UPSSSC PET tricks & mnemonics — save minutes on exam day

Indian History

• IVC MASTERED — Indus Valley sites: Mohenjo-daro, Amri, Sutkagendor, Taxila (near), Edith Shahr, Ropar, Edgeware (Kalibangan), Dholavira. Four major: Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Lothal, Kalibangan.
• VLC Divides — Vedic literature: Vedas (4), Literature (Brahmanas, Aranyakas), Concluders (Upanishads). Rig (oldest) → Yajur/Sama/Atharva. Early Vedic = Rig only; Later = all four.
• Buddha's 4 Noble = DSEP — Dukkha (suffering exists), Samudaya (cause=desire), Extinction (Nirvana possible), Path (Eightfold way). Mahavira's 5 vows: Truth, Non-violence, Non-stealing, Celibacy, Non-possession.
• Mauryan CAB — Three emperors: Chandragupta (founder, 322 BCE), Ashoka (Kalinga war, Buddhism), Bindusar (middle). Ashoka's Kalinga war = turning point to Dhamma.
• Gupta CCSK Golden — Chandragupta I (founder, 320 CE), Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya, peak), Samudragupta (Napoleon of India), Kumaragupta. Aryabhata, Kalidasa flourished now.
• Delhi Sultanate SKLTL — Five dynasties: Slave (Qutb-ud-din), Khilji (Alauddin reforms), Lodi (Ibrahim, last), Tughlaq (Delhi-Daulatabad shift), L (Sayyid, weak). Remember Lodis ended at Panipat-I (1526).
• Mughal ABAJASH — Akbar (Din-i-Ilahi), Babur (founder, 1526), Aurangzeb (last great), Jahangir (Nur Jahan), Akbar, Shah Jahan (Taj), Humayun. Chronology: Babur-Humayun-Akbar-Jahangir-Shah Jahan-Aurangzeb.
• Maratha SAR Trio — Shahu (regent), Aurangzeb's nemesis Shivaji (founder, 1674), Rajaram. Peshwas: Baji Rao I (greatest general), Balaji Vishwanath (first Peshwa). Panipat-III (1761) = decline.
• 1857 Revolt LAMB — Four main centers: Lucknow (Begum Hazrat Mahal), Allahabad, Meerut (start, 10 May), Bareilly (Khan Bahadur Khan). Delhi: Bahadur Shah Zafar proclaimed emperor. Immediate cause: greased cartridges.

Indian National Movement

• Gandhi's 3 C-Movements — hamparan (1917, indigo), hauri Chaura (1922, halted NCM), ivil Disobedience (1930, salt). Non-Cooperation (1920-22) = first mass movement.