DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

COURSES OFFERED BY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Category I
[UG Programme for Bachelor in History (Honours) degree in three years]

DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC CORE COURSE -1 (DSC-1) – : History of India – III: 750 – 1200

CREDIT DISTRIBUTION, ELIGIBILITY AND PRE-REQUISITES OF THE COURSE

Course title & Code Credits Credit distribution of the course Eligibility Pre-requisite
criteria of the course
(if any)
Lecture Tutorial Practical/
Practice
History of India – III: 4 3 1 0 12 th Pass Should have
750 – 1200 studied
History of
India- II
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.

128
 Chola
Historiography
Kn shastri - debate
1700-shift in writing
SYLLABUS OF DSC-1 Marxist
Champak Laxmi
Burton stein (not Marxist)
Unit I: Studying early medieval India Noboru Karashima- not accepted segmentrary ..
1. Sources: texts; inscriptions; coins emergency oglf nonbramhadev land
James highesman - state formation.. irrigation
2. Perspectives on the early medieval formation..studied different zones .. temple and
irrigation.. irrigation and state connected.

Unit II: 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 Trade and urbanization
North-
Unit III: Social and economic processes RS sharma- urban decay ,
perspectives on Social and
1. Agricultural expansion and social changes economic
Ranvir chakraborty- trade and
2. Trade and urbanization traders in early med India
Bd chattopadhyay - urbanisation

Unit IV: Religious and visual cultures south- temple idiology

1. Bhakti, Puranic Hinduism; Tantra; Buddhism and Jainism Nagaram
Temple urbanism , city in south
2. Art and architecture: temples – regional styles asia - James heitzman

Rs sharma...Long distance
Practical component (if any) - NIL trade..Decline of roman empire
JamesIndian trade affected..flow of gold
arba...Kathasairsagar(traders were
Essential/recommended readings captured by arabs and sold them
Temple
...so they stoped trade and
urbanization
Unit I. This unit seeks to familiarise students with the range of sources
migrated
theory available
to south) .. for
the early medieval period of Indian history. Most importantly,
R Champak students
expansion
Laxmi.
will all
dharamashashtras - agriculture
,craft decline..
engage with the debates and varied scholarly views on trade thethesenature
featuresof earlydeclines
showsss
.. this book urban decay... No
medieval Indian social formation and the most important ideology
aspects
and new bricks and factors
no new settlement
of change therein. (Teaching Time: 12 hrs. approx.) Debanjana
urbanization desai -- no new art
comming up ..also decline of
Kannether
● Salomon, Richard. 1998. Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions
hall artisanal activities.. artistic
in Sanskrit, Prakrit and, the Other Indo-Aryan Languages.Subbaryalu
Newfeatures
York:
Rs sharmas argumentOxford
University Press. (The relevant portions are: Chapter I: questioned
'The Scope and
Science of agriculture - kirtisarita
Significance of Epigraphy in Indological StudStudiesies', pp. Bd 3-6; Chapter- VII:
chattopadhyay vandapikas,
'Epigraphy as a Source for the Study of Indian Culture,' pp. 226-51.)
coming going selling
products..locals ...
● Schwartzberg. J. 1993. Historical Atlas of South Asia. New DevapalaYork: Oxford
hattika- hatt, market
University Press. (To be used mostly as a reference book) Tradeding didn't decline...
Argument support by ranveer
● Jha, D.N. 2000. ‘Introduction’. In The Feudal Order: State, Society
chak and Ideology
Not completely decline maybe
in Early Medieval India. Delhi: Manohar, pp. 1-60. [Also available in Hindi]
affected
● Sharma, RS 1958. ‘Origins of Feudalism in India (c. A.D. 400-650)’. Journal
John deil - why notof money
the
found?? Not monetary crisis
Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 1: 297-328. ...maybe. demand was more of
● Mukhia, H. 1981. ‘Was there Feudalism in Indian History?’the found
The Journal of
money, so coins are not

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.)

