Unit 1
ntroduction
General Introduction; Primitive man and his modes of exchange – barter system; Prehistoric and proto-historic polity and social organization.
Ancient India – up to 600 B.C.
Early India – the vedic society – the varnashramadharma – socio-political structure of the various institutions based on the four purusarthas; The structure of ancient Indian polity – Rajamandala and Cakravartins – Prajamandala; Socio-economic elements from the two great Epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata – the concept of the ideal King (Sri Rama) and the ideal state (Ramarajya) – Yudhisthira’s ramarajya; Sarasvati – Sindhu civilization and India’s trade links with other ancient civilizations; Towards chiefdoms and kingdoms – transformation of the polity: kingship – from gopati to bhupati; The mahajanapadas and the emergence of the srenis – states and cities of the Indo-Gangetic plain.
Unit 2
Classical India: 600B.C. – 1200 A.D.
The rise of Magadha, emergence of new religions – Buddhism and Jainism – and the resultant socio-economic impact; The emergence of the empire – the Mauryan Economy and Kautilya’s Arthasastra; of Politics and trade – the rise of the Mercantile Community; Elements from the age of the Kushanas and the Great Guptas; India’s maritime trade; Dharma at the bedrock of Indian polity – the concept of Digvijaya: dharma-vijaya, lobha-vijaya and asura-vijaya; Glimpses into the south Indian economies: political economies of the peninsula – Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and Cholas.
Medieval India: 1200 A.D. – 1720 A.D.
Advent of Islam – changes in the social institutions; Medieval India – agrarian economy, non-agricultural production and urban economy, currency system; Vijayanagara samrajya and maritime trade – the story of Indian supremacy in the Indian Ocean region; Aspects of Mughal administration and economy; The Maratha and other provincial economies.
