The class 7 social science book Exploring Society India and Beyond (Part I) contains 12 chapters across 272 printed pages, and the official NCERT PDF of every chapter is on this page. The book carries all four strands of Class 7 social science — geography, history, civics and economics — in one integrated volume.
A PDF gives you the chapters; it does not tell you what is inside them. This page adds that layer: a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the topics, the indexed figures and the page ranges, taken from the book itself, so you can open the right chapter tonight instead of scrolling through a 272-page file.
Class 7 Social Science Book Exploring Society India: official PDF
| Ch. | Chapter | Pages | Official PDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geographical Diversity of India | 26 | |
| 2 | Understanding the Weather | 18 | |
| 3 | Climates of India | 22 | |
| 4 | New Beginnings: | 16 | |
| 5 | The Rise of Empires | 34 | |
| 6 | The Age of Reorganisation | 28 | |
| 7 | The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity | 22 | |
| 8 | How the Land Becomes Sacred | 18 | |
| 9 | From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments | 24 | |
| 10 | The Constitution of India — An Introduction | 20 | |
| 11 | From Barter to Money | 18 | |
| 12 | Understanding Markets | 26 |
Every file in this table is NCERT’s own, hosted on ncert.nic.in — the publisher’s official site — so the download is official and free.
If you want a quick look at how the volume opens before downloading anything else, open the Chapter 1 PDF (gees101.pdf): it covers the Himalayas, the deserts, the plateau and the coastline with 42 figures, the most diagram-heavy chapter in the book.
The Class 7 SST book PDF: what the whole volume contains
Verified totals for the volume, counted from the textbook itself:
- 12 chapters, each with its own official PDF (gees101 to gees112)
- 272 printed pages in total
- 175 verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook
- No numbered section headings — the chapters work through unnumbered prompts instead
- No end-of-chapter exercise blocks — learning is checked through in-text prompts
Where the Class 7 SST geography, history, civics and economics content sits
| Subject part | Chapters | Pages | Indexed figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | 1–3 | 1–66 | 51 |
| History | 4–7 | 67–166 | 74 |
| Bridge chapter | 8 | 167–184 | 9 |
| Civics | 9–10 | 185–228 | 20 |
| Economics | 11–12 | 229–272 | 21 |
The five bands add up to the full 175 figures. This table maps the book’s own contents, not the CBSE scheme — textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical, so check the current official syllabus before deciding what to revise.
What each of the 12 chapters covers
| Ch. | Chapter | Sections | Activities | Figures | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geographical Diversity of India | — | — | 42 | — |
| 2 | Understanding the Weather | — | — | 6 | — |
| 3 | Climates of India | — | — | 3 | — |
| 4 | New Beginnings: | — | — | 9 | — |
| 5 | The Rise of Empires | — | — | 22 | — |
| 6 | The Age of Reorganisation | — | — | 26 | — |
| 7 | The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity | — | — | 17 | — |
| 8 | How the Land Becomes Sacred | — | — | 9 | — |
| 9 | From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments | — | — | 10 | — |
| 10 | The Constitution of India — An Introduction | — | — | 10 | — |
| 11 | From Barter to Money | — | — | 5 | — |
| 12 | Understanding Markets | — | — | 16 | — |
The directory columns count what the book itself prints: a named section is one of NCERT’s own numbered headings, a figure is a numbered figure indexed from this textbook, and a question is an end-of-chapter exercise. In this edition the section and question counts are 0, so the figure count is the live number to plan revision around.
Two facts jump out of the directory. Chapter 5 is the longest chapter at 34 pages and Chapter 4 the shortest at 16.
Three chapters hold more than half of the book’s 175 figures — Chapter 1 with 42, Chapter 6 with 26 and Chapter 5 with 22 — while the civics and economics chapters run lighter at 10, 10, 5 and 16 figures. The split matters for revision: the geography opening and the Mauryan-era history chapters reward diagram-first study, while the civics pair and the money chapter reward careful reading.
Chapter 1: Geographical Diversity of India (pp. 1-26)
Chapter 1 opens the book by moving across India’s physical divisions — the Himalayas, the cold desert of Ladakh, the Gangetic Plains, the Thar Desert, the Aravalli Hills, the Peninsular Plateau, the coastlines and the islands — and shows how each landscape shapes the lives of the people on it.
