Are your board exams near? Or have you just entered class 12th? In both cases, you must have already begun your preparations for it! For Arts aspirants, having a History book by your side while preparing for exams is pretty basic. The subject studied at the senior secondary level can give you a fine grounding if you have plans for taking up UPSC exams or MA History. If you manage to score good, you can pursue BA History from the top universities abroad. To know more about the class 12 History syllabus, as prescribed by CBSE which is one of the most popular educational boards, keep reading the blog!
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CBSE Course Structure
The course for the history subject of class 12th has been designed to give students a complete understanding of the events that led to the formation of modern India. Divided into three parts, the coursework has been curated systematically to cover all the related events associated with various major events. Units in the book have been clubbed under one theme to maintain the flow while studying it. Tabulated below is the course structure of the class 12 history subject:
Unit | Title | Marks |
Units 1-4 | Themes in Indian History Part – I | 25 |
Units 5-9 | Themes in Indian History Part – II | 25 |
Units 10-15 | Themes in Indian History Part – III | 25 |
Unit 16 | Map Work | 05 |
Project work | 20 | |
Total | 100 |
How to Use Class 12 History Book?
Each part of the class 12 history book has been divided into themes and each chapter into numbered sections to facilitate systematic learning in the students. At the end of each chapter, timelines have been included to help students recap the important topics read in the chapter. Use of maps and illustrations have been made to supplement the complex text and to make the process of learning easy and quick to remember. Besides this, pictures of objects and transcripts have been included to help students understand the concepts more effectively. At the end of every chapter, there are questions in two sections out of which one section is intended for the evaluation and the other for the discussion.
Class 12 History: CBSE Syllabus
The book that studies different eras of Indian history ranging from Harappan civilization to colonialism in India is divided into three parts and each part has different themes. It covers each topic in detail giving you a complete overview of the various historical periods and the events leading to them. The class 12 history book has been designed to give you the complete idea of traditions, beliefs, practices, customs, religions and other aspects of Indian society. Let us take a look at the chapters and topics covered in the class 12 CBSE syllabus for the subject:
PART I
Part one of the book has four chapters that elucidate the earlier phase of the history that is marked by the Harappan Civilization followed by the chapters that study the social structure, politics, architecture, and philosophy of that era. Given below are the contents in the part-I of class 12 History book:
Unit No. | Title | Unit |
1 | Bricks, Beads, and Bones | The Harappan Civilisation |
2 | Kings, Farmers, and Towns | Early States and Economies(c.600 BCE-600 CE) |
3 | Kinship, Caste, and Class | Early Societies(c. 600 BCE-600 CE) |
4 | Thinkers, Beliefs, and Buildings | Cultural Developments(c. 600 BCE-600 CE) |
PART II
[optin-monster-shortcode id=”xf2mlnjiouddzrshykdb”]The second part of the class 12 History book consists of five chapters that study the traditions, accounts by travellers, religious philosophies, kingdoms and social class prevalent in ancient India. Here are the contents in the part-II of class 12 History book:
Unit No. | Title | Unit |
5 | Through the Eyes of Travellers | Perceptions of Society(c. tenth to seventeenth centuries) |
6 | Bhakti –Sufi Traditions: | Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts(c. eighth to eighteenth centuries) |
7 | An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara | (c. fourteenth to sixteenth centuries) |
8 | Peasants, Zamindars and the State | Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire(c. sixteenth-seventeenth centuries) |
9 | Kings and Chronicles | The Mughal Courts(c. sixteenth-seventeenth centuries) |
PART III
The last part of the book has six chapters that study the recent historical developments in India. From East India Company’s subjugation and freedom struggle to framing the constitution after independence, the book gives a comprehensive understanding of the issues. Given below are the contents in the part-III of class 12 History book:
Unit No. | Title | Unit |
10 | Colonialism and the Countryside | Exploring Official Archives |
11 | Rebels and the Raj | 1857 Revolt and its Representations |
12 | Colonial Cities | Urbanization, Planning, and Architecture |
13 | Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement | Civil Disobedience and Beyond |
14 | Understanding Partition | Politics, Memories, Experiences |
15 | Framing the Constitution | The Beginning of a New Era |
You can buy this book along with other parts from Amazon here.
Understanding the class 12 History syllabus is central to preparations for your board exams and going about each topic thoroughly would help you score well. If you have plans to study abroad in this field but are unsure about which university to study in then take the assistance of the AI-tool of Leverage Edu which will generate a list of educational institutes, the courses of which match your interests!