Class 9 Social Science Chapter 1, Understanding Social Science, opens the new NCERT book Understanding Society: India and Beyond (Part I, 2026-27). After the story-led books of Grades 6 to 8, it stops to explain what social science is, the disciplines inside it, and how historians know what they know.
What Class 9 Social Science Chapter 1 Covers
Social Science in Everyday Life and Through Time and Traditions show how our lives are shaped by the environment, the institutions that govern us, economic activity and inherited ideas.
Social Science as a Study of Disciplines introduces geography, history, political science and economics one by one. The history part explains the four kinds of sources: literary, archaeological, epigraphic (inscriptions) and numismatic (coins).
Why Should We Study Social Science? and The Future of Social Science close the chapter, followed by a map of the two-year secondary course for Grades 9 and 10.
Mapping your own place: the chapter suggests NCERT’s School Bhuvan portal, built on ISRO’s Bhuvan maps, for mapping your own village or city, as one way social science starts from the world around you.
Read Class 9 Social Science Chapter 1 Online
More Chapters
- Next: Chapter 2: Shaping of the Earth’s Surface
- All Social Science chapters and the other Class 9 books: Class 9 NCERT books 2026-27
FAQ
What are the sources of history in Class 9 Social Science Chapter 1?
Literary, archaeological, epigraphic (inscriptions) and numismatic (coins) sources.
What is the new Class 9 Social Science book?
Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Part I, introduced by NCERT for 2026-27. It is one book covering geography, history, political science and economics.
What is School Bhuvan?
An NCERT portal on ISRO’s Bhuvan mapping platform where students can explore maps and map their own village or city.