129
● 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, 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.
● स�ह, उप�ि◌र. 2017. प्राचीन एवं प व-मध्यकाल�न भारत का इततहास: पाषाण-काल से
12वीं शताब्द� तक. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: पर्य�सन इर्ं डया एजुके शन. प्रासंगर्क भाग है , अध्याय
10: ‘उभरता �ेत्रीय वर्न्यास’, पष्ठ संख्या 588-689.)
● झा, र्ि◌ज�द्र नारायण (सं.). 2007. भारतीय सामतं वाद: राज्य, समाज और तवचारधारा.
नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: ग्रंथ शर्ल्पी.
● शमाि◌, रामशरण. 1993. भारतीय सामंतवाद. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: राजकमल प्रकाशन.
● मर्◌ु खया, हरबंस. 1998. ‘क्या भारतीय इतर्हास म� फ्यलर्ज़्म रहा है ?’. फ्यतलज़्म और
गैर-यूरोपीय समाज. (सं.) हरबंस मुखर्या, नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: ग्रंथ शर्ल्पी, पष्ठ सख ्ं या 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.

130
● 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, B.D. 2017. ‘The Concept of Bharatavarsha and Its
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 II: ‘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.
● शमाि◌, रामशरण. 1998. 'भारतीय सांमतवाि◌ कर्तना सामंती?’. हरबंस मर्◌ु खया (सं.).
फ्यूडतलज़्म और गैर-यूरोपीय समाज. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�:ग्रंथशर्ल्पी, पष्ठ सख ्ं या 50-86.
● मर्◌ु खया, हरबंस. 1998 ‘कृ षक उत्पाि◌न और मध्यकाल�न भारतीय समाज', हरबंस
मर्◌ु खया (सं.). फ्य तलज़्म और गैर-यरू ोपीय समाज. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: ग्रंथशर्ल्पी, पष्ठ
सख ्ं या 310-339.
● चट्टोपाध्याय, बिजलाल. 1978. 'राजपतू ◌ो◌ं क� उत्पर्ि◌; पूव-ि◌ मध्ययगु ◌ीन
राजस्थान म� राजनैतर्क, आ�थर्क एवं सामाजर्क प्रक्रर्याए',◌ं एच. डी. संकालर्या आर्ि◌
(सं.). प्राचीन भारत. मैकमर्लन: नई र्ि◌ल्ल�. पष्ठ सख ्ं या,136-153.
● हबीब, मोहिम्म. 1992. ‘मह�म के काय� का चररत्र और मल ्◌ू य', इरफान हबीब (स.)◌ं
मध्यकाल�न भारत, अकं -4. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: राजकमल प्रकाशन, पष्ठ सख ्ं या 9-23.
● थापर, रोमर्ला. 2000. ‘सोमनाथ और मह�मू ’. सहमत मक्तनाद व�ष-2, अंक 1-2. पष्ठ
संख्या 37-44.
● थापर, रोमर्ला. 2015. सोमनाथ: इततहास एक, स्वर अनेक. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: ग्रंथशर्ल्पी.
● हबीब, इरफान. 1999. ‘भारतीय राष्र के नर्माि◌ण क� प्रक्रर्या और अवधारणा: ऐतर्हासर्क
पररप्रे�य'. सहमत मक्तसंख्या 26-30. नाद व�ष-1, अंक 3. पष्ठ
● चट्टोपाध्याय ,ब्रिजलाल. 2012. ‘आक्रामक� और शासक� क� छवर्याँ’, मीना�ी खन्ना
(स.)◌ं मध्यकाल�न भारत का सांस्कृ ततक इततहास. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: ओररएंट
ब्लैकस्वान, पष्ठ संख्या 107-33.
● शास्त्री, नीलकं ठ. 1979. चोलवंश. नयी र्ि◌ल्ल�: मैकमर्लन .

