ISC Class 11 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.

HISTORY (851)

Aims:
1. To provide accurate knowledge of significant events and personalities of the period under study, in sequence
and in context.
2. To familiarise candidates with factual evidence upon which explanations or judgements about the period must
be founded.
3. To develop an understanding of the existence of problems and relevance of evidence of explanations.
4. To develop the capacity to marshal facts and evaluate evidence and to discuss issues from a historical point
of view.
5. To develop the capacity to read historical views in the light of new evidence or new interpretation of evidence.
6. To foster a sense of historical continuity.
7. To encourage diminution of prejudices and to develop a more international approach to world history.
8. To develop the ability to express views and arguments clearly using correct terminology of the subject.
9. To familiarise candidates with various types of historical evidence and to provide some awareness of the
problems involved in evaluating different kinds of source materials.

CLASS XI
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. Emergence of the Colonial Economy
(i) Development of the means of transport and communication.
Transportation: a brief look at the development of the railways.
(ii) Effect of British revenue policy:
Impact on peasants and artisans
Disruption of the traditional economy.
A general account of the impact of the British revenue policies on peasants and artisans.
(iii) Development of modern industries.
An account of the growth of large-scale machine based industries in western India, its economic impact.
(iv) Colonial Forest Policy - impact on local communities.
An overview of the 19th century Colonial Forest Policy. Political and economic impact of the Colonial
Forest Policy on local communities.

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2. Social Movements
(i) Struggle against caste – Jyotirao Phule, Narayan Guru, Veerasalingam.
A brief outline of their contributions to Indian society.
(ii) The Women’s Question
Women’s condition in India in the 19th century. Features of the following Acts: Abolition of Sati (1829),
Widow Remarriage (1856), Female Infanticide Prevention (1870) and Age of Consent (1891) - their
impact on indian women.

3. Protest Movements against Colonial Rule
Circumstances that led to different protest movements: the Indigo Uprising (1859), Deccan riots (1875),
Munda Uprising (1899-1900) and the impact on the colonial policies.

4. Growth of Nationalism
(i) Swadeshi Movement
Partition of Bengal and anti-Partition Movement including the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement: causes
and impact of the movement.
(ii) Foundation of the Muslim League.
Circumstances leading to its foundation.
Objectives of the Muslim League.

5. Gandhian Nationalism (1916 – 1922)
(i) Agitation against the Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh (1919).
The reasons behind the Rowlatt Act and its main terms to be studied in brief. A general account of the
satyagraha against the Act, leading to Jallianwala Bagh.
(ii) The launching of the passive resistance movement by Gandhi: Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement
(1919-1922).
The launching of the Khilafat and the Non-Cooperation Movements. There should be a connected
chronological account of both the movements and their suspension.

6. Gandhian Nationalism (1927 – 1937)
(i) Lahore session and declaration of 'Poorna Swaraj' as the Congress objective.
Events leading to the Lahore session – Simon Commission: a brief explanation of the reasons for its
boycott; demand for Dominion Status by 1929 (Nehru Report).
The main points of the Poorna Swaraj Resolution.

(ii) Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-1934).
A general account of the features of the Movement; main terms of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact; the 1st and 2nd
Round Table Conferences; resumption of the Movement and the Poona Pact.
(iii) Government of India Act, 1935.
The main features of Government of India Act, 1935 should be explained.
A critical account of the election of 1937. A summary of the main developments under Congress and
non-Congress ministries should be included.

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WORLD HISTORY

7. World War I: Causes, events leading to it; Peace settlements
(i) Main long-term causes: alliance system, imperialism, militarism (arms race), nationalism.
Main short-term causes: events from 1908 to 1914.
(ii) Paris Peace Settlements-Changes in the map of Europe; critical evaluation of the Treaty of Versailles.

8. The Great Depression
(i) Causes leading to the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and its impact on the economy of USA, Germany &
Japan.
(ii) Roosevelt and the New Deal – (a) Aims (b) Measures taken.

9. Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917 -1939)
(i) The Russian Revolution of 1917 - causes of the March Revolution and its results; weaknesses of the
Provisional Government leading to the November Revolution.
(ii) Lenin: reasons for New Economic Policy (NEP) and its impact.
(iii) Rise of Stalin to power and factors assisting his rise.
(iv) Main features of Stalin’s domestic policy:
Collectivisation of agriculture.
Industrialisation: First and Second Five Year Plans
Purges of 1937-1938.

10. Rise of Fascism under Mussolini in Italy (1919-39)

(i) Post-War discontent and the rise to power of Benito Mussolini.
Conditions which gave rise to Fascism; a brief chronological account of the events which brought
Mussolini to power from the election of 1921 to the march on Rome in October 1922.
(ii) Main features of Mussolini's domestic policy.
Critical appraisal of Mussolini’s policies particularly his economic policy.

11. Rise of Nazism under Hitler in Germany (1933-39)
(i) Rise of Hitler to power and factors assisting his rise.
Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic as a background to the rise of Nazism; events from 1932 onwards
leading to Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933; the reasons for his popularity among
different groups should be explained.
(ii) The Nazi State: from 1933 onwards.
Outline of the changes made by Hitler in government, the cultural life and education, army (the Night of
the Long Knives), the economy and religious life. Escalation of the campaign against the Jews should be
done in some detail, till the "Final Solution". Reasons why his policies were accepted among different
groups.

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12. Rise of Militarism in Japan (1919-37)
Reasons for the rise of militarism in the 1930s.

PAPER II (PROJECT WORK) : 20 MARKS
Candidates will be required to undertake one project on any one of the following history topics from 18th-20th
centuries (India/World).
1. Politics – leadership, domestic policy, foreign policy.
2. Military – any war: causes, course and consequences. Strategies & tactics. Technology. Outcome: peace
settlements.
3. Economy – economic policy: terms and impact. Currency, communication, trade. Agriculture and industry.
4. Society & culture – Traditions, food, clothing, festivals, role and status of women, education, art, architecture,
sculpture, music, dance, literature.
5. Religion – philosophy, ideas, beliefs, practices, impact.
The project may be in any one of the following categories:
(i) A case study.
(ii) A field visit/ investigation.
(iii) A local history.
(iv) Interview/oral evidence.
(v) 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- political, social, cultural, religious, military
2. Growth of political organisations in the 18th - early 20th centuries.
3. Impact of British colonial policies before/ after 1857.
4. Industrialisation - Impact on the lives of the people.
5. Birth of totalitarian ideologies.

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6. The 1920s Cultural Movement in USA - Jazz Age.
7. Changes in nature of warfare – late 19th and early 20th century conflicts, World War I.
8. Growth of feminist movements in the West.
9. Music/art as a medium of protest.
10. Books that changed the course of history.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:
Mark allocation for the Project will be as follows:
Assessment objective Criteria Marks
1. Process Candidates should be able to: 5
Identify the topic, Plan and detail a research project.
2.Understanding, application of Candidates should be able to: 5
knowledge and Analysis Explain issues and themes clearly and in context.
Interpret, analyse and evaluate critically the topic.
3. Presentation Overall format and referencing 5
4. Viva Range of questions based on the project only. 5
TOTAL 20

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 students.

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