History

Unit 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.

Unit II: 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 andeconomic history.
  • Excerpt: Asokan inscription and Gupta period land grant.
  • Discussion: Interpretation of inscriptions by historians.

Unit III: 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.

Unit IV: A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa

  • Broad overview:
    (a) A brief review of religious histories of Vedicreligion, Jainism, Vaisnavism, and 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, and other sources for reconstructing thehistory of Buddhism.

Unit V: Medieval Society Through Travellers’ Accounts

  • Broad Overview: Outline of social and cultural life as they appear in travellers’ accounts.

  • Story of their writings: A discussion of where they travelled, why they travelled, what they wrote, and Forwhom they wrote.

  • Excerpts: from Alberuni, Ibn Batuta, Bernier.

  • Discussion: What these travel accounts can tell us and how they have been interpreted by historians?

Unit VI: Religious Histories: The Bhakti-Sufi Tradition

  • Broad Overview:
    (a) Outline of religious developments during thisperiod.
    (b) Ideas and practices of the Bhakti-Sufi saints.

  • Story of Transmission: How Bhakti-Sufi compositionshave been preserved.

  • Excerpt: Extracts from selected Bhakti Sufi works.

  • Discussion: Ways in which these have been interpretedby historians.

Unit VII: New Architecture: Hampi

  • Broad Overview:
    (a) Outline of new buildings during the Vijayanagarperiod - temples, forts, irrigation facilities.
    (b)Relationship between architecture and the politicalsystem.

  • Story of Discovery: Account of how Hampi was found.

  • Excerpt: Visuals of buildings at Hampi.

  • Discussion: Ways in which historians have analyzed andinterpreted these structures.

Unit VIII: Agrarian Relations: The Ain-i-Akbari

  • Broad overview:
    (a) Structure of agrarian relations in the 16th and $17^{\text {th }}$ centuries.
    (b) Patterns of change over the period.

  • Story of Discovery: Account of the compilation andtranslation of Ain-i-Akbari.

  • Excerpt: From the Ain-i-Akbari

  • Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the textto reconstruct history.

Unit IX: The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles

  • Broad Overview:
    (a) Outline of political history c. 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 textsto reconstruct political histories.

Unit X: Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports

  • Broad overview:
    (a) Life of zamindars, peasants, and artisans in the late18 ${ }^{\text {th }}$ 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 andthe types of records and reports produced.

  • Excerpts: From Firminger’s Fifth Report, Accounts of Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, and Deccan Riots Report.

  • Discussion: What do the official records tell and do not tell, and how they have been used by historians?

Unit XI: 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 contemporaryaccounts.

  • Discussion: How the pictures of 1857 shaped British opinion of what had happened.

Unit XII: Colonialism and Indian Towns: Town Plans and Municipal Reports

  • Broad Overview: The growth of Mumbai, Chennai, hill stations, and cantonments in the $18^{\text {th }}$ and $19^{\text {th }}$ 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 sourcesdo not reveal.

Unit XIII: 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 languagenewspapers and other contemporary writings.

  • Discussion: How newspapers can be a source of history.

Unit XIV: 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 toreconstruct the history of the event.

Unit XV: 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 do such debates reveal and how they canbe analyzed?

CUET (UG)

CUET (UG)

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