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Class 12

History: Themes in Indian History

86 lessons in 12 chapters, explained in plain words.

Bricks, Beads and Bones

  1. Beginnings and how Harappans lived
  2. Mohenjodaro, a planned city
  3. Tracking social differences
  4. Crafts and raw materials
  5. Seals, script, weights, authority and the end
  6. Discovering and interpreting the Harappans

Kings, Farmers and Towns

  1. Inscriptions and the earliest states
  2. The rise of Magadha
  3. The Mauryan Empire
  4. New notions of kingship
  5. A changing countryside
  6. Towns, trade and coins
  7. Reading inscriptions and their limits

Kinship, Caste and Class

  1. The Mahabharata and the Critical Edition
  2. Kinship and marriage rules
  3. Gotra and the Satavahana evidence
  4. Varna, jati and kings
  5. Beyond the four varnas
  6. Resources, status and alternatives
  7. Handling the Mahabharata as a text

Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings

  1. A glimpse of Sanchi
  2. Sacrifices, debates and new questions
  3. Mahavira and Jainism
  4. The Buddha and his teachings
  5. The sangha and its followers
  6. Stupas: why, how and their fate
  7. Sculpture: stories, symbols, popular traditions
  8. New traditions: Mahayana, Puranic Hinduism, temples

Through the Eyes of Travellers

  1. Al-Biruni and the Kitab-ul-Hind
  2. Ibn Battuta's Rihla
  3. François Bernier and European travellers
  4. Al-Biruni and the Sanskritic tradition
  5. Ibn Battuta and the unfamiliar
  6. Bernier and the 'degenerate' East
  7. Women: slaves, sati and labourers

Bhakti-Sufi Traditions

  1. A mosaic of religious beliefs
  2. The Alvars and Nayanars
  3. The Virashaiva tradition
  4. North India and Islamic traditions
  5. The growth of Sufism
  6. The Chishtis: khanqah, ziyarat, qawwali
  7. Sufis and the state
  8. Kabir, Guru Nanak, Mirabai and the historian's task

An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara

  1. Rediscovering Vijayanagara
  2. Rayas, nayakas and Sultans
  3. The capital: water, walls, roads
  4. The royal centre
  5. The sacred centre
  6. Mapping the city and unanswered questions

Peasants, Zamindars and the State

  1. Peasants and their lands
  2. Irrigation, technology and crops
  3. The village community
  4. Women in agrarian society
  5. Forests and tribes
  6. The zamindars
  7. Land revenue and the flow of silver
  8. The Ain-i Akbari

Colonialism and the Countryside

  1. The Permanent Settlement
  2. Defaulting zamindars and rising jotedars
  3. Zamindars resist; the Fifth Report
  4. The Paharias of the Rajmahal hills
  5. The Santhals: settlers and rebels
  6. Reading Buchanan
  7. The Deccan: revenue, debt and cotton
  8. The Deccan Riots and their Commission

Rebels and the Raj

  1. From Meerut to Delhi
  2. Planning, leaders and followers
  3. Rumours and prophecies
  4. Awadh in revolt
  5. What the rebels wanted
  6. Repression
  7. Images of the revolt

Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement

  1. A leader announces himself
  2. The making and unmaking of Non-cooperation
  3. A people's leader
  4. The Salt Satyagraha
  5. Dialogues
  6. Quit India and the last heroic days
  7. Knowing Gandhi

Framing the Constitution

  1. A tumultuous time
  2. The vision of the Constitution
  3. The problem with separate electorates
  4. Who is a minority?
  5. The powers of the State
  6. The language of the nation
  7. Franchise, secularism and reading the debates