History Optional - Map Question

The simple math connected with the Map question
The map question in History optional paper 1 is an important question from the point of view of scoring high marks in History. Normally in any other 60 marks question the average marks for a good score will be in the range of 32 to 36. However in the Map question one can look at an average score of 40+ and can target a score of around 50 by working on it.

The map question takes the History paper 1 score to beyond 180 and can help you touch 200.

Map Plotting
The basic aim is to remember where a particular place is situated in the Indian subcontinent. Unlike geography optional we need not remember all places but only those places that have some historic significance.

There are number of ways to remember a place on the map:-

1. One way is to visualise the map with all the state boundaries (State boundaries are not printed on the UPSC map). Based on the visualisation of the state boundary you will have to remember the location of the historic site.
2. Another way is to visualise the rivers flowing in India (Rivers are also not printed on the UPSC map). The advantage of this method is that majority of the historic sites are located on the banks of a river.
3. Next method is by remembering some fixed places e.g. Delhi, Allahabad, Ujjain or modern state capitals. Then we remember all other historic sites by remembering their position with respect to these fixed places. e.g if one can remember Delhi, it will be easy to plot Panipat, Kurukshetra, Thaneswar to the north of Delhi and similarly Mathura, Agra to the south-east of Delhi.
4. Remembering all places on the coastline of India is relatively easy. One has to remember some indentation mark along the coast  e.g. Mumbai, Ganjam, Chennai, Korkai etc.
5. Grid system - It is the most scientific of all methods and extremely accurate. However it requires the maximum effort. I had used this system to remember the historic sites.

The Grid system
It is used by geography optional students to prepare for their map work.

I had used the above shown technique to plot grid lines of my own on the blank map. I then used to remember in which grid and at what location the places lie. There is no standard technique for drawing grid lines. You develop your own lines and remember all places with reference to your grid. 

In the exam, use a faint pencil to draw the grid. It should not take more than 2 minutes to draw the grid. After which you plot. As I said before, it takes time but is highly reliable. You can erase the grid lines after all points have been plotted or if you have used a 2H pencil the grid may not be visible and you can save the time to erase the grid.

Which ever technique you adopt, you must have seen the place on the map before; otherwise there is no way you can plot it. So the next step is to find as many places as can be asked.

The following sources can be used for map sites:-

1. Previous year question papers. Use the internet to find all the locations on the map.
2. All maps in NCERT Text books.
3. Any other History optional map book available in the market. 

Take information from all sources and create your own maps. Then keep practicing on the maps you have created.

Accuracy
In history we need not be very accurate. I am not aware of the amount of error permissible but the correction is said to be fairly lenient. However glaring mistakes should be avoided e.g. all places on the coast should be shown on the coast. They cannot be plotted in land. Similarly if we are plotting two nearby places, their orientation should be correct with respect to one another e.g. We should be exactly sure while plotting Ujjain, Vidisha and Eran as to which is to the north/south/east/west of the other. While plotting Ujjain even if it is shown too close to the Maharashtra border, Vidisha should always be to the east of Ujjain.    

How much effort?
Daily 15 minutes practice between preliminary examination and main examination. 

Description writing
We also need to write a few words on the sites we have plotted. One need not prepare too hard here. If you are writing the main examination you will have enough information to write 40 words on a particular site. You will have to write the following description:

• Describe location of the site - near the coast, bank of a river etc.
• Mention the time period in which the site was famous.
• Write its historical significance (political, economic, social, religious), monuments, wars, political capital etc.
• Write about its modern/ present day significance (if any)

To sum it up, we should try to find the locations of as many historical sites as possible. Try to locate all places that you come across during your preparation. Finally keep practicing and revising.