DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

B. A. (Hons) History
Categorvl

CREDIT DISTRIBUTION, ELIGIBILITY AND PRE-REQUISITES OF THE COllRSE

Course title & Code Credits Credit distribution of the Eligibility Pre-requisite
course criteria of the course
Lecture Tutorial Practical/ '(if any)
Practice
History of India I 4 3 1 0 12 th Pass NIL
(From the beginningto
fourth century BCE) -
DSCOl

Learning Objectives

The Learning Objectives of this course are as follows:

The course intends to provide an extensive and deep understanding of early Indian history to
students who will be introduced to the manner in which diverse aspects of ancient Indian history has
been recovered from a rich variety of sources, archaeological, literary, numismatic, epigraphist.
Students will become familiar with the tools required for studying history and explore the diverse
histories and regional variations in the Indian subcontinent and also study various facets of ancient
India- social, cultural, political, environmental concerns. The course, with an interdisciplinary
approach, will help students trace elements of continuity and changes in pro-cesses spanning over
several millennia, from pre-historic times up to the 400 BCE. The emphasis on historiography will
allow students to understand how historians have approached ancient India and how our present
knowledge and perceptions have played a role in interpreting the past.

Learning outcomes

The Learning Outcomes of this course are as follows:

After completing the course, the students will be able to appreciate the diverse histories of our past
and the significant technological, social and cultural changes in the Indian Subcontinent from
prehistoric times. The students will understand the significance of environment and ecology and
have an understanding of the historical trajectory of the relationships between communities and their
subsistence strategies, regions, landscapes and resources. They will be able to understand the
transitions to early state formations, social complexity and emergence of religious and philosophical
traditions. The students will learn about early artifacts, texts, coins and epigraphs, and recognise the

Page 1
need to study and preserve the rich cultural heritage of our past while also realizing the possibilities
and future potential of the study of ancient Indian history.

SYLLABUS OF DSC-1

Unit I: Introducing early Indian history: Sources (upto 750 CE) and historiographical trends.
(12 hours)

Unit II: Prehistoric hunter-gatherers and early food producing societies (16 hours)
1. Paleolithic cultures: sequence and distribution; tool typology and technology, subsistence
patterns.
2. Mesolithic Cultures: regional distribution, tool typology and subsistence patterns.
3. Early food producing communities: Regional and chronological distribution of the Neolithic
and Chalcolithic cultures; subsistence; patterns of interaction and exchange.

Unit III: The Harappan civilization (16 hours)

Origins; settlement patterns and town planning; agrarian base; pyrotechnology and water
management; craft production and trade; social and political organization; religious beliefs and
practices; art; Late/ Post Harappan evidence.

Unit IV: Social and Cultural Transitions (up to 400 BCE) (16 hours)
1. Archeological cultures: PGW, NBPW, megalithic; metallic coins; role of iron technology.
2. Literary and textual traditions: Vedic and Brahmanical; Shramanic.
3. The Aryan Question.
4. Emergence of Social and political institutions; urbanization; social stratification and state
formation.

Practical component (if any) - NIL

Essential/recommended readings
Unit I: This unit aims to familiarise students with the divergent landscapes, varied sources and the
different approaches to the history cif ancient India. (Teaching Time: 8 hours Approx.)
Relevant chapters from General readings
• Subbarao, B. (1958). The Personality of India. (Baroda: M. S. University). Chapter II.
• Chattopadhyaya, B. D. (2017). _The Concept of Bharatavarsha and Other Essays. (Ranikhet:
Permanent Black). Chapter 1.
• Thapar, Romila. (2013). The Past Before Us; Historical Traditions of Early India, Del-hi:
Permanent Black, Part 1, pp. 3-84.

Unit II: This unit aims to familiarize students with the distribution, economic and technologi-cal
patterns in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cultures of the Indian subcontinent, and the be­
ginnings of organized food production in pre-historic times in the Indian subcontinent. It also
explains the impact on other aspects of the life of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic humans,
their cultural practices, their art and funerary practices. (Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)

Relevant chapters from General readings:

Page 2
• Chattopadhyaya, U. C. (1996). "Settlement Pattern and the Spatial Organization of Sub­
sistence and Mortuary Practices in the Mesolithic Ganges Valley, North-Central India, World
Ar-chaeology, vol. 27(3), pp. 461-476
• Neumayer, E. (1993). Lines <m. Stone: The Prehistoric Rock Art of India. Delhi: Manohar.
Unit III: At the end of this unit, students shall be familiar with various aspects of Harappan
Civilization, their technological expertise, as well as the varied ways in which the
archaeologi-cal remains of Harappa and related sites have been interpreted and studied.
(Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)

