CREDIT DISTRIBUTION, ELIGIBILITY AND PRE-REQUISITES OF THE COURSE History of India ~ Ill: Should have 750-1200 Fourth century to 750 Learning Objectives This course is designed to make students trace the patterns of change and continuities in the economic, political, social and cultural aspects of life during the ‘early medieval period’ (c. 750 — 1200 CE) of Indian history. With its focus on multiple historiographical approaches to various issues of historical significance during this period, the course will also apprise students of the divergent ways in which historians approach, read and interpret their sources. Learning outcomes Upon completion of this course the student shall be able to: © Critically assess the major debates among scholars about various changes that took place with the onset of early medieval period in India. © Explain, in an interconnected manner, the processes of state formation, agrarian expansion, proliferation of caste and urban as well as commercial processes. © Discuss the major currents of developments in the cultural sphere, namely Bhakti movement, Puranic Hinduism, Tantricism, architecture and art.‘SYLLABUS OF DSC-1 Unit I: Studying early medieval India 1. Sources: texts; inscriptions; coins 2. Perspectives on the early medieval Unit Il: Political structures and processes 1. Evolution of political structures: Rajput polities; Chola state; Odisha 2. Symbols of political power: Brahmanas and temples; courtly cultures 3. Issue of ‘Foreign and Indian’: Arabs and Ghazanavids in the north-west, Cholas in Southeast Asia Social and economic processes 1. Agricultural expansion and social changes 2. Trade and urbanization Unit IV: Religious and visual cultures 1. Bhakti, Puranic Hinduism; Tantra; Buddhism and Jainism 2. Art and architecture: temples — regional styles Practical component (if any) - NIL Essential/recommended readings v Unit I. This unit seeks to familiarise students with the range of sources available for the early medieval period of Indian history. Most importantly, students will engage with the debates and varied scholarly views on the nature of early medieval Indian social formation and the most important aspects and factors of change therein. (Teaching Time: 12 hrs. approx.) . Salomon, Richard. 1998. indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit and, the Other Indo-Aryan Languages. New York: Oxford University Press. (The relevant portions are: Chapter |: 'The Scope and Significance of Epigraphy in Indological StudStudiesies', pp. 3-6; Chapter VII: ‘Epigraphy as a Source for the Study of indian Culture,’ pp. 226-51.) © — Schwartzberg. J. 1993. Historical Atlas of South Asia. New York: Oxford University Press. (To be used mostly as a reference book) . Jha, D.N. 2000. ‘introduction’. in The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval India. Delhi: Manohar, pp. 1-60. [Also available in Hindi} ‘© Sharma, RS 1958. ‘Origins of Feudalism in India (c. A.D. 400-650)’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 1: 297-328. . Mukhia, H. 1981. “Was there Feudalism in Indian History?’ The Journal of Peasant Studies vol. 8(3): 273-310. Also reproduced in Kulke, Hermann. (ed). 1995. The State in India, 1000-1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 86- 133. Sharma, R.S. 1982. “The Kali Age: A Period of Social Crisis’. In D.N. Jha (ed). The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval India, Delhi: Manohar, pp. 61-77. (Originally published in S.N. Mukherjea, (ed). India: History and Thought. Essays in Honour of Professor A.L. Basham.)© Chattopadhyaya, 8.0. 1983. ‘Political Processes and the Structure of Polity in Early Medieval India: Problems of Perspective’. Presidential Address, Ancient India Section, Indian History Congress, 44 Session. This is also reproduced in Kulke, Hermann. (ed). 1995. The State in India, 1000-1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 195-232. Kulke, Hermann and Bhairabi Prasad Sahu (eds). 2022. ‘introduction’, The Routledge Handbook of the State in Premodern India. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 1-43. ©) He, 30e. 2017. wea a oo a-HeaaTea INE HT SAS: TMTOT-aTeT A 12dh araredy aren. a1 GEA: Seahrar ge Sa WaT aver, eit aeTaT &, SCAT 10: "SHAT AN AHA, TS HEA 588-689.) tT, Tooke ANAT (H.). 