NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book 2026-27: Understanding Society India and Beyond (Part 1 and Part 2 Chapters)

The NCERT Class 9 Social Science book for 2026-27 is called Understanding Society: India and Beyond. It is a single integrated textbook that replaces the four separate books used earlier (History, Geography, Political Science and Economics). Part 1 came first, and Part 2, printed as a first edition of September 2026, continues it. This page was first published when only Part 1 was available, and it now covers both parts, with the chapter list of each part and the official NCERT PDF for every chapter.

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NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book 2026-27 at a Glance

The links above open the cover, foreword and contents of each part. The chapter-wise links are in the tables below, and all files are on the official NCERT website.

NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book Part 1: All 9 Chapters

Part 1 begins with a chapter on what Social Science is. It then gives two chapters each to Geography, History, Political Science and Economics.

NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book Part 2: All 6 Chapters

In Part 2, chapter numbers start again from 1. Each chapter begins with “Big Questions” so that you know what you will learn.

What Is New in Part 2 of the NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book?

The “Your Journey through this Book” note in Part 2 explains some changes from the original plan:

• Governance and Public Policy appears in place of the chapter “Authority” that had been planned earlier.
• The chapter India and the World (Part 1) has been moved to Grade 10, where it will be taught along with related themes.
• Each unit has a QR code that links to extra videos, puzzles, games and stories.
• Chapters include features such as Big Questions, Let’s Explore, Think about it, Don’t Miss Out, Let’s Recall, Let’s Map, Let’s Analyse, Timelines and “Before we move on”.

The book follows NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023, and it includes elements of Indian Knowledge Systems along with contemporary concerns.

How Is the New NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book Different from the Old Books?

In earlier years, Class 9 had four books: Contemporary India I (Geography), India and the Contemporary World I (History), Democratic Politics I (Political Science) and Economics. The new NCERT Class 9 Social Science book brings the four disciplines into one integrated textbook in two parts. Part 1 begins with a chapter that explains how History, Geography, Political Science and Economics connect with each other.

Chapter 1: Understanding Social Science

The first chapter explains what Social Science is, how it studies society, and how the four disciplines of Geography, History, Political Science and Economics each look at society from a different angle. It sets up how the rest of the book is organised.

Geography Chapters in the NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book

Geography has two chapters in each part. Part 1 has Shaping of the Earth’s Surface and Atmosphere and Climate. Part 2 has Oceans and Life and Life on Earth. Related content is now brought together in fewer, broader chapters, instead of being spread over several sections.

History Chapters: Early Humans to 1700 CE

Part 1 has Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation (including early civilisations such as Harappa, Egypt and China) and State and Society up to 1000 CE. Part 2 continues with Resistance and Resilience (1000–1700 CE).

Political Science Chapters: Democracy, Elections and Governance

Part 1 has Democracy, which looks at where democracy came from and why it matters, and Elections, which explains how elections work in India, including the First-Past-The-Post system and proportional representation. Part 2 adds Governance and Public Policy.

Economics Chapters: Choice, Markets, Money and Startups

Part 1 has Building Blocks in Economics: The Problem of Choice and The Price Puzzle: What Drives the Market. These introduce ideas such as scarcity, opportunity cost, demand, supply and market equilibrium, which earlier were taught mainly in Class 11 Commerce. Part 2 has Managing Your Personal Finances and From Ideas to Startups.

A Closer Look Inside Chapter 2: Shaping of the Earth’s Surface (Part 1)

This chapter shows what the new NCERT Class 9 Social Science book is like to study from. According to eSaral’s walkthrough:

• It opens with a few “Big Questions”, such as what shapes the Earth’s surface, what the plate tectonic theory is and how landforms are connected with disasters.
• Key terms, such as “landform”, are explained in the margin.
• It includes diagrams of the Earth’s layers (lithosphere, mantle, outer core and inner core) and plate movement, which are topics that earlier appeared in higher classes.
• It has a map exercise on two tectonic plates, an “Explore” activity on how earthquakes and volcanoes are related, and a map of the world distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes.
• Questions ask students to relate the physiographic divisions they studied earlier to endogenic and exogenic forces.

The questions are more application-based than in the old books. For revision of earlier grades, use the NCERT Class 8 books.

How to Use the NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book Effectively

1. Read the “Big Questions” first and try to answer them again at the end of the chapter.
2. Use the maps, timelines and “Let’s Map” activities, because the book is built around them.
3. Scan the QR codes for the extra material, ideally with an adult’s help.
4. Read the “Before we move on” summary and solve the exercises of the chapter.
5. Download the chapter PDFs from the tables above, so that you always use the latest NCERT edition.

You can also check the complete NCERT Class 9 books list and the NCERT Class 9 solutions hub alongside this Social Science chapter list.