Hindi Optional Syllabus for Civil Service Examination
It is one of the most spoken languages in India and easily understood by a large percentage of the population. The Government of India uses Hindi as one of its official languages for inter-departmental correspondence, along with English. In the UPSC Mains examination, there is a provision to take up Hindi optional subject and also as a choice for a compulsory language paper.
Drawing from the richness of the literary heritage, Hindi offers a wide range of fictions and non-fictions in the form of poetries, proses, essays, scientific writings, and religious epics. The language is also replete with a variety of dialects whose literature finds its place within the UPSC syllabus.
This optional syllabus from UPSC covers the evolution of the Devanagari script from the ancient scripts used in this subcontinent and Hindi developing as the country’s lingua franca during the freedom movement. It wholly takes up the study of Hindi grammar and stresses literary criticism of various Hindi works with an exploration into notable writers and their contribution.
The Hindi subject is of 500 marks, consisting of two papers, both carrying 250 marks.
Hindi Syllabus for UPSC Optional – Paper I
- History of Hindi Language and Nagari Lipi
- Grammatical and applied forms of Apbhransh, Awahatta & Arambhik Hindi.
- Development of Braj and Awadhi as Literary language during medieval period.
- Early form of Khari-boli in Siddha-Nath Sahitya, Khusero, Sant Sahitaya, Rahim etc. and Dakhni Hindi.
- Development of Khari-boli and Nagari Lipi during 19th Century.
- Standardisation of Hindi Bhasha & Nagari Lipi.
- Development of Hindi as a National Language during freedom movement.
- The development of Hindi as a National Language of Union of India.
- Scientific & Technical Development of Hindi Language.
- Prominent dialects of Hindi and their inter-relationship.
- Salient features of Nagari Lipi and the efforts for its reform & Standard form of Hindi.
- Grammatical structure of Standard Hindi.
- History of Hindi Literature
- The relevance and importance of Hindi literature and tradition of writing
- Literary trends of the following four periods of history of Hindi Literature.
- Adikal-Sidh, Nath and Raso Sahitya.
- Prominent poets-Chandvardai, Khusaro, Hemchandra, Vidyapati.
- Bhaktikal-Sant Kavyadhara, Sufi Kavyadhara, Krishna Bhaktidhara and Ram Bhaktidhara.
- Prominent Poets-Kabir, Jayasi, Sur & Tulsi.
- Ritikal—Ritikavya, Ritibaddhkavya & Riti Mukta Kavya. Prominent Poets-Keshav, Bihari, Padmakar and Ghananand.
- Adhunik Kal-
- Renaissance, the development of Prose, Bharatendu Mandal.
- Prominent Writers—Bharatendu, Bal Krishna Bhatt & Pratap Narain Mishra.
- Prominent trends of modern Hindi Poetry: Chhayavad, Pragativad, Prayogvad, Nai Kavita, Navgeet and Contemporary poetry and Janvadi Kavita.
- Prominent Poets-Maithili Sharan Gupta, Prasad, Nirala, Mahadevi, Dinkar, Agyeya, Muktibodh, Nagarjun.
- Katha Sahitya
- Upanyas & Realism
- The origin and development of Hindi Novels.
- ProminentNovelists-Premchand, Jain-endra, Yashpal, Renu and Bhism Sahani.
- The origin and development of Hindi short story.
- Prominent Short Story Writers-Premchand, Prasad, Agyeya, Mohan Rakesh & Krishna Sobti.
- Drama & Theatre
- The Origin & Development of Hindi Drama.
- Prominent Dramatists-Bharatendu, Prasad, Jagdish Chandra Mathur, Ram Kumar Verma, Mohan Rakesh.
- The development of Hindi Theatre.
- Criticism
- The origin and development of Hindi criticism: Saiddhantik, Vyavharik, Pragativadi. Manovishleshanvadi & Nai Alochana.
- Prominent critics-Ramchandra Shukla, Hajari Prasad Dwivedi, Ram Vilas Sharma & Nagendra.
- The other form of Hindi prose-Lalit Nibandh,Rekhachitra, Sansmaran, Yatra-vrittant.
Hindi Syllabus for UPSC Optional – Paper II
- Kabir Kabir Granthawali, Ed. Shyam Sundar Das (First hundred Sakhis)
- Soordas
- Tulsidas
- Bhramar Geetsar, Ed. Ramchandra Shukla (First hundred Padas)
- Ramcharit Manas (Sundar Kand) Kavitawali (Uttarkand)
- Jayasi: Padmawat Ed. Shyam Sundar Das (Sinhal Dwip Khand & Nagmativiyog Khand) Bihari
- Bihari Ratnakar Ed. Jagnnath Prasad Ratnakar (First 100 Dohas)
- Maithili Sharan : Bharat Bharati Gupta
- Prasad: Kamayani (Chinta and Shraddha Sarg)
- Nirala : Rag-Virag, Ed. Ram Vilas Sharma (Ram Ki Shakti Pooja & Kukurmutta)
- Dinkar: Kurukshetra
- Agyeya: Angan Ke Par Dwar (Asadhya Veena)
- Muktiboth: Brahm Rakhashas
- Nagarjun:Badal Ko Ghirte Dekha Hai, Akal Ke Bad, Harijan Gatha.
Section B
- Bharatendu: Bharat Durdasha
- Mohan Rakesh : Ashadh Ka Ek Din
- Ramchandra : Chintamani (Part I) (KavitaKya Shukla Hai, ShraddhaAurBhakti)
- Dr. Satyendra : Nibandh Nilaya—Bal Krishna Bhatt, Premchand, Gulab Rai, Hajari Prasad Dwivedi, Ram Vilas Sharma, Agyeya, Kuber Nath Rai.
- Premchand Godan, Premchand ki Sarvashreshtha Kahaniyan, Ed. Amrit Rai/Manjusha—Prem Chand ki Sarvashreshtha Kahaniyan. Ed. Amrit Rai.
- Prasad: Skandgupta
- Yashpal : Divya
- Phaniswar Nath :Maila Anchal Renu
- Mannu Bhandari: Mahabhoj
- Rajendra Yadav: Ek Dunia Samanantar (All Stories)
One of the reasons Hindi literature optional paper is a popular choice among IAS aspirants is that there is ample amount and easy availability of study material for the UPSC preparation course. One can easily score good marks in this subject because most of the syllabus content in Hindi gets easily covered with old NCERT books, which might not be possible in other literature subjects for which there is a dearth of study materials.