2007. HAT BAe AS: USA, WATS HN TTA. a Cowen: wer sree. © warfd, ware, 1993, aredrr arataare. ag Toe: WHAT THT, © ARQ WAT, BAM. 1998, eer rere SATA H FATA TET 7. FTTH HT aeagrdter ware. (G.) eee year, ag Toh: az seth, Ts Fe aT 1-49. Unit II. This unit aims to apprise students of the dynamic nature of political structures and the varied perspectives from which scholars study them. (Teaching Time: 12 hrs. approx.) . Sharma, R.S. [1965] 2006. Indian Feudalism: c. AD 300-1200. 3rd edition, Delhi: Macmillan (Especially relevant are, pp. 67-95.). . Chattopadhyaya, B.D. 1983. ‘Political Processes and the Structure of Polity in Early Medieval india: Problems of Perspective’, Presidential Address, Ancient India Section, indian History Congress, 44th Session. This is also reproduced in Kulke, Hermann. (ed). 1995. The State in India, 1000-1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 195-232. © Kulke, Hermann. 1995. ‘The Early and the Imperial Kingdom: A Processural Model of integrative State Formation in Early Medieval India’. In idem. (ed). The State in India, 1000-1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 233-62. © Chattopadhyaya, B.D. 1976. ‘Origin of the Rajputs: The Political, Economic and Social Processes in Early Medieval Rajasthan’. Indian Historical Review, vol. 3(1); 59-82. Also reproduced in B.D. Chattopadhyaya, The Making of Early Medieval India, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 57-88. Paperback edition, 1997. . Stein, Burton. 1977. ‘The Segmentary State in South Indian History’. In Richard Fox (ed.). Realm and Region in Traditional India. New Delhi: Vikas, pp. 3-51. Stein’s views might also be accessed in another article by him, more easily accessible: Stein, Burton. (1995). ‘The Segmentary State: interim Reflections’. In Hermann Kulke. (ed). 1995. The State in India, 1000-1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 134-61. —— Heitzman, James. 1987. ‘State Formation in South India, 850-1280’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, vol. 24 (1), pp. 35-61. Also reproduced in Hermann Kulke. (ed). 1995. The State in India, 1000-1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 162-94,Ali, Daud. 2006. ‘Chapter 2; ‘The Culture of the Court’, In idem. Courtly Culture and Political Life in Early Medieval india. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, (Especially useful is, pp. 69-102.) Davis, Richard. 1999. Lives of Indian Images. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas Publishers, pp. 88-112 and pp. 186-221. Chattopadhyaya, 8.0. 2017. ‘The Concept of Bharatavarsha and ts Historiographical Implications’, In B. D. Chattopadhyaya The Concept of Bharatavarsha and Other Essays. New Delhi: Permanent Black, pp. 1-30. Maclean, Derryl N. 1989. Religion and Society in Arab Sind. Leiden: E.J. Brill. (Chapter Il: ‘Conquest and Conversion’, pp. 22-82). Habib, Mohammad. (1927} 1981. ‘Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznin’. In K.A. Nizami {ed.) Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period, Collected Works of Professor Habib, vol. 2. New Delhi: People’s Publishing House, pp. 36-104. Thapar, Romila. 2005. Somnath: The Many Voices of a History. Penguin. Chattopdhyaya, B.D. [1998] 2017. Representing the Other? Sanskrit Sources and the Muslims (eighth to fourteenth Century). Primus Books: Delhi. Kulke, Hermann, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja (eds). 2009. Nagapattinam to Su-varnadvipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. MANS, WAMU, 1998, HA AAMT Shearer MAN? FLAT ALY, WAT (F.). RaeaeTH HR ARH Tare. as TCA. AAIEM, TS AA AT 50-86, ARG WA, AG. 1998 SH IaH Seoidar ste atest aren ea, ETAT Ay TT (B). Fa Towa athe aah waa, As WoeH: dere, WS We A 310-339. aeetrtara, afsaret. 1978. ‘Tarr old Fr sea; GAAS arerey tet qarea Forts, ante vd arate ware, wa, $1, Bprerar AAD (a). wretter sirear. Aerator: 7S ee. TS HA A, 136-153. eda, ater. 1992. Hei & arat ar aes HR Hey a, SeHTeT Kata (HG AeA HIS, HH -4. aS POM: THAT TATA, TS TA AT 9-23. aay, WT. 2000, Wraree she AER ', HEH Aa AAS aAB-2, 31 1-2. TS eT 37-44, anay, Vea. 2015. Haare: SaaS Ue, Fay Hotes. 