131
Unit III. 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
Mnoharlal. (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.
● शमाि◌, रामशरण. 2000. भारत के प्राचीन नगर� का पतन. राजकमल प्रकाशन: नयी
र्ि◌ल्ल�. प्रासंगर्क हर्स्से इस प्रकार ह:◌ै◌ं अध्याय-2 : 'िउर म� शहर� वर्कास और पतन’,
पष्ृ ठ संख्या 25-47; अध्याय-8: 'शहर� पतन क� व्याख्या’, पष्ठ सख ्ं या 173-84; अध्याय
10: ' कृ षर् का प्रसार’, पष्ठ सख ्ं या 213-23.
● शमाि◌, रामशरण. 1995. पूवव-मध्यकाल�न भारत म� सामातजक पररवतवन, नई
र्ि◌ल्ल�. संशोधर्त संस्करण शमाि◌, रामशरण. 1996. प व- मध्यकाल�न भारत का
सामतं ◌ी समाज और संस्कृ तत. नयी र्ि◌ल्ल� : राजकमल प्रकाशन म� प्रकाशर्त है .
● याि◌व, बी.एन. एस. 1981. ‘प्रारं भक
र् -मध्यकाल�न व्यवस्था म� भारतीय कर्सान व�ग क�
अगतर्शीलता और ि◌◌ासता’, इरफान हबीब (सं.). मध्यकाल�न भारत, अंक-1. नयी
र्ि◌ल्ल�: राजकमल प्रकाशन, पष्ठ सख ्ं या 3-12.

132
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
S.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.
● नंि◌◌ी, रमेन्द्रनाथ. 1998. प्राचीन भारत म� धमव के सामातजक आधार. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�:
ग्रंथशर्ल्पी.
● स�ह, उपर्न ्ि◌र. 2017. प्राचीन एवं प व- मध्यकाल�न भारत का इततहास: पाषाण काल से
12 वीं शताब्द� तक. नई र्ि◌ल्ल�: पर्य�सन इर्ं डया एजुके शन. प्रासंगर्क भाग है , अध्याय
10: 'उभरता �ेत्रीय वर्न्यास’, पष्ठ संख्या 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: E.J. Brill.)
● Champakalakshmi, R. 1996. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 300
BC to AD 1300, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
● Chattopadhyaya, B.D. 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
133
 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.

DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC CORE COURSE – 2 (DSC-2): Rise of the Modern West – I

Credit distribution, Eligibility and Prerequisites of the Course

Course title & Code Credits Credit distribution of the course

134
 Lecture Tutorial Practical/ Eligibility Pre-requisite
Practice criteria of the course
(if any)
Rise of the Modern 4 3 1 0 12 th Pass NIL
West – I

Learning Objectives

The focus of the course is on transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe. The
paper familiarizes the student with important transitions and transformations in the
economy, polity, and socio-cultural life from mid fifteenth century to 1600 in various
parts of Europe. The course shall critically examine the dynamics of economic and
political power within Europe, and contacts with the New World. The processes by
which Europe’s economy benefited from colonial expansion and exploitation of
indigenous and slave labour will be explained. Students shall also engage with
continuities and changes in intellectual and artistic realms; the social and economic
milieu which influenced developments in religion; trends in state formation; and the
relation-ship between state and religion. Students will be introduced to the concept
of Eurocentrism in our understanding of the Rise of the Modern West.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course students will be able to:

● Outline important changes that took place in Europe from the mid fifteenth
century.
● Acquire an integrated approach to the study of economic, social, political and
cultural developments in Europe.
● Explain the processes by which major transitions unfolded in Europe’s
economy, state forms, social structure and cultural life. Examine elements of
early modernity in these spheres.
● Critically analyse linkages between Europe’s State system and trade and
empire.

