How to read Themes in Indian History, Part 1 for Prelims

Themes in Indian History, Part 1, NCERT, Class 12. Harappa to the early empires, taught through the sources historians actually work from.

The reading guide for this book is being written. The chapter map on this page is complete and every note linked from it is live.

Reading is half of it. Every chapter below is mapped to the real Prelims questions that came from it, so you can test a chapter the moment you finish it.

Practise the 39 PYQs from this book

Every chapter, and what it is worth

Ordered as the book orders them. The count is how many real Prelims questions in our bank came from that chapter.

Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I, Theme 1: Bricks, Beads and Bones (The Harappan Civilisation)
6 PYQs
Sources, Archaeology and Historiography
3 PYQs
Kings, Farmers and Towns: The Mahajanapadas and the Mauryan Empire
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I, Theme 2: Kings, Farmers and Towns (Early States and Economies, c. 600 BCE-600 CE)
6 PYQs
The Gupta Empire and Post-Gupta Polity
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I, Theme 2: Kings, Farmers and Towns (Early States and Economies, c. 600 BCE-600 CE)
7 PYQs
Kinship, Caste and Class: Early Societies
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I, Theme 3: Kinship, Caste and Class (Early Societies, c. 600 BCE-600 CE)
1 PYQ
Buddhism and the Spread of Buddhist Thought
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I, Theme 4: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings (Cultural Developments, c. 600 BCE-600 CE)
7 PYQs
Buddhism and Jainism: Comparative Philosophy
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I, Theme 4: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings (Cultural Developments, c. 600 BCE-600 CE)
3 PYQs
Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I, Theme 4: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings (Cultural Developments, c. 600 BCE-600 CE)
1 PYQ
Early Medieval Dynasties and Regional Kingdoms
2 PYQs
Sangam Age: Trade, Literature and Society
2 PYQs
Bhakti Movement and Religious Chronology
NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part II, Theme 6: Bhakti-Sufi Traditions (Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts, c. eighth to eighteenth century)
1 PYQ