CBSE Class 9 Social Science Sample Paper 2026 (with Solutions) — Free PDF
This is a full-length CBSE Class 9 Social Science paper built to the board's own pattern: 41 questions across six sections for 80 marks in 3 hours, drawing
TL;DR: This is a full-length CBSE Class 9 Social Science paper built to the board's own pattern: 41 questions across six sections for 80 marks in 3 hours, dr…
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This is a full-length CBSE Class 9 Social Science paper built to the board's own pattern: 41 questions across six sections for 80 marks in 3 hours, drawing on History, Geography, Political Science and Economics in the proportions the board uses. Sections A to E run from objective to case-based, and Section F covers the map skill, phrased so you can name each location and then mark it on any outline map of India. Every question is followed by a full model answer.
Board: CBSE · Class: Class 9 · Subject: Social Science · Total: 80 marks · Time: 3 hours
Section A — Objective (1 mark each) — 20 marks
Questions 1–18 are multiple choice. Questions 19 and 20 are Assertion–Reason: mark (a) if both A and R are true and R explains A, (b) if both are true but R does not explain A, (c) if A is true and R is false, (d) if A is false and R is true.
Q1. The French Revolution began in the year (1 mark)
Answer: 1789, with the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on 14 July.
Q2. The Third Estate in French society consisted of (1 mark)
Answer: Everyone outside the clergy and the nobility — big businessmen, merchants, lawyers, peasants, artisans and servants. Only this estate paid taxes.
Q3. Who wrote 'The Social Contract'? (1 mark)
Answer: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who argued for a government based on a contract between the people and their representatives.
Q4. The Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 was led by (1 mark)
Answer: Vladimir Lenin, whose Bolshevik party seized power from the Provisional Government.
Q5. Hitler's Nazi party came to power in Germany in (1 mark)
Answer: 1933, when President Hindenburg offered him the Chancellorship on 30 January.
Q6. The southernmost point of the Indian mainland is (1 mark)
Answer: Kanniyakumari. Indira Point in the Nicobar Islands is the southernmost point of Indian territory, but it is not on the mainland.
Q7. The Standard Meridian of India is (1 mark)
Answer: 82°30'E, passing through Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh; the local time there is taken as Indian Standard Time.
Q8. Which is the longest river of peninsular India? (1 mark)
Answer: The Godavari, often called the Dakshin Ganga, rising in the Western Ghats near Nashik.
Q9. The 'Loo' is (1 mark)
Answer: A strong, hot and dry wind that blows over the northern plains during the day in May and June; exposure to it can be fatal.
Q10. The vegetation type found in areas receiving over 200 cm of rainfall is (1 mark)
Answer: Tropical evergreen forest, which remains green throughout the year as the trees have no fixed time to shed leaves.
Q11. A one-horned rhinoceros is found in the (1 mark)
Answer: Kaziranga National Park in Assam, in the swampy grasslands of the Brahmaputra valley.
Q12. Democracy is a form of government in which (1 mark)
Answer: The rulers are elected by the people, who can change them through regular, free and fair elections.
Q13. The Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution on (1 mark)
Answer: 26 November 1949, and it came into force on 26 January 1950.
Q14. Which fundamental right is called 'the heart and soul of the Constitution' by Dr Ambedkar? (1 mark)
Answer: The Right to Constitutional Remedies, which allows a citizen to move the courts directly when a fundamental right is violated.
Q15. The minimum age to vote in India is (1 mark)
Answer: 18 years, lowered from 21 by the 61st Constitutional Amendment in 1988.
Q16. The head of the Election Commission of India is the (1 mark)
Answer: Chief Election Commissioner, appointed by the President but not removable by the government, which secures the Commission's independence.
Q17. Poverty line in India is determined on the basis of (1 mark)
Answer: A minimum level of income or consumption expenditure needed to satisfy basic needs — food measured in calories, along with clothing, footwear, fuel and light, education and medical requirements.
Q18. The Public Distribution System is the government's chief instrument for (1 mark)
Answer: Ensuring food security — distributing foodgrains at subsidised prices through ration shops to those who need them.
Q19. Assertion (A): The Constitution of India guarantees the Right to Equality. Reason (R): Untouchability has been abolished under Article 17. (1 mark)
Answer: (b) Both are true but R does not explain A. Abolishing untouchability is one specific provision within the Right to Equality, not the reason the right exists.
