Teaching Plan

of

Ancient and Medieval Indian History

for
B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)
Semester I
Session 2020-2021

Compiled By :
Asmita Jataria
Assistant Professor

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 Table of Contents

Sr. No. Contents Page No.

1. Preface 3

2. Objectives of the Course 3

3. Syllabus 4

4. Teaching Plan 6

5. Reference Material 8

6. List of Project Topics 10

7. Important Instructions 15

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1.0 Preface
The study of History is imperative to a student of law to understand the development and evo-
lution of legal principles and legal institutions in a particular socio-economic context. The de-
velopment of polity, state and administration in ancient, medieval and modern India still holds
importance in the development of administration and polity in contemporary India.

In this course, the students are introduced to the study of history and its methodology, followed
by the political, social & economic history of India from the Vedic period to the end of the
reign of the Mughals as the background for understanding the nature of society and economy,
concept of justice, the legal systems and judicial administration in India prior to British rule.

2.0 Objective of the Course

The way we perceive our past constructs our identity in the present and also builds our vision
of the future. History helps us to understand the socio, economic and political context in which
legal system emerges and evolves.

Having an understanding of how laws, governance and administration has matured over hun-
dreds of years shapes our vision for the policies and systems that will govern our society in the
upcoming future and it becomes important to understand the relationship between history and
law.

A study of the nature of the state and administrative apparatus is required for proper under-
standing of the legal systems in ancient and medieval India. The course offers a close study of
select themes, focusing specifically on the intersections in history and law.

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3.0 Syllabus

Module I: Introduction

a. History as a Discipline
b. Methodology to study History,
c. Relationship between Law and History,
d. Sources of Hindu Law and Islamic Law

Module II: India from 1500 BCE to 700 CE

a. Political Developments: Theory of Kingship and Nature of State, Vedic Period, Period of
Mahajanpadas, Mauryan Empire, Post Mauryas – Indo-Greeks, Sakas, Kushanas; Imperial
Guptas
b. Administration: Tribal assembly, Kautilya & Arthashastra, Satrapal system
c. Socio-religious Aspects: Social Institutions, Varna, Jati, Gotra, Pravara, Family, Slavery,
Status of Women, Untouchability
d. Legal Developments: Concept of Justice, Law & Danda; Thinkers: Manu, Brihaspati, Yaj-
navalkya, Narada, Katyayan; Judicial System: Types of court: Pratishita, Apratishta,
Mudrita, Sasita, Guilds, Panchayats, Kantakasodhana, Dharmasthiyaa; Procedures: Ap-
pointment of judges, Trial, Witness, Pleaders, Secret agents, wergild and Punishment, Role
of Judges and Investigation

Module III: India from 700 CE to 1526 CE

a. Political Developments: Rise of Rajput, Delhi Sultanate

b. Administration: under the Sultanate – civil, judicial, revenue, fiscal and military
c. Socio-religious Aspects: Rise of Islam, Bhakti movement
d. Legal Developments: Salient features of Islamic Criminal Law, Law with regard to non-
Muslims in Medieval India

Module IV: India from 1526 CE to 1750 CE

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 a. Political Developments: Mughals, Rise of Autonomous states
b. Administration: Sher Shah’s administrative reforms, Mansabdari and Jagirdari
c. Socio-Religious Aspects: Sufi order, Sikh movement
d. Legal: Judicial organization, King, Chief Qazi, Judicial Officers, Investigative Pro-
cess and Punishments; Evolution of Judicial Setup: changes introduced by Akbar.

4.0 Tentative Lecture/Teaching Schedule

S. No. Topic Number of Lectures

Module I

History as a Discipline 03

Methodology 02

Relationship between Law and History 01

Sources of Hindu Law & Islamic Law 02

Total Lectures 8

Module II

Political Developments: Theory of Kingship and 05

Nature of State, Vedic Period, Period of Maha-
janpadas, Mauryan Empire, Post Mauryas, Guptas
Administration: Tribal assembly, Kautilya & Ar-
thashastra, Satrapal system

Socio-religious Aspects: Social Institutions, 05

Varna, Jati, Gotra, Pravara, Family, Slavery, Sta-
tus of Women; Untouchability

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Legal Developments: Concept of Justice, Law & 6
Danda; Thinkers: Manu, Brihaspati, Yajnavalkya,
Narada, Katyayan, Types of court: Pratishita,
Apratishta, Mudrita, Sasita, Guilds, Panchayats,
Kantakasodhana, Dharmasthiyaa; Procedures: Ap-
pointment of judges, Trial, Witness, Pleaders, Se-
cret agents, wergild and Punishment, Role of
Judges and Investigation