7S Toe: erste. gate, StI. 1999. ‘Steeler aw a saTTOUT AY wea aie HaUITOT: CERT TEM. AEA APTA 26-30. aT AAW-1, 37 3. TS aeetreara afsrara. 2012. ‘arprrat att areert & oar, Arenal Weer (jo Reread Aka FT SEP Taw saaere. AS Wore: aie SAHA, 15S AEM 107-33. wren, track 3. 1979. dred. are (oem: HenaoUnit Hl. This unit will familiarise students with social and economic processes of the early medieval period in Indian history. The diverse ways in which these have been studied will be the chief focus. (Teaching Time: 9 hrs approx.) Sharma, R.S. 1987. Urban Decay in India c, 300 ~c. 1000. New Delhi: Munshiram Mnoharial. (Especially important parts are, Chapter 2: ‘Urban Growth and Decay in the North’, pp. 10-27; Chapter 8: ‘Explaining the Urban Eclipse’, pp. 132-42; and Chapter 10: ‘Agrarian Expansion’, pp. 168-77.) . Champakalakshmi, R. 1995. ‘State and Economy: South India, Circa A.D. 400- 1300’. In Romila Thapar (ed.). Recent Perspectives of Early Indian History. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, pp. 266- 301. * Yadava, B.N.S. 1997. ‘immobility and Subjection of Indian Peasantry’. In Bhairabi Prasad Sahu (ed.). Land System and Rural Society in Early India. Delhi: Manohar, pp. 329-42. ° Sharma, R.S. 1969. Social Changes in Early Medieval India. The first Devraj Chanana Memorial Lecture. New Delhi: People’s Publishing House. Also reproduced (with slight changes) as Sharma, R.S. 2001, ‘Changes in Social Structure’. In idem. Early Medieval Indian Society: A Study in Feudalisation. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, pp. 186-213. ° Chattopadhyaya, B.D. 1994. The Making of Early Medieval India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Relevant parts are, Chapter 4: ‘Markets and Merchants in Early Medieval Rajasthan’, pp. 89-119; Chapter 6: ‘Trade and Urban Centres in Early Medieval North India’, pp. 130-54; Chapter 7: ‘Urban Centres in Early Medieval india: An Overview’, pp. 155-182). . Bhandare, Shailendra. 2015. ‘Evaluating the Paucity of Metallic Currency in Medieval India’. In Himanshu Prabha Ray (ed). Negotiating Cultural Identity: Landscapes in Early Medieval South Asian History. Delhi: Routledge, pp. 159- 202. ° Chakravarti, Ranabir, 2004. ‘Introduction’. In idem. (ed), Trade in Early India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 1-101. . Malik, Anjali. 1998. Merchants and Merchandise in Early Medieval Northern India, A.D. 600-1000. Delhi: Manohar. Relevant sections are, ‘Introduction’, pp. 15-33; Chapter 4: ‘The Changing Patterns of Trade’, pp. 89-109. © ATT, WAIT. 2000. eT a Meter TANT aT Teer, OTA HeTeTaT: ae (ood. create Get sa ware 86 greara-2 = Bx A ered denver ate sae, GSS HLM 25-47; HEATA-8: EL Telat Al ATLA, TTS HL A 173-84; HEAT 10; FF FT A, TS HA A 213-23, ©. wranfo, Teer. 1995. qaa-nerarctet se A ara aaa, aS {och Sentia SEAT eaniS, Tay, 1996. F F- Aer HINT FT arate SN Batt He Hep aa. aA SEM : Morea ear A easter «| afd, ahve, Ua. 1981. “UNH eae cree aH rere pare aa AT arrdeitear stk Gorse, sper eete (@.). Ataarea ANG, 3-1. Ae {ech UaHAS THT, TS AA AT 3-12.Unit IV. The focus of this unit will be on the religious and visual cultures of the early medieval period in the Indian subcontinent. Having done this unit, students will be able to trace the patterns of change in these spheres of life. (Teaching Time: 12 hrs. approx.) © Champakalakshmi, R. 1996. ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance: The Bhakti of the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars’. In R. Champakalakshmi and S. Gopal (ed). Tradition, Dissent and Ideology. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 135-63. © Narayanan, M.G.S. and K. Veluthat. 2000. ‘Bhakti Movement in South India’. In Jha, D.N. (ed). The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval India. New Delhi: Manohar, pp. 385-410. The essay was originally published in $.C. Malik. (ed.). 1978. Indian Movements: Some Aspects of Dissent, Protest and Reform. Simla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1978. The same was also reproduced in D.N. Jha. (ed). 1987. Feudal Social Formation in Early India. Delhi: Chanakya Publications. © Mahalakshmi, R. 2000. ‘Outside the Norm, Within the Tradition: Karaikkal Ammaiyar and the Ideology of Tamil Bhakti’, Studies in History, vol. 16(1): pp. 17-40. © Chakrabarti, Kunal. 