New NCERT Class 7 Social Science textbook rolls three books of history, geography, social and political life into one

The Hindu

26-04-2025

The new Social Science textbook for Class 7 published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has shrunk what were earlier three separate books for History, Geography, and Civics. Students in Class 4 and 7 are getting new textbooks for the 2025-26 academic year.
Class 7 students will get a single Social Science text, titled Exploring Society - India and Beyond (Part 1). The new book replaces earlier three books: Our Pasts - II for History, Social and Political Life (a new subject earlier introduced in middle school that replaces Civics), and Our Environment for Geography.
A senior official closely involved with formulation of new textbooks told The Hindu that NCERT is likely to release the second part of the Social Science textbook, titled Exploring Society - India and Beyond (Part 2), for Class 7 in upcoming months. 'Part 1 only covers six months worth of social science study for Class 7, and Part 2 is being envisioned for the next six months,' the official said.
The new textbook is structured around five themes: India and the World: Land and the People; Tapestry of the Past; Our Cultural Heritage and Knowledge Traditions; Governance and Democracy; and Economic Life Around Us.
Part 1 timeline ends with Guptas
While the previous Class 7 History textbook started its account at the 7th century AD, Part 1 of the new Class 7 textbook covers the earlier period from 1900 BCE to 300 BCE and culminates with the period between the 6th and 9th century AD. The text also features many Sanskrit terms along with diacritics, the accents used over letters to encourage the correct pronunciations of Sanskrit words.
While the old textbook mentions Persian chronicler Minhaj-I-Siraaj, Mughal Emperor Babur, and the 14th century poet who used the terms 'Hindustan' and 'Hind', the new textbook mentions the origins of 'Bharat', and India.
Some of these changes follow from the revisions made to Class 6 textbooks last year. The old Class 6 History textbook had covered the kingdoms of ancient India in detail, but this content was left out of the new Class 6 textbook and has now been included in the Class 7 text instead. The new Class 7 textbook's History content deals in detail with ancient India and ends with the fall of the Gupta Empire between the 5th and 6th century AD. The old Class 7 textbook only had one chapter dedicated to select Indian dynasties, between the 7th and 12th century AD and did not have as much in-depth content on the Mauryan, Gupta and other regional Indian empires as the new text does.
No Delhi sultans, Mughals in Part 1
The older Class 7 textbook also covered the rise of the Delhi Sultanate between the 12th and 15th centuries, as the Rajput dynasty gave way to the onslaught of early Turkish rulers, the Khiljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids, and Lodis, and later in the 16th century, to the Mughals.
Because Part 1 of the new textbook ends at the Gupta Empire, students will not be introduced to the rise of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals at least in the first half of Class 7. It remains to be seen whether these chapters of the consequent historical timeline will be included in Part 2 of the new Class 7 textbook.
Ancient India's kingdoms
The new consolidated book's second theme on the 'Tapestry of the Past' has four chapters dedicated to History. The fourth chapter, 'New Beginnings: Cities and States' begins with a quote from Kautilya's Arthashastra and a picture of the Rajgir ruins from the Magadha empire. It introduces the concept of the Janapadas and Mahajanapadas, including Gandhara, Kuru, Matsya, Avanti, Chedi, Kosala, Magadha and so on, dating back to the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. There is also a mention of the Varna-Jati system that emerged from Vedic texts.
The fifth chapter, 'The Rise of Empires', mentions Pataliputra, the rise of Magadha, the Mauryas, the Greek Invasion, and the reign of Ashoka. It also mentions important scholars and political figures of the time such as Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, and Panini, whose composition Ashtadhyayi lists the rules of Sanskrit grammar.
Dynasties such as the Shungas, Satavahanas, and Chedis, and the prominent kingdoms of southern India like the Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras are covered in the sixth chapter, 'The Age of Reorganisation'. The pictorially rich chapter depicts scenes from the Ramayana, as well as the Bharhut Stupa in Madhya Pradesh from the Shunga period, Naneghat, the Karla and Pitalkhora caves in Maharashtra, the Udayagiri caves near Bhubaneshwar, and the statue of Kannagi in Chennai, among others.
'How the land becomes sacred'
The seventh chapter is dedicated to the Gupta era, covering the period between the 3rd and 6th centuries, and their role in shaping art, science, literature, maths, astronomy, medicine, metallurgy, architecture, and Sanskrit literature. It mentions the prophecies of the Vishnu Purana about the Gupta Empire, Nalanda University, Kalidasa, Aryabhata, and Varahamihira. The chapter also touches on the Pallava dynasty which consolidated power in the areas which are now Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. It also refers to modern-day Assam as Pragjyotisha, as mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
The eighth chapter 'How the Land becomes Sacred', begins with a quote from the Bhagavata Purana and delves into the holy relevance of major places of pilgrimage from all religions, including one section on the Kumbh Mela.