The most basic books needed for the UPSC civil services exam are the NCERT textbooks. These books provide authentic and reliable information which you can safely use in the IAS exam. Also, they contain information in a simple and lucid language such that anyone can understand and form strong foundations in a subject. Therefore, to start off with the UPSC preparation, it is advisable to start with the basic NCERT textbooks and then upgrade to advanced textbooks if the need arises.

History is an important subject in the UPSC scheme of things. It is a part of the General Studies Paper III. It is intricately linked with the development of a country and its present polity. Therefore, a solid foundation in history is essential to clear the UPSC exam. In this page, you can download the NCERT textbook for History for Class XII.

NCERT History Book Class 12 PDF Free Download

THEME FIVE
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Perceptions of Society
(c. tenth to seventeenth century)

THEME SIX
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
Changes in Religious Beliefs
and Devotional Texts
(c. eighth to eighteenth century)

THEME SEVEN
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
(c. fourteenth to sixteenth century) 

THEME EIGHT
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire
(c. sixteenth-seventeenth centuries)

THEME NINE
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
The Mughal Courts
(c. sixteenth-seventeenth centuries)

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