Relevant chapters from General readings

• Kenoyer, J. Mark. (1998). Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Karachi: Ox-ford
University Press.
• Possehl, Gregory L. (2002). The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. Del-hi:
Vistaar Publications.
• Ratnagar, Shereen. (2001). Understanding Harappa: Civilization in the Greater In-dus
Valley. Delhi: Tulika.
• Ratnagar, Shereen. (2015). Harappan Archaeology: Early State Perspectives, Delhi: Primus.
• Thaplyal, K. K. and Sankata Prasad Shukla. (2003). Sindhu Sabhyata. Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Hindi Sansthan. (In Hindi)

Unit IV: This unit traces the archaeological and textual evidence for processes that led to the
emergence of states, social complexity, intensive agriculture and urban patterns. The unit
also covers debates around the origins and coming of the Aryans, the cosmogonies,
cosmology and world view of Vedic, Brahrnanical texts and religio-philosophical thought in
Upanishads, Bud-dhist, Jaina and Shramanic traditions. (Teaching Time: 6 weeks)
Relevant chapters in General Readings (for archaeological cultures)
• Harvey, Peter (2017 edition). Buddha in his Indian Context, Chapter in An Introduction to
Buddhism, p.8-31, Cambridge University Press, (first published in 1992)
• Moorti, U.S. (1994). Megalithic Culture of South India: Socio-economic Perspec-tives.
Varanasi: Ganga Kaveri Publishing House.
• Sahu, B.P. (ed.). (2006). Iron and Social Change in Early India. Delhi: Oxford Universi-ty
Press. (Most relevant is the 'Introduction'.)
• Sharma, R.S. (1996). Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India. Del-hi:
Motilal Banarsidas. (Chapters VII-XIV and XXII.) (Also available in Hindi)
• Sharma, R.S. (1983). Material Culture and Social Formations in Ancient India, Macmil-lan
India, Delhi. (Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5.) (Also available in Hindi)

• Staal, Frits (2017). Discovering the Vedas, Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Paii I and II,
Penguin.
• Thapar, Romila. (1984). From Lineage to State: Social Formations in the Mid-First
Millennium B. C. In the Ganga Valley. Delhi: Oxford University Press. (Chapter 2, pp. 21-
69.) (Also available in Hindi).
• Trautmann, T.R. (ed.) (2005). The Aryan Debate. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• �' T"lmf�. (2017). -� {l{ili113fRua=!"_.(�:m). %5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9.

Page 3
Suggestive readings
• Allchin, F.R. et al. (1995). The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emer-gence
of Cities and States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Chapter 6.)
• Chakrabarti, D. K. (1999). India: An Archaeological History: Palaeolithic Beginnings to
Early Historic Foundations, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Chakrabarti, D. K. and Maklrnan Lal, (2013). History of Ancient India, vol. 1, Delhi: Ary-an
Books International. (Section III.2, pp. 301-346.)
• Dhavalikar, M. K. (ed.) (2013). Prehistory oflndia: A Comprehensive History of In-dia, vol.
1, Part 1. Delhi: Manohar.
• Habib, Irfan & Faiz Habib. (2012). Atlas of Ancient Indian History. Delhi: Ox-ford
University Press.
• Habib, Irfan. (2001). Prehistory, Delhi: Tulika.(Available in Hindi Also)
• Habib, Irfan. (2002). The Indus Civilization. Delhi: Tulika.
• Jain, V. K. (2006). Prehistory and Protohistory of India: An Appraisal. Delhi: Print-world.
(in Hindi Also)
• Kosambi, D.D. (1956). An Introduction to the Study of Indian History. Bombay: Popular
Prakashan.
• Lahiri, Nayanjot, ed. (2000). The Decline and Fall of the Indus Civilization, Delhi: Per­
manent Black. ('Introduction', pp.1-33.)
• Pathak, V. S. (1966). Ancient Historians of India: A Study in Historical Biographies.
Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
• Subbarao, Bendapudi. (1958). The Personality of India: Pre and Proto-Historic Founda-tions
of India and Pakistan. Baroda: University of Baroda.
• Thapar, Romila. (2000). Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History. Delhi: Oxford
University Press. (Chapters 7, 8 and 16.)
• Wright, Rita P. (2010). The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society. Cam-bridge:
Cambridge University Press.
• Patrick Olivelle, (2017) Introduction in The Early Upanisads, Annotated Text and
Translation, OUP, p3-28.
• Neelis, Jason. (2011)." Historical Contexts for the Emergence and Transmission of
Buddhism Within South Asia" In Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks:
Mobility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia, 65-
182. Brill. 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.cttl w8hl 6r.8. Stable URL:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.l 163/j.cttl w8h16r.8, PP 65-78.
• Dundass, Paul. (2002 edition) Chapter One in The Jainas p.1-44, Routledge , ( first published
in 1992)

Note: Examination scheme and mode shall be as prescribed by the Examination Branch,
University of Delhi, from time to time.