Q20. Assertion (A): India has a monsoon type of climate. Reason (R): The direction of prevailing winds over India reverses between summer and winter. (1 mark)
Answer: (a) Both true and R explains A. The word monsoon means a seasonal reversal of wind direction, which is precisely the phenomenon described in the reason.
Section B — Very Short Answer (2 marks each) — 8 marks
Answer all 4 questions. Each carries 2 marks.
Q1. What was the Reign of Terror in France? (2 marks)
Answer: It was the period from 1793 to 1794 during which Robespierre and the Jacobins governed with extreme severity. Anyone regarded as an enemy of the republic — nobles, clergy, and even members of his own party who disagreed — was arrested, tried by a revolutionary tribunal and, if convicted, guillotined. It ended when Robespierre himself was convicted and executed in July 1794.
Q2. Why is the Indian subcontinent said to have a 'monsoon' climate? (2 marks)
Answer: Because the prevailing winds reverse direction with the seasons: in summer moist winds blow from the sea towards the land bringing heavy rain, and in winter dry winds blow from the land towards the sea. The rhythm of Indian agriculture and life is tied to this seasonal reversal, which is what the word monsoon denotes.
Q3. What is a constitution? Why does a country need one? (2 marks)
Answer: A constitution is the supreme law that lays down the basic rules by which the people of a country live together — the form of government, the powers of each organ, and the rights of citizens. A country needs one so that power is exercised within agreed limits, so that citizens' rights are protected against the government of the day, and so that the different organs of the state know the boundaries of their authority.
Q4. Distinguish between seasonal unemployment and disguised unemployment. (2 marks)
Answer: Seasonal unemployment occurs when people find work only during certain parts of the year and are idle in the rest, as farm labourers are between sowing and harvest. Disguised unemployment occurs when more people are employed on a task than are actually needed, so that removing some would leave output unchanged — as when eight members of a family work a field that four could manage.
Section C — Short Answer (3 marks each) — 15 marks
Answer all 5 questions. Each carries 3 marks.
Q1. Explain any three causes of the French Revolution. (3 marks)
Answer: The first was the financial crisis: long wars and a lavish court had left the treasury empty, so the state raised taxes on a population already burdened. The second was the injustice of the estates system, in which the clergy and nobility enjoyed privileges and paid no taxes while the Third Estate paid all of them, including the tithe to the church and the taille to the state. The third was the spread of Enlightenment ideas: Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau had argued against the divine right of kings and for a government based on the consent of the people, and these ideas circulated in salons and coffee-houses until the middle classes came to see the existing order as neither natural nor necessary.
Q2. Describe any three features of the Himalayan rivers that distinguish them from peninsular rivers. (3 marks)
Answer: Himalayan rivers are perennial: they are fed by both rainfall and the melting of Himalayan snow, so they carry water throughout the year, whereas peninsular rivers depend on rain alone and shrink greatly in the dry season. They have long courses from the mountains to the sea and perform intense erosion, carrying enormous loads of silt that build the fertile northern plains and large deltas. And they meander freely over the flat plains, forming ox-bow lakes and shifting their channels, while the peninsular rivers flow in shallow, largely fixed valleys carved into hard rock.
Q3. What is the role of the Election Commission in conducting free and fair elections in India? (3 marks)
Answer: The Election Commission is an independent body that takes every decision concerning the conduct of elections, from announcing the schedule to declaring the results. It prepares and revises the electoral rolls, allots symbols to parties, and enforces the Model Code of Conduct, ordering candidates and parties to stop practices that violate it. During the election period the government machinery works under its direction rather than under the ministers, and it can order a repoll or countermand an election where malpractice is found. Its independence is protected because the Chief Election Commissioner, once appointed, cannot be removed by the government.
Q4. Explain any three causes of poverty in India. (3 marks)
Answer: One cause is the low rate of growth for several decades after independence, especially in agriculture, which left too few jobs for a rapidly growing population. A second is the unequal distribution of land and other resources: those without land or capital depend on irregular wage labour, and land reforms were poorly implemented in most states. A third is high indebtedness combined with social obligations: small farmers borrow at high interest to meet the cost of cultivation and of ceremonies, and when the crop fails they cannot repay, which pushes them further into poverty rather than out of it.
