ICSE Class 10 History & Civics — Important Questions
Question types and patterns from official CISCE board papers 2023, 2024, and 2025. Every topic below has appeared in at least one recent board examination.
Part I — Compulsory (Questions 1–2, 30 marks)
Q1: 16 MCQs (1 mark each). Q2: 7 short answer questions of 2 marks each.
Union Legislature — Lok Sabha Powers and Procedures
Q1 MCQ + Q2 + Q3 every year- ·Council of Ministers collectively responsible to Lok Sabha
- ·Adjournment Motion — discuss matter of urgent public importance
- ·Speaker's actions in unruly house — adjourn for lack of discipline
- ·Lok Sabha superior to Rajya Sabha — Money Bills, no-confidence motion, joint sitting majority
President's Powers
Q1 MCQ + Q4 every year- ·National Emergency declared when security of nation under threat (Art.352)
- ·Electoral College composition; impeachment process (both houses, 2/3 majority)
- ·Two Financial powers, two Executive powers of President
Rajya Sabha — Composition and Eligibility
Q1 MCQ every year- ·Who is eligible for Rajya Sabha: Indian citizen, 30 years, no insolvency, no foreign citizenship
- ·Judicial Review: Supreme Court reviews laws passed by Parliament
1857 — Causes and Consequences
Q1 MCQ + Q6 every year- ·Lord Wellesley introduced Subsidiary Alliance
- ·Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Lord Dalhousie
- ·Three socio-religious causes of 1857; four military causes
Assertive Nationalists — Tilak, Bipin Pal, Lajpat Rai
Q1 MCQ + Q2 + Q7 every year- ·Odd one out: Dadabhai Naoroji (Early Nationalist, not Radical)
- ·Subhas Chandra Bose contributions: Supreme Commander INA + Founded Forward Bloc (not Lucknow Pact, not Quit India)
- ·Swadeshi method: buy Indian goods, boycott foreign
World Wars and Dictatorships
Q1 MCQ + Q10 every year- ·Common cause of dictatorship: economic crisis
- ·WWI cause from 'Sarajevo Crisis' headline
- ·Rise of Mussolini (Fascism 1922), Hitler (Nazism 1933); common features of both ideologies
United Nations
Q1 MCQ + Q2 + Q9 every year- ·UN objectives: disarm, decolonise, develop — NOT 'Disengage'
- ·WHO associated with public health picture
- ·Composition and functions of General Assembly, Security Council, ICJ
Non-Aligned Movement
Q2 + Q9 every year- ·Meaning of Non-Alignment: not joining any military bloc
- ·Panchsheel (1954); Nehru's role; architects: Nehru, Nasser, Tito; Bandung Conference 1955
Part II — Section A (Civics, 2 of 3) + Section B (History, 3 of 5)
Section A: Q3 (Parliament), Q4 (Executive), Q5 (Judiciary). Section B: Q6–Q10 (History topics).
Judiciary — Supreme Court, High Court, Lok Adalat
Section A Q5 every year- ·Original Jurisdiction of High Court: two cases (writ petitions, company law)
- ·Two advantages of Lok Adalat; one difference: Sessions Court handles criminal cases, District Judge handles civil
- ·Revisory Jurisdiction: High Court reviews lower court decisions; Court of Record: decisions have evidentiary value
Gandhian Movements — NCM, CDM, QIM
Section B Q7/Q8 every year- ·NCM causes: Khilafat + Rowlatt Act + Jallianwala Bagh; withdrawn: Chauri Chaura (1922)
- ·CDM: Simon Commission rejection, Lahore 1929, Dandi March 12 March 1930, Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931
- ·QIM: Cripps Mission failure; 'Do or Die'; Quit India Resolution 8 August 1942
Independence — Cabinet Mission, Mountbatten Plan
Section B Q8 every year- ·Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) — three clauses
- ·Mountbatten Plan (June 1947) — partition; Indian Independence Act (18 July 1947)
WWI — Causes and Results
Section B Q9 every year- ·Four causes: Nationalism, Imperialism, Armament Race, Alliance System + Sarajevo (immediate)
- ·Treaty of Versailles: war guilt, reparations, territorial losses, military restrictions; League of Nations formed
INA and Forward Bloc
Section B Q8 every year- ·Forward Bloc objectives: unity of left forces, fight British
- ·INA: Subhas Chandra Bose; 'Dilli Chalo'; Azad Hind Fauj; dissolved after Japan's defeat in WWII
Source: All patterns derived from official CISCE ICSE Class 10 board examination papers (2023, 2024, 2025) downloaded from cisce.org. For the actual question papers, view the History & Civics Previous Year Papers.