SYLLABUS OF DSC- 2

Unit 1: Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism

1. Issues and debates
2. Question of Eurocentricism

Unit II: Early colonial Expansion

1. Trade and Empire-Mines and Plantations
2. Labour Systems-Indigenous populations and African Slaves

Unit III: Renaissance

1. Origins
2. Humanism in Italy and its spread in Europe, Art

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Unit IV: Origins, course and results of the European Reformation

Unit V: Economic development of the sixteenth century

1. Shift of economic balance from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic
2. Price Revolution

Unit VI: European State Systems: with any two case studies-Spain, France, England and
Russia

Practical component (if any) - NIL

Essential/recommended readings
Unit 1: The Unit will give an overview to the paper through issues and debates related
to transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe. The concept of Eurocentrism will
be introduced. (Teaching Time: 9 hrs. approximately)
● Aston, T.H. and C.H.E. Philpin, (Eds.). (2005). The Brenner Debate, Agrarian
Class Structure and Economic Development in Pre-Industrial Europe.
Cambridge/Delhi: Cambridge University Press, Ist South Asian Edition.
● Blaut, J.M., et.al. (1992). 1492 - The Debate on Colonialism, Eurocentrism, and
History. Trenton, N J: Africa World Press, Inc.
● Hilton, Rodney, (Ed.). (1985). The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism.
London: Verso.
● Sinha, Arvind. (2009). Sankrantikaleen Europe. New Delhi: Granth Shilpi. [and
English edition].
● Wallerstein, Immanuel. (1974). The Modern World System, Vol. I, Capitalist
Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth
Century. New York: Academic Press.

Unit II: The Unit discusses the process of early colonization, inter-linkages, and impact
of trade and empire on Western Europe, the New World, West Africa and parts of Asia.
(Teaching Time: 6 hrs. approximately)
● Braudel, Fernand. (1988). Civilization and Capitalism, 15th to 18th Centuries,
Vols. I, II,
● III. London: Collins/Fontana Press.
● Burbank, Jane and Frederick Cooper. (2010). Empires in World History - Power
and Politics of Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
● Crosby, Alfred W. (2004). Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of
Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2nd edition).
● Davis, Ralph. (1973). The Rise of the Atlantic Economies. London: Weidenfield
and Nicolson.
● Waites, Bernard. (1999) Europe and the Third World: From Colonisation to
Decolonisation, c 1500-1998. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Unit III: The Unit emphasizes social roots of Renaissance, elements of continuity and
change in intellectual and cultural realms, and debates on Renaissance and Humanism.
(Teaching Time: 9 hrs. approximately)

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 ● Burke, Peter. (1999). The Italian Renaissance, Culture and Society in Italy.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
● Mac Kenny, Richard. (2005). Renaissances: The Cultures of Italy, 1300-1600.
London/NewYork: Palgrave Macmillan.
● Winks, Robin W. and Lee Palmer Wandel. (2003). Europe in a Wider World,
1350-1650. New York: Oxford University Press.
● Woolfson, Jonathan. (Ed.). (2004). Palgrave Advances in Renaissance
Historiography. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Unit IV: The Unit outlines the economic, political, social and intellectual dimensions of
Reformation, and Reformation’s impact on different regions of Europe. (Teaching
Time: 6 hrs. approximately)
● Dixon, C. Scott. (2002). The Reformation in Germany. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers Limited.
● Ferguson, Niall. (2011). Civilization: The West and the Rest. London: Allen Lane.
● Greengrass, Mark. (2015). Christendom Destroyed, Europe 1517-1648. London:
Penguin Books.
● MacCulloch, Diarmaid. (2004). Reformation: Europe's House Divided, 1490-
1700. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