Credit distribution, Eligibility and Prerequisites of the Course

Page 4
Course title & Credits Credit distribution of the course Eligibility Pre-
Code Lecture Tutorial Practical/ criteria requisite of
Practice the course
(if any)
Social Formations 4 3 1 0 12 th Pass NIL
and Cultural
Patterns of the
Ancient World-I -
DSC02

Learning Objectives

The Leaming Objectives of this course are as follows:

The Course aims to introduce students to significant developments in world history that have shaped
the complexity of human existence. To begin with, it offers a historical survey of human evolution.
It details the transition from the hunting-gathering subsistence pattern to more advanced adaptations
to a sedentary farming economy. The course content is based on the premise that the pace and nature
of change differed in different parts of the world. Further, changes in social formations that
facilitated the emergence of socially stratified and state-ordered societies are explained through a
study of some of the early Bronze Age Civilizations. The impact of specific ecological conditions on
different trajectories of growth, higher population density and social complexity, the emergence of
the city and newer crafts and trade and the unfolding of cultural patterns in the early civilizations are
concerns that are central to this course. This therefore, provides a sound foundation in the historical
discipline, and helps in engaging in a variety of subject matters of history - social relations,
economics, political formations, religion, and culture from a global perspective. Understanding the
dissimilar but inter-linked history of humanity is therefore the prime objective of this Course.

Lean1ing outcomes

The Leaming Outcomes of this course are as follows:

• Trace long term changes in the relationship of humans to their landscapes, to resources and
to social groups.
• Discuss that human history is the consequence of choices made in ecological and biological
contexts, and that these choices are not only forced by external forces like environmental
change but are also enabled by changes in technology and systems of cultural cognition.
• Delineate the significance of early food production and the beginning of social complexity.
• Analyze the process of state formation and urbanism in the early Bronze Age Civilizations.
• Correlate the ancient past and its connected histories, the ways in which it is reconstructed,
and begin to understand the fundamentals of historical methods and approaches.

SYLLABUS OF DSC- 2

Unit-I: Evolution of Humans and Hunting-Gathering Cultures (12 hours)

Page 5
 1. Understanding Prehistory
2. Biological and Cultural Evolution of Humans: lithic and other technologies
3. Changing subsistence patterns; funerary practices and art

Unit-II: Transition to Food Production (16 hours)

1. Mesolithic Cultures: West Asia and Europe
2. Origins of Food Production: Debates
3. Features of the Neolithic based on sites from West Asia, Europe, Mesoamerica / China

Unit-III: The Bronze Age (16 hours)

Note: Rubrics b, and c are to be based on any one case study:
1. Ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerian and Akkadian period)/Egypt (Old Kingdom)/China (Shang
dynasty).
2. Concepts: 'Bronze Age', 'Civilization', 'Urban Revolution' and 'State'
3. Ecological context of early civilizations
4. Kingship, religion and state; Social and economic complexity: Class, Gender

Unit IV: Nomadic Cultures in Transition (16 hours)

1. Nomadic Pastoralism in West Asia in the third and second millennium BCE
2. Iron technology and its spread

Practical component (if any) - NIL

Essential/recommended readings
Unit-I: This Unit introduces students to the basic aspects of world prehistory particularly with
reference to the debate on the biological and cultural evolution of Humans(Teaching Time:
16 hours Approx.)
• Bogucki, P. (1999). The Origins of Human Society. Wiley-Blackwell 1999, Chapter 2, pp.
2977.
• V.G. Childe, What Happened in History? Great Britain: Pelican, 1942, reprint 1971, pp. 13-
32.
• Fagan, B.M. and N. Durrani. eds. (2019). The People of the Earth: An Introduction to World
Pre-history. (15thedn.). New York: Routledge, Chapters 2-5, pp. 22-134.
• Website: www.humanorigins.si.edu (website of the Smithsonian.Museum)
.m..<rm
• ill$e>-5,V.a115aH/2 $c-i$1'ti cfiT $c-i$FH, {folcficl-lC'l IJcfiT�ra=r, I.
• ill$e>-5,V.a115o=-R (2019) 3-trvfmcfil $ct$1.fi (� UIT0".fi'�� � 'J-l'T{'), \ �: �
qcfil�Ta,.

