CUET UG History Syllabus 2025; Check Unit-wise Important Topics, Download PDF

CUET UG Syllabus 2025: The prospective candidates of CUET UG 2025 History exam must familiarise themselves with the syllabus of the History paper. The comprehensive syllabus for CUET UG 2025 History has been released by the National Testing Agency (NTA) along with the official notification. All the candidates aspiring to take the upcoming UG entrance exam must check the syllabus and create their study plan accordingly. The CUET UG 2025 will serve as the gateway to undergraduate admissions for the academic session 2025-26 in central, state, deemed, and private universities across India. The CUET UG provides a standardised platform for students from various educational boards. 

CUET UG Syllabus 2025

The CUET UG syllabus for History 2025 consists of topics like - Harappan Archaeology, Political and Economic History, Religious Histories, The Mughal Court, Colonialism and Rural Society, Representations of 1857, Mahatma Gandhi Through Contemporary Eyes, Partition through Oral Sources, The Making of the Constitution. Candidates are advised to thoroughly go through the entire CUET UG History syllabus before starting their preparation. Check the important topics for the CUET UG History syllabus. The detailed topics of the CUET UG History syllabus are given below.

Unit I: The Story of the First Cities Harappan Archaeology

Broad overview: Early urban centres.
Story of discovery: Harappan civilisation.
Excerpt: Archaeological report on a major site. Discussion: how it has been utilised 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) A brief review of religious histories of Vedic religion, Jainism, Vaisnavism, 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, 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 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, 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:

(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.

Unit VII: New Architecture: Hampi

Broad Overview:

(a) Outline of new buildings during the Vijayanagar period — temples, forts, 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.

Unit VIII: 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.

Unit IX: 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 DeccanRiots Report.

Discussion: What do the official records tell and do not tell, and how they have been used by historians?

Unit X: Representations of 1857

Broad Overview:

(a) The events of 1857-58.

(b) 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 XI: 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.

Unit XII: 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 they can be analysed?

CUET UG History 2025 Syllabus Official PDF

The NTA is going to conduct the CUET UG 2025 in March 2025. For which the agency has released the official CUET UG History syllabus PDF. Check the direct link provided below to download the CUET UG History syllabus official PDF.

How to Prepare the CUET UG History Syllabus 2025?

The candidates should adopt a strategic approach to crack the CUET UG exam. Here, we are giving you some valuable tips for effective CUET UG preparation for History paper.

• Understand the Syllabus: First of all you should go through the entire syllabus and identify the most important topics of the CUET UG History syllabus. It will help you to identify the topics that demand your extra attention. Prioritise your study plan accordingly and cover all the important topics first.
• Prepare a Study Plan: After analysing the syllabus, create a comprehensive study plan that covers all the topics mentioned in the CUET UG History syllabus. Allocate sufficient time for each topic based on your strengths and weaknesses.
• Practice Previous Year Papers: Practice previous years' papers to acquaint yourself with the exam pattern and question types. This will help you to identify your strong and weak areas and also give a fair idea of important topics.
• Take Mock Tests: Regularly, take mock tests to get familiar with the real exam environment. After each mock test, analyse your performance, identify areas that require improvement, and work on improving them. Taking mock tests will also improve your time management skills.
• Create Revision Notes: Develop a habit of creating short revision notes comprising important formulas, concepts, and key points for last-minute review.

Best Books to Prepare CUET UG History Syllabus 2025

The selection of study material is also very important to crack the CUET UG exam. Here we are providing a list of some highly recommended books for CUET UG syllabus History paper.

1. Grade 11 and 12 NCERT Books
2. CUET-UG: History Entrance Exam Guide by RPH Editorial Board

CUET UG History Exam Pattern 

The NTA conducts the CUET UG 2025 exam for students who wish to get admission into History Programmes in Central and other participating Universities/Institutions. 

The CUET UG exam has 50 questions with a total of 250 marks. The total allotted time for this online exam is 60 minutes. The paper consists of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). All the important details about the CUET UG exam pattern are given in the table below.