Its 42 indexed figures make it the most visual chapter in the volume, nearly a quarter of the book’s 175 figures.
Chapter 2: Understanding the Weather (pp. 27-44)
Chapter 2 defines weather and its elements — temperature, water vapour, rainfall and wind — introduces the instruments that measure them, from the rain gauge to the wind vane and anemometer, and teaches reading nature’s clues, such as ants shifting their eggs before heavy rain. Its 6 indexed figures include the instrument diagrams and a real India weather-warning map.
Chapter 3: Climates of India (pp. 45-66)
Chapter 3 moves from day-to-day weather to long-term climate, the types of climates in India and the factors determining climate — latitude, altitude and proximity to the sea — so read it after Chapter 2, because weather is the short-term record that builds into climate. Read the latitude and altitude sections as a pair; they decide most of the climate questions in this chapter.
Its 3 indexed figures include Cyclone Fani and the eye of the storm.
Chapter 4: New Beginnings: (pp. 67-82)
Chapter 4 begins the history arc with the janapadas and mahājanapadas, the map of the sixteen mahājanapadas, early democratic traditions, the varṇa-jāti system and innovations such as punch-marked coins, closing with developments elsewhere in India. Its 9 indexed figures include the mahājanapada map and the Kodumanal shell-and-gemstone site.
Chapter 5: The Rise of Empires (pp. 83-116)
The longest chapter in the book, at 34 pages, traces trade routes and guilds, the rise of Magadha, the arrival of the Greeks and the Mighty Mauryas under Chandragupta and Aśhoka — with Kauṭilya, Megasthenes, the rock edicts and the Sanchi Stūpa among its 22 indexed figures.
This is where the Mauryan story lives, and it rewards the most revision time.
Chapter 6: The Age of Reorganisation (pp. 117-144)
Chapter 6 surveys the dynasties that followed the Mauryas — the Śhungas, the Sātavāhanas, the southern Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas, the Indo-Greeks and the Kuṣāṇas — along with the Silk Route and the Gandhāra and Mathura schools of art. With 26 indexed figures it carries the second-highest figure count in the book.
Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity (pp. 145-166)
Chapter 7 covers the rise of the Guptas — Chandragupta I, Samudragupta and Chandragupta II, the aśhvamedha and Queen Prabhāvatī Gupta — then turns to governance and administration, Nalanda, the Ajanta caves and Gupta literature and sculpture. Its 17 indexed figures include the Iron Pillar and the Meghadūtam scene.
Chapter 8: How the Land Becomes Sacred (pp. 167-184)
The bridge chapter of the volume uses the physical landscape from Chapters 1 to 3 to explain how sacred geography formed — tīrthas, rivers and sangams, the Kumbh Mela, mountains and forests and sacred groves such as the Bhil groves and Mawphlong — so it belongs right after Chapter 7. Its 9 indexed figures include the Mahabodhi tree and a Mohenjo-daro seal.
Chapter 9: From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments (pp. 185-208)
Chapter 9 moves to civics: the functions of government, key differences between governments, the fundamental principles of democracy and the forms of direct and representative democracy, with caricatures of Hitler and Idi Amin among its 10 indexed figures. It opens from a school example — how a class is run — and builds up to how governments differ around the world.
Chapter 10: The Constitution of India — An Introduction (pp. 209-228)
Chapter 10 explains how the Constitution of India was written by the Constituent Assembly and the Drafting Committee under Dr B.R. Ambedkar, drawing on the freedom movement, India’s civilisational heritage and learnings from across the world, and closes with the Constitution’s key features. Its 10 indexed figures include the Constituent Assembly at work and the preserved Constitution in its glass case.
Chapter 11: From Barter to Money (pp. 229-246)
Chapter 11 opens the economics pair with the limits of barter, the basic functions of money and the journey of money from punch-marked and Roman gold coins to paper money and the Bank of Bengal notes, ending with new forms such as the QR code.
Its 5 indexed figures include an evolution-of-money timeline; unlike the geography chapters this one is mostly text, so read the sections rather than skimming images.
