About This Book

Exploring Society: India and Beyond is the new integrated Social Science textbook for Class VI, introduced from 2024–25. Unlike the old separate books (History, Geography, Civics), this single book integrates all three disciplines around themes.

Key difference from old NCERT: Topics are organised thematically and contextually, not by subject. A chapter on grasslands covers geography (landforms, climate), history (pastoral communities, nomads), and civic issues (grazing rights, land policy) together.

Chapters

Ch Title Theme UPSC Relevance
1 Locating India in the World Geography — India's position, neighbours GS1 India's location; GS2 borders
2 Grasslands Environment — world grasslands and their people GS3 ecology; GS1 nomadic communities
3 Tropical Rainforests Environment — rainforest ecosystems GS3 biodiversity; GS1 tribal communities
4 Timeline and Sources of History Historiography — how we know the past GS1 methodology
5 India's Cultural Roots Ancient India — Harappan civilisation, Vedic traditions GS1 Ancient India
6 India: Climate, Vegetation and Wildlife Physical Geography — monsoon, biomes, wildlife GS1 Geography; GS3 environment
7 Ruling Oneself: Self-Governance in Ancient India Ancient polity — Janapadas, Mahajanapadas, republics GS1 Ancient India; GS2 democracy roots
8 India During the Time of the Buddha Philosophy and society — Buddhism, Jainism, Upanishadic thought GS1 Ancient India; GS4 ethics
9 Janapadas to Empire Ancient polity — Mauryan empire, Ashoka GS1 Ancient India
10 Social Life in Ancient India Society — varnas, guilds, everyday life GS1 social history
11 Revisiting the Past: Primary and Secondary Sources Methodology — archaeological and textual sources GS1 source critique
12 Local Government: Then and Now Governance — ancient sabhas to modern Panchayati Raj GS2 local governance

Note: Chapter titles based on official NCERT 2024 publication. Content enriched with UPSC connections and updated data.

How This Compares to Old NCERT

Topic Old NCERT (Our Pasts-1 + Earth Habitat + SPL-1) New NCERT (Exploring Society)
Ancient History 12 chapters in History book Integrated across thematic chapters
Geography Separate book, physical-focus Integrated with social themes
Civics Separate book, governance focus Integrated with history and geography
Approach Discipline-separated Thematic and integrated
Deleted chapters Several removed 2022 New book; different structure

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