CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus - Free PDF Download
CBSE Syllabus 2026-27 Class 12: The CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus for the examination year 2026-27 has been released by the Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE. The board will hold the final examination at the end of the year following the annual assessment scheme, which has led to the release of the syllabus. The 2026-27 CBSE Class 12 History Board Exam will entirely be based on the most recent syllabus. Therefore, students must thoroughly understand the new CBSE syllabus to prepare for their annual exam properly.
The detailed CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus for 2026-27 is below.
Academic year:
CBSE Class 12 History Revised Syllabus
CBSE Class 12 History Course Structure 2026-27 With Marking Scheme
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Syllabus
1: Bricks, Beads and Bones: the Harappan Civilisation [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Introduction to Harappan Civilisation
- Subsistence Strategies
- Agricultural technologies
- How artefacts are identified
- Mohenjodaro: a Planned Urban Centre
- Laying out drains
- Domestic architecture
- The Citadel
- Tracking Social Differences
- Burials
- Looking for “luxuries”
- Finding Out About Craft Production
- Identifying centres of production
- Strategies for Procuring Materials
- Materials from the subcontinent and beyond
- Contact with distant lands
- Seals, Script, Weights
- Seals and sealings
- An enigmatic script
- Weights
- Ancient Authority
- Palaces and kings
- The End of the Civilisation
- Discovering the Harappan Civilisation
- Cunningham’s confusion
- A new old civilisation
- New techniques and questions
- Problems of Piecing Together the Past
- Classifying finds
- Problems of interpretation
1: Themes in Indian History Part 1 [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
1 Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation [Revision]
2 Kings, Farmers and Towns Early States and Economies (c.600 BCE 600 CE) [Revision]
3 Kinship, Caste and Class [Revision]
4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE 600 CE) [Revision]
2: Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Prinsep and Piyadassi
- The Earliest States
- The sixteen mahajanapadas
- First amongst the sixteen: Magadha
- An Early Empire
- Finding out about the Mauryas
- Administering the empire
- How important was the empire?
- New Notions of Kingship
- Chiefs and kings in the south
- Divine kings
- A Changing Countryside
- Popular perceptions of kings
- Strategies for increasing production
- Differences in rural society
- Land grants and new rural elites
- Towns and Trade
- New cities
- Urban populations: Elites and craftspersons
- Trade in the subcontinent and beyond
- Coins and kings
- Back to Basics - How Are Inscriptions Deciphered?
- Deciphering Brahmi
- How Kharosthi was read
- Historical evidence from inscriptions
- The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence
2: Themes in Indian History Part II [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
5 Through the Eyes of Travellers Perceptions of Society (c. tenth to seventeenth centuries) [Revision]
6 Bhakti-Sufi Traditions Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts (c. eighth to eighteenth centuries) [Revision]
7 An Imperial Capital : Vijayanagara (c. fourteenth to sixteenth centuries) [Revision]
8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire (c. sixteenth seventeenth centuries) [Revision]
3: Themes in Indian History Part III [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
3: Kinship, Caste and Class: Early Societies [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata
- Kinship and Marriage: Many Rules and Varied Practices
- Finding out about families
- The ideal of patriliny
- Rules of marriage
- The gotra of women
- Were mothers important?
- Marriage: definition and functions.
- Definition, merits, demerits, functions of the following:
- Rules of marriage: exogamy and endogamy (clan, gotra, pravara, village and sapinda), cross and parallel cousin, levirate, sororate, hypergamy and hypogamy.
- Forms of marriage: polygamy (polyandry and polygyny), monogamy.
