The Class 7 Social Science book Exploring Society India and Beyond (Part II) — the current NCERT textbook for the subject — has 8 chapters, and the official PDF of every chapter is in the table below.
This page also indexes what is actually inside the book: 176 verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook, the page range of every chapter, and the feature boxes each chapter is built around. Find the chapter you were asked about in the directory, then open its PDF.
Download the Class 7 Social Science book Exploring Society India PDFs
| Ch. | Chapter | Pages | Official PDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | The Story of Indian Farming | 28 | |
| 14 | India and Her Neighbours | 32 | |
| 15 | Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries | 36 | |
| 16 | Turning Tides: | 28 | |
| 17 | India, | 18 | |
| 18 | The State, the Government, and You | 26 | |
| 19 | Infrastructure: Engine of India’s Development | 24 | |
| 20 | Banks and the Magic of Finance | 20 |
These eight PDFs are NCERT’s own files, hosted directly on ncert.nic.in — no third-party upload and no registration. The first official file, gees201.pdf, is Chapter 13, The Story of Indian Farming (pp. 1–28), the opening chapter of Part II.
Class 7 SST book PDF: the book at a glance
- 8 chapters, numbered 13–20 — Part II of Exploring Society: India and Beyond, with numbering that continues from Part I.
- 8 official NCERT PDFs, hosted on ncert.nic.in and linked in the table above.
- 212 printed pages in the official edition.
- 0 numbered section headings — the book organises each chapter with titled feature boxes (The Big Questions?, Let’s Explore, Think About It, Don’t Miss Out, Let’s Remember) instead.
- 176 verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook, from 32 in Chapter 14 down to 14 in Chapter 18.
- Chapter study pages: not yet built — each chapter’s status is shown in the chapter pages section below.
These counts describe the NCERT textbook listed on this page, not the whole CBSE scheme. Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical, so check the current official syllabus before planning your study.
What each chapter contains: figures, pages and feature boxes
| Ch. | Chapter | Sections | Activities | Figures | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | The Story of Indian Farming | — | — | 21 | — |
| 14 | India and Her Neighbours | — | — | 32 | — |
| 15 | Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries | — | — | 25 | — |
| 16 | Turning Tides: | — | — | 20 | — |
| 17 | India, | — | — | 17 | — |
| 18 | The State, the Government, and You | — | — | 14 | — |
| 19 | Infrastructure: Engine of India’s Development | — | — | 27 | — |
| 20 | Banks and the Magic of Finance | — | — | 20 | — |
What the columns count: a section is one of NCERT’s numbered heading levels — this book prints none, using titled feature boxes instead; a figure is a numbered figure indexed from the textbook; and a question is an end-of-chapter exercise block. The eight descriptions below say what each chapter teaches and who should start with it.
Chapter 13: The Story of Indian Farming (pp. 1–28)
Chapter 13 maps the geography of Indian food — crops and seasons, the monsoon, soils of India and irrigation — from Fig. 1.2 (p. 4), which pairs intercropping at the Harappan site of Kalibangan around 2800 BCE with the same practice in the 1960s, to the Green Revolution and hydroponics.
Chapter 14: India and Her Neighbours (pp. 29–60)
Chapter 14 is a tour of India’s land neighbours — China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan — and its sea neighbours, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Iran and Oman; at 32 pages with 32 figures it is the most figure-heavy chapter, and Fig. 2.19 (p. 49) shows the Maldives’ underwater cabinet meeting.
Chapter 15: Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries (pp. 61–96)
Chapter 15 opens the medieval history block with Harṣa and Xuanzang (Figs. 3.6–3.7, pp. 65–66). It follows the tripartite struggle for Kannauj among the Pālas, the Gurjara-Pratihāras and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, then the kingdoms of the Deccan and the south — read through coins, copper-plate inscriptions, the Shore Temple and the Kailashanātha temple at Ellora (Fig. 3.12, p. 71).
Chapter 16: Turning Tides: (pp. 97–124)
Chapter 16 tracks the turning tide of the 11th and 12th centuries — the Ghaznavid invasions (Fig. 4.6, p. 104), the destruction of Nālandā (Fig. 4.19, p. 117), the Cholas as masters of the seas, the Kākatīyas and Hoysalas further south, and Pṛthvirāja III back in the north — closing with Angkor Wat (Fig. 4.23, p. 122).
Chapter 17: India, (pp. 125–142)
Chapter 17, from Swami Vivekananda (Fig. 5.1, p. 127) to the Polish children of the ‘Good Maharaja’ (Fig. 5.15, p. 137), tells the stories of communities who made India home — Indian Jews (Fig. 5.2, p. 128), Syriac Christians, Arab merchants, the Siddis, Armenians, the Baha’i community and Tibetans; its themes are migration and settlement, cultural diversity and pluralism.
Chapter 18: The State, the Government, and You (pp. 143–168)
Chapter 18 explains how the Indian state is organised — democracy and republic, the Preamble (Fig. 6.7, p. 149), the legislature as the lawmaking body, and the executive split into political and permanent (bureaucracy) branches — and with just 14 figures across 26 pages it is the most definition-heavy chapter to revise.
