Required Readings
Bose, Sugata, and Ayesha Jalal. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998. ISBN: 9780415169523.
Narayan, R. K. The Ramayana. New York, NY: Penguin, 2006. ISBN: 9780143039679.
Mahomet, Dean. The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An Eighteenth Century Journey through India. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780520207172.
Gandhi, Mohandas K. Hind Swaraj and Other Writings. Edited by Anthony J. Parel. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780521574310.
Gopal, Sarvepalli, ed. Anatomy of a Confrontation: The Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhumi Issue. New York, NY: Penguin, 1991. ISBN: 9780140169805.
Readings by Session
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS | IMPORTANT TERMS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Indo-Gangetic civilizations | |||
| 1 | Introduction |
Selections from Doniger, Wendy, ed., and tr. The Rig Veda. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Penguin, 2005. ISBN: 9780140449891. Also available online: Griffith, Ralph T. H., tr. The Rig Veda. Selections from Trautmann, Thomas R. The Aryan Debate. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780195669084. Mines, Diane P., and Sarah Lamb. "Seven Prevalent Misconceptions about India's Caste System." In Everyday Life is South Asia. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780253215215. Also in Ghanta 3 (Spring 1992): 7. Gadgill, Madhav, and Ramachandra Guha. "Forest and Fire." In This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780195633412. Thapar, Romila. "Early India, an Overview." In History and Beyond. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 114-136. ISBN: 9780195647082. Film: Wedding of the Goddess. 1976. Begin reading R. K. Narayan. The Ramayana. | (PDF) |
| 2 | The Aryan debate | ||
| 3 | Religions and castes | ||
| 2. The age of epics and the religious heterodoxies | |||
| 4 | The Ramayana and the Mahabharata |
Selections from Arthashastra and Kamasutra. Chattopadhyaya, B. D. "Indian Archeology and the Epic Traditions." In Studying Early India, Archeology, Texts and History Issues. New York, NY: Anthem Press, 2005, pp. 29-38. ISBN: 9781843311324. | (PDF) |
| 5 | Regional powers and the making of "Hindu Classical" age | ||
| 3. Changing medieval territories 700 and 1200 AD | |||
| 6 | Indo-Persian imperial society |
Excerpts from the Quran. Selections from Alberuni's India. Volume 1 and Volume 2. Edited by Edward C. Sachau. Chestnut Hill, MA: Adamant Media Corporation, 2004. ISBNs: 9781421263601 and 9781421263595, respectively. Eaton, Richard. "Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States." Essays on Islam and Indian History. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 94-132. ISBN: 9780195651140. Sharma, Ram Sharan. "Changes in Social Structure." In Early Medieval Indian Society. Andhra Pradesh, India: Orient Longman, 2001, pp. 186-213. ISBN: 9788125020271. Modern South Asia. Chapters 3 and 4. Begin Reading The Travels of Dean Mahomet. | (PDF) |
| 7 | India under Akbar | ||
| 4. India and the world trading system | |||
| 8 | The Indian Ocean trade |
Modern South Asia. Chapter 5. Dasgupta, Ashin. "Indian Merchants and Trade in the Indian Ocean, c. 1500-1750." In The World of the Indian Ocean Merchant, 1500-1800: Collected Essays of Ashin Dasgupta. Compiled by Uma Das Gupta. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 59-87. ISBN: 9780195650198. | |
| 9 | Life and times during the 18th century | ||
| 5. Company rule in India 1765-1857 | |||
| 10 | From traders to rulers |
Modern South Asia. Chapters 6-8. Primary SourcesPetition of Hindus against Abolition of Sati (1829). Thomas Babington Macauley's "Government of India" speech in Parliament on the Government of India Bill (July 10, 1833) Paragraphs [13b] and [13d]. Available in his Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches (Vol. 4) via Project Gutenberg. Macaulay's Minute on Education (1835) Paragraphs [7] to [34]. Metcalf, Thomas R. "Introduction." In Ideologies of the Raj. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 1-27. ISBN: 9780521395472. Bayly, C. A. "The Qasbah Under Pressure." In Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: Northern Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion 1770-1870. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780195663457. | (PDF) |
| 11 | The Sepoy Mutiny | ||
| 6. The "Jewel in the Crown": India within the British Empire | |||
