CBSE Syllabus for Class 7 SST 2024-2025

Where, When and How  

(a) Terms used to describe the subcontinent and its regions with a map.

 (b) An outlining of the time frame and major developments.

(c) A brief discussion on sources.

 New Kings and Kingdoms 

(a) An outline of political developments c. 700-1200

(b) A case study of the Cholas, including agrarian expansion in the Tamil region. 

The Sultans of Delhi  

(a) An overview.

 (b) The significance of the court, nobility and land control.

 (c) A case study of the Tughlaqs.

The Creation of an Empire

 (a) An outline of the growth of the Mughal Empire.

 (b) Relations with other rulers, administration, and the court.

(c) Agrarian relations.

(d) A case study of Akbar.

 Architecture as Power: Forts and Sacred Places 

(a) Varieties of monumental architecture in different parts of the country.

(b) A case study of Shah Jahan’s patronage of architecture. 

Towns, Traders and Craftsmen

 (a) Varieties of urban centres—court towns, pilgrimage centres, ports and trading towns.

 (b) Case studies: Hampi, Masulipatam, Surat.

a) Familiarise the student with the changing names of the land.

 (b) Discuss broad historical trends.

(c) Give examples of the kinds of sources that historians use for studying this period. E.g., buildings, chronicles, paintings, coins, inscriptions, documents, music, literature.

 a) Trace the patterns of political developments and military conquests – Gurjara Pratiharas, Rashtrakutas, Palas, Chahamanas, Ghaznavids.

(b) Develop an understanding of the connections between political and economic processes through the exploration of one specific example.

 (c) Illustrate how inscriptions are used to reconstruct history.

a) Outline the development of political institutions, and relationships amongst rulers.

(b) Understand strategies of military control and resource mobilisation.

 (c) Illustrate how travellers’ accounts, court chronicles and historic buildings are used to write history

 (a) Trace the political history of the 16th and 17th centuries.

 (b) Understand the impact of an imperial administration at the local and regional levels.

 (c) Illustrate how the Akbarnama and the Ain-i-Akbari are used to reconstruct history.

 a) Convey a sense of the range of materials, skills and styles used to build: waterworks, places of worship, palaces and havelis, forts, gardens.

(b) Understand the engineering and construction skills, artisanal organisation and resources required for building works.

 (c) Illustrate how contemporary documents, inscriptions, and the actual buildings can beused to reconstruct history.

(a) Trace the origins and histories of towns, many of which survive today.

 (b) Demonstrate the differences between founded towns and those that grow as a result of trade.

 (c) Illustrate how travellers’ accounts, contemporary maps and official documents are used to reconstruct history

UNIT 1:

• Democracy 

This unit will focus on the historical as well as the key elements that structure a democracy. The structures in place to make people’s representation a reality will be discussed with reference to its actual functioning.

Section 1  Why Democracy Two main thrusts

• Historical 

What were some of the key junctures and transformations in the emergence of democracy in modern societies? 

• Key Features – The different systems of power that exist in the world today. – Significant Elements that continue to make Democracy popular in the contemporary world:

• Formal Equality

. • Decision Making mechanisms.

• Accommodation of differences.

 • Enhancing human dignity.

 Section 2 Institutional Representation of Democracy  

• Universal Adult Franchise

.• Elections. 

• Political parties. 

• Coalition Governments.

Unit 2:

State Government 

This unit will focus on the legislative, executive and administrative aspects of state government. It will discuss processes involved in choosing MLAs, passing a bill and discuss how state governments function through taking up one issue. This unit might also contain a section on the nation-state.

Section 1: Its working  

• Main functionaries-broad outline of the role of the Chief minister and the council of ministers

Section 2: Its functioning 

Through one example: land reform/irrigation/education/water/health discuss

 • The nature of the role played by the government – regarding resources and services.

• Factors involved in distribution of resources/ services.

• Access of localities and communities to resources/ services.

 UNIT 3:

Understanding Media  

In this unit the various aspects of the role of a media in a democracy will be highlighted. This unit will also include a discussion on advertising as well as on the right to information bill.

