Part I
- The Story of the First Cities: Harappan Archaeology.
Broad overview: Early urban centres.
Story of discovery: Harappan civilization.
Excerpt: Archaeological report on a major site.
Discussion: How it has been utilized by archaeologists/historians.
- Political and Economic History: How Inscriptions tell a story.
Broad overview: Political and economic history from the Mauryan to the Gupta period.
Story of discovery: Inscriptions and the decipherment of the script. Shifts in the understanding of political and economic history.
Excerpt: Asokan inscription and Gupta period land grant.
Discussion: Interpretation of inscriptions by historians.
- Social Histories: Using the Mahabharata
Broad overview: Issues in social history, including caste, class, kinship and gender.
Story of discovery: Transmission and publications of the Mahabharata.
Excerpt: from the Mahabharata, illustrating how it has been used by historians.
Discussion: Other sources for reconstructing social history.
- A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa
Broad overview:
(a) A brief review of religious histories of Vedic religion, Jainism, Vaisnavism, Saivism.
(b) Focus on Buddhism.
Story of discovery: Sanchi stupa
Excerpt: Reproduction of sculptures from Sanchi.
Discussion: Ways in which sculpture has been interpreted by historians, other sources for reconstructing the history of Buddhism.
Part II
- Agrarian Relations: The Am-i- Akbari Broad overview:
(a) Structure of agrarian relations in the 16th and 17th centuries.
(b) Patterns of change over the period.
Story of Discovery: Account of the compilation and translation of Ain-i-Akbari.
Excerpt: from the Ain-i-Akbari
Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the text to reconstruct history.
- The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles
Broad overview:
(a) Outline of political history 15th-17th centuries.
(b) Discussion of the Mughal court and politics.
Story of Discovery: Account of the production of court chronicles, and their subsequent translation and transmission.
Excerpts: from the Akbarnama and Padshahnama.
Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the texts to reconstruct political histories.
- New Architecture: Hampi Broad overview:
(a) Outline of new buildings during Vijayanagar period-temples, forts, irrigation facilities.
(b) Relationship between architecture and the political system.
Story of Discovery: Account of how Hampi was found.
Excerpt: Visuals of buildings at Hampi.
Discussion: Ways in which historians have analyzed and interpreted these structures.
- Religious Histories: The Bhakti-Sufi Tradition
Broad overview:
(a) Outline of religious developments during this period.
(b) Ideas and practices of the Bhakti-Sufi saints.
Story of Transmission: How Bhakti-Sufi compositions have been preserved.
Excerpt: Extracts from selected Bhakti-Sufi works.
Discussion: Ways in which these have been interpreted by historians.
- Medieval Society through Travelers’ Accounts
Broad overview: Outline of social and cultural life as they appear in travelers’ accounts.
Story of their writings: A discussion of where they travelled, why they travelled, what they wrote, and for whom they wrote.
Excerpts: from Alberuni, lbn Batuta, Bernier.
Discussion: What these travel accounts can tell us and how they have been interpreted by historians.
PART – III
- Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports
Broad overview:
(a) Life of zamindars, peasants and artisans in the late 18th century
(b) East India Company, revenue settlements and surveys.
(c) Changes over the nineteenth century.
Story of official records: An account of why official investigations into rural societies were undertaken and the types of records and reports produced.
Excerpts: From Firminger’s Fifth Report, Accounts of Frances Buchanan-Hamilton, and Deccan Riots Report.
Discussion: What the official records tell and do not tell, and how they have been used by historians.
- Representations of 1857 Broad overview:
(a) The events of 1857-58.
(b) How these events were recorded and narrated.
Focus: Lucknow.
Excerpts: Pictures of 1857. Extracts from contemporary accounts.
Discussion: How the pictures of 1857 shaped British opinion of what had happened.
- Colonialism and Indian Towns: Town Plans and Municipal Reports
Broad overview: The growth of Mumbai, Chennai, hilt stations and cantonments in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Excerpts: Photographs and paintings. Plans of cities. Extract from town plan reports. Focus on Kolkata town planning.
Discussion: How the above sources can be used to reconstruct the history of towns. What these sources do not reveal.
- Mahatma Gandhi through Contemporary Eyes
Broad overview:
(a) The Nationalist Movement 1918 – 48.
(b) The nature of Gandhian politics and leadership.
Focus: Mahatma Gandhi in 1931.
Excerpts: Reports from English and Indian language newspapers and other contemporary writings.
Discussion: How newspapers can be a source of history.
- Partition through Oral Sources
Broad overview:
(a) The history of the 1940s.
(b) Nationalism, Communalism and Partition.
Focus: Punjab and Bengal.
Excerpts: Oral testimonies of those who experienced partition.
Discussion: Ways in which these have been analyzed to reconstruct the history of the event.
- The Making of the Constitution
Broad overview:
(a) Independence and the new nation state.
(b) The making of the Constitution.
Focus: The Constitutional Assembly debates.
Excerpts: from the debates.
Discussion: What such debates reveal and how they can be analyzed.
- Map Work on Units 1-15
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- Familiarize the learner with early urban centres as economic and social institutions.
- Introduce the ways in which new data can lead to a revision of existing notions of history.
- Illustrate how archaeological reports.
- Familiarize the learner with major trends in the political and economic history of the subcontinent.
- Introduce inscriptional analysis and the ways in which these have shaped the understanding of political and economic processes.
- Familiarize the (earner with issues in social history.
- Introduce strategies of textual analysis and their use in reconstructing social history.
- Discuss the major religious developments in early India.
- Introduce strategies of visual analysis and their use in reconstructing histories of religion.
- Discuss developments in agrarian relations.
- Discuss how to supplement official documents with other sources.
- Familiarize the (earner with the major landmarks in political history.
- Show how chronicles and other sources are used to reconstruct the histories of political institutions.
- Familiarize the learner with the new buildings that were built during the time.
- Discuss the ways in which architecture can be analyzed to reconstruct history.
- Familiarize the learner with religious developments.
- Discuss ways of analyzing devotional literature as sources of history.
- Familiarize the learner with the salient features of social histories described by the travelers.
- Discuss how travelers accounts can be used as sources of social history.
- Discuss how colonialism affected zamindars, peasants and artisans.
- Understand the problems and limits of using official sources for understanding the lives of people.
- Discuss how the events of 1857 are being reinterpreted.
- Discuss how visual material can be used by historians.
- Familiarize the (earner with the history of modern urban centres. Discuss how urban histories can be written by drawing on different types of sources.
- Familiarize the (earner with significant elements of the Nationalist Movement and the nature of Gandhian leadership.
- Discuss how Gandhi was perceived by different groups.
- Discuss how historians need to read and interpret newspapers, diaries and letters as historical source.
- Discuss the last decade of the national movement, the growth of communalism and the story of partition.
- Understand the events through the experience of those who lived through these years of communal violence.
- Show the possibilities and limits of oral sources.
- Familiarize students with the history of the early years after independence.
- Discuss how the founding ideals of the new nation state were debated and formulated.
- Understand how such debates and discussions can be read by historians.
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