- Social Differences: Within and Beyond the Framework of Caste
- The “right” occupation
- Non-Kshatriya kings
- Jatis and social mobility
- Beyond the four varnas: Integration
- Beyond the four varnas Subordination and conflict
- Beyond Birth Resources and Status
- Gendered access to property
- Varna and access to property
- An alternative social scenario: Sharing wealth
- Explaining Social Differences: a Social Contract
- Handling Texts Historians and the Mahabharata
- Language and content
- Author(s) and dates
- The search for convergence
- A Dynamic Text
9 Colonalism and The Countryside Exploring Official Archives [Revision]
10 Rebels and The Raj 1857 Revolt and its Representations [Revision]
11 Mahatma Gandhi and The Nationalist Movement Civil Disobedience and Beyond [Revision]
12 Framing The Constitution The Beginning of a New Era [Revision]
4: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- A Glimpse of Sanchi
- The Background: Sacrifices and Debates
- The sacrificial tradition
- New questions
- Debates and discussions
- Beyond Worldly Pleasures: the Message of Mahavira
- The spread of Jainism
- The Buddha and the Quest for Enlightenment
- The Teachings of the Buddha
- Followers of the Buddha
- Stupas
- Why were stupas built
- How were stupas built
- The structure of the stupa
- “Discovering” Stupas the Fate of Amaravati and Sanchi
- Sculpture
- Stories in stone
- Symbols of worship
- Popular traditions
- New Religious Traditions
- The development of Mahayana Buddhism
- The growth of Puranic Hinduism
- Building temples
- Can We “See” Everything?
- Grappling with the unfamiliar
- If text and image do not match
5: Through the Eyes of Travellers: Perceptions of Society [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Al-biruni and the Kitab-ul-hind
- From Khwarizm to Punjab
- The Kitab-ul-Hind
- Ibn Battuta’s Rihla
- An early globe-trotter
- The “enjoyment of curiosities”
- Francois Bernier - a Doctor with a Difference
- Comparing “East” and “West”
- Making Sense of an Alien World Al-biruni and the Sanskritic Tradition
- Overcoming barriers to understanding
- Al-Biruni’s description of the caste system
- Ibn Battuta and the Excitement of the Unfamiliar
- The coconut and the paan
- Ibn Battuta and Indian cities
- A unique system of communication
- Bernier and the “Degenerate” East
- The question of landownership
- A more complex social reality
- Women Slaves, Sati and Labourers
6: Bhakti - Sufi Traditions: Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- A Mosaic of Religious Beliefs and Practices
- The integration of cults
- Difference and conflict
- Poems of Prayer Early Traditions of Bhakti
- The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu
- Attitudes towards caste
- Women devotees
- Relations with the state
- The Virashaiva Tradition in Karnataka
- Religious Ferment in North India
- New Strands in the Fabric Islamic Traditions
- Faiths of rulers and subjects
- The popular practice of Islam
- Names for communities
- The Growth of Sufism
- Khanqahs and silsilas
- Outside the khanqah
- The Chishtis in the Subcontinent
- Life in the Chishti khanqah
- Chishti devotionalism: ziyarat and qawwali
- Languages and communication
- Sufis and the state
- New Devotional Paths Dialogue and Dissent in Northern India
- Weaving a divine fabric: Kabir
- Baba Guru Nanak and the Sacred Word
- Mirabai, the devotee princess
- Reconstructing Histories of Religious Traditions
7: An Imperial Capital Vijayanagara [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- The Discovery of Hampi
- Rayas, Nayakas and Sultans
- Kings and traders
- The apogee and decline of the empire
- The rayas and the nayakas
- Vijayanagara - the Capital and Its Environs
- Water resources
- Fortifications and roads
- The urban core
- The Royal Centre
- The mahanavami dibba
- Other buildings in the royal centre
- The Sacred Centre
- Choosing a capital
- Gopurams and mandapas
- Plotting Palaces, Temples and Bazaars
- Questions in Search of Answers
8: Peasants, Zamindars and the State: Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Peasants and Agricultural Production
- Looking for sources
- Peasants and their lands
- Irrigation and technology
- An abundance of crops
- The Village Community
- Caste and the rural milieu
- Panchayats and headmen
- Village artisans
- A “little republic”?
