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Indian Society

Class 12 · Society

Real UPSC Prelims questions from 2016–2026, linked to this book. Try each one first, then open the answer. 2026 answers follow UPSC's provisional answer key.

Ch 2 · The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society

Prelims 2024 · Q41

The total fertility rate in an economy is defined as:

  1. (a)the number of children born per 1000 people in the population in a year.
  2. (b)the number of children born to a couple in their lifetime in a given population.
  3. (c)the birth rate minus death rate.
  4. (d)the average number of live births a woman would have by the end of her child-bearing age.
Show answer

UPSC's answer: (d)

NCERT answers it: Class 12 Indian Society, Ch 2 (The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society).

Indian Society (ch 2): a total fertility rate of 1.7 means the average woman has 1.7 children — births per woman over her child-bearing years. So (d).

Hindi version: UPSC's official question paper (2024), question 41 ↗

Ch 3 · Social Institutions: Continuity and Change

Prelims 2016 · Q58

Satya Shodhak Samaj organized

  1. (a)a movement for upliftment of tribals in Bihar
  2. (b)a temple-entry movement in Gujarat
  3. (c)an anti-caste movement in Maharashtra
  4. (d)a peasant movement in Punjab
Show answer

UPSC's answer: (c)

NCERT answers it: Class 12 Indian Society, Ch 3 (Social Institutions: Continuity and Change).

Indian Society (ch 3): Jotirao Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 to secure rights and social justice for low-caste people — an anti-caste movement in Maharashtra. So (c).

Hindi version: UPSC's official question paper (2016), question 58 ↗

Ch 4 · The Market as a Social Institution

Prelims 2016 · Q38

Banjaras during the medieval period of Indian history were generally

  1. (a)agriculturists
  2. (b)warriors
  3. (c)weavers
  4. (d)traders
Show answer

UPSC's answer: (d)

NCERT answers it: Class 12 Indian Society, Ch 4 (The Market as a Social Institution); old Class 7 Our Pasts – II, Ch 5 (Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities).

Indian Society (ch 4) says the long-distance salt trade was controlled by the Banjaras, and the old Class 7 book shows Banjaras carrying goods to markets. They were traders. So (d).

Hindi version: UPSC's official question paper (2016), question 38 ↗

Prelims 2020 · Q25

Which of the following phrases defines the nature of the 'Hundi' generally referred to in the sources of the post-Harsha period?

  1. (a)An advisory issued by the king to his subordinates
  2. (b)A diary to be maintained for daily accounts
  3. (c)A bill of exchange
  4. (d)An order from the feudal lord to his subordinates
Show answer

UPSC's answer: (c)

NCERT answers it: Class 12 Indian Society, Ch 4 (The Market as a Social Institution).

Indian Society (ch 4): the hundi was an important instrument of exchange and credit — a bill of exchange. So (c).

Hindi version: UPSC's official question paper (2020), question 25 ↗

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