1996. ‘Texts and Traditions: The Making of the Bengal Puranas’. In R. Champakalakshmi and S. Gopal (eds). Tradition, Dissent and Ideology. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 55-88. © Desai, Devangana. 1989. ‘Social Dimensions of Art in Early India’. Presidential Address (Ancient india Section). Proceeding of the Indian History Congress, 50th session, Gorakhpur: pp. 21-56. © = afOuy, wewarer. 1998. ore He ay ere BrATaorH Hem. ag TOS: aertodt, © He, TANT. 2017. refer va og. eaTeRTChTa HTT AAT SAAT: TTUTUT HTT 12 Fh ereTea aw, AG POEM: ARTA RA SAT Ca ea, MH TTR, SCAT 10: 'SaRaT AAT GUT’, TS HVAT 588-689. Suggestive readings Bosworth, C.E. 1966. ‘Mahmud of Ghazna in Contemporary Eyes and in Later Persian literature’. Iran. vol. 4, pp. 85-92. (Alternatively, see Mahmud B. Sebuktigin. in Encyclopaedia of Is-lam, ed. H.A.R. Gibb et al. Leiden: £J. Brill.) . Champakalakshmi, R. 1996. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South india 300 BC to AD 1300, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. e Chattopadhyaya, 8.0. 2003. ‘The Study of Early India’. In idem. Studying Early India. Delhi: Permanent Black, pp. 3-25. . Desai. Devangana. 1974, “Art under Feudalism in India (c. A.D. 500-1300)’. The Indian Historical Review vol. 1(1): pp. 10-17. Reprinted in Jha, D.N. 1987. The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval India. Delhi: Manohar, pp. 487-496. . Deyell, J.S. 1990. Living Without Silver: The Monetary History of Early Medieval North India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. . Eaton, Richard M. 2002. ‘Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States’. in David Gil-martin and Bruce B. Lawrence (eds). Beyond Turk and Hindu: RethinkingReligious Identities in Islamicate South Asia. New Delhi: India Research Press, pp. 246-81. The article can also be ac-cessed in Eaton, Richard M. 2000. Essays on Islam and Indian History, New Delhi: Oxford Univer-sity Press. © Huntington, Susan. 1985. The Art of Ancient India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain. New York and Tokyo: Weather Hill. Jha, D.N. 2000. The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval India. Delhi: Manohar Publishers. . Kulke, Hermann. 2001. ‘Royal Temple Policy and the Structure of Medieval Hindu Kingdoms’. in idem. Kings and Cults: State Formation and Legitimation in India and Southeast Asia. Delhi: Manohar, pp. 1-16. — Kulke, Hermann and B. P. Sahu. 2018. History of Precolonial India: Issues and Debates. Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 141-278. . Pollock, Sheldon. 1998. “India in the Vernacular Millennium: Literary Culture and Polity, 1000-1500". Daedalus, vol. 127(3). 1998: pp. 41-74. Ramaswamy, Vijaya. 1982. ‘Peasant, State and Society in Medieval South India: A Re-view Article’, Studies in History, vol. 4, pp. 307-19. Sahu, B.P. (ed). 1997. ‘Introduction’. In idem. Land System and Rural Society in Early India. Delhi: Manohar, pp. 1-58. . Sharma, R.S. (1985). ‘How Feudal was Indian Feudalism?’. The Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 12 (2-3), pp. 19-43. A revised and updated version of this article is to be found in, Kulke, Hermann (ed). 1995. The State in India 1000- 1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 48-85. ‘© Singh, Upinder. (2008). ‘Chapter 10: Emerging Regional Configurations, c. 600- 1200 CE’. In idem. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone ‘Age to the 12th Century. New Delhi: Pearson Education, pp. 546-643. Spencer, G.W. (1969). ‘Religious Networks and Royal Influence in Eleventh Century South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. vol. 12 (1): pp. 42-56. ‘ — Subbarayalu, Y. 2011. South India under the Cholas. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. (Especially important are chapters titled ‘Introduction’, ‘The Chola State” and ‘Characterizing the Chola State’.) . Veluthat, Kesavan. 2000. ‘The Role of Nadu in the Socio-Political Structure of South India (c. AD 600-1200)’. In D.N. Jha (ed). The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval India. Delhi: Manohar, pp. 179-96. Note: Examination scheme and mode shall be as prescribed by the Examination Branch, University of Delhi, from time to time.