- Women in Agrarian Society
- Forests and Tribes
- Beyond settled villages
- Inroads into forests
- The Zamindars
- Land Revenue System
- The Flow of Silver
- The Ain-i Akbari of Abu’L Fazl Allami
9: Kings and Chronicles: the Mughal Courts [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- The Mughals and Their Empire
- Production of Chronicles
- From Turkish to Persian
- The making of manuscripts
- The Painted Image
- The Akbar Nama and the Badshah Nama
- The Ideal Kingdom
- A divine light
- A unifying force
- Just sovereignty as social contract
- Capitals and Courts
- Capital cities
- The Mughal court
- Titles and gifts
- The Imperial Household
- The Imperial Officials
- Recruitment and rank
- Information and empire
- Beyond the centre: provincial administration
- Beyond the Frontiers
- The Safavids and Qandahar
- The Ottomans: pilgrimage and trade
- Jesuits at the Mughal court
- Questioning Formal Religion
10: Colonialism and the Countryside: Exploring Official Archives [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Bengal and the Zamindars
- An auction in Burdwan
- The problem of unpaid revenue
- Why zamindars defaulted on payments
- The rise of the jotedars
- The zamindars resist
- The Fifth Report
- The Hoe and the Plough
- In the hills of Rajmahal
- The Santhals: Pioneer settlers
- The accounts of Buchanan
- A Revolt in the Countryside the Bombay Deccan
- Account books are burnt
- A new revenue system
- Revenue demand and peasant debt
- Then came the cotton boom
- Credit dries up
- The experience of injustice
- The Deccan Riots Commission
11: Rebels and the Raj: 1857 Revolt and Its Representations [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Pattern of the Rebellion
- How the mutinies began
- Lines of communication
- Leaders and followers
- Rumours and prophecies
- Why did people believe in the rumours?
- Awadh in Revolt
- “A cherry that will drop into our mouth one day”
- “The life was gone out of the body”
- Firangi raj and the end of a world
- What the Rebels Wanted
- The vision of unity
- Against the symbols of oppression
- The search for alternative power
- Repression
- Images of the Revolt
- Celebrating the saviours
- English women and the honour of Britain
- Vengeance and retribution
- The performance of terror
- No time for clemency
- Nationalist imageries
12: Colonial Cities: Urbanisation, Planning and Architecture [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Towns and Cities in Pre-colonial Times
- Finding Out About Colonial Cities
- Colonial records and urban history
- Trends of change
- What Were the New Towns Like?
- Ports, forts and centres for services
- A new urban milieu
- The first hill stations
- Social life in the new cities
- Segregation, Town Planning and Architecture: Madras, Calcutta and Bombay
- Settlement and segregation in Madras
- Town planning in Calcutta
- Architecture in Bombay
- What Buildings and Architectural Styles Tell Us
13: Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement: Civil Disobedience and Beyond [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- A Leader Announces Himself
- The Making and Unmaking of Non-cooperation
- Knitting a popular movement
- A people’s leader
- The Salt Satyagraha a Case Study
- Dandi
- Dialogues
- Quit India
- The Last Heroic Days
- Knowing Gandhi
- Public voice and private scripts
- Framing a picture
- Through police eyes
- From newspapers
14: Understanding Partition: Politics, Memories, Experiences [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- Some Partition Experiences
- A Momentous Marker
- Partition or holocaust
- The power of stereotypes
- Why and How Did Partition Happen?
- Culminating point of a long history?
- The provincial elections of 1937 and the Congress ministries
- The “Pakistan” Resolution
- The suddenness of Partition
- Post-War developments
- A possible alternative to Partition
- Towards Partition
- The Withdrawal of Law and Order
- The one-man army
- Gendering Partition
- “Recovering” women
- Preserving “honour”
- Regional Variations
- Help, Humanity, Harmony
- Oral Testimonies and History
15: Framing the Constitution: the Beginning of a New Era [Revision]
CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus
- A Tumultuous Time
- The making of the Constituent Assembly
- The dominant voices
- The Vision of the Constitution
- The will of the people
- Defining Rights
- The problem with separate electorates
- “We will need much more than this Resolution”
- “We were suppressed for thousands of years”
- The Powers of the State
- The Language of the Nation
- A plea for Hindi
- The fear of domination