Total Lectures 16

Module III

Political Developments: Rise of Rajput, Delhi Sul- 03

tanate

Administration: under the Sultanate – civil, judi- 02

cial, revenue, fiscal and military

Socio-religious Aspects: Rise of Islam, Bhakti 02

movement,

Legal Developments: Salient features of Islamic 03

Criminal Law, Law with regard to non-Muslims in
Medieval India

Total Lectures 10

Module IV

Political Developments: Mughals, Rise of Auton- 03

omous states

Administration: Sher Shah’s administrative re- 03

forms, Mansabdari and Jagirdari

Socio-Religious Aspects: Sufi order, Sikh move- 02

ment

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 Legal: Judicial organization, King, Chief Qazi, 03
Judicial Officers, Investigative Process and Pun-
ishments; Evolution of Judicial Setup: changes
introduced by Akbar.

Total Lectures 11

Total Lectures = 45

5.0 Reference Material

Essential Books
 H.V. Sreeniwasmurthy – History of India, Vol I
 A.L. Basham – Wonder that was India, Part-I
 Satish Chandra- Medieval India (Vol I-III)
 Upinder Singh – A History of Ancient India : From the Stone Age to 12th century
 B. D. Chattopadhyaya & Kumkum Roy – Women in Early Indian Societies
 Uma Chakravarti – Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens
Additional Books

 Habib & Nizami – Comprehensive History of India, Vol. V and VI

 Bipan Chandra – India’s Struggle for Independence (Penguin)
 S.A.A. Rizvi – Wonder that was India, Part –II
 E.H. Carr – What Is History?
 R. K. Pruthi – Indian Caste System
 Gupta Dipankar – Social Stratification
 L N Rangarajan – The Arthashatra

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 Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya – The Making of Early Medieval India
 Anupama Rao - Gender & Caste

Module I

 H.V. Sreeniwasmurthy – History of India, Vol I

 E.H. Carr – What Is History?
 Reading Material
Module II

 Upinder Singh – A History of Ancient India : From the Stone Age to 12th century
 H.V. Sreeniwasmurthy – History of India, Vol I
 L N Rangarajan – The Arthashatra
 B. D. Chattopadhyaya & Kumkum Roy – Women in Early Indian Societies
 Uma Chakravarti – Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens
 R. K. Pruthi – Indian Caste System
 Gupta Dipankar – Social Stratification
 Reading Material
Module III

 H.V. Sreeniwasmurthy – History of India, Vol I

 Satish Chandra- Medieval India (Vol I-III)
 Upinder Singh – A History of Ancient India : From the Stone Age to 12th century
 R. K. Pruthi – Indian Caste System
 Gupta Dipankar – Social Stratification
 Reading Material
Module IV

 H.V. Sreeniwasmurthy – History of India, Vol I

 Satish Chandra- Medieval India (Vol I-III)
 Habib & Nizami – Comprehensive History of India, Vol. V and VI

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 Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya – The Making of Early Medieval India
 Reading Material
Module V

 H.V. Sreeniwasmurthy – History of India, Vol I

 Satish Chandra- Medieval India (Vol I-III)
 Habib & Nizami – Comprehensive History of India, Vol. V and VI
 Bipan Chandra – India’s Struggle for Independence (Penguin)
 Reading Material

6.0 List of Project Topics

1. Distinguishing Myths and Histories

2. Reviewing E.H.Carr's 'What is History?’

3. Evaluating Oral Histories

4. Evaluating Women's Histories: An Indian case study

5. Tracing the changes in the understanding of ‘caste'

6. Origins of state

7. Study on Town Planning of Harappan Civilisation

8. A History of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent

9. Reviewing Wendy Doniger, 'The Hindus’

10. Ashoka's Dhamma : Law or Justice?

11. Many Manus: The place of Manusmriti

12. Sati: Texts and Contexts

13. Slavery in ancient India

14. Travellers' accounts as sources of history

15. Histories of South India: Sidelined?

16. Akbar's Secularism

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17. Period of Mahajanapadas

18. History and historiography

19. Superstitions and History: A Case Study

20. The Bhakti movement: A history

21. Democracy in Ancient India?

22. Matriliny on the Indian Subcontinent

23. Kautilya's Arthashastra

24. Akbar: A Critical Study

25. Archaeology and History: A Case Study

26. Customs and Laws

27. History's treatment of Women Rulers

28. Women and Rituals in Ancient India

29. The origins of untouchability

30. The Devadasi system

31. Reviewing Romila Thapar, 'Interpreting Early India’

32. Education in ancient India

33. Sangam Literature

34. Rise of Rajputs

35. The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent before
the Coming of the Muslims

36. Portrayal of Sexuality

37. Place of temple in history

38. The Changing Connotation of Dharma in the Early Indian Context

39. Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution

40. Hindu and Buddhist Views on Education: Similarities and Differences

41. A Brief Study on Empowered Queens of Ancient India, Draupadī, Nāgaṇikā and
Kumārādevī: Symbols of Counter-Patriarchal Narratives