• !-hl�ch'i, A. (2015). � � J:ft.'4cfil�a-l � � {-1{ila-lll! � � \ ci<TT, \ �:

� "«;fcfiT�Ta,.

• J-1"!_�1{, D.N c=r� a1)q1C'l �RUT,� d�ci$1.fi, \ � \ �' \ �c� 'Rlt-,�

cfil-41f.i=aa-l \ �-

Page 6
Unit II. This Unit will familiarise students with the transition to food production when the advanced
Hunter-Gatherer communities primarily of the Mesolithic cultures responded to
environmental changes with greater sedentism and newer ways of exploiting plants and
animals. The debates on the origins of food production will enable students to understand the
complexity of the Neolithic cultures. The discussion on the Neolithic sites in different parts
of the world will help in understanding the process of beginning of food production and
variations in Neo-lithic Cultures. (Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)
• Bogucki, P. (1999). The Origins of Human Society. Massachusetts: Blackwell, pp. 127- 159.
• Price, T.D. (1991). "The Mesolithic of Northern Europe", Annual Review of Anthropology,
Vol. 20, pp.211-233.
• Shea, J. J. and D.E. Lieberman. (2009). eds. Transitions in Prehistory. Essays in Honour of
Ofer Bar-Yosef. Oxbow Books, pp. 185-222
• Zvelebil, M. (1989). "Economic Intensification and Postglacial Hunter-Gatherers in North
Temperate Europe." in C. Bonsall, (Ed). The Mesolithic in Europe. Edinburgh: University of
Edinburgh Press1989, pp. 80-88.
• !-hl�cfi'I, A. (2015). � � J:ft-<-!cf,l<>i'lcrt � � fi{ilcrllQ 3-fR � { ct<TT, { �:
� Vclif�Tcrl'.
• Cohen M. (2009). 'Introduction. Rethinking the Origins of Agriculture'. October
2009,Current Anthropology. 50 (5), pp.591-595.
• Fagan, B.M. and N. Durrani. (2019). The People of the Earth: An Introduction to World
Prehistory. New York: Routledge (15th Ed.), Chapters 8, 9, 10, 12, pp. 178-218, 228-245.
• Price, T.D. and 0. Bar-Yosef. (2011). "The Origins of Agriculture: New Data, New Ide-as",
An Introduction to Supplement 4. Current Anthropology, Vol. 52, No. S4, October 2011, pp.
S163-Sl 74.
• Wenke, R.J. and D. Olzewski. (2007). Patterns in Prehistory: Humankind's First Three
Million Years. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 228-268.
• !-hl�cfi'I, A. (2015). � � J=!t-<-lcf,le>?Jcrt � � fi{ilcrllQ � � { ct<TT, { �:
� Vclif�Tcrl'.

Unit III. This Unit will enable students to contextualize the beginning of urban settlements,
appearance of complex society and state with reference to some of the early civilisations of
the world. (Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)
• Childe, G. (1950). "The Urban Revolution, "The Town Planning Review, Vol. 21, No. 1,
April 1950, pp. 3-17.
• Redman, C.L. (1978). The Rise of Civilisations. From Early Farmers to Urban Society in the
Ancient Near East. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, Chapter 2, 6, 7, pp. 16-49; 188-213; 214-
243.
• Scarre, Christopher and Brian M. Fagan. (2008). Ancient Civilizations (3rdedn.), New
Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall, pp. 3-12, and pp. 26-47.
• Whitehouse, R. (1977). The First Civilizations. Oxford: Phaidon, Chapters 1 and 9, pp 7- 15
and 177-199.
• !hl�cfi'I, A. (2015). � � J:ft-<-!cf,lc41crl � � fi{ilcrllQ � � { ct<TT, { �:
� Vclif�Tcrl'.

