ISC Class 12 Syllabus 2028 History

ISC
INDIAN SCHOOL CERTIFICATE
EXAMINATION

YEAR 2028

HISTORY
(851)

Developed by:
Research, Development and Curriculum Division (RDCD)
CISCE

January 2026
____________________________________________________________________________________________

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Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)

MISSION STATEMENT

The Council for the Indian School Certificate
Examinations is committed to serving the nation's
children, through high quality educational
endeavours, empowering them to contribute towards
a humane, just and pluralistic society, promoting
introspective living, by creating exciting learning
opportunities, with a commitment to excellence.

ETHOS OF CISCE

Trust and fair play.
Minimum monitoring.
Allowing schools to evolve their own niche.
Catering to the needs of the children.
Giving freedom to experiment with new ideas
and practices.
Diversity and plurality - the basic strength for
evolution of ideas.
Schools to motivate pupils towards the
cultivation of:
Excellence - The Indian and Global
experience.
Values - Spiritual and cultural - to be the bedrock
of the educational experience.
Schools to have an 'Indian Ethos', strong roots in
the national psyche and be sensitive to national
aspirations.

CLASS XII
There will be two papers in the subject:
Paper I: Theory 3 hours ------ 80 marks
Paper II: Project Work --------20 marks

PAPER I (THEORY) : 80 MARKS
INDIAN HISTORY

1. Towards Independence and Partition: The Last Phase (1939-1947)
(i) National Movement during the Second World War:
Reasons behind the August Offer and the Cripps Mission. The proposals and the reasons for their
rejection leading directly to the Quit India Resolution. A compact account of the movement, its
suppression and a brief analysis of its significance.
(ii) Subhash Chandra Bose and the INA.
Bose’s organisation of the INA, a brief account of its operations, eventual defeat and significance.
(iii) Transfer of power (1945-1947):
Reasons for change in the attitude of the British government after World War II.
Cabinet Mission: its aims and major provisions.
1947: Attlee’s Declaration of 20th February 1947; Mountbatten Plan – main features: reasons for
acceptance of the Plan by major political parties.
Modifications in the Indian Independence Act.

2. Establishment of Indian democracy (1947 – 1966)
The following should be discussed:
(i) The role of Sardar Patel in the reorganization and integration of princely states.
(ii) Problems of integrating Junagarh, Hyderabad and Kashmir.
(iii) First general election (1952): problems of preparation and their solutions, process, result and impact of
the elections.
(iv) The linguistic reorganisation of states: Features of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 with particular
reference to Andhra, Bombay and Punjab.

3. Development of Indian Democracy (1964 – 1977)
The following to be discussed:
(i) Lal Bahadur Shastri – his contributions as Prime Minister
(ii) Importance of the election of 1967
(iii) Main Opposition political parties and their ideologies – Socialist Party (SP); Communist Party of India
(CPI); Communist Party of India (Marxist (CPI(M)); Bharatiya Jan Sangh; Shiromani Akali Dal.
(iv) Naxal Movement: factors of its rise; main leaders (Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal); areas where
they operated (West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh) and the struggle carried out by peasants and students.;
government measures against it; reasons for its decline in the 1970’s and its impact.

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(v) JP Movement (1974-75): Origin: Jai Prakash Narayan’s disputes with Mrs. Gandhi; main features of its
course. Assessment of its significance.
(vi) Emergency (1975-76): reasons for imposition; main features of the suspension of democratic rights.
Assessment of its impact (positive and negative aspects).

4. Changing face of the Indian Democracy (1977 – 1986)
(i) The Janata Government (1977 – 1979).
Elections of 1977: establishment of the Janata Government; its policies and their implementation; reasons
for its downfall.
(ii) Centre-State relations
(a) Punjab: Demands of the Akali Dal; Anandpur Sahib Resolution; 1977 elections; formation of Akali
government; rise of Bhindranwale – his demands and methods.
Centre’s response: Operation Bluestar – its results and impact. Punjab Accord, 1985.
(b) Assam: Reasons for Assamese discontent; course of Assam’s agitation; the Centre’s response: Assam
Accord, 1985.
(c) Nagaland: The Nagas’ separatist demands; birth of Nagaland state; course of the agitation; Shillong
Accord, 1975.
(d) Mizoram:
Mizoram Movement (1959-1986): course and resolution.