Unit V: The Unit deals with European economy, decline of Mediterranean and rise of
Atlantic regions, and the impact of Trans-Atlantic commerce on Europe. (Teaching
Time: 9 hrs. approximately)
● Frankopan, Peter. (2015). The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. London:
Bloomsbury.
● Heller, Henry. (2011). Birth of Capitalism: a 21st Century Perspective. London:
Pluto Press.
● Hill, Christopher. (1969). Reformation to Industrial Revolution. London: Penguin
Books.
● Kriedte, Peter. (1983). Peasants, Landlords and Merchant Capitalists: Europe
and the World Economy, 1500-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Unit VI: The Unit emphasizes the nature of the European State system and
interconnections between economy, society, religion, and polity with case studies.
(Teaching Time: 6 hrs.approximately)
● Anderson, Perry. (1979). Lineages of the Absolutist State. London: Verso
Edition.
● Cameron, Euan. (Ed). (2001). Early Modern Europe, An Oxford History. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
● Cuttica, Cesare and Glenn Burgess. (Eds). (2011). Monarchism and Absolutism
in Early Modern Europe. London: Routledge.
● Kumin, Beat, (Ed.). (2013). The European World 1500-1800: An Introduction to
Early Modern History. New York: Routledge.

Suggestive readings (if any)

137
 ● Cipolla, Carlo M., (ed). (1994), Before the Industrial Revolution: European
Society and Economy1000-1700. New York: WW Norton & Co.
● Cipolla, Carlo M., (ed). (1976). Fontana Economic History of Europe, Vols. II, III.
New York: Barnes and Noble.
● Dickens, A.G. (1974). German Nation and Martin Luther. London: Edward
Arnold.
● Dobb, Maurice. (1963). Studies in the Development of Capitalism. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul.
● Findlen, Paula, (ed). (2002). The Italian Renaissance. The Essential Readings.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
● Hilton, Rodney. (2007) Samantvaad se Poonjivaad mein Sankraman. New Delhi.
Granth Shilpi.
● Kamen, Henry. (1996). European Society, 1500-1700. London: Routledge.
● Lee, Stephen. (1984). Aspects of European History 1494-1789. London:
Methuen & Co. Ltd. (2nd edition)
● Lynch, John. (1984). Spain under the Habsburgs, Vol. I, Empire and
Absolutism,1516- 1598. New York: New York University Press.
● Parry, J. H. (1963). Age of Reconnaissance. London: Weidenfield & Nicolson.
● Scammell, G.V. (1989). The First Imperial Age: European Overseas Expansion
1400- 1715. London/New York: Routledge.
● Verma, Lal Bahadur. (2008). Europe ka Itihaas. Bhaag 9. (Delhi: Prakashan
Sansthan)
● Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. (2006). Early Modern Europe: 1450-1789. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
● Wood, E.M. (2002). The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View. London: Verso,
(rev. ed.).

DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC CORE COURSE– 3 (DSC-3): History of Modern China ( 1840 –

1950s)

Credit distribution, Eligibility and Pre-requisites of the Course

Course title & Credit Credit distribution of the Eligibility Pre-requisite

Code s course criteria of the course
(if any)
Lectur Tutori Practical/
e al Practice

History of Modern 4 3 1 0 12 th NIL

China ( 1840 – Pass
1950s)

Learning Objectives

138
The course studies the transformation of China from an imperial power into a modern
nation taking its place among a constellation of world powers. This transition has been
studied in the context of the impact of a specific form of western imperialism on China
and the country’s numerous internal fissures and contradictions. This paper seeks to
focus on a range of responses to the tumultuous changes taking place: various strands
of reform (from liberal to authoritarian), popular movements, and revolutionary
struggles. It facilitates an understanding of the multiple trajectories of China’s political
and cultural transition from a late imperial state, to a flawed Republic, to the
Communist Revolution led by Mao Tse Tung. The paper shall expose students to
historiographical debates pertaining to each of these themes, keeping in mind
historical and contemporary concerns centred on such issues.