Page 7
Mesopotamia
• Nissen, H.J. (2003). The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000-2000 B.C. Oxford and
Victoria: Blackwell.
• Redman, C.L. (1978). The Rise of Civilisations. From Early Farmers to Urban Society in the
Ancient near East. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, Chapters 8, pp. 244-322.
• Roux, Georges (1992). Ancient Iraq, UK: Penguin, Chapters 1, 5, 6, 8, 9; pp. 1-16; pp. 66-
103; 122-160.
• Whitehouse, R. (1977). The First Civilizations, Oxford: Phaidon, Chapters 3, 4, 5, pp 33-
115.
OR
China
• Chang, K.C. (1987). Shang Civilization. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, pp. 263-
288. Feng, Li. (2013). Early China, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-111.
• Keightly, D.N. (1999)."The Shang. China's First Historical Dynasty" in Michael Loewe and
Edward L. Shaughnessey. (Ed.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China. From the origins
of Civilization to 221 B.C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
• Thorp, R. L. (2006).China in the Early Bronze Age. Shang Civilization. Pennsylvania:
Universi-ty of Pennsylvania Press.
OR
Egypt
• Hawkes, J. (1973). "Egypt: the beginnings and the Old Kingdom" in The First Great
Civilisations: Life in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and Egypt, New York: Knopf/Random
House, pp. 285-299.
• Trigger, B.G., B.J. Kemp, D. O'Connor and A.B. Lloyd. (1983). Ancient Egypt A Social
History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Chapters 1 & 2, pp. 1-43.
• Wilkinson, T. (2010). The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: The History of a Civilisation from
30,000 BC to Cleopatra. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 13-114.
• Silverman, D. P. (Ed.). (2003). Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press (Ed.) pp.
10 - 27.

Unit IV. This unit will discuss the Nomadic cultures in West Asia in the third and second
Millennium BCE. The use and spread of iron technology will enable students to be familiar
with the technological and other changes related to it. (Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)
• Schmidt, Conrad. (2018) "Pastoral Nomadism in Third Millenium BC Eastern Arabia,"
• Paleorient,, Vol 44, No. 1, pp.105 -118.
• Lees, S. And D.G. Bates. (April 1974), "The Emergence of Specialised Nomadic Pasto­
ralism: A Systemic model," American Antiquity, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 187-193.
• Sherratt, A. "Sedentary Agriculture and nomadic pastoral populations." in History of
Humanity: from the third millennium to the seventh century BCE, vol. II, (Ed.) S.J. de
Laeted. London: Routledge, pp. 37-43.
• Villard, P. (1996). "The beginning of the Iron Age and its Consequences", in History of
Humanity (Scientific and Cultural Developments) Vol. II. From the Third Millennium to the
Sev-enth Century B.C._ Paris, London: Routledge: UNESCO.

Page 8
 • Maddin, R., J.D. Muhly, T.S. Wheeler (1977). "How the Iron Age Began", Scientific
American, Vol. 237, No, 4, Oct. 1977, pp. 122-131.
• Cotterell, A. (1985). "The Coming oflron", in A.Cotterell, Origins of European Civilization,
London: Michael Joseph/ Rainbird, pp. 118-140.
• ErbSatullo, Nathaniel L. (2019). "The Innovation and Adoption of Iron in the Ancient Near
East," Journal of Archaeological Research 27:557-607 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-
01929-6, pp.557 - 593.
• Snodgrass, AM. (1980). "Iron and Early Metallurgy in the Mediterranean" in T.H. Wer-time
and J.D. Muhly (eds.) The Coming of the Age oflron. New Haven and London, pp.335 -374.

Suggestive readings (if any)

• Carr, E.H. (1961/1991). "The Historian and his facts", in E.H. Carr, What is History?
Penguin Modern Classics (2ndEdn.), pp.7-30.
• �, E.H.(1976).'$ci61ficfi{ 3-ITT"� c=r�"<:f', E.H. �, $ci61fi cRIT6°? R 3-Tt.-<lm 1, J-l4iJ--lc4crt
q&c4c); �Ta1 ({ �-::�
• �, 1976).
.:>
• Bar-Yosef, 0, and F. Valla. (1990). "The Natufian culture and the origins of the Neolith-ic in
the Levant", Current Anthropology, Vol. 31, No. 4, Aug-Oct, pp. 433-436
• Binford, L.R. (1968). 'Post-Pleistocene adaptations' in L. R. Binford and S. R. Binford, eds.
New perspectives in Archaeology. Chicago: Aldine, pp. 313-342.
• Chang, K.C. (1986). The Archaeology of Ancient China, New Haven, Conn: Yale Uni­
versity Press, pp. 234-294.
• Clark, G. (1977). World Prehistory in New Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge Universi-ty
Press (3rd edn.) pp. 1- 61.
• Darwin, C. (1859, 2003). On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Jo-seph
Carroll Ed. Canada: Broadview Press (2003 edn.) Chapters 1-5/
• Flannery, K.V. (1973). "Origins of Food Production", Annual Review of Anthropology, 2
(1973), pp.271- 310.
• Fried, M. (1978). "The State, the Chicken, and the Egg; or, What Came First" in R. Co-hen
and E. Service Ed. Origins of the State: The Anthropology of Political Evolution (Institute
for the Study of Human Issues, 1978), pp. 3-47.
• James, T.G.H. (1979, 2005). The British Museum's Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt
• British Museum Publications, Michigan: University ofMichigan Press.
• Johnson, A. W. and Timothy Earle (2000). The Evolution of Human Societies: From
Foraging Group to Agrarian State, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Kemp, B. (1989). Ancient Egypt. Anatomy of a Civilisation. London: Routledge.
• Kumar, R. (2018). Ancient and Medieval World: From Evolution of Humans to the Cri-sis of
Feudalism, New Delhi: Sage.
• Lamberg-Karlovsky, C.C. and J.A. Sabloff. (1979).Ancient Civilizations, The Near East and
Mesoamerica. California: Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company.
• Leakey, R. (1981). The Making of Mankind. London: Michael Joseph Limited, 1981, pp.
9183.
• Lerner, G. (1986). The Creation of Patriarchy. Oxford University Press, pp. 54-76.

