Exploring Society:

India and Beyond

Social Science Textbook for
Grade 7 | Part 1

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 0781 – Exploring Society: India and Beyond
ISBN 978-93-5729-287-0
Social Science Textbook for Class 7 Part 1

First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

April 2025 Chaitra 1947  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise
without the prior permission of the publisher.
PD 1500T BS  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by
way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed
of without the publisher’s consent, in any form of binding or
© National Council of Educational cover other than that in which it is published.
Research and Training, 2025  The correct price of this publication is the price printed on
this page, Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or
by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and should
be unacceptable.

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201301

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 Foreword
The National Education Policy 2020 envisages a system of education
in the country that is rooted in Indian ethos and its civilisational
accomplishments in all fields of knowledge and human endeavour. At
the same time, it aims to prepare the students to engage constructively
with the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century. The basis for
this aspirational vision has been well laid out by the National Curriculum
Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 across curricular areas
at all stages. By nurturing students’ inherent abilities across all the five
planes of human existence, (pañchakośhas), the Foundational and the
Preparatory Stages set the stage for the further learning at Middle Stage.
Spanning Grade 6 to Grade 8, the Middle Stage serves as a critical three
year bridge between the Preparatory and Secondary Stages.
The NCF-SE 2023, at the Middle Stage, aims to equip students with
the skills that are needed to grow, as they advance in their lives. It
endeavours to enhance their analytical, descriptive, and narrative
capabilities, and to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities
that await them. A diverse curriculum, covering nine subjects ranging
from three languages — including at least two languages native to India
— to Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Art Education, Physical
Education and Well-being, and Vocational Education promotes their
holistic development.
Such a transformative learning culture requires certain essential
conditions. One of them is to have appropriate textbooks in different
curricular areas, as these textbooks will play a central role in mediating
between content and pedagogy — a role that will strike a judicious
balance between direct instruction and opportunities for exploration
and inquiry. Among the other conditions, classroom arrangement and
teacher preparation are crucial to establish conceptual connections both
within and across curricular areas.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training, on its part,
is committed to providing students with such high-quality textbooks.
Various Curricular Area Groups, which have been constituted for this
purpose, comprising notable subject-experts, pedagogues, and practising

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 teachers as their members, have made all possible efforts to develop such
textbooks. The Social Science textbook for Grade 7 — Exploring Society:
India and Beyond Part 1 — has been prepared for the second year of the
middle stage. It carries forward the themes and approach of Grade 6; the
focus is on core concepts and major developments. It endeavours to keep
the students engaged in learning through illustrations, maps and pictures
laid out in an attractive design. There are abundant reflective exercises
and activities embedded in the text to support exploration, discovery and
meaning-making. The thematic approach with a multidisciplinary lens
continues, helping students to understand ideas and concepts holistically.
The text integrates the values we desire our students to develop, is rooted
in the Indian cultural context and introduces global perspectives in an
age-appropriate manner. For all practical purposes, it has, to my mind,
succeeded in its curricular goals: first, to foster natural curiosity among
students through a proper selection of content, and second, through a
pedagogical approach in line with the recommendations of NCF-SE 2023.
However, in addition to this textbook, students at this stage should
also be encouraged to explore various other learning resources. School
libraries play a crucial role in making such resources available. Besides,
the role of parents and teachers will also be invaluable in guiding and
encouraging students to do so.
With this, I express my gratitude to all those who have been involved
in the development of this textbook and hope that it will meet the
expectations of all stakeholders. At the same time, I also invite suggestions
and feedback from all its users for further improvement in the coming
years.
Dinesh Prasad Saklani
Director
National Council of Educational
March 2025 Research and Training
New Delhi

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 Letter to the Student
Dear Student,
You have now entered the second year of the Middle Stage. In
Social Science, this year we will further explore about our country,
India, across all the five themes we began with last year. You will
also get glimpses of our interactions with the rest of the world in
the past as well as the present. As you are older now, there will be
a little more independent reading, writing and doing. This year
too we have tried to keep the text to a minimum — the book has
lots of colourful maps, pictures and illustrations.
Since good education should promote understanding and
reflection, we have created opportunities for you to explore,
discover, think, create, ask questions and propose answers.
Look for the ways in which each theme brings together multiple
inputs from several disciplines — whether history, geography,
political science or economics. This brings us closer to real life and
helps us understand the events of today better.
Finally, we will start exploring some of the people, places and ideas
that strengthened India’s foundations, as well as delve into some
of the aspects of society today. You will observe that the threads
of the past continue to be part of today’s tapestry and give us the
design for strengthening it for tomorrow.
A number of people put their hearts and heads in the preparation
of this textbook. It has given us all great joy, and we offer it to
you with the hope you will experience some of this joy when you
discover new horizons or figure out an original answer to some of
the challenging questions we sometimes like to throw at you!
We need to add an important detail. In this textbook, every part
of it — text, side box, image or map — can be subject to evaluation
and assessment. There are however four exceptions:

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 ƒ The quotation or quotations on the first pages of chapters.
Some are straightforward, others offer deep thought. Do not
worry if you do not understand them at the first reading; they
are meant to stimulate you or inspire you.
ƒ Wherever we have mentioned in the text, “You need not
remember this”.
ƒ The diacritical signs on some Sanskrit words — do look at
‘Your Journey through this Textbook’ in the next few pages to
understand what we mean.
ƒ The Glossary (at the end of the textbook).

No evaluation should bear on these four aspects.

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 Your Journey through this Textbook
This is your second year in the Middle Stage. You are now fairly
familiar with the approach to the study of Social Science. This year
we will take our journey of exploring Bharat further. We continue
to ask questions and explore answers — How did people live in the
past? What does our country, India or Bharat, look like? What do
her mountains, rivers, and plains look like? Why does the weather
behave the way it does? … and so on. In some chapters, Bhavisha
and Dhruv, friends of ours (we hope you will also become friends),
will accompany us with their time machine.
This textbook has interesting features. As you flip through it, you will
see colourful illustrations, including pictures, maps and drawings of
many kinds. Let us give you a quick tour of the book and its features.
Your teacher will also guide you through it.

Each chapter begins with an inspiring quotation from a

renowned person or text. Read it and let it stay with you. Some of
these quotations are profound thoughts. Don’t worry if you do not
understand right away; you can return to them later, and they can
also be discussed in the class. Here’s an example —

The main text is written in simple language. You will learn about
people and places in India and beyond.

Technical words are explained in the margin right next to the

text. They are also listed in the glossary (or mini-dictionary) at

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 the end of the textbook. In addition, we have included a few words
you may not be familiar with. Do consult the glossary often.

‘The Big Questions’,

just two or three,
give you an idea of
what you are going
to explore in the
chapter.

As we move through the chapter you will find some sections

called ‘Let’s Explore’, ‘Think About It’, ‘Let’s Remember’ which
propose activities, in-text exercises, recall of concepts learnt
earlier or will invite further reflection.

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 ‘Don’t Miss Out’ brings
out intriguing or fun
facts that will trigger
your curiosity.

At the end of every chapter, ‘Before we move on’ sums up some of

the core ideas that the chapter tried to convey. A choice of exercises,
questions or projects follow.

Finally, on the first page of every chapter, you will find a QR code leading
you to interesting videos, puzzles, games, stories, and so on, which
are related to the content of the chapter and will lead you to further
explorations. Do scan it, or take an adult’s help to scan it, and browse
through the material.

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 Your teacher will be with you on this journey of exploring this
textbook. We hope you will read parts of it with your parents or
guardians too. Maybe you can try out some of the activities with
them!

We wish you an enjoyable journey through Social Science and its

rich insights into human life and society.

  
A note on the pronunciation of Sanskrit words
Since this textbook is in English, we use the Roman alphabet. But we
will also encounter some words in Sanskrit and a few other Indian
languages. The Roman alphabet cannot make their pronunciation
clear without some additional marks or signs, such as dashes, dots
or accents, called ‘diacritical signs’ or ‘diacritics’. You can ignore
all these signs if you wish, and you don’t need to remember them.
However, as we are using only a few simple signs, you will find
it easy to get used to them. You will also find that they help you
pronounce Sanskrit words fairly correctly.
Here is how they work:
ƒ A short dash (called ‘macron’) over a vowel makes it long.
For instance, dāna is pronounced ‘daana’; līlā is pronounced
‘leelaa’; sūtra is sootra.
ƒ śh and ṣh are pronounced more or less as ‘sh’ in ‘shall’ (there
is a slight difference, since they correspond to श and ष in the
Devanagari script, but you can ignore it in practice). So śhāstra
is pronounced ‘shaastra’; kṣhīra is ‘ksheera’.
ƒ Consonants with a dot below them (ḍ, ṭ and ṇ mainly) are ‘hard’,
i.e. pronounced by hitting the tongue on the palate; without a
dot, they are soft, with the tongue on the teeth. (As a rough
comparison, in the preceding English word ‘teeth’, the first ‘t’ is
hard, while the final ‘th’ is soft.) Examples of hard consonants:
Āryabhaṭa, gaṇa, paṭhana (studying), pīṭha, goṣṭhī (association,
assembly), dhanāḍhya (rich), aṇu (atom).

