History of India- III (c. 1206 – 1526)

Paper Code: 
25CHIS 311
Credits: 
06
Contact Hours: 
90.00
Max. Marks: 
100.00
Objective: 

This course seeks to engage students in an analytical understanding of the varied perspectives from which historians study the three centuries between the thirteenth and the Sixteenth centuries. It provides them with a basic understanding of the political, economic and socio-cultural processes of the time especially with reference to Rajput polities, Gujarat sultanate, Vijayanagara state, Delhi Sultanate as well as the Mughal Empire. Sufism and major trends in bhakti movement are explained to the students. Learners are also encouraged to engage with diverse corpus of sources available to historians for the period under study.

Course Outcomes: 

Course

Learning outcomes (at course level)

Learning and teaching strategies

Assessment Strategies

Course Code

Course Title

25CHIS 311 

History of India- III (c. 1206 – 1526)

      (Theory)

 

 

CO25-Examine and classify the sources of study of Medieval India

CO26- Assess the  foundation, expansion and consolidation of the Sultanate of Delhi

CO27- Develop conceptual understanding of state formation and administration of state in medieval times

CO28- Analyse the socio-economic transformation in Medieval India

CO29- Examine the cultural consciousness and cross-cultural developments though the study of Sufi and Bhakti traditions

CO30-Contribute effectively in course-specific interaction

Approach in teaching:

Interactive Lectures, Discussion, Tutorials, Reading assignments, Power Point Presentation

 

Learning activities for the students:

Self-learning assignments, Effective questions, Seminar presentation, Giving tasks.

Class test, Semester end examinations, Quiz, Solving problems in tutorials, Assignments, Presentation, Individual and group projects
 
18.00
Unit I: 
Survey of sources

 [a] Persian tarikh traditions: Barani and Mushtaqi

[b] Malfuzat and premakhyans; Persian, Sanskrit and Vernacular interactions

[c] Inscriptions : Kakatiyas

18.00
Unit II: 
Political Expansion

 [a] Foundation, expansion and consolidation of the Sultanate of Delhi; The Khaljis and the Tughluqs; Mongol threat and Timur’s invasion; The Lodis: Conquest of Bahlul and Sikandar; Ibrahim Lodi and the battle of Panipat

[b] Emergence of provincial dynasties: Bahamanis and Vijayanagar

18.00
Unit III: 
Political Structures: Delhi Sultanate

 [a]Theories of kingship; ruling elites; Sufis, ulama and the political authority; imperial monuments and coinage

[b] Iqta and the revenue-free grants

18.00
Unit IV: 
Society and Economy

[a] agricultural production: Technology

[b] changes in rural society

[c] Monetization; market regulations; urban centers, trade and commerce

18.00
Unit V: 
Religion, society and culture

[a] Sufi silsilas: Chishtis and Suhrawardis; doctrines and practices; social roles

[b] Bhakti: North and South India; Sagun and Nirgun Bhakti, Sant tradition: Kabir and Nanak; Nathpanthis and women bhaktas

 

Essential Readings: 

Asher, C.B. and C. Talbot, eds. India before Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2006.

Eaton, R.M.,ed. India’s Islamic Traditions, 711-1750. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Habib, I. and T. Raychaudhuri, eds.Cambridge Economic History of India, vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

Hardy, P. Historians of Medieval India: Studies in Indo-Muslim Historical Writing.London:Luzac and Company Ltd., 1966.

Juneja, M., ed. Architecture in Medieval India: Forms, Contexts, Histories. Delhi: Permanent Black, 2001.

Kumar, S. The Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate, 1192-1286. Ranikhet: Permanent Black, 2007.

Prasad, Ishwari. History of Medieval India. Allahabad: Indian Press Ltd., 1976.

Schomer, K. and W.H. McLeod, eds.The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1987.

Stein, B. Peasant, State and Society in Medieval South India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Subrahmanyam, S., ed. Money and the Market in India: 1100-1700. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994.

References: 
  • Alam, M. The Languages of Political Islam in India c. 1200-1800. Delhi: Permanent Black, 2004.
  • Eaton, R.M. & P.B. Wagoner. Power, Memory and Architecture: Contested Sites on India’s Deccan Plateau, 1300-1600. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • Eaton, R.M. Essays on Islam and Indian History. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • Flood, F.B., ed. Piety and Politics in the Early Indian Mosque. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008.
  • Kumar, S., ed. Demolishing Myths or Mosques and Temples? Readings on History and Temple
  • Desecration in Medieval India. Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2007. 28
  • Habib, I. ed.Medieval India1: Researches in the History of India 1200-1750. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992.
  • Habib, I. ed.Studies in Medieval Indian Polity and Culture: The Delhi Sultanate and its Times by Mohammad Habib.New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2016.
  • Jackson, P. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
  • Karashima, N. A Concordance of Nayakas: The Vijayanagar Inscriptions in South India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
  • Lal, K. S. Twilight of the Sultanate; revised edn., 1980.
  • Kumar, M. Monsoon HISlogies: Irrigation, Agriculture and Settlement Patterns in Rajasthan during the Pre-Colonial Period. New Delhi: Manohar, 2013.
  • Michell, G and J.M.Fritz. New Light on Hampi: Recent Research at Vijayanagar. Mumabi: Marg, 2001.
  • Prasad, P. Sanskrit Inscriptions of Delhi Sultanate, 1191-1526. Delhi: Oxford University Press,
  • 1990.
  • Rizvi, S.A.A. A History of Sufism. vol. 1. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1978.
  • Sheikh, S.Forging a Region: sultans, traders and pilgrims in Gujarat, 1200-1500.New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010.
  • Talbot, C. Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region and Identity in Medieval Andhra. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • Wright, H.N. The Coinage and Metrology of the Sultans of Delhi. London and Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1936. [Also reprinted from Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, 1974.]
  •  

E-Resources

Survey of sources

Political Exapansion

Society and Economy

Religion, society and culture

 

Academic Year: 
2025-26
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