Page 9
 • Lewin, R. (2005). Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction. (5th edn.) USA, UK, Austral-ia:
Blackwell Publishing, pp. 1-29, 39-55, 60-66, 95-127, 131-156, 159-175, 179-235.
• Lewis-Williams. D. (2002). The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art,
London: Thames and Hudson.
• Maisels, C. K. (1987). "Models of Social Evolution: Trajectories from the Neolithic to the
State", Man, New Series, Col. 22, No. 2, June, pp. 331-359.
• McAdams, Robert. (1966). The Evolution of Urban Society: Early Mesopotamia and
Prehispanic Mexico. New Brunswick (USA) and London: Aldine Transaction (Second
Reprint 2007).
• Postgate, J.N. (1992). Early Mesopotamia. Society and Economy at the dawn of history,
London and New York: Routledge, pp. 1- 154.
• Service, E. (1973). Origins of the State and Civilization. The Process of Cultural Evolutions:
W.W. Norton & Co.
• Sherratt, A. (1996) "Sedentary Agricultural and nomadic pastoral populations' in History of
Humanity: From the third millennium to the seventh century B.C. vol. II, edited by S. J. de
Laet, 37-43, Paris, London: Routledge, UNESCO, pp. 37-43.
• Starr, H. (2005). "Subsistence Models and metaphors for the Transition to Agriculture in
North western Europe", MDIA, Issue Title: Subsistence and Sustenance, Vol.IS, no. 1,
• Arbor, Ann. (2005) Publishing, University of Michigan Library url:
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.0522508.0015.103. Website: www.bradshawfoundation.com
• Wright, G. A. (1992). "Origins of Food Production in Southwestern Asia: A Survey of
Ideas", Current Anthropology, Supplement: Inquiry and Debate in Human Sciences:
Contribu-tions from Current Anthropology, 1960-1990, Vol.33, No. 1, Feb., 1992, pp. 109-
139.
• Yoffee, Norman. (2004). Myths of the Archaic State: Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States
and Civilisation, New York: Cambridge University Press, Chapter 3, pp. 44-90.
• q=mf>:iR°.
c:fihMcfia-t, (2019). �\fct $c1$Rl cfiT�, Delhi: Medha Pub-lishing House.
• "{f<:f, U.N. (2017). \ fct �}<lc1T cfiT $c1$1.fl, \ �: {13icfiJ-lc>i l;lcfil�Ta=r

Credit distribution, Eligibility and Pre-requisites of the Course

Course title & Code Credits Credit distribution of the course Eligibility Pre-requisite
Lecture Tutorial Practical/ criteria the course
Practice any)
History of the USA: 4 3 1 0 12 th Pass NIL
Independence to Civil
War-DSC 03

Learning Objectives

Page 10
The Learning Objectives of this course are as follows:
The course initiates the process of comprehending the rise of the 'New World' that eventually came
to be known as the United States of America (USA) after the American Revolution, came at the cost
of marginalization of the Indigenous Tribes and enslavement of Black labourers. The focus is to
study both Indigenous tribes and Black Slaves in a detailed manner to understand the limits of
American democracy that pushed the country towards the Civil War. The course also concentrates
on the process of the evolution of America's foreign policy in the aftermath of the War of1812.