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 ƒ Finally, ṛ is the Devanagari letter ऋ. We choose to write it as ṛi,
although in some parts of India it is also pronounced as ṛu. So
we write ‘Ṛig Veda’, for instance.
For those who wish to know the precise correspondence between
the Devanagari alphabet and the Roman script in our system, the
tables of short and long vowels are as follows:

Devanagari Roman script

अ a
इ i
उ u
ऋ ṛi
ए e
ओ o
Devanagari Roman script
आ ā
ई ī
ऊ ū
ॠ ṝi
ऐ ai
औ au

And the table of consonants:

Guttural क ka ख kha ग ga घ gha ङ ṅa ह ha

Palatal च cha छ chha ज ja झ jha ञ ña य ya
Cerebral ट ṭa ठ ṭha ड ḍa ढ ḍha ण ṇa र ra
Dental त ta थ tha द da ध dha न na ल la
Labial प pa फ pha ब ba भ bha म ma व va
Sibilants श śha ष ṣha स sa

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 CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
Part III (Articles 12 – 35)
(Subject to certain conditions, some exceptions
and reasonable restrictions)
guarantees these
Fundamental Rights
Right to Equality
• before law and equal protection of laws;
• irrespective of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth;
• of opportunity in public employment;
• by abolition of untouchability and titles.
Right to Freedom
• of expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession;
• of certain protections in respect of conviction for offences;
• of protection of life and personal liberty;
• of free and compulsory education for children between the age of six and fourteen years;
• of protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.
Right against Exploitation
• for prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour;
• for prohibition of employment of children in hazardous jobs.
Right to Freedom of Religion
• freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion;
• freedom to manage religious affairs;
• freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion;
• freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in educational
institutions wholly maintained by the State.
Cultural and Educational Rights
• for protection of interests of minorities to conserve their language, script and culture;
• for minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
Right to Constitutional Remedies
• by issuance of directions or orders or writs by the Supreme Court and High
Courts for enforcement of these Fundamental Rights.

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 National Syllabus and Teaching Learning
Materials Committee (NSTC)
1. M.C. Pant, Chancellor, National Institute of Educational Planning
and Administration (NIEPA), (Chairperson)
2. Manjul Bhargava, Professor, Princeton University,
(Co-Chairperson)
3. Sudha Murty, Acclaimed Writer and Educationist
4. Late Bibek Debroy, Former Chairperson, Economic Advisory
Council to the Prime Minister (EAC – PM)
5. Shekhar Mande, Former Director General, CSIR; Distinguished
Professor, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune
6. Sujatha Ramdorai, Professor, University of British Columbia,
Canada
7. Shankar Mahadevan, Music Maestro, Mumbai
8. U. Vimal Kumar, Director, Prakash Padukone Badminton
Academy, Bengaluru
9. Michel Danino, Guest Professor, IIT – Gandhinagar
10. Surina Rajan, IAS (Retd.), Haryana; Former Director General,
HIPA
11. Chamu Krishna Shastri, Chairperson, Bhartiya Bhasha Samiti,
Ministry of Education
12. Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the
Prime Minister (EAC – PM)
13. M.D. Srinivas, Chairperson, Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai
14. Gajanan Londhe, Head, Programme Office, NSTC
15. Rabin Chhetri, Director, SCERT, Sikkim
16. Pratyusa Kumar Mandal, Professor, Department of Education in
Social Science, NCERT, New Delhi
17. Dinesh Kumar, Professor and Head, Planning and Monitoring
Division, NCERT, New Delhi
18. Kirti Kapur, Professor, Department of Education in Languages,
NCERT, New Delhi
19. Ranjana Arora, Professor and Head, Department of Curriculum
Studies and Development, NCERT, New Delhi,
(Member-Secretary)

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 Constitution of India
Part IV A (Article 51 A)

Fundamental Duties
It shall be the duty of every citizen of India —
(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the
National Flag and the National Anthem;
(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle
for freedom;
(c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
(d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to
do so;
(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all
the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or
sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of
women;
(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures;
(h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and
reform;
(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
(j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective
activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour
and achievement;
*(k) who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to
his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and
fourteen years.

