In the UPSC Civil Services Examination (Mains, History Optional), there is a section requiring candidates to locate historical sites on a map and give brief descriptions of those sites. This book has been specially designed and prepared after much research to meet the needs of the students taking up history as their optional subject in the said examination.

Apart from civil services, this book will also be of use to candidates of other examinations requiring map study in Indian history.

Some Highlights

• In this book, there are three sets of maps: (i) India through the ages from prehistoric times to immediately after independence; (ii) Indian sites of historical importance; and (iii) sites pertaining to specific facets of Indian history and culture. In the first two sets, descriptive texts accompany the maps which will prove helpful and adequate to study the third set of maps.
• The alphabetical arrangement of the sites is without any distinction between ‘ancient’ and ‘medieval’ on the maps as, from the point of view of an examination, the candidate will just be asked to mark the location of a place of historical importance.
• The sites are depicted in maps accompanying each group. Each site has been briefly explained with its historical/cultural importance, and most significant features. The reader will find the arrangement helpful, making it easy to locate sites.
• More than 500 historical sites have been covered.
• Useful guidelines are given on how to remember the location of different places so as to be able to mark the site correctly on a blank map, or to identify sites indicated by numbers on a map.
• A number of practice exercises (including UPSC previous years’ questions 2013–24) have been included along with their solutions.