CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus For Board Examination 2026-27, Download PDF Here

Content 

Description

Conducting Body

Central Board of Secondary Education

Official Website 

cbseacademic.nic.in 

Class 

12 

Academic Session

2025-26

Total Marks 

80 (Theory) + 20 (Internal Assessment) 

S.No.

Part

Marks

1

Themes in Indian History Part—I

25

2

Themes in Indian History Part—II

25

3

Themes in Indian History Part—III

25

4

Map Work

05

Total

80

Part

S.No.

Theme Title & Chapter Focus

Marks

Themes in Indian History Part-I

25

1

Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

2

Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE - 600 CE)

3

Kingship, Caste and Class: Early Societies (c. 600 BCE - 600 CE)

4

Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE - 600 CE)

Themes in Indian History Part-II

25

5

Through the Eyes of Travellers: Perceptions of Society (c. 10th - 17th centuries)

6

Bhakti-Sufi Traditions: Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts (c. 8th - 18th centuries)

7

An Imperial Capital – Vijayanagar(c. 14th - 16th centuries)

8

Peasants, Zamindars and the State: Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire (c. 16th - 17th centuries)

Themes in Indian History Part-III

25

9

Colonialism and The Countryside: Exploring Official Archives

10

Rebels and the Raj: 1857 Revolt and its Representations

11

Mahatma Gandhi and the National Movement: Civil Disobedience and Beyond

12

Framing of the Constitution: The Beginning of a New Era

Map Work

Map work of the related Themes

05

Theory Total

80

Project Work

20

TOTAL

100

Theme No. and Title

Learning outcome with specific competencies

BRICKS, BEADS

AND BONES

The Harappan

Civilisation

Themes in Indian History Part I

❖ Investigate, explore and interpret the early urban centres and social institutions.

❖ State and deduce the multi-lateral aspects of Harappan civilisation to understand the first civilization of the world.

❖ Investigate and interpret historical and contemporary sources and viewpoints of ASI and historians on Harappa.

KINGS, FARMERS AND TOWNS

Early States and

Economies (c.600

BCE 600 CE)

❖ Critically evaluate and interpret major trends in the political and economic history of the subcontinent.

❖ Decode inscriptional evidence.

❖ Analyse inscriptional evidences and the ways in which these have shaped the understanding of political and economic processes.

KINSHIP, CASTE AND CLASS Early

Societies (c. 600 BCE 600 CE)

❖ Examine, analyse the issues of social history.

❖ Analyse social norms in order to understand the perspectives of society given in the scriptures of ancient India.

❖ Examine the varied dimensions explored by historians in order to understand dynamic approach of Mahabharata. 

4.

THINKERS, BELIEFS AND BUILDINGS

Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE 600 CE)

❖ Infer and compare the major religious developments in early India.

❖ Elucidate the rich religious sculpture and infer the stories hidden in it.

❖ Create a picture album of the Buddhist Sculpture. 

Themes in Indian History Part—II

5

THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS

Perceptions of Society

(c. tenth to seventeenth centuries)

❖ Understand salient features of social histories described by the travellers and apply the learning in real life.

❖ Elucidating the accounts of foreign travellers in order to understand

the social political and economic life during the tenure of different rulers in the medieval period.

6. BHAKTI –SUFI

TRADITIONS

Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts

(c. eighth to eighteenth centuries)

❖ Understand the religious developments.

❖ Summarise the philosophies of different Bhakti and Sufi saints to

understand the religious developments during medieval period.

❖ Comprehend the religious movement in order to establish unity, peace harmony and brotherhood in society.

7. AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL:

VIJAYANAGARA

(c. fourteenth to sixteenth centuries)

❖ Students will be able to Classify the distinctive architectural

contributions of theVijayanagar empire to comprehend the richness of mingled cultures of deccan India.

❖ Analyse accounts of foreign traveller’s on Vijayanagar in order to interpret political, social and cultural life of the city.

❖ Assess and appreciate the city planning, water management system, administration of the rulers.

8. PEASANTS,

ZAMINDARS AND THE

STATE

Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire

(c. sixteenth seventeenth centuries)

❖ Comprehend the facets of agrarian developments in order to understand the relationship between the state and the agriculture during Mughal period.

❖ Compare and contrast the agrarian changes occurred during sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

❖ Make a table and bring out the differences in the agrarian sector

Themes in Indian History Part—III

9. COLONIALISM AND THE

COUNTRYSIDE

Exploring Official Archives

❖ Evaluate the revenue systems introduced by the British to understand the economic aspects of colonization in India.