5. India’s Foreign Policy
(i) Pakistan (1947-49, 1965, 1971)
Indo-Pak wars: causes, course and consequences of each to be done separately.
(ii) Sino-Indian War (1962)
Disputes with the Peoples’ Republic of China over (a) Tibet issue: Chinese takeover and asylum of the
Dalai Lama in India; (b) Border issues.
Sino-Indian War (1962): immediate causes and consequences.

6. Movements for Women’s Rights
Towards Equality Report (1974) – aims, significance and recommendations.
Developments in the anti-dowry movement and struggle against domestic violence in the 1970s and 1980s.
Measures undertaken by the government in response.

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WORLD HISTORY

7. World War II
(i) Factors leading to the War: aggressive foreign policies of Germany, Italy and Japan.
Should be discussed to show how these aggressive policies made war more likely and worldwide in scope.
(ii) Anglo-French appeasement policies.
Appeasement: why Britain and France chose to follow this policy and how it was carried out.
(iii) Axis invasions in Europe and Asia (1939-1941).
(iv) Course of the War in Europe, Africa and Far East (1942-45).
(v) Reasons for the defeat of the Axis Powers.

8. De-colonisation – in Asia (China) and Africa (Ghana & Kenya)
(i) China:
A short background of the problems facing the Communists in 1949: in agriculture, the gradual process
from land distribution to collective farms should be outlined; in industry, the Five Year Plan and Soviet
help.
The Great Leap Forward should be covered in more detail, particularly the development of commune and
assessment of the GLF.
(ii) Ghana: democracy and dictatorship (1957-66).
Brief background to independence, Nkrumah’s role, reasons for his overthrow.
(iii) Kenya: conflict and independence (1947 – 1964).
Conflict with whites over independence and role of Kenyatta.

9. Cold War (1945-91)– origin, end and impact
(i) Origins of the Cold War: End of wartime unity; Yalta and Potsdam Conferences; Truman Doctrine and
Marshall Plan; Molotov Plan, COMECON and Cominform.
(ii) The rift widens - Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe (1945-1948) including the communist coup in
Czechoslovakia.
(iii) Cold War Crises - Berlin Blockade – NATO – division of Germany. Cuban Missile Crisis – causes and
effects.
(iv) Détente – reasons for it and effects on Eastern Europe.
(v) Downfall of Communism in Poland and East Germany.
(vi) Breakup of the USSR
Reasons for collapse of USSR
Political changes; Coup of 1991; Demand for independence by the Soviet republics leading to the breakup
of USSR.

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10. Protest Movements
Civil Rights Movement, anti-Apartheid Movement; Feminist Movement.
(i) Racial problems and civil rights in USA in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s: Racial discrimination, change in
the government’s attitude, campaign for equal rights (Dr. Martin Luther King’s role).
(ii) Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa (1948-1994): main features of Apartheid, opposition to
Apartheid (Dr Nelson Mandela’s role), transition to black majority rule and the end of Apartheid.
(iii) Second Wave Feminist Movement in USA (early 1960s – early 1980’s): reasons for its origin (the impact
of the Presidential Commission, Betty Friedan’s book and the Civil Rights Movement); Equal Pay Act of
1963 – its implications for American women, Measures taken by Johnson (Civil Rights Act of 1964), Role
of National Organisation for Women (NOW) and its campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

11. Middle East: Israeli-Palestine conflict (1916-1993)
(i) Post War conflict in Palestine after World War I, till the formation of the state of Israel.
Aims of Arab nationalism and Zionism. Impact of World War I: the conflicting promises made by the
British to the Arabs and the Jews: Husain-MacMahon correspondence, the Sykes-Picot Agreement and
the Balfour Declaration.
(ii) The Arab-Israeli Wars from 1948 to Camp David Accord (1979).
The following conflicts should be studied – First Arab- Israeli Conflict (1948-1949), the Suez Crisis
(1956), the Six Day War (1967), the Yom Kippur War (1973), Sadat and the Camp David Accord (1979).
For each of these events, the causes and results should be studied in detail.
The origin and formation of the PLO.
(iii) Oslo Peace Accords (1993 & 1995).
Intifada and the change in attitude of Israel and the PLO leading to the Oslo Peace Accords I (1993) and
II (1995). Assessment of the main features of each. Why it failed to bring peace.

