution and American constitution in our syllabus explicitly mentioned, yet a question on George Washington remains un-asked.

Would you like to write an answer to the following question and upload here in PDF format? Lets see how many students try to pick this up.

George Washington is often referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the United States of America. To what extent is this title justified?
Master Current Affairs for Prelims and Mains under the guidance of Santosh Sir.

🏆 Current Affairs Prelims-cum-Mains 2025 Batch Starts 12th Oct.
🔥Join Now🔥

Enrol here: https://www.levelupias.com/upsc-cse-current-affairs-pre-cum-mains/


Queries?? Connect with us.
Call 📲 08045248491, 7041021151
Students, here is the schedule for Week 16 of History Optional Foundation 2025. We'll be continuing with Medieval Indian History in this week.

We'll keep Sundays off so that you can revise previous 6 day's lectures.

Watch lectures here - https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryOptionalforUPSC?sub_confirmation=1

Note: Full History Optional program is available for FREE with classes uploaded daily at 9 am on Youtube channel given above.

Enrol here in HOT 500 - https://www.levelupias.com/upsc-cse-history-optional-through-500-questions/
Is there anyone here from CoEP who is present in Delhi and preparing from ORN? We are trying to arrange a meet up of aspirants from CoEP in Delhi.

We used to have CoEP aspirants group back in 2015 but with many of us getting selected, the group dissipated. If enough people are interested, we are thinking of starting the group again.

If you are in Delhi, please let me know. You can drop me a message or call or come to the LevelUp IAS office tomorrow morning at 10.30 AM. We can meet and chart out further plan.

Nikhil
This is fun... Mazzini vs Marx:

In an interview, Marx described Mazzini as "that everlasting old ass". In turn, Mazzini described Marx as "a destructive spirit whose heart was filled with hatred rather than love of mankind."
With Rudrangshu Mukherjee, one of the best historians of modern India alive today. He is presently the chancellor of Ashoka University.

I have so far read three books by him. Gandhi and Tagore, Nehru vs Bose, Rani and Begum. Also there is Insightful analysis of peasant participation in 1857 that we regularly quote in our answers.

His talk yesterday was titled 'Bose and Bose'. It was on Rashbihari Bose and Subhashchandra Bose. Extremely interesting. Already incorporated those insights in my lecture on Revolutionaries and on INA. They will get reflected in the next round of teaching.
Along with the complete set of Critical Edition of Mahabharata.

One of the toughest and longest tasks taken by Indian intellectuals. Best of the minds worked on this for about 40-50 years at Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI).

I had always read about it's intellectuals feat. Even Pandit Nehru, Zakir Hussain, Dr Radhakrishnan all had visited BORI to see this work being unfolded. Got to see the print copies, touch them and smell them for the first time.
We have started this new playlist on eminent historians of India.

We teach about their views, you read and write about them. But have you seen them speaking?

So, small excerpts of eminent historians on some interesting issues. It will become a very selected and eclectic collectoon over time. Although primarily from History Optional point of view, I am sure every aspirant will definitely find it enriching.

Eminent Historians of India: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRY4mFD-4D6uwIEbduokvjo4Fukg5n_Pu

Dont forget to subscribe to stay tuned.
Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBMfaGYFl3LwC_416k6CpxA

Note: We will keep publishing the lectures even on Diwali days.
Now, we are coming with HOT500 2.0.

To be honest, this has been our most ambitious program ever for history optional. And running of 1.0 batch has given us a lot encouragement about the utility of this program.

This time, we will begin the schedule with Ancient India. And this will be the final batch this year. We will not be able to come up with 3.0.

Although called as HOT500, as I have recently started saying again and again, it should ideally be termed as HOT800. There are about 75+ classes and 8 tests (8 sectional, 2 FLT)

The entire course will be over before the end of February. So, you will be able to complete the optional thoroughly before shifting completely to exclusive Prelims preparation.

The schedule and details are provided on course page. Visit this link for further details.

https://www.levelupias.com/upsc-cse-history-optional-through-500-questions

IMP PS: DO NOT take admission now. I have heard that LevelUp IAS is bringing certain discount for Diwali. Wait for a couple of days.