Chapter 19: Infrastructure: Engine of India’s Development (pp. 169–192)
Chapter 19 surveys the infrastructure that drives India’s development — roads and highways (Dhola Sadiya Bridge, Fig. 7.5, p. 175), the Indian railway network (Fig. 7.10, p. 178), metro systems, air transport, shipping and ports (Fig. 7.22, p. 184) and communications (Fig. 7.23, p. 185) — and with 27 figures across 24 pages, most of its revision is visual.
Chapter 20: Banks and the Magic of Finance (pp. 193–212)
Chapter 20 runs from what banks do — hold deposits and offer loans — through the Reserve Bank of India and the stock market, where shares rise and fall (Figs. 8.21–8.22, p. 209), to payment modes — cheques, debit cards, QR codes, UPI (Fig. 8.18, p. 206) — and safe digital payments (Fig. 8.23, p. 210).
The eight chapters are integrated rather than divided by subject label, but they group into three strands. Use this mapping as a guide to the book, not as a syllabus declaration.
| Subject strand | Chapters | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| History | 15–17 | pp. 61–142 |
| Geography | 13, 14, 19 | pp. 1–60, 169–192 |
| Government and finance | 18, 20 | pp. 143–168, 193–212 |
The page load is uneven on purpose. The longest chapter is Chapter 15 (36 pages) and the shortest is Chapter 17 (18 pages); figure counts run from 32 in Chapter 14 down to 14 in Chapter 18.
Chapters 18 and 20 are definition-heavy — their figures mostly illustrate institutions and payment modes — while Chapter 19, with 27 figures across 24 pages, is the most visual and revises best through its maps, timelines and country comparisons.
Chapter pages: study guides for every chapter
A chapter study page gathers that chapter’s own feature boxes, figures and worked explanations into one place. The status of every chapter page is shown below.
| Ch. | Chapter page |
|---|---|
| 13 | The Story of Indian Farming |
| 14 | India and Her Neighbours (coming soon) |
| 15 | Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries (coming soon) |
| 16 | Turning Tides: (coming soon) |
| 17 | India, (coming soon) |
| 18 | The State, the Government, and You (coming soon) |
| 19 | Infrastructure: Engine of India’s Development (coming soon) |
| 20 | Banks and the Magic of Finance (coming soon) |
Which Class 7 Social Science book do you have?
This page indexes Part II of Exploring Society: India and Beyond, whose chapters run 13 to 20 — the numbering continues from Part I of the book. The official PDFs are NCERT’s gees201–gees208 files, all linked in the download table above.
If your school still uses the older separate Class 7 books (one history, one geography, one civics), check NCERT’s official site for the current book list rather than assuming this page’s chapters match.
How to use the NCERT Social Science book for Class 7 history
- If you came for history, work Chapters 15, 16 and 17 in order — they form one medieval-and-cultural block — and read the figures as evidence notes.
- The geography is Chapters 13, 14 and 19: farming and soils first, then the neighbourhood, then infrastructure.
- Government and finance live in Chapters 18 and 20 — the most definition-heavy chapters, so revise them from the feature boxes rather than from maps.
- Because figures outnumber formal headings, revise by reading captions: Fig. 1.18 (M.S. Swaminathan, p. 21), Fig. 2.19 (the Maldives underwater cabinet, p. 49) and Fig. 7.10 (the railway network in 2024, p. 178) each condense one fact worth knowing.
- Open the exact chapter PDF from the download table when you need the full text, and use Chapter 19 as a visual revision pass through its maps, timelines and country comparisons.
Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the current official syllabus before deciding what to study.
Related NCERT book pages
- All NCERT books on this site — browse every class and subject from the books root.
- NCERT Class 7 books — the Class 7 hub for every subject.
- NCERT Class 6 Social Science book — the same subject for the class below.
Sources and data verification
This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.
- The figure counts and chapter data on this page describe NCERT’s Exploring Society: India and Beyond — Part II, official edition on ncert.nic.in.
- This page covers the eight chapters 13–20 of Part II — not Part I, and not the older separate Class 7 history, geography and civics books.
- The listing is maintained for the current academic session using the NCERT information available to us.
- NCERT settles textbooks, editions and PDFs; CBSE settles curriculum, syllabus and examinations. A textbook chapter and the examinable syllabus are not always identical.
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
How many chapters are in the Class 7 Social Science book Exploring Society India and Beyond (Part II)?
Eight chapters, numbered 13 to 20, across 212 printed pages. The numbering continues from Part I of the book, which is why this volume does not start at chapter 1.
Is the Class 7 Social Science book PDF free and official?
Yes — every PDF in the download table above is NCERT’s own file hosted on ncert.nic.in. There is no third-party upload and no registration.
Which chapters in the Class 7 SST book cover history?
Chapters 15, 16 and 17 — Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries, Turning Tides: and India’s cultural communities — running from page 61 to page 142. Chapter 17 is not a dynastic history; it is about the communities who travelled to and settled in India.
Where is the geography content in this book?
Chapters 13, 14 and 19 — farming, soils and irrigation; India and her neighbours; and infrastructure and transport. Chapter 19 is the most map- and timeline-heavy of the three.
Are there official solutions for this book’s activities?
No separate official booklet exists; NCERT publishes the textbook but no solutions book for Class 7 Social Science activities. Work the answers from the chapter text and its 176 figures; the chapter study pages on this site will carry worked-through explanations as they are published.