CUET 2025 History Question Paper with Answers & Solutions

Correct answer: B

Cunningham reported on a Harappan seal in the mid-19th century (1875); Daya Ram Sahni began excavations at Harappa in 1921; S.R. Rao excavated Lothal in the late 1950s; Vasant Shinde's archaeogenetic research at Rakhigarhi is the most recent (2010s). Order: A, C, B, D.

Correct answer: A

NCERT (Themes in Indian History I) states that traces of canals have been found at the Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan, but not in Punjab or Sind.

Correct answer: A

The Kushana rulers adopted the title devaputra, or 'son of god', possibly inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves sons of heaven.

Correct answer: D

The Gandatindu Jataka (NCERT) describes the plight of subjects of a wicked king, the strained relationship especially with the rural population, and kings demanding high and oppressive taxes. It does not describe a cordial relationship (A is false).

Correct answer: C

Descent through mother = Matriliny (III); Barbarians/outsiders = Mlechchhas (IV); First section of Mahabharata = Adi-Parvan (I); Marriage within kin group = Endogamy (II). So A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II.

Correct answer: C

In the Mrichchhakatika by Shudraka, the hero Charudatta is described as both a Brahmana and a sarthavaha (merchant/caravan leader).

Correct answer: A

Gotami-puta Siri-Satakani (Gautamiputra Satakarni), the best-known Satavahana ruler, claimed to be a unique Brahmana (eka bamhana) who destroyed the pride of Kshatriyas.

Correct answer: A

According to the Buddha, the social world was the creation of humans rather than of divine origin, which is why he advised kings and gahapatis to be humane and ethical.

Correct answer: D

Ananda, the Buddha's cousin and close disciple, persuaded him to allow women into the sangha. Mahapajapati Gotami was the first woman to be ordained a bhikkhuni.

Correct answer: A

Al-Biruni tried to explain the Indian caste system by looking for parallels in other societies, including ancient Persia. Options B and D relate to Ibn Battuta, and C is associated with Bernier.

Correct answer: A

Lingayats are devotees of Shiva (not Vishnu); they believe that on death the devotee will be united with Shiva. Thus statement A is not true.

Correct answer: D

Sufi lineages = Silsila (III); rules for conduct between disciples and master = Murshid (IV, the master/guide); pilgrimage to grave of Shaikh = Ziyarat (I); open kitchen on futuh = Langar (II). So A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II.

Correct answer: A

Agricultural tracts were enclosed within fortifications so that, during sieges, the agricultural belt and its produce could be protected and food supply ensured for the city.

Correct answer: D

Water from the Kamalapuram tank was conducted through a channel to the 'royal centre' of Vijayanagara (NCERT, An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara).

Correct answer: D

The Ain-i Akbari was written by Abu'l Fazl, completed in 1598 during Akbar's reign (its fifth revision). It was not completed during Shah Jahan's time, so statement D is not true.

Correct answer: B

Crops reaped, stacked and divided by agreement = bhaoli (I); estimated in three lots (good/middling/inferior) = kankut (III); heaps divided among themselves = lang-batai (II); fields divided after sowing = khet-batai (IV). So A-I, B-III, C-II, D-IV.

Correct answer: A

In seventeenth-century Rajasthan, women could petition the village panchayat seeking justice and redress (NCERT, Peasants, Zamindars and the State).

Correct answer: C

Permanent Settlement = 1793 (B); Santhals settle in Rajmahal hills from c.1800-1810s (A); Santhal rebellion = 1855-56 (D); Cotton boom = 1860s during American Civil War (C). Order: B, A, D, C.

Correct answer: B

Mutiny began at Meerut (10 May 1857) (B); Delhi garrisons revolted next, 11 May (C); the mutiny then became a general popular revolt (A); British relief forces under Havelock and Outram entered the Lucknow Residency in September 1857 (D). Order: B, C, A, D.

Correct answer: C

The mutinous sepoys from Meerut rode to Delhi and appealed to the aged Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar to become their leader.

Correct answer: A

Following the Chauri Chaura incident (February 1922) where a mob set fire to a police station, Gandhiji called off the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Correct answer: A

Regulating Act = 1773 (D); first revenue settlement in Bombay Deccan = 1820s (C); slow agrarian expansion followed (B); Deccan ryots rebelled in 1875 (A). Order: D, C, B, A.

Correct answer: A

Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 (A); Humayun defeated by Sher Shah 1540 (B); Nadir Shah sacked Delhi in 1739 (C); diwani of Bengal granted to EIC in 1765 (D). Order: A, B, C, D.

Correct answer: B

Reasons for zamindari defaults under the Permanent Settlement were high initial demand (A), depressed produce prices (C), and the fixed, invariable revenue payable punctually (D). Organising troops/cutcheries was not a cause of default, so B is the exception.