42. The Nation and things thereof: Visions of a Glorious Past

43. Political Thinking in Ancient India: Western Myths and Contemporary Challenges

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44. What does it mean to be an Aryan? (Aryan Debate)

45. Changes of Skin Color Preferences in India: An Analysis from the Ancient to the Modern

46. Fundamental Principles of Indian Philosophy

47. Waxing and Waning: Female Identity - South Indian Literary and Visual Exemplars

48. The Rise of Vernacular Languages - A Case Study of Kannada

49. Towards an Ecological Concept of Thought in Indian Buddhist Philosophy

50. Unity in Diversity: Indian and Western Philosophical Tradition

51. Buddhism and Justification of Violence

52. The idea of ‘medieval’ in Indian historiography

53. Iconoclasm, the sole aspect of Islamic rulers to legitimize their rule in India?

54. Dynasty, State and the ‘medieval’

55. Divinization of Human and Humanization of the Divine

56. Social changes during the early medieval period of Indian history

57. Mahabharata through a readers eye

58. Depiction of Life during Mughal period through Paintings.

59. Great philosophers of India- Gautam Buddha and Mahavira.

60. The Vijayanagara empire with special focus on the city called Hampi.

61. Role of women in the Mughal empire- Agrarian women and imperial women with special
reference to Nur Jahan, Gulbadan Banu, Jahanara,Roshanara.

62. Aurangzeb's religious policy a divergence from the Liberalism of Akbar's reign.? Rein-
terpreting Religious policy of Aurangzeb

63. Muslims among non-Muslims: Creating Islamic identity through law

64. Review ‘Discovery of India’ by Jawaharlal Nehru

65. Review of ‘The Argumentative Indian' by Amartya Sen

66. Review of ‘The Wonder That Was India’ by A L Basham

67. Review ‘India: A history’ by John Keay

68. Examine ‘India of the Seven Rivers’ by Sanjeev Sanyal

69. Review of ‘Foundations of Indian Culture’ by Sri Aurobindo

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70. Analysis of ‘Emperors Of The Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls’ by
Abraham Early

71. Review of ‘The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate’ by Abraham Early

72. Review ‘An Era of Darkness’ by Shashi Tharoor

73. Review ‘What India Should Know’ by Laxmikanthan and Devi

74. Review ‘The Aryan: Recasting Constructs’ by Romila Thapar

75. Review ‘Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From’ by Tony
Joseph

76. Review ‘Breaking India: Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines’ by
Rajiv Malhotra

77. Review ‘Being Hindu’ by Hindol Sengupta

78. Review ‘Caste as Social Capita’l by R Vaidyanathan

79. Review ‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’ by Yuval Noah Harari

80. Review ‘Indian Cultures as Heritage: Contemporary Pasts’ by Romila Thapar

81. Review ‘Which of Us are Aryans?' by Romila Thapar

82. Review ‘The Indian Renaissance: India's Rise after a Thousand Years of Decline’ by
Sanjeev Sanyal

83. Review ‘The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300’ by Romila
Thapar

84. Analyse Gupta Period as Golden Age

85. History of Shaktism

86. Rise of Islam

87. Targeting Textbooks: History writing and Nationalism

88. Tribes and customs

89. Treatment of men & women in history

90. Foreign Invasions

91. History of Shahmiri dynasty of Kashmir

92. History of Faruqi kingdom of Khandesh

93. History of Gujrat

94. History of Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur

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95. History of Ilyas Shahi dynasty of Bengal

96. Sultanates of Malwa

97. Sisodias of Mewar

98. Gajapatis of Orissa

99. Kakatiya kingdom of Warangal

100. Vijayanagar Empire

101. Bahamani Kingdom

102. Marathas

103. Significance of Lion capital of Ashoka

104. India’s glorious past

105. Unity in Diversity

106. Taxila University

107. Nalanda University

108. Second Urbanization in Indian history

109. Critical analysis of Ramayana

110. History of Architecture - North India

111. History of Architecture - South India

112. Growth & Development of Paintings

113. Revisting Museums

114. Conflict between Islamic rulers and Hindu rulers in Medieval India

115. Indian Heritage & Heritage Tourism

116. Relevance of Past to the Present

117. Assimilation of Indo-Islamic culture

118. Decoding Hindu Mythology

119. Religious affairs during the rule of Akbar

120. History of Medicine & Ayurveda

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7.0 General Instructions

1. Students are required to complete the assignments & projects on time.

2. Student’s project topics are subject to change only after the approval from concerned
faculty.

Ms. Asmita Jataria

Assistant Professor of History

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