Q5. What is food security? Explain its three dimensions. (3 marks)
Answer: Food security means that food is available to all people at all times, in sufficient quantity and quality for an active and healthy life. Its first dimension is availability — enough food produced in the country, together with stocks and imports. The second is accessibility — food must be within reach of every person, which is a question of transport, distribution and the absence of discrimination. The third is affordability — a household must have enough income to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food. A country can fail on the second or third even when the first is met, which is why India holds buffer stocks and runs a public distribution system.
Section D — Long Answer (5 marks each) — 20 marks
Answer all 4 questions. Each carries 5 marks.
Q1. Describe the circumstances that led to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and its immediate effects. (5 marks)
Answer: By 1917 Russia was an autocracy under Tsar Nicholas II, with no parliament worth the name and a police force that suppressed opposition. The vast majority were peasants who wanted the land of the nobility, and the small industrial working class endured long hours in dangerous factories on very low wages. The First World War made every grievance worse: Russia suffered enormous casualties, supplies of food and fuel failed in the cities, and the Tsar's decision to take personal command of the army linked every defeat to him. In February 1917 strikes and bread riots in Petrograd, joined by soldiers who refused to fire on the crowds, forced the Tsar to abdicate, and a Provisional Government took over. It continued the war and delayed land reform, so support shifted to the Bolsheviks under Lenin, whose slogan promised peace, land and bread. In October 1917 they seized power. The immediate effects were the withdrawal of Russia from the war by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the nationalisation of land, banks and industry, and the beginning of a civil war between the Reds and the Whites which the Bolsheviks eventually won.
Q2. Explain the mechanism of the Indian monsoon and describe the four seasons of India. (5 marks)
Answer: The monsoon arises from the differential heating of land and sea. In summer the landmass of Asia heats rapidly and a low-pressure area develops over north-western India, while the Indian Ocean stays comparatively cool and remains at higher pressure. Air therefore moves from sea to land, and these moisture-laden south-west winds bring rain. In winter the pattern reverses: the land cools faster than the sea, a high-pressure area forms over the north, and dry winds blow outward from land to sea. The shift of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone northwards in summer and the presence of the jet streams strengthen the reversal. India has four seasons. The cold weather season, from mid-November to February, brings clear skies, low temperatures and some rain in the north-west from western disturbances. The hot weather season, from March to May, brings rising temperatures, the loo, and local storms. The advancing monsoon, from June to September, brings the bulk of the country's rainfall as the south-west monsoon breaks. The retreating monsoon, in October and November, brings clear skies, oppressive humidity known as October heat, and cyclones on the eastern coast.
Q3. 'Democracy is better than other forms of government.' Give any five arguments in support. (5 marks)
Answer: First, a democratic government is more accountable, because it must answer to the people at regular elections and can be removed by them. Second, it improves the quality of decision-making: decisions pass through discussion, negotiation and consultation, so hasty or irresponsible choices are less likely. Third, it provides a peaceful method of handling differences and conflicts, since no single group can impose its will permanently and every group has a legitimate way to press its case. Fourth, it enhances the dignity of the citizen, because every adult has one vote of equal value, which recognises each person as an equal member of the political community regardless of wealth or caste. Fifth, democracy allows its own mistakes to be corrected: there is room for public criticism, a free press can expose failures, and a government that persists in error can be voted out — no other form of government has this built-in mechanism for self-correction.
Q4. What is the difference between fundamental rights and directive principles? Describe any three fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. (5 marks)
Answer: Fundamental rights are justiciable — a citizen can go to court if they are violated, and the courts can strike down a law that infringes them. Directive principles are guidelines to the state for making policy; they are not enforceable in court, though they are fundamental to the governance of the country. Rights protect the individual against the state, while directive principles direct the state towards social and economic welfare. Among the fundamental rights, the Right to Equality guarantees equality before the law and forbids discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth; it abolishes untouchability and titles. The Right to Freedom gives every citizen the freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and the practice of any profession, subject to reasonable restrictions, and protects life and personal liberty. The Right against Exploitation forbids trafficking in human beings, forced labour and begar, and prohibits the employment of children below fourteen in hazardous work.
Section E — Case-based questions (4 marks each) — 12 marks
Answer all 3 case-based questions. Each has sub-parts totalling 4 marks.
