CUET History Syllabus 2025: Important Topics, Exam Pattern and Books to Prepare

NTA will schedule the CUET 2025 exam tentatively in May 2025. Candidates planning to take the CUET 2025 exam by choosing History as one of the domain subjects must know the CUET History Syllabus. Read the CUET History Syllabus and Exam Pattern here. Also, learn about the important topics, previous years' question papers, and recommended books to prepare for the exam.

CUET UG 2025 History Syllabus

CUET History Syllabus 2025: The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the CUET Exam annually across 380 cities, including 26 cities abroad, at multiple centers. Candidates seeking admission to UG courses through the CUET exam such as B.A. History (Hons), BSW, B.A. Sociology, B.A. Archeology, and so on have to choose History as one of the domain subjects, mapped with other subjects based on the requirement of the university/college of their choice. These candidates must know the CUET History Syllabus in detail to prepare for the examination. NTA releases CUET Syllabus on its official website - nta.ac.in. CUET History Exam is likely to be held in the third week of May 2025. NTA will release the CUET 2025 Exam Schedule tentatively in April 2025. Candidates must regularly visit the official website to remain updated on the CUET Exam Notifications.

LATEST UPDATE: CUET UG 2025 Major Changes Announced; Check Deleted Subjects, Duration, Questions, Mode

CUET History Syllabus 2025

Candidates preparing for the CUET History Exam 2025 must go through the History CUET 2025 Syllabus. Check the detailed CUET UG History Syllabus here.

Unit I: The Story of the First Cities Harappan Archaeology

• Broad Overview: Early urban centers.
• Story of Discovery: Harappan civilization.
• Excerpt: Archaeological report on a major site.
• Discussion: how it has been utilized by archaeologists/historians

Unit II: Political and Economic History: How Inscriptions tell a story

• 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: Asokan inscription and Gupta period land grant.
• Discussion: Interpretation of inscriptions by historians.

Unit III: Social Histories using the Mahabharata

• Broad Overview: Issues in social history, including caste, class, kinship, and gender.
• Story of Discovery: Transmission and publications of the Mahabharata.
• Excerpt: From the Mahabharata, illustrating how it has been used by historians.

Unit IV: A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa

• Broad Overview:
  • A brief review of religious histories of Vedic religion, Jainism, Vaisnavism, Saivism.
  • Focus on Buddhism.
• Story of Discovery: Sanchi stupa.
• Excerpt: Reproduction of sculptures from Sanchi.
• Discussion: Ways in which sculpture has been interpreted by historians, and other sources for reconstructing the history of Buddhism.

Unit V: Medieval Society Through Travellers’ Accounts

• Broad Overview: Outline of social and cultural life as they appear in travelers’ accounts.
• Story of their Writings: A discussion of where they travelled, why they travelled, what they wrote, and For whom they wrote.
• Excerpts: from Alberuni, Ibn Battuta, Bernier.
• Discussion: What these travel accounts can tell us and how they have been interpreted by historians.

Unit VI: Religious Histories: The Bhakti-Sufi Tradition

• Broad Overview:
  • Outline of religious developments during this period.
  • Ideas and practices of the Bhakti-Sufi saints.
• 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.

Unit VII: New Architecture: Hampi 

• Broad Overview:
  • Outline of new buildings during the 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 analysed and interpreted these structures.

Unit VIII: Agrarian Relations: The Ain-i-Akbari

• Broad Overview:
  • 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-i-Akbari
• Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the text to reconstruct history.

Unit IX: The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles

• Broad Overview:
  • Outline of political history c. 15th-17th centuries.
  • Discussion of the Mughal court and politics.
• Story of Discovery: Account of the production of court chronicles, and their subsequent translation and transmission.
• Excerpts: from the Akbarnama and Padshahnama.
• Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the texts to reconstruct political histories.

Unit X: Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports

• Broad Overview:
  • Life of zamindars, peasants and artisans in the late 18th century.
  • East India Company, revenue settlements and surveys.
  • Changes over the nineteenth century.
• 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 Firminger’s Fifth Report, Accounts of Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, and Deccan Riots Report.
• Discussion: What the official records tell and do not tell, and how they have been used by historians.

Unit XI: Representations of 1857

• Broad Overview:
  • The events of 1857-58.
  • 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.

Unit XII: Colonialism and Indian Towns: Town Plans and Municipal Reports

• Broad Overview: The growth of Mumbai, Chennai, hill stations, and cantonments in the 18th and 19th century.
• Excerpts: Photographs and paintings. Plans of cities. Extract from town plan reports. Focus on Kolkata town planning.
• Discussion: How the above sources can be used to reconstruct the history of towns. What these sources do not reveal.

Unit XIII: Mahatma Gandhi through Contemporary Eyes

• Broad Overview:
  • The nationalist movement 1918-48,
  • The nature of Gandhian politics and leadership.
• Focus: Mahatma Gandhi in 1931.
• Excerpts: Reports from English and Indian language newspapers and other contemporary writings.
• Discussion: How newspapers can be a source of history.

Unit XIV: Partition through Oral Sources

• Broad Overview:
  • The history of the 1940s;
  • Nationalism, Communalism and Partition.
• Focus: Punjab and Bengal.
• Excerpts: Oral testimonies of those who experienced partition.
• Discussion: Ways in which these have been analysed to construct the history of the event.

Unit XV: The Making of the Constitution

• Broad Overview:
  • Independence and the new nation-state.
  • The making of the Constitution.
• Focus: The Constitutional Assembly debates.
• Excerpts: From the debates.
• Discussion: What such debates reveal and how they can be analysed.

Also Read: 

• CUET History Important Topics & Chapter Wise Weightage
• CUET Exam Analysis

CUET History Syllabus PDF Download

NTA releases the CUET UG History Syllabus online at nta.ac.in. Refer to the link below to download the CUET History Syllabus PDF:

CUET History Syllabus PDF in English

CUET History Syllabus PDF in Hindi

Also Download: CUET UG Previous Years' Question Papers