Section 1: Media and Democracy

 Media’s role in providing the following:

 • providing information.

• providing forum for discussion/debate creating public opinion. Media ethics and accountability. Relationship between Government and Information A case-study of the popular struggle that brought about the enactment of this legislation. 

Section 2: On Advertising  

• Commercial Advertising and consumerism.

• Social advertising. 

UNIT 4:

Unpacking Gender 

This unit is to understand the role gender plays in ordering our social and economic lives.

Section 1: Social Aspects

 Norms, values that determine roles expected from boys and girls in the:

 • family.

 • community.

• schools.

 • public spaces.

• understanding inequality: The role of gender in creating unequal and hierarchical relations in society. 

Section 2: Economic Aspects

  • gender division of labour within family.

• value placed on women’s work within and outside the home.

 • the invisibilisation of women’s labour.

 UNIT 5:

Markets Around Us

  This unit is focused on discussing various types of markets, how people access these and to examine the workings of an actual market. 

Section 1 • On retail markets and our everyday needs

• On role and impact of wholesale markets how are these linked to the above

 • People’s access to markets depends upon many factors such as availability, convenience, credit, quality, price, income cycle etc.

Section 2  Examine the role of an observable wholesale market such as grain, fruit, or vegetable to understand the chain of activities, the role of intermediaries and its impact on farmer -producers

To enable students to:

• develop an understanding of the rule of Law and our involvement with the law.

• understand the Constitution as the primary source of all laws.

 • develop the ability to distinguish between different systems of power.

 • understand the importance of the idea of equality and dignity in democracy.

 • develop links between the values/ideas of democracy and the institutional forms and processes associated with it.

 • understand democracy as representative government.

• understand the vision and the values of the Constitution. To enable students to:

 • gain a sense of the nature of decision-making within State government.

• understand the domain of power and authority exercised by the state government over people’s lives.

 • gain a critical sense of the politics underlying the provision of services or the distribution of resources To enable students to:

• understand the role of the media in facilitating interaction between the government and citizens.

• gain a sense that government is accountable to its citizens.

 • understand the link between information and power.

 • gain a critical sense of the impact of media on people’s lives and choices.

 • appreciate the significance of people’s movements in gaining this right. To enable students to:

• understand that gender is a social construct and not determined by biological difference.

 • learn to interrogate gender constructions in different social and economic contexts.

• to link everyday practices with the creation of inequality and question it. To enable students to:

 • understand markets and their relation to everyday life.

 • understand markets and their function to link scattered producers and consumers.

 • gain a sense of inequity in market operations.

Environment in its totality: natural and human environment.
Natural Environment: land – interior of the earth, rocks and minerals; earth movements and major land forms.

 
(One case study related with earthquake to be introduced) Air – composition, structure of the atmosphere, elements of weather and climate – temperature, pressure, moisture and wind.

(One case study related with cyclones to be introduced) Water – fresh and saline, distribution of major water bodies, ocean waters and their circulation.

 (One case study related with tsunami to be introduced) Natural vegetation and wild life. Human Environment: settlement, transport and communication.

Human – Environment Interaction: Case Studies – life in desert regions – Sahara and Ladakh; life in tropical and sub-tropical regions – Amazon and Ganga-Brahmaputra; life in temperate regions – Prairies and Veldt.

To understand the environment in its totality including various components both natural and human; (Periods-6) To explain the components of natural environment; To appreciate the interdependence of these components and their importance in our life.
 To appreciate and develop sensitivity towards environments; (Periods-12) To understand about atmosphere and its elements;
(Periods-10) To know about distribution of water on the earth; (Periods-10) To find out the nature of diverse flora and fauna. (Periods-5) To explain the relationship between natural environment and human habitation; To appreciate the need of transport and communication for development of the community; To be familiar with the new developments making today’s world a global society; (Periods-7) To understand the complex inter relationship of human and natural environment; To compare life in one’s own surrounding with life of other environmental settings; To appreciate the cultural differences existing in the world which is an outcome of interaction, between human beings and their environment; (Periods-15)