Learning outcomes

Upon the completion of this course the student shall be able to:
• Explain the emergence of a new independent nation in the Western Hemisphere (USA) at the
cost of placing Indigenous tribes behind reserves and introduction of the institution of
slavery and racism
• Examine the limits of American democracy in its formative stages along with the foundation
of the U.S foreign policy
• Describe the economics of slavery in the USA along with details of slave culture and forms
of resistance
• Trace the main issues related to the Civil War and its critical evaluation

SYLLABUS OF DSC-3

Unit I: A New World: (12 hours)

1. Contribution of Indigenous Tribes, Indentured Servants and Slave labour in the growth and
expansion of American colonies
2. American Revolution: Sources, Historiography

Unit II: Limits of American Democracy: (16 hours)

1. Marginalization and Displacement oflndigenous tribes (Shawnee and Cherokee)
2. Policies of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson that placed the original peoples
(Indigenous tribes) behind 'reserves'

Unit III: United States Quest for Dominance: Imperialism and Changing Diplomacy: (16 hours)
1. Manifest Destiny
2. War of1812
3. Momoe Doctrine

Unit IV: Slavery and the Civil War: (16 hours)

1. The Economics of Slavery: South vs. North Debate
2. Slave Culture and Slave resistances (including the nature of female slavery and resistance
3. Issues of the Civil War and the Interpretations

Practical component (if any) - NIL

Essential/recommended readings

Page 11
Unit I: This Unit importance is given to the usage of varied types of labour force for the
colonization of the New World with special emphasis on the Indigenous tribes and Slave
labour. The factors that led to the rise of the American Revolution along with
historiographical debates is being emphasized. (Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)
• Boyer, P.S., H. Sitkoff et al. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Vol.
• 5thedition. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
• Carnes, M.C. & J.A. Garraty. The American Nation, A History of the United States. 12thedn.
New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.
• Datar, K. America Ka Itihas. University of Delhi: Directorate of Hindi Medium
Implementation Board, 1997 (Hindi medium students)
• Foner, E. Give Me Liberty! An American History. Vol. I. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
2ndedn. 2007.
• Grob, G.N. and G.A. Billias. Interpretations of American History: Patterns and Perspectives.
Vol. I. New York: The Free Press, 2000.

Unit II: This unit examines how Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracies displaced, marginalized
and decimated the original peoples, the Indigenous tribes by taking up the case studies of
Shawnee and Cherokee tribes who both suffered yet resisted white advance on their ancestral
lands. (Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)
• Balleck, B.J. 'When the Ends Justify the Means: Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana
Purchase'. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 22, Fall 1992.
• Berkhofer, R. Jr. 'The White Advance Upon Native Lands'. Paterson, T.G., Major Problems
in American Foreign Policy: Documents and Essays. Lexington, Massachusetts:
• D.C. Heath, 1989.
• Edmunds, R.D. 'Tecumseh, The Shawnee Prophet and American History'. Western
Historical Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3, July, 1983.
• Foner, E. Give Me Liberty! An American History. Vol. I. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
2nd edn. 200'.7.
• Wallace, A.F.C. and E. Foner. The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians. New
York: Hill and Wang, 1996.
• Young, M. 'The Cherokee Nation: Mirror of the Republic'. American Quarterly Special
Issue: American Culture and the American Frontier. Vol. 33, No. 5, Winter 1981.

Unit Ill: This unit explores how the United States of America learnt some difficult lessons from the
War of 1812 and how it led to the formulation of both internal and external policies that
became the foundation of American imperialism and the maintenance of diplomatic relations.
(Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)
• Boyer, P.S., H. Sitkoff et al. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Vol.
5thedition. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
• Carnes, M.C. & J.A. Garraty. The American Nation, A History of the United States. 12thedn.
New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.
• Grob, G.N. and G.A. Billias. Interpretations of American History: Patterns and Perspectives.
Vol. I. New York: The Free Press, 2000.

Page 12
 • Fitz, C.A. 'The Hemispheric Dimensions of Early U.S. Nationalism: The War of 1812, its
Aftermath and Spanish American Independence'. The Journal of American History, Vol.
102, Issue 2, September 2015.
• Goodman, W. 'The Origins of the War of 1812: A Survey of Changing Interpretations'.
Sheehan, D. (ed.), The Making of American History: The Emergence of a Nation. Vol. I.
New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963.
• Merk, F. Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History. Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 1995.
• Perkins, D. 'The First Challenge: Monroe Hurls Defiance at Europe'. Sheehan, D. (ed.), The
Making of American History: The Emergence of a Nation. Vol. I. New York: Holt, Rinehart
& Winston, 1963.

