Course Objective:
The objective of this course is to analyse the various source materials for the reconstruction
of Ancient Indian History, the tools of historical reconstruction, the various ancient cultures,
the technological, economic, Political, religion and Philosophy of the period concerned.
Unit-1 Reconstructing Ancient Indian History
[a] Sources: Archaeological, Numismatic, Epigraphy, Literary
Sources
[b] Tools of historical reconstruction.
[c] Historical interpretations (with special reference to gender, environment, technology,
and regions
Unit-2 Pre-historic hunter-gatherers
Paleolithic cultures- sequence and distribution; stone industries and other technological
developments.
[b] Mesolithic cultures- regional and chronological distribution; new developments in
technology and economy; rock art.
Unit-3 The advent of food production
Understanding the regional and chronological distribution of the Neolithic and
Chalcolithic cultures: subsistence, and patterns of exchange
Unit-4 The Harappan civilization
Origins; settlement patterns and town planning; agrarian base; craft productions and
trade; social and political organization; religious beliefs and practices; art; the problem
of urban decline and the late/post-Harappan traditions.
Unit-5 Cultures in transition
Settlement patterns, technological and economic developments; social stratification;
political relations; religion and philosophy; the Aryan Problem.
[a] North India (circa 1500 BCE-300 BCE)
[b] Central India and the Deccan (circa 1000 BCE - circa 300 BCE)
[c] Tamilakam (circa 300 BCE to circa CE 300)
Recommended Readings:
R.S. Sharma, India’s Ancient Past, New Delhi, OUP, 2007
R. S. Sharma, Material Culture and Social Formations in Ancient India, 1983.
R.S. Sharma, Looking for the Aryas, Delhi, Orient Longman Publishers, 1995
D. P. Agrawal, The Archaeology of India, 1985
Bridget & F. Raymond Allchin, The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan, 1983.
A. L. Basham, The Wonder that Was India, 1971.
D. K. Chakrabarti, The Archaeology of Ancient Indian Cities, 1997, Paperback.
D. K. Chakrabarti, The Oxford Companion to Indian Archaeology, New Delhi, 2006.
H. C. Raychaudhuri, ed. Political History of Ancient India, Rev.
K. A. N. Sastri, ed., History of South India, OUP, 1966.
Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, 2008.
Romila Thapar, Early India from the Beginnings to 1300
Irfan Habib,A People’s History-Vol. -1,
PreHistory and the History of Language Change till 155 B.C., 2002
Uma Chakravarti, The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism. 1997.
Rajan Gurukkal, Social Formations of Early South India, 2010.
R. Champakalakshmi, Trade. Ideology and urbanization: South India 300 BC- AD 1300,
1996.
The objective of this course is to analyse the various source materials for the reconstruction
of Ancient Indian History, the tools of historical reconstruction, the various ancient cultures,
the technological, economic, Political, religion and Philosophy of the period concerned.
Unit-1 Reconstructing Ancient Indian History
[a] Sources: Archaeological, Numismatic, Epigraphy, Literary
Sources
[b] Tools of historical reconstruction.
[c] Historical interpretations (with special reference to gender, environment, technology,
and regions
Unit-2 Pre-historic hunter-gatherers
Paleolithic cultures- sequence and distribution; stone industries and other technological
developments.
[b] Mesolithic cultures- regional and chronological distribution; new developments in
technology and economy; rock art.
Unit-3 The advent of food production
Understanding the regional and chronological distribution of the Neolithic and
Chalcolithic cultures: subsistence, and patterns of exchange
Unit-4 The Harappan civilization
Origins; settlement patterns and town planning; agrarian base; craft productions and
trade; social and political organization; religious beliefs and practices; art; the problem
of urban decline and the late/post-Harappan traditions.
Unit-5 Cultures in transition
Settlement patterns, technological and economic developments; social stratification;
political relations; religion and philosophy; the Aryan Problem.
[a] North India (circa 1500 BCE-300 BCE)
[b] Central India and the Deccan (circa 1000 BCE - circa 300 BCE)
[c] Tamilakam (circa 300 BCE to circa CE 300)
Recommended Readings:
R.S. Sharma, India’s Ancient Past, New Delhi, OUP, 2007
R. S. Sharma, Material Culture and Social Formations in Ancient India, 1983.
R.S. Sharma, Looking for the Aryas, Delhi, Orient Longman Publishers, 1995
D. P. Agrawal, The Archaeology of India, 1985
Bridget & F. Raymond Allchin, The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan, 1983.
A. L. Basham, The Wonder that Was India, 1971.
D. K. Chakrabarti, The Archaeology of Ancient Indian Cities, 1997, Paperback.
D. K. Chakrabarti, The Oxford Companion to Indian Archaeology, New Delhi, 2006.
H. C. Raychaudhuri, ed. Political History of Ancient India, Rev.
K. A. N. Sastri, ed., History of South India, OUP, 1966.
Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, 2008.
Romila Thapar, Early India from the Beginnings to 1300
Irfan Habib,A People’s History-Vol. -1,
PreHistory and the History of Language Change till 155 B.C., 2002
Uma Chakravarti, The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism. 1997.
Rajan Gurukkal, Social Formations of Early South India, 2010.
R. Champakalakshmi, Trade. Ideology and urbanization: South India 300 BC- AD 1300,
1996.
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