Chapter 12: Understanding Markets (pp. 247-272)
Chapter 12 closes the book with prices and markets, markets around us from the Hampi Bazaar to Khari Baoli and malls, physical and online markets, inputs for production and domestic and international markets, following the raw-cotton chain into Surat. Its 16 indexed figures show the market places and warehouses named in the text.
Chapter study pages for this book
The table below shows which chapters already have their own study page on this site, chapter by chapter. Chapters still being prepared are marked “coming soon” and stay unlinked until they are live.
| Ch. | Chapter page |
|---|---|
| 1 | Geographical Diversity of India |
| 2 | Understanding the Weather (coming soon) |
| 3 | Climates of India (coming soon) |
| 4 | New Beginnings: (coming soon) |
| 5 | The Rise of Empires (coming soon) |
| 6 | The Age of Reorganisation (coming soon) |
| 7 | The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity (coming soon) |
| 8 | How the Land Becomes Sacred (coming soon) |
| 9 | From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments (coming soon) |
| 10 | The Constitution of India — An Introduction (coming soon) |
| 11 | From Barter to Money (coming soon) |
| 12 | Understanding Markets (coming soon) |
How to use the NCERT Class 7 Social Science book: history, geography, civics in one PDF
A sensible order of work for this particular book:
- Read Chapter 2 before Chapter 3 — the weather chapter builds the vocabulary (temperature, water vapour, rainfall, wind) that the climate chapter assumes.
- Read Chapters 4 to 7 in order as one chronological history arc — mahājanapadas → empires → reorganisation → the Gupta era. Chapter 5, at 34 pages, is the longest and deserves the most time.
- Read Chapter 8 immediately after Chapter 7 — it is the bridge that turns the geography of Chapters 1 to 3 into sacred history.
- Treat Chapters 9–10 (civics) and Chapters 11–12 (economics) as self-contained units; either pair can be revised out of order.
- Since this edition prints no end-of-chapter exercise blocks, practise with the in-text prompts — Let’s Explore, Think About It, Don’t Miss Out — which do the job of exercises here.
One common mistake to avoid: searching for a separate Class 7 history book or a separate Class 7 geography book. There is no separate book — this is one integrated social science volume, and the history content lives in Chapters 4 to 8, exactly as the part table above shows.
Related NCERT book pages
- NCERT books directory — browse every class and subject this site covers.
- Class 7 hub — the other Class 7 NCERT books alongside this social science volume.
Sources and data verification
- What was measured. The counts on this page describe the NCERT textbook Exploring Society India and Beyond, Part I (English edition), using the official PDFs gees101 to gees112 published on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles are quoted from that textbook; page references are to the official PDFs.
- What this page covers. This one book and its 12 chapters — not the full CBSE Class 7 subject scheme, which includes subjects this page does not list.
- Session. The listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session.
- Who settles what. NCERT settles textbooks, editions and PDFs; CBSE settles curriculum, syllabus and examinations. A chapter appearing in the textbook does not by itself prove it carries exam weight this session — check the current official syllabus.
Reference: NCERT Class 7 Social Science textbook, official edition on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.
Frequently asked questions about the Class 7 Social Science book
How many chapters are in the Class 7 Social Science book Exploring Society India and Beyond?
The book has 12 chapters across 272 printed pages. The chapters cover geography (1 to 3), history (4 to 8), civics (9 to 10) and economics (11 to 12).
Is the Class 7 Social Science book PDF official and free?
Yes. Every PDF link on this page points to NCERT’s own files on ncert.nic.in (gees101 to gees112), so the download is official and free.
Which chapters cover Class 7 SST geography and which cover history in this book?
Geography sits in Chapters 1 to 3 (pp. 1–66), with Chapter 8 as the geography-history bridge. History runs Chapters 4 to 8 (pp. 67–184); civics is Chapters 9 to 10; economics is Chapters 11 to 12.
Does this NCERT book have exercise questions at the end of each chapter?
No. This edition prints no separate end-of-chapter exercise blocks. Learning runs through the in-text prompts — Let’s Explore, Think About It and Don’t Miss Out — so old-style exercise-and-solutions pages will not match this book.
Which chapter in this book introduces the Constitution of India?
Chapter 10, The Constitution of India — An Introduction (pp. 209–228). It covers the Constituent Assembly, the Drafting Committee and the key features of the Constitution.