CBSE Class 12 History Test Papers

Class 12 History Marks Distribution
Units	Marks
Themes in Indian History Part-I(Units 1 – 4)	24
Unit 1: The Story of the First Cities: Harappan Archaeology
Unit 2: Political and Economic History: How Inscriptions tell a story
Unit 3: Social Histories: using the Mahabharata
Unit 4: A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa
Themes in Indian History Part-II (Units 5 – 9)	25
Unit 5: Medieval Society through Travellers’ Accounts
Unit 6: Religious Histories: The Bhakti-Sufi Tradition
Unit 7: New Architecture: Hampi
Unit 8: Agrarian Relations: The Ain-i-Akbari
Unit 9: The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles
Themes in Indian History Part-III (Units 10 – 15)	25
Unit 10: Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports
Unit 11: Representations of 1857
Unit 12: Colonialism and Indian Towns: Town Plans and Municipal Reports
Unit 13: Mahatma Gandhi through Contemporary Eyes
Unit 14: Partition through Oral Sources
Unit 15: The Making of the Constitution
Map Work	6
Total	80
Project work (Internal Assessment)	20
Total	100

CBSE Class 12 History Syllabus : Course Content

PART – I

BRICKS, BEADS AND BONES The Harappan Civilization:Broad overview: Early urb an centers

• Story of discovery: Harappan civilization
• Excerpt: Archaeological report on a major site
• Discussion: How it has been utilized by archaeologists/ historians

KINGS, FARMERS AND TOWNS: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)Broad overview: Political and economic History from the Mauryan to the Gupta period

• Story of discovery: Inscriptions and the Decipherment of the script. Shifts in the Understanding of political and economic history.
• Excerpt: Ashokan inscription and Gupta period land grant
• Discussion: Interpretation of inscriptions by historians.

KINSHIP, CASTE AND CLASS Early Society Societies (C. 600 BCE-600 CE)

• Social Histories: Using the Mahabharata Issues in social history, inclu ding caste, class, kinship and gender
• Story of discovery: Transmission and publications of the Mahabha rat
• Excerpt: from the Mahabharata, illustrating how it has been used by historians.
• Discussion: Other sources for reconstructing social history.

THINKERS, BELIEFS AND BUILDINGS Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE – 600 CE)Broad overview: A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa

• A brief review of religious histories of Vedic religion, Jainism, Vaishnavism, Shaivism (Puranic Hinduism)
• Focus on Buddhism.
• Story of discovery: Sanchi stupa.
• Excerpt: Reproduction of sculptures from Sanchi.
• Discussion: Ways in which sculpture has been interpreted by historians, other sources for reconstructing the history of Buddhism.

PART-II

THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS Perceptions of Society (c. tenth to seventeenth century)Broad Overview: Outlines of social and cultural life as they appear in traveller’s account.

• Story of their writings: A discussion of where they travelled, what they wrote and for whom they wrote.
• Excerpts: from Al Biruni, Ibn Battuta, Francois Bernier.
• Discussion: What these travel accounts can tell us and how they have been interpreted by historians.

BHAKTI –SUFI TRADITIONS: Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts (c. eighth to eighteenth centuries)Broad overview: Outline of religious developments during this period saints.

• Ideas and practices of the Bhakti-Sufi
• Story of Transmission: How Bhakti-Sufi compositions have been preserved.
• Excerpt: Extracts from selected Bhakti-Sufi works.
• Discussion: Ways in which these have been interpreted by historians.

AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA (c. fourteenth to sixteenth centuries)Broad Over View: New Architecture: Hampi

• Outline of new buildings during Vijayanagar period-temples, forts, irrigation facilities.
• Relationship between architecture and the political system
• Story of Discovery: Account of how Hampi was found.
• Excerpt: Visuals of buildings at Hampi
• Discussion: Ways in which historians have analyzed and interpreted these structures.

PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE: Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire (c. sixteenth-seventeenth centuries)Broad overview: The Aini-Akbari

• Structure of agrarian relations in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Patterns of change over the period.
• Story of Discovery: Account of the compilation and translation of Ain I Akbari
• Excerpt: from the Ain-iAkbari.
• Discussion: Ways in which historians have used texts to reconstruct history.

PART-III

COLONIALISM AND THE COUNTRYSIDE: Exploring Official ArchivesBroad overview: Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports

• Life of zamindars, peasants and artisans in the late18thcentury
• Permanent Settlement, Santhals and Paharias
• Story of official records: An account of why official Investigations into rural societies were undertaken and the types of records and reports produced.
• Excerpts: From Fifth Report
• Discussion: What the official records tell and do not tell, and how they have been used by historians.

REBELS AND THE RAJ: 1857 Revolt and its RepresentationsBroad overview: The events of 1857-58.

• Vision of Unity
• How these events were recorded and narrated.
• Focus: Lucknow
• Excerpts: Pictures of 1857. Extracts from contemporary accounts.
• Discussion: How the pictures of 1857 shaped British opinion of what had happened.

MAHATMA GANDHI AND THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT: Civil Disobedience and BeyondBroad overview: The Nationalist Movement 1918 -48.

• The nature of Gandhian politics and leadership.
• Focus: Mahatma Gandhi and the three movements and his last days as “finest hours”
• Excerpts: Reports from English and Indian language newspapers and other contemporary writings.
• Discussion: How newspapers can be a source of history

FRAMING THE CONSTITUTION: The Beginning of a New EraBroad overview: The Making of the Constitution an overview:

• Independence and then new nation state.
• The making of the Constitution
• Focus: The Constituent Assembly Debates
• Excerpts: from the debates
• Discussion: What such debates reveal and how they can be analyzed. 

Structure of CBSE History Sample Paper for Class 12 Arts is

For Preparation of board exams students can also check out other resource material

CBSE Class 12 History Sample Papers

Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter Wise

History Revision Notes for class 12

Previous Year Question Paper CBSE Class 12 History

Why Attempting Past Test Papers are Important for Exam Preparation?

Test papers are mainly class test papers that the subject teacher had prepared in the past for previous students. Thus when students attempt such practice test papers they get to know the framework which the subject teacher is following in making examination papers. Apart from reference books and notes, Test Papers are very effective study materials for exam preparation. When a student tries to attempt previous test papers , it becomes very easy to gauge how well the topics have been understood and what kind of questions are asked in exams related to that chapter.

As they say before facing the main battle one needs to practice on small fights and get expertise and that will make sure the success in the finals. Similarly in order to score high marks in annual exams, it is imperative to attempt previous test papers so that the student identifies and checks whether the understanding of all concepts of the already prepared chapters of any particular subject are complete or not. It highlights the weak areas if any and gives students ample amount of time to revisit the topics and work on those areas and be better prepared before exams.

Periodic Test papers, Weekly tests and Unit Test papers are usually framed on few chapters of the syllabus thus the concentration of questions asked are of good depth thus when a student attempts those papers, it makes sure that no topic or fundamental concept has been skipped by students while studying any chapter.