CUET History Syllabus PDF Download: Paper Pattern and How to Prepare for CUET History

History syllabus for CUET: CUET (UG) is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) once a year. It has released the official CUET History syllabus on its official website. The same has been discussed here, along with the paper pattern and some essential CUET History preparation tips & strategies. According to the NTA, the History syllabus for CUET will be the complete NCERT class 12 syllabus for History. Candidates are advised to review the detailed CUET history syllabus and prepare for the CUET 2026 to ensure they don’t fall behind their peers.

The CUET History exam pattern:

  • The exam consists of 50 compulsory questions
  • The maximum mark for the CUET History paper is 250
  • A score above 190 is considered a good score
  • The exam will be in CBT mode and have a 60-minute duration.

Once students have checked the CUET UG History syllabus, they must effectively plan how to prepare for CUET History. To begin CUET History preparation, two crucial things are awareness of the CUET exam pattern and the CUET syllabus for respective subjects.

History Syllabus for CUET UG

Students need to start being consistent and put their best foot forward by starting to prepare for the CUET History exam as soon as possible. Before moving on with planning how to prepare history for CUET, students must go through the detailed CUET history syllabus.

The History syllabus for CUET consists of 12 units, which are further divided into various chapters and subtopics.

The detailed History syllabus for CUET

UNIT

TOPIC

SUB-TOPIC

1.

The Story of the First Cities Harappan Archaeology

  • Broad overview: Early urban centres.
  • Story of discovery: Harappan civilization.
  • Excerpt: Archaeological report on a significant site.
  • Discussion: How have archaeologists/historians utilized it?

2.

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.

3.

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.

4.

A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa

  • Broad overview:
  • (a) A brief review of the religious histories of Vedic religion, Jainism, Vaishnavism, and Saivism.
  • (b) Focus on Buddhism.
  • Story of discovery: Sanchi Stupa.
  • Excerpt: Reproduction of sculptures from Sanchi. Discussion: Ways in which sculpture has been interpreted by historians, as well as other sources for reconstructing the history of Buddhism.

5.

Medieval Society through Travellers’ Accounts

  • Broad Overview: Outline of social and cultural life as it appears in travellers’ 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 Batuta, and Bernier.
  • Discussion: What can these travel accounts tell us, and how have they been interpreted by historians?

6.

Religious Histories: The Bhakti-Sufi Tradition

  • Broad Overview:
  • (a) Outline of religious developments during this period.
  • (b) 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.

7.

New Architecture: Hampi

  • Broad Overview:
  • (a)Outline new buildings during the Vijayanagar period, such as temples, forts, and irrigation facilities.
  • (b)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.

8.

Agrarian Relations: The Ain-i-Akbari

  • Broad overview:
  • (a) Structure of agrarian relations in the 16th and 17th centuries.
  • (b) 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.

9.

Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports

  • Broad overview:
  • (a) Life of zamindars, peasants, and artisans in the late 18th century.
  • (b) East India Company, revenue settlements, and surveys.
  • (c) 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 do the official records tell and do not tell, and how have they been used by historians?

10.

Representations of 1857

  • Broad Overview:
  • (a) The events of 1857-58.
  • (b) How were these events recorded and narrated?
  • Focus: Lucknow.
  • Excerpts: Pictures of 1857. Extracts from contemporary accounts.
  • Discussion: How did the pictures of 1857 shape British opinion of what had happened?

11.

Mahatma Gandhi Through Contemporary Eyes

  • Broad Overview:
  • (a) The nationalist movement 1918-48,
  • (b) 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.

12.

The Making of the Constitution

  • Broad Overview:
  • (a) Independence and the new nation-state.
  • (b) The making of the Constitution.
  • Focus: The Constitutional Assembly debates.
  • Excerpts: From the debates.
  • Discussion: What do such debates reveal, and how can they be analyzed? 

CUET History Paper Pattern & Marking Scheme

Awareness of the CUET exam pattern and the marking scheme will give students an overview of the exam and help them effectively plan to ace the test. Before proceeding further, let's look at the CUET (UG) History exam pattern.