| 12 | Film showing |
Film: Ray, Satyajit. Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players), 1977. Modern South Asia. Chapters 9-11. Primary SourceNaoroji, Dadabhai, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. In Sources of Indian Tradition, Vol. 2. Edited by Stephen Hay. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780231064156. Secondary ReadingCohn, Bernard. "The Census, Social Structure and Objectification in South Asia." In An Anthropologist Among Historians and Other Essays. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780195626162. Sarkar, Tanika. "Rhetoric against the Age of Consent." Economic and Political Weekly (September 4, 1993): 1869-1878. | (PDF) |
| 13 | Society, culture, and economy of the colony | ||
| 14 | Resistance, reform, and revival | ||
| 7. The Rise of nationalism | |||
| 15 | Early nationalism |
Modern South Asia. Chapters 12-14. Selections from Gandhi, M. K. Hind Swaraj. Selections from Nehru, Jawaharlal. The Discovery of India. New York, NY: Penguin, 2004. ISBN: 9780143031031. Select speeches by Muhammad A. Jinnah. In Sources of Indian Tradition, Vol. 2. Edited by Stephen Hay. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780231064156. Selections from Ambedkar, B. R. What the Congress has done for the Untouchables. Bombay, India: Thacker, 1946. Amin, Shahid. "Gandhi as Mahatma: Gorakhpur District, Eastern UP, 1921." In Selected Subaltern Studies. Edited by Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780195052893. Kamtekar, Indivar. "A Different War Dance: State and Class in India, 1939-1945." Past & Present 171, no. 1 (August 2002): 187-221. Bose, Sugata. "Nation, Reason and Religion." Economic and Political Weekly (August 1, 1999). | |
| 16 | Gandhi and mass nationalism | ||
| 17 | India in the 1940's | ||
| 8. Partition and independence | |||
| 18 | Why partition? |
Modern South Asia. Chapters 15-17. Excerpt from Nehru, Jawaharlal. The Discovery of India. New York, NY: Penguin, 2004. ISBN: 9780143031031. Manto, Sadat Hasan. "Toba Tek Singh." In Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing 1974-1997. Edited by Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West. New York, NY: Owl Books, 1997. ISBN: 9780805057102. Bhaduri, Satinath. "The Champion of the People." In Stories About the Partition of India. Vol. 1. Edited and translated by Alok Bhalla. New Delhi, India: Harper Collins India, 1999. ISBN: 9788172233570. Azad, Maulana Abul Kalam. India Wins Freedom. London, UK: Sangam Books, Ltd., 1998, pp. 145-207. ISBN: 9788125005148. Jalal, Ayesha. The Sole Spokesman. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 241-293. ISBN: 9780521458504. Film: Sathyu, M. S. Garam Hawa, 1973. | (PDF) |
| 19 | Partition: memories and meanings | ||
| 20 | Mid-term examination | ||
| 9. Post-colonial nations? | |||
| 21 | Experiments with democracy: Pakistan and Bangladesh |
Modern South Asia. Chapter 18. Jalal, Ayesha. "Exploding Communalism: The Politics of Identity in South Asia." In Nationalism, Democracy, and Development: State and Politics in India. Edited by Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 76-103. ISBN: 9780195639445. | |
| 22 | The Sri Lankan story | ||
| 10. Issues in Independent India | |||
| 23 | Economic development |
Modern South Asia. Chapter 19. Dreze, Jean, and Amartya Sen. India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 87-108, 179-204. ISBN: 9780198290124. Selections from Mehta, Suketu. Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2005. ISBN: 9780375703409. Hasan, Zoya. "Uniform Civil Code and Gender Justice in India." In Contemporary India - Transitions. Edited by Peter Ronald deSouza. London, UK: Sage Publications, 2000, pp. 282-30. ISBN: 9780761994800. Basu, Amrita. "Mass Movement or Elite Conspiracy? The Puzzle of Hindu Nationalism." In Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India. Edited by David Ludden. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996, pp. 143-166. ISBN: 9780812215854. Ali, Agha Shahid. The Country Without a Post Office: Poems. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1998. ISBN: 9780393317619. Bose, Sumantra. The Challenge in Kashmir: Democracy, Self-Determination, and a Just Peace. London, UK: Sage Publications, 1997, pp. 30-104. ISBN: 9780803993501. Film: Patwardhan, Anand. In the Name of God, 1992. | |
| 24 | Caste, community, and sexuality | ||
| 25 | Regionalism vs. nationalism | ||
| 26 | Religion and politics | ||
| 27 | Conclusions | ||