Learning outcomes

Upon the completion of this course the student shall be able to:
● Develop an in-depth understanding of China’s engagement with the challenges
posed by imperialism, and the trajectories of transition from feudalism to a
bourgeois/ capitalist modernity.
● To locate these historical transitions in light of other contemporaneous
trajectories into a global modernity, especially that of Japan.
● Analyse significant historiographical shifts in Chinese history, especially with
reference to the dis-courses on nationalism, imperialism, and communism.
● Investigate the political, economic, social and cultural disruptions caused by the
breakdown of the centuries old Chinese institutions and ideas, and the
recasting of tradition to meet modernist challenges.
● Comprehend the genesis and unique trajectories of the Chinese Communist
Revolution.
● Locate the rise of China and Japan in the spheres of Asian and world politics
respectively.

SYLLABUS OF DSC-3

Unit I: Late Imperial China and Western Imperialism

1. Confucian Value System; Society, Economy, Polity
2. Opium Wars and the Unequal Treaty System (9 lectures)

Unit II: Popular Movements and Reforms in the 19th century

1. Taiping and Boxer Movements – Genesis, Ideology, Nature
2. Self-Strengthening Movement; Hundred Days Reforms of 1898 (13 lectures)

Unit III: Emergence of Nationalism

● The Revolution of 1911: Nature and Significance
● The May Fourth Movement of 1919 (10 lectures)

Unit IV: Communist Movement in China

1. 1921-1927: Formation of the CCP and the First United Front
139
 2. 1928-1949: Evolution of Maoist Strategy and Revolutionary Measures in Kiangsi
and Yenan ; Communist victory (13 lectures)

Practical component (if any) - NIL

Essential/recommended readings
Unit I: This unit will introduce the students to the salient features of Late Imperial
China and its confrontation with Western Imperialism. As a backdrop, it will discuss
Confucianism. (Teaching Time: 9 hrs. approx.)
● Chesneaux, J. (Ed.). (1972). Popular Movements and Secret Societies in China
1840-1950. Stanford: Stanford University.
● Fairbank, J.K. and Merle Goldman. (2006). China: A New History. Harvard:
Harvard University Press, (Chapter 9).
● Hsu, C. Y. Immanuel, (1970) The Rise of Modern China, Oxford University Press.
● Sharma, K. R. (2022). The Third Birth of Confucius: Reconstructing the Ancient
Chinese Philosophy in the Post-Mao China. New Delhi: Manohar. (Chapters 1-
5).

Unit II: This unit examines the nature and consequences of popular movements and
reforms attempted by the ruling elite. (Teaching time: 12 hrs. approx.)
● Peffer, N. (1994). The Far East- A Modern History. New Delhi: Surjeet
Publications, (Chapter 6 &Chapter 7).
● Chung, Tan. (1978). China and the Brave New World: A Study of the Origins of
the Opium War. New Delhi: Allied Publishers, (Chapter 2, Chapter 6 & Chapter
7).
● Vinacke, H.M. (1982). A History of the Far East in Modern Times. Delhi: Kalyani
Publishers, (Chapter 2).
● Chesneaux, J. (1973). Peasant Revolts in China 1840-1949. London: Thames and
Hudson, (Chapter 2).
● Cohen, P.A. (1997). History in Three Keys: The Boxer as Event, Experience and
Myth. New York: Columbia University Press.
● Fairbank, J.K. and Merle Goldman. (2006). China: A New History. Harvard:
Harvard University Press, (Chapter 10& Chapter 11).
● Gray, J. (1990 reprint). Rebellions and Revolutions: China from 1800s to the
1980s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, (Chapter 3& Chapter 6).
● Greenberg, M. (1951). British Trade and the Opening of China. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
● Michael, F.H. (1966-1971). The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents.
Seattle: University of Washington Press.
● Purcell, V. (1963). The Boxer Rebellion: A Background Study. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, (Chapter 6, Chapters 9, Chapter 10 & Conclusion).
● Tan, Chester C. (1967). The Boxer Catastrophe, New York: Octagon Books.
● Teng, S.Y. (1971). The Taiping Rebellion and the Western Powers: A
Comprehensive Survey. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
● Tan Chung. (1986). Triton and Dragon: Studies on the 19th Century China and
Imperialism. New Delhi: Gian Publishing House.
● Shih, Vincent. (1967). Taiping Ideology: Its Sources, Interpretations and
Influences. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
140
Unit III: This unit examines the history of the emergence of nationalism in China;
nature, character and significance of the Revolution of 1911 and the May Fourth
Movement. (Teaching time: 12 hrs. approx..)
● Wright, M. C. (Ed.). (1968). China in Revolution: the First Phase, 1900-1913.
London: Yale University Press, (Introduction).
● Zarrow, P. (2005). China in War and Revolution 1895-1949. London: Routledge.
● Lazzerani, Edward J. (Ed.). (1999). The Chinese Revolution. Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, pp 19-32.
● Bianco, L. (1967). Origins of the Chinese Revolution 1915-1949. Stanford:
Stanford University Press, (Chapter 2).
● Chow, Tse-tung. (1960). The May Fourth Movement. Stanford: Stanford
University Press, (Chapter 1, Chapter 14).
● Spence, J. (1999). The Search for Modern China. New York: W.W. Norton,
(Chapters 11 and 13).
● Shinkichi, E. and H. Z. Schiffrin, (Ed.). (1984). The 1911 Revolution in China:
Interpretive Essays. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, pp. 3-13.