❖ Analyse the colonial official records& reports to understand the divergent interest of British and Indians.

❖ Find solution to be taken to protect the peasants and artisans in this century.

10. REBELS AND THE RAJ

1857 Revolt and its Representations

❖ Examine the events of 1857.

❖ Correlate the Planning and coordination of the rebels of 1857 to infer its domains and nature.

❖ Examine the momentum of the revolt to understand its spread.

❖ Analyse how revolt created vision of unity amongst Indians.

❖ Interpret visual images to understand the emotions portrayed by the nationalist and British

11. MAHATMA GANDHI AND

THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT

Civil Disobedience and Beyond

❖ Understand the nationalist movement in chronological order.

❖ Correlate the significant elements of the nationalist movement and the nature of ideas, individuals, and institutions under the

Gandhian leadership.

❖ Debate on the significant contributions of Gandhi to understand his mass appeal for nationalism.

❖ Explore the ways of interpreting historical source such as newspapers, biographies and autobiographies diaries, letters

12. FRAMING THE

CONSTITUTION

The Beginning of a New Era

❖ Highlight the role of Constituent Assembly to understand functionaries in framing the constitution of India.

❖ Analyse how debates and discussions around important issues in the Constituent Assembly shaped our Constitution

SI.No.

Page.No

Part I Maps 

1

2

Mature Harappan sites: Harappa, Banawali, Kalibangan, Balakot,Rakhigarhi, Dholavira, Nageshwar, Lothal,Mohenjodaro, Chanhudaro, Kot Diji.

2

3

Mahajanapada and cities: Vajji, Magadha, Kosala, Kuru, Panchala,Gandhara, Avanti, Rajgir, Ujjain, Taxila, Varanasi.

3

33

Distribution of Ashokan inscriptions: Pillar inscriptions – Sanchi, Topra, Meerut Pillar and Kaushambi. Kingdom of Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas.

4

43

Important kingdoms and towns: Kushanas,Shakas,Satavahanas,Vakatakas,Guptas

Cities/towns: Mathura,Kanauj,Puhar,Braghukachchha, Shravasti,Rajgir, Vaishali, Varanasi,Vidisha

5

95

Major BuddhistSites: Nagarjunakonda, Sanchi, Amaravati, Lumbini,Bharhut, Bodh Gaya, Ajanta

SI.No.

Page No.

Part II - Maps

6

174

Bidar, Golconda, Bijapur, Vijayanagar, Chandragiri, Kanchipuram, Mysore, Thanjavur, Kolar, Tirunelveli

7

214

Territories under Babur, Akbar and Aurangzeb: Delhi, Agra, Panipat, Amber, Ajmer, Lahore, Goa.

SI.No.

Page No.

Part III - Maps

8

287

Territories/cities under British Control in1857: Punjab, Sindh, Bombay, Madras Berar, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Surat, Calcutta, Patna, Allahabad

9

260

Maincentresofthe Revoltof 1857: Delhi, Meerut, Jhansi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Azamgarh, Calcutta, Benaras, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Agra, Awadh

10

Important centres of the National Movement: Champaran, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Benaras, Amritsar, Chauri Chaura, Lahore, Bardoli, Dandi, Bombay (Quit India Resolution), Karachi

Book / Section

MCQ

(1 Mark)

Short Answer (SA)

(3 Marks)

Long Answer (LA)

(8 Marks)

Source Based

(4Marks)

Map Work

(5Marks)

Theory Marks

Part I

7 

2 

1 

1 

25

Part II

7

2

1 

1 

25

Part III

7 

2 

1 

1 

25

Map

1 

05

Total Questions

21

6

3

3

1

—

Total Marks (MM)

21

18

24

12

5

80

Internal Assessment

20

TOTAL MARKS

100

Competencies 

Marks 

%

Knowledge Remembering previously learned material by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts, and answers.

Understanding demonstrating understanding of facts and ideas byorganizing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions and stating main ideas.

21

18

26.25

 22.50

Applying and Analyzing: applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules and solving the problems.

24

30

Formulating, Evaluating and Creating skills: Examining, making inferences and finding evidence to support generalizations; Presenting and defending opinions by making judgments about information and piling information.

12

15

Map Skills

05

6.25