In the earlier days of higher education in India, the focus was mostly on…

Concept

Historical emphasis is established from the institutional reach and share of a curricular grouping, not simply from whether a subject existed.

Early Indian higher education included several professional fields, but general colleges and universities organized a large part of their teaching through broad Arts and humanities curricula.

Application

The cited UGC NET item uses this historical classification: Arts included languages, literature, philosophy, history, and allied humanities that formed the mainstream general curriculum in early higher education.

Contrast

• Agriculture developed as applied study through specialized agricultural institutions rather than as the mainstream general collegiate curriculum.

• Medicine was present as healing science and clinical training, but it remained a specialized professional field.

• Arts brought languages, literature, philosophy, history, and related humanities together in the general collegiate curriculum.

• Law was present through jurisprudence and legal training, but it remained a specialized professional field.

Cross-check

The exact UGC NET Paper 1 question from 16 June 2023, Shift 2, and multiple independent reproductions key Arts. If mere existence were the criterion, all four disciplines could qualify; the word “mostly” instead asks for the dominant general grouping.

Therefore, the required discipline is Arts.