Class: Tues, Thurs 10:30-12:00, Williams Room 5
Instructor: David Ludden. 215B College Hall. Office Hours: Tues 12:30-2:30 and by email apppointment
This introductory survey course traces cultural and political history in South Asia from ancient times to the present. It focuses on the transformation of human environments across four epochs: ancient, medieval, early-modern, and modern. It prepares students for more advanced studies by establishing the relevance of very long-term historical studies for sharpening our understanding of contemporary issues.
Student course work includes readings in a textbook and other sources, class discussions, quizzes, map and library assignments, and three five-page papers, two on assigned topics. The second and third five-page papers involve independent library work. Class attendance counts for 5 points toward a total of 100 points for the final grade. Points for each assignment appear on the relevant assignment dates below. The lower of the first two paper grades will be dropped and the higher one double-counted in calculating final grades. All students must complete the third paper assignment. Grading calculations convert numeric to letter grades.
Textbook available at House of Our Own, 3920 Spruce Street
David Ludden, India and South Asia: A Short History, OneWorld Publishers, 2002. It is also online at link in left frame.
Online Resources:
Internet Indian History Sourcebook
David Ludden, An Agrarian History of South Asia (Cambridge, 1999)
Empire online
Michael Katten, Colonial lists/Indian power: identity politics in nineteenth century Telegu-speaking India (Columbia, 2002). Text. Image Collection.
Veena Talwar Oldenburg, Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime (Oxford, 2002)
Rajnarayan Chandavarkar, The origins of industrial capitalism in India: business strategies and the working classes in Bombay, 1900-1940 (Cambridge, 1994/2002)
Nandini Gooptu, The politics of the urban poor in early twentieth-century India (Cambridge, 2001)
Prasannan Parthasarathi, The transition to a colonial economy: weavers, merchants and kings in South India, 1720-1800 (Cambridge, 2001)
Richard M. Eaton, Essays on Islam and Indian history (Oxford, 2000)
Claude Markovits, The global world of Indian merchants, 1750-1947: traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama (Cambridge, 2000)
David Arnold, Science, technology, and medicine in colonial India (Cambridge, 2000)
Vijay Prashad, Untouchable freedom: a social history of Dalit community (Oxford, 2000)
Maria Misra, Business, race, and politics in British India, c.1850-1960 (Oxford, 1999)
Burton Stein, Peasant state and society in medieval South India (Oxford, 1999)
Tirthankar Roy, Traditional industry in the economy of colonial India (Cambridge, 1999)
Samita Sen, Women and labour in late colonial India: the Bengal jute industry (Cambridge, 1999)
John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire (Cambridge, 1995)
Assignment Schedule (with marks, total 100 points for final grade)
1. Sept. 8. Introduction
Part One. Ancient History. Read Short History. Chap 1.
2. Sept. 13, 15. Mobility and sedentarism. Pastoral nomads and farmers. Spatial histories of Indus Valley, Vedic, and Puranic cultures. Ancient kingdoms and the foundations of empire.
Map assignment due Thursday. Reminder. (5) Using a map of your own composition and a short accompanying text, describe the changing composition of ancient cultural spaces in the Indo-Gangetic basins.
3. Sept. 20, 22. Mauryas, Guptas.
Paper #1. Draft due. Tues Sept 20. Not graded. (5)
Paper #1 Assignment.
In five double-spaced pages, describe the historical emergence of “classical India.” Clarify its geographical and temporal contours, its social and institutional formation, and its economic characteristics.
4. Sept. 27, 29. Medieval transitions and "classical India."
Part Two. Medieval History. Read Short History. Chap 2.
5. Oct. 4, 6. Medieval Transformations.
Paper #1. Final version due Tues Oct 4 for grading. (20) [subtotal = 30]
6. Oct. 11, 13 Medieval Domains. The Temple Complex. Bhakti.
7. Oct. 20 Library Session. Attendance required. (Fall break Oct 18)
8. Oct. 25, 27. The Rise of the Warriors and Spread of Islam.
Read: Romila Thapar on Mahmud and Somanatha in Frontline (cache)(orig)
Tuesday Oct 25 report on paper #2 progress in Library session (5).
Thursday Oct 27 Quiz 1. List elements of medieval transformation. (5)
Paper #2 Assignment.
Summarize in no more than five double spaced pages the transformation of social, cultural, and political environments in medieval South Asia, circa 500-1500 CE. Use specific examples to illustrate major points.
Part Three. Early Modern History. Read Short History. Chap 3.
9. Nov. 1, 3. Delhi Sultans, Mughals, and Imperial Consolidation
Paper #2. Draft due on Tuesday, Nov.1. Not graded. I will read, give comments, and return the drafts to you in class on Thursday, Nov. 3. (5)
10. Nov. 8, 10 Paper #2. Markets, Adventurers, and Imperial Regions
Final version paper #2 due Tues Nov 8. (20) I will put all your grade information and other comments on the course BlackBoard site on by Nov.11. Please review this information and comments on your papers for discussion at our meetings next week. At our meetings we will also discuss final paper plans. [subtotal = 65]
Part Four. Modern History. Finish Short History
11. Nov. 15, 17. The British Empire in South Asia
Tues. 15 Nov. Review: the Mughal-British Imperial Transition
Quiz 2 on Mughal imperial decline and British imperial ascendancy (5)
Final paper prospectus due (5). Describe briefly the topic of your final paper and some sources you will use to write it. You can put this in my mailbox in the History Department, 208 College Hall, anytime today. Full marks require ontime delivery today. You can attach a DOC file to Blackboard at the Prospectus Assignment, or deliver me hard copy. Please, no email.
Note that final paper grade includes three parts: prospectus (5), draft (5), and final version (15) = total 25 points.
The final paper is to be no more than five pages in length and is on a topic of your own choice. We will discuss papers individually in my office. We will schedule meetings inclass on Thursday, 17 Nov.
Half-hour meeting times can be scheduled for Nov 18, 9-12, 2-5; Monday Nov 21, 12-3, and Wednesday Nov 23, 12-3..
Thurs 17 Nov. Empire and Modernity
12. Nov. 22. Nationalism(s) and Regions.
Individual 30 minute meetings with instructor.
13. Nov. 29, Dec 1. Nationality, Partition, and Nationhood
Paper #2 Preliminary draft of final paper due Tues. Not Graded. Returned with comments on Thursday. (5)
14. Dec. 6, 8. No class this week. Use the time to perfect final papers. Use precise citations. Use the library. Published academic source materials [which may be online, for instance, in JSTOR, and would include online Banglapedia and such] are preferred.
CLOSING TIME
MONDAY Dec 12, 5PM. Paper #3 final version due as DOC attachments on course BlackBoard site. (15) [subtotal = 95] [plus 5 for class participation = 100]