Unit IV: This unit examines the emergence of Communism in China, the relations
between the CCP and the KMT (Nationalist Party) and the evolution of the distinctive
traits of Maoist Strategies of Revolution. (Teaching Time: 12 hrs. approx.)
● Bianco, L. (1967). Origins of the Chinese Revolution 1915-1949. Stanford:
Stanford University Press, (Chapter 3 -4).
● Fairbank, J.K. (1987). The Great Chinese Revolution 1800-1985, Part Three.
London: Chatto and Windus, (Chapters 12-14).
● Harrison, J.P. (1972). The Long March to Power: A History of the Chinese
Communist Party, 1921- 1972, London: Macmillan, (Chapter 2-3 & Chapter 9).
● Isaacs, H. (1961).The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution. Stanford: Stanford
University Press, (Preface, Chapters 1-4 & Chapter 18).
● Johnson, Chalmers A. (1962). Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The
Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1937-1945. Stanford: Stanford University
Press, (Chapter I).
● Selden, M. (1971). The Yenan Way in Revolutionary China. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, (Chapter 1 & Chapter 6).
● Sheridan, J.E. (1975). China in Disintegration: The Republican Era in Chinese
History 1912-1949. London: Free Press, Collier Macmillan Publishers, (Chapter
4).
● Snow, E. (1937). Red Star over China, Part Three. London: Victor Gollancz,
(Chapter 2).
● Spence, J. (1999). The Search for Modern China. New York: W.W. Norton,
(Chapter 16).
● Vohra, Ranbir. (1987). China’s Path to Modernization: A Historical Review From
1800 to the Present. Englewood: New Jersey.: Prentice Hall.
● Waller, D. Kiangsi Soviets Republic: Mao and the National Congress of 1931 and
1934. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Suggested Readings:

141
● Bailey, Paul J. (2007). Gender and Education in China: Gender discourses and
women’s schooling in the early twentieth century. London: Routledge.
● Cameron, Meribeth H. (1931). The Reform Movement in China, 1898-1912,
Stanford: Stanford University Press.
● Chen, J. (1965). Mao and the Chinese Revolution. London: Oxford University
Press.
● Chesneaux, Jean et. al. (1976). China from the Opium Wars to the 1911
Revolution. New York: Random House, (Chapters 2-4, 7).
● Cohen, P. A. and John E. Schrecker. (1976). Reform in Nineteenth Century
China, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
● Duara, Prasenjit. (2009). The global and the regional in China’s nation-
formation. London: Routledge.
● Fairbank, J. K. (1953). Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: the opening of
the treaty ports, 1842-54. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
● Fairbank, J.K. (Ed.). (1983). Cambridge History of China: Volume XII: Republican
China 1912-1949, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
● Fairbank, J.K. and Merle Goldman. (2006). China: A New History. Harvard:
Harvard University Press, (Chapter 12).
● Fairbank, J.K., E.O. Reischauer and A.M. Craig. (1998). East Asia: Tradition and
Transformation. New Jersey: Houghton Mifflin.
● Fenby, J. (2009). The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a
Great Power 1850- 2009. London: Penguin Books, 2009.
● Franke, Wolfgang. (1980).A Century of Chinese Revolution, 1851-1949,
Colombia: University of South Carolina Press.
● Goodman, Bryna and Wendy Larson (Ed.). (2005). Gender in Motion: Divisions
of Labor and Cultural Change in Late Imperial and Modern China. Lanham:
Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
● Hsu, I.C.Y. (1985). The Rise of Modern China. Hong Kong: Oxford University
Press, (Chapter 10).
● Hsu, I.C.Y. (Ed.). (1971). Readings in Modern Chinese History, Part Two. Hong
Kong: Oxford University Press, (Chapter 2).
● Lovell, J. (2011). The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams, and the Making of China,
London: Picador.
● Schram, S.R. (1963). The Politics and Thoughts of Mao Tse Tung. London: Pall
Mall.
● Schurmann, F. and O. Schell (Ed.). (1968). China Reader Series: Vol. I– Imperial
China, Vol. II– Republican China. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
● Schwartz, B. (Ed.). (1972). The Reflections on the May Fourth Movement: A
Symposium. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
● Sheng, Hu. (1981). Imperialism and Chinese Politics, Beijing: Foreign Languages
Press.
● Spence, J.D. (1972). The Gate of Heavenly Peace. London: Faber and Faber
Limited.
● Twitchett, D. and J.K. Fairbank. (1978). The Cambridge History of China.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
● Wasserstorm, Jeffrey N. (2003). Twentieth Century China: New Approaches
(Rewriting Histories). London: Routledge.

142
 ● Wasserstorm, Jeffrey N. (2016). The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China,
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
● पुणतांबेकर, . ◌ीकृ 1ण व3कटे श.(1967) ए>शया क@ Aवकासोǎमुख एकता. लखनऊ :
Kहǎि◌N स>मOत, सच उUरVि◌◌ेश. ना Aवभाग,
● Aवनाके , हरे ǐड, एम. (1974). पवZ ए>शया का आधOनक इOतहास. लखनऊ: Kहǎि◌N
स>मOत सच ना Aवभाग.
● ए^सटाइन, इजराइल.(1984). अफ@म युcध से मर्◌ु eततक.Kि◌ǐलN: अǎतररा1fNय
Vकाशन. चीन का भग ◌ोल, (1985). A�वेशी भाषा Vकाशन गह, पेइiचग
● पंत, शैला. (2005) आधO
ु नक चीन का िउय. Kि◌ǐलN : इmडप3ड3ट पर्nलके शन कं पनी
● >म.,कृ 1णकाǎत.(2005).बीसवीं �सN का चीन: रा1fवाि◌ और साpयवाि◌, qǎथ>शǐपी.
● Aवcयालंकार, सsयके तु. (2015). ए>शया का आधOनक इOतहास, मसरू N: . ◌ी
सरtवती �सन. सराओ, के . टN. एस. (2015) आधO O�नेशालय. नक चीन का इOतहास.
Kि◌ǐलN AवvवAवcयालय: Kहǎि◌N माwयम कायाZǎवय
● मोहतं ◌ी, मनोरं जन.(2017) माओ sसे-तं◌ुग का राजनीOतक iचतन. Kि◌ǐलN :
qǎथ>शǐपी.
● पांडेय, धनपOत. (2017). आधOनक ए>शया का इOतहास. Kि◌ǐलN: मोतीलाल
बनारसीि◌◌ास.

Note: Examination scheme and mode shall be as prescribed by the Examination

Branch, University of Delhi, from time to time.

143