Correct answer: A

Benami means 'without a name' - transactions made in the name of a fictitious or insignificant person while the real beneficiary stays unnamed. Jotedars and others used benami deals to evade revenue laws.

Correct answer: B

Shah Mal led in pargana Barout, UP (I); Gonoo was a tribal cultivator of Singhbhum, Chotanagpur (II); Birjis Qadr was proclaimed Nawab of Awadh (III); Kunwar Singh led at Arrah in Bihar (IV). So A-I, B-II, C-III, D-IV.

Correct answer: B

Considering Early Harappan through Mature and Late Harappan phases, the Harappan civilisation's total span is taken from c.6000 BCE (early) to c.1300 BCE (late), making option B the broadest correct range.

Correct answer: A

James Prinsep, an officer of the East India Company mint, deciphered the Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts in 1838.

Correct answer: D

Inscriptions record achievements/activities/ideas of those who commissioned them (B), are engraved on hard surfaces like stone, metal or pottery (C), and the earliest were in Prakrit (D). They generally do NOT record routine agricultural practices/daily life, so A is incorrect. Answer: B, C and D only.

Correct answer: C

In Afghanistan, Ashokan inscriptions were written in Aramaic and Greek scripts/languages, suited to the local population, whereas in the Indian subcontinent they were mostly in Prakrit (Brahmi).

Correct answer: B

Families = Kula (I); descent from father to son = Patriliny (III); man having several wives = Polygyny (II); gift of a daughter in marriage = Kanyadana (IV). So A-I, B-III, C-II, D-IV.

Correct answer: B

In Sanskrit texts and inscriptions, the term vanik (vanika) refers to merchants/traders.

Correct answer: D

Iran = Zarathustra (III); China = Kong Zi / Confucius (IV); Greece = Plato and Aristotle (I); India = Mahavira and Gautama Buddha (II). So A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II.

Correct answer: A

According to the Ashokavadana, a Buddhist text, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha's relics to every important town and ordered the construction of stupas over them.

Correct answer: B

Al-Biruni arrived in Ghazni (I); Ibn Battuta reached Sind in 1333 and became qazi of Delhi (III); Bernier was physician to Dara Shukoh (II); Duarte Barbosa wrote on trade/society in South India (IV). So A-I, B-III, C-II, D-IV.

Correct answer: D

Ibn Battuta wrote the Rihla in Arabic (A), was born in Tangier into a family of scholars of shari'a (B), and noted that fine muslin varieties were too costly for ordinary people (C). In 1342 he was sent by Muhammad bin Tughlaq as envoy to China, not Persia, so D is not true.

Correct answer: C

The sociologist Robert Redfield coined the terms 'great tradition' and 'little tradition' to describe the cultural practices of dominant and peasant/local groups.

Correct answer: C

Saguna bhakti involves worship of god with attributes/form (deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Devi in anthropomorphic forms). Worship of an abstract, formless god is nirguna bhakti, so C is not part of saguna bhakti.

Correct answer: A

The kings of Vijayanagara called themselves rayas (a variant of raja). Nayakas were military chiefs.

Correct answer: D

Colin Mackenzie, who surveyed and documented many sites including Vijayanagara/Hampi, was appointed the first Surveyor General of India in 1815.

Correct answer: B

This Constituent Assembly speech opposing separate electorates ('the British element is gone, but they have left the mischief behind') was made by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Correct answer: D

The speaker says 'as a result of this agitation we are now a separate nation' - i.e., separate electorates led to the partition of India.

Correct answer: B

The entire passage argues against the demand for separate electorates, which the speaker regards as the 'mischief' left behind by the British.

Correct answer: B

The speaker explicitly states the British introduced separate electorates ('When the British introduced this element ... they have left the legacy behind'), so the British Government left this mischief behind.

Correct answer: A

The passage states 'They wanted it for their easy administration', so the British introduced separate electorates to ease their administration (divide and rule).

Correct answer: A

The passage, on the charkha and machinery from Young India, was written by Mahatma Gandhi, who edited Young India and championed the spinning wheel.

Correct answer: D

The writer states 'What I object to, is the craze for machinery as such' - he opposes the mindless craze for machinery, not machinery itself.

Correct answer: C

By 'labour-saving machinery' and 'saving labour' the writer means using machines in place of human beings, which throws thousands out of work.

Correct answer: B

The passage fears that machines will replace human labour - 'thousands are without work and thrown on the open streets to die of starvation', i.e. mass unemployment.

Correct answer: A

The writer says 'I want the concentration of wealth, not in the hands of few, but in the hands of all' - i.e., industrialisation/machinery should not concentrate wealth among a few elites.