Note: The Article 51A containing Fundamental Duties was inserted by the Constitution
(42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 (with effect from 3 January 1977).
*(k) was inserted by the Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 (with effect from
1 April 2010).

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 Textbook Development Team
Michel Danino, Visiting Professor, IIT Gandhinagar (CAG Social
Science Chairperson)
Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, EAC–PM (CAG Economics Chairperson)

Contributors
Aasheerwad Dwivedi, Faculty of Management Studies, Shri Ram College
of Commerce, University of Delhi
Alka Singh, Assistant professor in Geography, Department of Education
in Social Sciences and Humanities, RIE, Bhopal, NCERT
Ankur Kakkar, Associate Professor, Centre for Indic Studies, Indus
University, Ahmedabad
Aziz Mahdi, Scholar of Persian, Former Fellow, Indian Institute of
Advanced Study, Shimla
Bhairu Lal Yadav, Associate Professor of Population Studies, DESS,
NCERT
Bhawna Paliwal, Educator and Senior Consultant, Program Office, NSTC
Divya Indra Chatterjee, Chartered Accountant, Senior Consultant,
Program Office, NSTC
Javaid Iqbal Bhat, Assistant Professor, Post Graduate Department of
English, University of Kashmir
Johnson Odakkal, Commodore, Indian Navy (Retd), Former Director,
Maritime History Society & Faculty at Aditya Birla World Academy
Kirti Kaul, Head, Research and Resources, Shiv Nadar School, Noida-9
Mrinmoyee Ray, Assistant Professor of History, DESS, NCERT
Nabajyoti Deka, Faculty of Management Studies, Shri Ram College of
Commerce
Nikhil Bellarykar, Historian, Author and Translator
Pawan Kumar, Assistant Professor & In-charge, Department of
Geography, Faculty of Earth, Environment and Space Sciences,
Chaudhary Bansilal University, Prem Nagar, Bhiwani

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 Payel Mukherjee, Faculty, Department of Social Sciences and
Humanities, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi
(IITD) and Adjunct Faculty, Department of English, College of Arts and
Science, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Prachi Lahiri, History Teacher, National Public School, Bengaluru
Probal Roy Chowdhary, Director, Centre for New Indian Studies;
Professor, Department of English, Sister Nivedita University, Kolkata
Purva Bhatt, Senior Consultant, Program Office, NSTC
Radha Narayanan, Researcher and Author, History Textbooks,
Chinmaya Mission, Chennai
Riddhi Garg, Editor, Senior Consultant, Program Office, NSTC
Sandeepa Madan, Educator, Shiv Nadar School, Gurugram
Srishti Chauhan, Young Professional (EAC–PM), NITI Aayog
Suman Gautam, Principal, Shiva International Residential School,
Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
Suparna Diwakar, Educator and Development Sector Professional,
Chief Consultant, Programme Office, NSTC
Surendra C Thakurdesai, Professor and Head, Department of
Geography, Department of Rural Development, Gogate Joglekar College,
Ratnagiri

Member Coordinators
Seema Shukla Ojha, Professor of History, Department of Education in
Social Science, NCERT; CAG (Social Science)
M V Srinivasan, Professor of Economics, Department of Education in
Social Science, NCERT; CAG (Economics)

Reviewers
Aditi Mishra, Director Principal, Delhi Public School, Gurgaon; and
Teachers: Kanu Chopra, Leeza Dutta, Avni Mehta, Mamta Kumar,
Suparna Sharma
Anurag Behar, Member, National Curriculum Frameworks Oversight
Committee, and CEO, Azim Premji Foundation
Aparna Pandey, Professor of Geography, DESS

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 Arnab Bhattacharya, Centre Director, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science
Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai;
Professor, Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material
Science, TIFR, Mumbai
Birbal Luniwal, Assistant Professor of Geography, DESS
Gauri Srivastava, Professor of History, DESS
Jagbir Singh, Professor, Chairperson, NOC, and Chancellor, Central
University of Punjab
Jaya Singh, Professor of Economics, DESS
Kumari Rohini, Assistant Professor of History, DESS
P.K. Mandal, Professor of History; Head, DESS
Pratima Kumari, Professor of Economics, DESS
Priyadarsini Samantaray, Assistant Professor of Sociology, DESS
Rashmi, Associate Professor of Commerce (Business Studies), DESS
Ruchika Singh, IKS Division
Sainath Kabade, Assistant Professor of History, DESS
Savita Sagar, Assistant Professor of Political Science, DESS
Shankar Sharan, Professor of Political Science, DESS
Shipra Vaidya, Professor of Commerce, DESS
Subhash Singh, Assistant Professor of Political Science, DESS
Tannu Malik, Professor of Geography, DESS
Vanthangpui Khobung, Assistant Professor of Political Science, DESS