Q1. CASE STUDY 1 — In the summer of 1789 the price of bread rose sharply in France. Crowds of angry women stormed into bakers' shops, and on 14 July a mob attacked the Bastille. (i) Why had bread become so expensive? (ii) What did the Bastille symbolise? (iii) Name the document adopted in August 1789. (iv) State any one right it declared. (4 marks)
Answer: (i) A series of bad harvests had cut the supply of grain while the population was growing, so the price of bread rose faster than wages — a subsistence crisis. (ii) The Bastille was a fortress prison that held those imprisoned on the king's personal orders, so it stood for the despotic power of the monarchy; that is why the crowd attacked it rather than a more useful target. (iii) The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. (iv) It declared that men are born free and equal in rights, and it guaranteed the right to liberty, to property, to security and to resistance to oppression, along with freedom of speech and opinion.
Q2. CASE STUDY 2 — A village in Rajasthan receives less than 50 cm of rain a year. The people grow bajra and rear goats and camels, and the natural vegetation consists of thorny bushes and acacia with long roots. (i) Name the vegetation type. (ii) Give two adaptations of these plants. (iii) Why is bajra suited to this region? (iv) Name one wildlife species of this region. (4 marks)
Answer: (i) Thorn forests and scrub, the vegetation of semi-arid regions. (ii) The leaves are reduced to thorns or are very small and thick, which cuts the loss of water by transpiration, and the roots are long and go deep to reach the water table far below the surface; stems are often fleshy and store water. (iii) Bajra is a hardy millet that needs little water, tolerates high temperature and poor sandy soil, and matures quickly, so it can complete its growth within the short rainy period. (iv) The Indian wild ass in the Rann of Kachchh, along with the desert fox, camel and the great Indian bustard.
Q3. CASE STUDY 3 — In a village, a family of five owns two acres of land. During sowing and harvest all five work in the field; for the rest of the year there is little to do, but nobody leaves the farm. (i) Name the kind of unemployment during the idle months. (ii) Name the kind present even in the busy season if the same output could come from three workers. (iii) State one consequence for the family. (iv) Suggest one remedy. (4 marks)
Answer: (i) Seasonal unemployment, since work is available only in particular parts of the year. (ii) Disguised unemployment — the extra workers add nothing to output, so their marginal productivity is effectively zero even though they appear to be employed. (iii) The family's income has to support five people while being produced by the work of three, so income per head is very low and savings are impossible, keeping the household near or below the poverty line. (iv) Creating non-farm employment nearby — dairying, poultry, small-scale industry or work under employment guarantee schemes — and providing vocational training so that surplus workers can move into other occupations.
Section F — Map skill (5 marks) — 5 marks
Answer all 5 questions. Each carries 1 mark. Take any outline map of India and mark each place you name — the answers give the location so you can check your marking.
Q1. Name the mountain range that forms the northern boundary of India, and the highest peak in the Indian portion of it. (1 mark)
Answer: The Himalayas, running roughly 2,400 km from the Indus valley in the west to the Brahmaputra in the east. Kangchenjunga in Sikkim, 8,586 m, is the highest peak within India.
Q2. Name the river that rises at Gangotri and the state in which it enters the plains. (1 mark)
Answer: The Ganga, which rises at the Gangotri glacier in Uttarakhand and enters the plains at Haridwar in the same state.
Q3. Name the plateau that lies between the Western and Eastern Ghats, and one state it covers. (1 mark)
Answer: The Deccan Plateau, a triangular landmass south of the Narmada, covering parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Q4. Name the state through which the Standard Meridian of India passes near Mirzapur, and give the meridian. (1 mark)
Answer: Uttar Pradesh. The Standard Meridian is 82°30'E, and the local time along it is taken as Indian Standard Time.
Q5. Name the national park in Assam famous for the one-horned rhinoceros, and the river valley it lies in. (1 mark)
Answer: Kaziranga National Park, in the floodplain of the Brahmaputra in Assam.
FAQs
What topics are covered in Class 9 Social Science?
History: French Revolution, Russian Revolution; Geography: Earth, climate; Civics: Constitution; Economics: poverty, sectors.
Are map-based questions asked in the exam?
Yes, questions on physical features, countries, and capitals are common; practice map drawing regularly.
How should I approach essay-type questions?
Plan your answer, write key points with examples, support with evidence, and organize logically.
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