PAPER II (PROJECT WORK) : 20 MARKS
Candidates will be required to undertake one project on any one of the following history topics from the 20th-21st
(till 2012) centuries (India/World).
• Politics – leadership, domestic policy, foreign policy.
• Military – any war: causes, course and consequences. Strategies & tactics. Technology. Outcome: peace
settlements.
• Economy – economic policy: terms and impact. Currency, communication, trade. Agriculture and industry.
• Society & culture – Traditions, food, clothing, festivals, role and status of women, education, art, architecture,
sculpture, music, dance, literature.
• Religion – philosophy, ideas, beliefs, practices, impact.

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The project may be in any one of the following categories:
1. A case study.
2. A field visit/ investigation.
3. A local history.
4. Interview/oral evidence.
5. Book review/ film review/ posters/ newspapers/ advertisements/ cartoons and art.
The project may or may not be based on the syllabus; students must be encouraged to produce original, creative
and insightful perspectives on an allied aspect of the topic.
The written outcome of the project, in the form of 800–1500-word essay, should be structured as given
below:
• Introduction - Background and context to be discussed very briefly.
• Main body - Explanation, Interpretation, Analysis and Critical Evaluation of a range of evidence: the research
material gathered by the student.
• Conclusion - Brief summing up of the topic.
• Bibliography – a list of all material referred to in the essay, including print, electronic, oral & audio-visual
material, referenced correctly, in a standard format.
• Appendix – optional, only if it is crucial for the better understanding of the project essay.

List of suggested Projects:
1. Leaders – e.g., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Noor Inayat Khan, Surya Sen, Vinoba Bhave, Sun Yat Sen, Golda
Meir, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Margaret Thatcher, etc.
2. Radical organisations – ideologies, acts and impact. E.g., KKK, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, Sendero
Luminoso, Khmer Rouge, Japanese Red Army, etc.
3. Protests Movements – political ideologies, civil rights, workers, caste, environment. E.g., Arab Spring, Chipko
Movement, Black Lives Matter, Dalit Panther Movement, etc.
4. UN – Peacekeeping actions and Weaknesses.
5. Regional Organisations and their contributions – E.g., SAARC, ASEAN, EU, AU, etc.
6. Growth of feminist movements in India /the West.
7. Music /art as a medium of protest.
8. Books that have had a profound effect on society.
9. Wars – e.g., contribution of Indian soldiers to the World Wars; role of colonial armies in the World Wars;
guerrilla wars (e.g. Vietnam War), etc.

The Project will be assessed by the teacher and a Visiting Examiner appointed locally and approved by
CISCE.

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Assessment of Project Work will be done as follows:
1. Internal Evaluation by Teacher 10 Marks
2. Evaluation by Visiting Examiner 10 Marks
TOTAL 20 Marks

Internal Evaluation by the Teacher:
S.no. Assessment Criteria Marks
objective
1. Process Candidate should be able to: 3
Identify the topic. Plan and detail a research project.
2. Understanding, Candidate should be able to: 4
application of Explain issues and themes clearly and in context.
knowledge and Interpret, analyse and evaluate critically the topic.
Analysis
3. Presentation Overall format and referencing, title page and 3
bibliography.
TOTAL 10
Evaluation by the Visiting Examiner:
S.no. Assessment Criteria Marks
objective
1. Choice of Technique/ Overall format, referencing, title page and bibliography. 4
Detailed procedure &
Presentation
2. Analysis and Candidates should be able to: 3
evaluation Interpret, analyze and evaluate critically a range of
evidence.
3. Viva Range of questions based on the project only. 3
TOTAL 10

GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS:
1. It must be emphasised that the process of doing the project is as important as the finished product.
2. Once the project/projects are chosen, there should be a process of brainstorming to encourage students to make
out a draft/structure for the project before embarking on research.
3. During the brainstorming/discussion, the teacher should discuss the assessment criteria with the students.
4. The teacher should discuss the draft with the student with regard to the central question and the type of sources
to be used.
5. The students should be guided on doing the research and looking at different types of evidence.
6. Books and suitable reference materials could be suggested and even put up on the library notice board for
guidance of the students.
7. Internet sites could be suggested, but care must be taken in selecting, using and citing these sites.
8. Students must be cautioned against plagiarism and be penalised for the same.
9. Marks must be awarded for content and originality and not for decorative elements and embellishments.
10. Projects must be the original work of the student.

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