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0_Prelims.indd 18 08-04-2025 09:55:42
 Acknowledgements
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
acknowledges the guidance and support of the esteemed Chairperson and
members of the National Curriculum Frameworks Oversight Committee
for their invaluable contributions in overseeing the translation of
NCF-SE 2023 perspectives into the textbook. NCERT is also deeply grateful
to the Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, and members of the National
Syllabus and Teaching-Learning Materials Development Committee
for their continuous guidance and thorough review of the textbook.
Furthermore, NCERT extends its heartfelt thanks to the Chairpersons
and members of the Curricular Area Groups (CAGs) for Social Science
and for Economics, as well as other relevant CAGs, for their support and
guidelines on the cross-cutting themes.
The participation and contributions from members of the Social Science
and Economics CAGs have been indispensable. Additional thanks are due
to the Chairpersons and members of other CAGs involved in integrating
cross-cutting themes into this textbook.
The unstinted efforts and exemplary dedication of the Social Science
team of Program Office, NSTC — Suparna Diwakar, Bhawna Paliwal,
Divya Indra Chatterjee, Riddhi Garg, Purva Bhatt — in assisting the
making of this textbook at every stage, are gratefully acknowledged.
We are also much obliged to Shweta Rao of the Banyan Tree for her
outstanding contribution to the textbook’s appealing design and visual
quality, and her steadfast work throughout the entire process. We are
also indebted to Seema Shukla Ojha, Professor of History in NCERT’s
Department of Education in Social Sciences and member-convener
of the CAG Social Science for Grade 7, for her constant assistance and
advice; and to MV Srinivasan, NCERT’s Department of Education in
Social Science and member-convener of the CAG Economics and Head of
NCERT’s Publication Division, for his patient guidance and inputs. We are
glad to record our appreciation of Srishti Chauhan, Young Professional
(EAC–PM), NITI Aayog, for her close collaboration throughout.
The Council is thankful to Anju Gandhi, M Pramod Kumar, Fanindra
Sharma, Nidhi M Shastri, Shravan S K, Siddhartha A Bhargava, Swasti
Sharma and Tarun Choubisa and other members of the Programme
Office, NSTC, for their valuable inputs.

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 The illustrators — Albert Shrivastava, Ashutosh Kambli, Attri Chetan, and
Prashant Singh — deserve commendation for their innovative designs,
and sketches, which have significantly enriched the visual quality of the
textbook. The contribution made by the cartographers Arkaprovo Das,
Ekta Gupta and Pawan Kumar (for tolerating our ever-changing demands
to make the maps come alive for students) is much appreciated. The
generosity of VN Prabhakar in sharing photographs of historical sites
from his personal collection is acknowledged with gratitude.
The contributions of Soumma Chandra, Editor (contractual); Deepti Garg
and Pragya Dubey, Proofreaders (contractual), Publication Division are
also appreciated. The NCERT gratefully acknowledges the contributions
of Pawan Kumar Barriar, In charge, DTP Cell; Bittu Kumar Mahato and
Vipan Kumar Sharma, DTP Operators (contractual), Publication Division,
NCERT for all their efforts in laying out this book.

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 Contents
Foreword iii
Letter to the Student v
Your Journey through this Textbook vii
Theme A — India and the World: Land and the People
Chapter 1 Geographical Diversity of India 1
Chapter 2 Understanding the Weather 27
Chapter 3 Climates of India 45
Theme B — Tapestry of the Past
Chapter 4 New Beginnings: Cities and States 67
Chapter 5 The Rise of Empires 83
Chapter 6 The Age of Reorganisation 117
Chapter 7 The Gupta Era: An Age of
Tireless Creativity 145
Theme C — Our Cultural Heritage and
Knowledge Traditions
Chapter 8 How the Land Becomes Sacred 167
Theme D — Governance and Democracy
Chapter 9 From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types
of Governments 185
Chapter 10 The Constitution of India
— An Introduction 209
Theme E — Economic Life Around Us
Chapter 11 From Barter to Money 229
Chapter 12 Understanding Markets 247
Political Map of India 274
Physical Map of India 275
Glossary 276
Images and maps from external sources 284

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 Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam:
The whole world is one family

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