The detailed CUET History exam pattern is mentioned below:

  • NTA has officially announced that the CUET history syllabus will include the complete NCERT syllabus from class 12th standard.
  • There will be one Question Paper with 50 questions, all compulsory.
  • 5 marks will be awarded for each correct answer, and 1 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
  • Question types will be objective (MCQs), and the duration will be 60 mins.

How to Prepare History for CUET?

Once students are thoroughly acquainted with the CUET History syllabus and have calculated the time they have at hand, they can easily plan their strategies to ensure success in CUET History. It is easier said than done to go through the syllabus in detail and devise a suitable approach or strategy for CUET History preparation.

This article will help students by giving essential CUET preparation tips and a detailed strategy to help them cope with the study load. 

CUET History Preparation Tips

History fundamentally differs from other important subjects, so the CUET History preparation strategy must be adaptive. Here, the facts, figures, and data are more critical than conceptual clarity and understanding. Therefore, as a subject, history demands a strong memory and retention ability. For some students, this retention ability comes naturally; for others, it can be developed by being methodical and regular in their practice.

A few tips and tricks that will help students to memorise and retain the subject knowledge effectively are listed below:


Suggested Readings


CUET History Preparation Strategy

CUET will be the sole gateway to 210+ Universities for UG admissions. The competition will be huge, and candidates must be prepared in every way to crack the exam with a good score. The best thing to do is to start preparing early with expert guidance and mentorship.

Below are a few strategies to help students effectively prepare for CUET History.

Wisely choose the sources

A brief syllabus idea will enable students to understand all the essential things they must go through. But choosing the source is always a difficult task. The NCERT class 12 textbook might be handy, but the problem is with the other secondary sources that students must use. Using unreliable sources often might be misleading and confusing. Therefore, students must check on this aspect and choose study materials wisely, which suit them & their approach.

Sticking to the timetable

This is high time, and students can not afford to be distracted. Thorough concentration and dedication are the price students should be ready to pay if they want to score well in CUET UG. Making the strategy is secondary, but being able to follow it with regularity is the primary requirement. This is where having a timetable is very important. A timetable makes the approach disciplined and sincere.

Practice and revise

Most of the history syllabus discusses facts, figures, and dates. Therefore, it becomes a necessary condition that you practice and revise as many times as possible. Making bullet list pointers and maintaining a list of short notes always helps save time while revising.

With practice only comes perfection. For practice, solving CUET history previous year's question papers and attempting the CUET mock test might prove to be helpful for students.

Keep calm and take care

Students often forget or do not care about themselves in a rush to prepare. Students must eat, sleep well, and care for their minds and bodies during this phase. Don't take unnecessary pressure and create anxiety. Remember to rest and relax on time and maintain healthy sleeping hours. Without a healthy mind and body, one can't give 100% and will always fall short. So, do what is necessary and don't overburden. Maintain a healthy study-rest balance.


CUET History Preparation Strategy

Students often look for a well-curated book, which they can refer to during their CUET History Preparation. The basic and non-negotiable for aspirants is the History NCERT book. NCERT books are known to clear the basic concepts for students. Most of the questions are often from the NCERT, directly or indirectly.

In addition to History NCERT, students should refer to GKP’s History book. It consists of 5 Mocks and 5 solved papers. This combination of practice tests and solved papers makes the book an efficient tool for CUET History exam preparation.

CUET (Common University Entrance Test) will be the biggest UG entrance exam carnival nationwide, and the competition will be unparalleled. Students must follow the brief CUET History syllabus and the above-described tips and strategies to make their plan and start their preparation journey.

Alternatively, students can enroll in various comprehensive CUET online coaching programs to make the best use of their time and effort.


Kickstart your preparation for Class XI/Boards + CUET 2026/27 with Career Launcher. With 29+ years of experience in UG test preparation, CL can be your trusted companion for this herculean preparation journey.

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