GATE Philosophy Indian Philosophy: School-Wise Questions 2023–2026

Indian philosophy is about 26 of the 60 Philosophy marks in an average GATE paper: 19.5 marks from Classical Indian (Section 1) and 6.75 from Contemporary Indian (Section 2) over 2023–2026, by our count. In 2026 it rose to 32, with 27 marks on the classical schools alone. The two halves behave very differently. Section 1 is stable, repeats the same big systems every year and keeps its syllabus unchanged for 2027. Section 2 is small, scattered across ten thinkers, and rewritten for 2027. This guide lists every question on both, school by school and thinker by thinker, so you can see exactly where the marks have come from.

Our classification of the official XH-C4 papers and final keys, 2023–2026.

For three years Section 1 was flat at 17 marks. In 2026 it jumped to 27, mostly through extra two-mark questions: Mīmāṃsā (Q45), two Buddhism items (Q46 on Dignāga’s apoha, Q48 on the two truths), Sānkhya (Q51, Q59), a text-to-school match (Q52), scepticism in Nāgārjuna, Śrīharṣa and Jayarāśi (Q58), Vīraśaivism (Q60) and Nyāya inference (Q61). One year does not make a trend, but it is a warning not to leave the Indian half for last.

Three groups emerge. The core five, Buddhism, Sānkhya, Nyāya, Advaita and Jainism, were asked in every paper and together carried 36 of the 78 Classical Indian marks over four years. The regular second tier, the Upaniṣads, Mīmāṃsā, Cārvāka, Kashmir Śaivism, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Yoga, the Gītā and Śaiva Siddhānta, turned up in two or three papers each. The long tail of one-off topics carried 13 marks, and six of those came in 2026 alone. The core five deserve the most time, but the tail shows why you cannot skip the smaller schools.

The pattern is textbook core, asked precisely. Know each school’s pramāṇas, its categories and its account of liberation, and know which classical text and author a doctrine comes from. The 2026 text-to-school match (Q52) and the scepticism question (Q58) both rewarded knowing who wrote what.

Section 2 averaged under 7 marks and never went above 9. Its 18 questions over four years were spread across ten thinkers, and only Ambedkar was asked more than three times. For 2027 the list is rewritten, so check each past question against the new topic list before revising from it.

Ambedkar is the only Contemporary Indian thinker asked every year, and the one whose topic list changed most. Two of his four questions (the Dhamma in 2024 and Annihilation of Caste in 2026) sit on topics the 2027 syllabus no longer names; his listed topics are now the Basic Features of the Indian Constitution, Untouchability and Democracy. Gandhi’s trusteeship question (2026 Q50) is similarly out, and Hind Swaraj comes in. Daya Krishna, the one new name, has never been asked; his essay “Three Myths about Indian Philosophy” is short enough to read in full.

Our suggestion, in proportion to the marks each part has carried: start with the core five schools, then the second tier, then the rewritten Contemporary Indian list, then the one-off topics. Use the tracker to keep count; it saves your ticks in this browser only.