Consider the following pairs: Thinker/Historian - Work or Concept 1. James Mill - The History of British India 2. Montesquieu - Lectures on the Philosophy of History 3. Karl Marx - Asiatic Mode of Production 4. Romila Thapar - Colonial Indology How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

History · 27 Oct 2026

colonial periodisation of Indian history

Consider the following pairs:
Thinker/Historian - Work or Concept

James Mill - The History of British India
Montesquieu - Lectures on the Philosophy of History
Karl Marx - Asiatic Mode of Production
Romila Thapar - Colonial Indology

AOnly one

BOnly two

COnly three

DAll four

This question is based on: Three Chapters, One Frame: Why James Mill's Map of India's Past Refuses to Fade

Take this in full test mode → Instructions for 27 Oct 2026

About this question

Why in news

Romila Thapar's Second Sitaram Yechury Memorial Lecture (25 October 2026) traced religion-based readings of Indian history back to James Mill's colonial periodisation and the idea of oriental despotism.

Why for UPSC

UPSC regularly tests author-work and thinker-concept pairs in modern Indian history. Swapping works between closely linked thinkers (Montesquieu and Hegel; a historian and her critic) is a standard trap.

Prelims summary

Mill (1817) periodised India by the ruler's religion. The "static Asia" premise runs from Montesquieu (1748) through Hegel (1837) to Marx's Asiatic Mode of Production. Post-independence historians replaced Mill's labels with Ancient, Medieval and Modern.

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