Unit IV: This Unit critically examines the economic foundations of the institution of slavery in the
southern states and how historians began to umavel slave culture that assisted them to
survive the brutality of this inhuman institution with particular emphasis on the female
slavery and how they offered resistance against this bondage system. The unit also delves
into the various causes of the Civil War and historiographical debates that have evolved over
a period of time (Teaching Time: 16 hours Approx.)
• Bracey, J.H., A. Meier, E. Rudwick (ed.). American Slavery: The Question of Resistance.
California: Wadsworth Publishing Co. Inc., 1971.
• Datar, K. America Ka Itihas. University of Delhi: Directorate of Hindi Medium
Implementation Board, 1997 (Hindi Medium)
• Faragher, J.M., M.J. Buhle et al. Out of Many: A History of the American People. Vol. I.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995.
• Foner, E. Give Me Liberty! An American History. Vol. I. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
2ndedn. 2007.
• Genovese, E.D. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. 9th edition. New York:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011.
• Genovese, E.D. The Political Economy of Slavery: Studies in the Economy and Society of
the Slave South. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. 2nd edn. Paperback, 1989.
• Grob, G.N. and G.A. Billias. Interpretations of American History: Patterns and Perspectives.
Vol. I. New York: The Free Press, 2000.
• Kailyn, B., D. Wood, J. L. Thomas et.al. The Great Republic, A History of the American
People. Massachusetts: D.C. Heath & Company, 2000.
• Stampp, K. The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South. New York: Vintage,
1989.
• White, D.B. 'The Nature of Female Slavery'. in Aren't I a Woman? Female Slaves in the
Plantation South. New York: W.W. Norton, 1985.
• Barrington, M. Jr. 'The American Civil War: The Last Capitalist Revolution'. Barrington, M.
Jr. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Lord and Peasant in the Making of the
Modern World. Boston: Beacon Press, 2015.
• Foner, E. Politics and Ideology in the Age of the Civil War. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1981.

Page 13
Suggested Readings:
• Bailyn, B., D. Wood, J.L. Thomas et.al. The Great Republic, A History of the American
People, Mas�achusetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 2000.
• Boyer, P.S., H. Sitkoff et al. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Vol.
II. 5thedn. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
• Carnes, M.C. & J.A. Garraty. The American Nation, A History of the United States. 12thedn.
New Yark: Pearson Longman, 2006.
• Datar K. America Ka Itihas. University of Delhi: Directorate of Hindi Medium
Implementation Board, 1997.
• Faragher, J.M., M.J. Buhle et al. Out of Many: A History of the American People. Vol. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995.
• Foner, E. Give Me Liberty! An American History. Vol. II. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
2ndedn. 2007.
• Grob, G.N. and G.A. Billias. Interpretations of American History: Patterns and Perspectives.
Vol. II. New York: The Free Press, 2000.
• Zinn, H. A People's History of the United States, 1492-Present. New York: Harper Collins,
2003.

Selected Films:
• 'Lincoln' Directed and Co-produced by Steven Spielberg, 2012.
• 'The Birth of a Nation' (based on slave Nat Turner, who led a rebellion in Southampton,
Virginia in 1831) Directed and Co-produced by D. W. Griffith, 2016.
• 'The Birth of a Nation' (showcases assassination of Lincoln; originally based on 'The
Clansman' and 'The Leopard's Spots' by T.F. Dixon Jr.) Directed and Co-produced by
• D.W. Griffith, 1915.
• 'Glory' (set during the Civil War) Directed by Edward Zwick, Produced by Freddie Fields,
1989.
• '12 Years a Slave' Directed and Co-produced by Steve McQueen, 2013.
• 'Django Unchained' (set in Old West and Ante-Bellum South) Directed by Quantin
Tarantino, Produced by Stacey Sher & Others, 2012.
• 'Amistad' (based on events in 1839 aboard the slave ship Le Amistad) Directed and
Produced by Steven Spielberg, 1997.
• 'Gone with the Wind' (set in the Civil War era) Directed by Victor Fleming and Produced by
David Selznick, 1939.
• 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' (set in 1856) Directed by Stan Lathan and Produced by Jeffrey A.
Nelson and Others, 1987.
• 'Roots' (based on Alex Haley, 'Roots: The Saga of American Family, 1976) Directed by
Bruce Beresford and Produced by Ann Kindberg and others, 2016.

Page 14