The Civil Services Exam of UPSC has three components: Preliminary, Mains, and Interview. During the Mains exam, candidates are required to pick one optional subject, which plays a crucial role in determining their overall ranking in the IAS Exam. Currently, literature-based optional subjects have a rising success rate.

The UPSC optional subject list encompasses 25 non-literature and 23 literature options, with Sindhi Literature being one of the available choices for the Mains exam. This article will outline the IAS syllabus for the optional subject of Sindhi Literature.

Sindhi is one of India’s 22 officially recognized languages from the Sindh province in undivided India. It is widely spoken in states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. Its literature boasts a rich tradition and includes religious, philosophical, and scientific texts. The examination for civil services in Sindhi is conducted in both Devanagari and Persian scripts.

The UPSC syllabus covers Sindhi literature from medieval times to the present day. Candidates with prior knowledge of the language through formal education or native speakers can opt for this subject to increase their chances of scoring well in the Mains exam. The Sindhi Literature optional subject is worth 500 marks, divided into papers, Paper I and Paper II, each worth 250 marks.

Sindhi Optional Paper 1

SINDHI

PAPER I
Answers must be written in Sindhi (Arabic or Devanagari Script)

Section A

1. (a) Origin and evolution of Sindhi language—views of different scholars.
(b) Significant linguistic features of Sindhi language, including those pertaining to its phonology, morphology and syntax.
(c) Major dialects of the Sindhi language.
(d) Sindhi vocabulary—stages of its growth, including those in the pre-partition and post-partition periods.
(e) Historical study of various Writing Systems (Scripts) of Sindhi.
(f) Changes in the structure of Sindhi language in India, after partition, due to influence of other languages and social conditions.

Section B

2. Sindhi literature through the ages in context of socio-cultural conditions in the respective periods :
(a) Early medieval literature upto 1350 A.D. including folk literature.
(b) Late medieval period from 1350 A.D. to 1850 A.D.
(c) Renaissance period from 1850 A.D. to 1947 A.D.
(d) Modern period from 1947 and onwards.
(Literary genres in Modern Sindhi literature and experiments in poetry, drama, novel, short story, essay, literary criticism, biography, autobiography, memoirs and travelogues.)

Sindhi Optional Paper 2

PAPER II
Answer must be written in Sindhi (Arabic or Devanagari script)

This paper will require the first-hand reading of thetexts prescribed and will be designed to test the candidate’s critical ability.

Section A

References to context and critical appreciation of the texts included in this section.
(1) Poetry
a. ‘‘Shah Jo Choond Shair’’ : ed. H.I. Sadarangani, Published by Sahitya Akademi (First 100 pages).
b. ‘‘Sachal Jo Choond Kalam’’ : ed. Kalyan B. Advani Published by Sahitya Akademi (Kafis only).
c. ‘‘Sami-a-ja Choond Sloka’’ : ed. B.H. Nagrani Published by Sahitya Akademi (First 100 pages).
d. ‘‘Shair-e-Bewas’’ : by Kishinchand Bewas (“Saamoondi Sipoon’’ portion only).
e. ‘‘Roshan Chhanvro’’ : Narayan Shyam.
f. ‘‘Virhange Khapoi je Sindhi Shair jee Choond’’ :ed. H.I. Sadarangani, published by Sahitya Akademi.

(2) Drama
g. ‘‘Behtareen Sindhi Natak’’ (One-act Plays) : Edited by M. Kamal Published by Gujarat Sindhi Academy.
h. ‘‘Kako Kaloomal’’ (Full-length Play ) : by Madan Jumani.

Section B

References to context and critical appreciation of the texts included in this section.
a. ‘Pakheeara Valar Khan Vichhrya’ (Novel) : by Gobind Malhi.
b. ‘Sat Deenhan’ (Novel) : by Krishin Khatwani.
c. ‘Choond Sindhi Kahanyoon’ (Short Stories) Vol.

III. : Edited by Prem Prakash, published by Sahitya Akademi.
d. ‘Bandhan’ (Short Stories) : Sundari Uttamchandani.
e. ‘Behtareen Sindhi Mazmoon’ (Essays): Edited by Hiro Thakur, published by Gujarat Sindhi Academi.
f. ‘Sindhi Tanqeed’ (Criticism) : Edited by Harish Vaswani : Published by Sahitya Akademi.
g. ‘Mumhinjee Hayati-a-ja Sona Ropa varqa’ (Autobiography) : by Popati Hiranandani.
h. ‘‘Dr. Choithram Gidwani’’ (Biography) : by Vishnu Sharma.

UPSC Sindhi Optional Syllabus PDF