Courses

STRUCTURE OF MASTER’S COURSES

Semester – I [Fall 2022]
(Foundational Courses)

16 credits

• 4 Core Courses (3 credits each)
  • World History: An Overview
  • Birth of Civilizations in Asia
  • Cultural History of India
  • History and Archaeology

• 1 Elective Courses under Cafeteria model (3 credits)
  • South Asian History
  • Maritime History of India

• 1 Seminar Course (1 credit)

Semester – II [Spring 2023]
(Bridge Courses)

16 credits

• 3 Core Courses (3 credits each)
  • Indian Art, Aesthetic and Architectur
  • Cultural Anthropology & Ethnoarchaeology
  • Routes in Asia and Beyond

• Elective Courses under Cafeteria model (3 credits)
  • Digital Humanities
  • Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology of South Asia
  • Economic History of India
  • Contemplative Traditions: India and China

• 1 Seminar Course (1 credit)

Semester – III [Fall 2022]
(Advanced Courses)

16 credits

• 2 Core Courses (3 credits each)
• Maritime Interconnections in the Indian Ocean: Making Culture Portable
• Historical Archaeology

3 Elective Courses under Cafeteria model (3 credits)

• History of Devotional Cultures: Sufism and Bhakti in India
• International Relations of India over the Ages
• Nalanda through the Ages: Learning from Ruins
• History of Science and Technology
• Shared Past India and South East Asia

• 1 Seminar Course (1 credit)

Semester – IV [Spring 2023]
(Specialized Courses)

16 credits

• 1 Core Course (3 credits each)
  • Framing History: Historiography

• 1 Elective Course under Cafeteria model (3 credits)
  • Topics in Environmental History [New Proposal revised as discussed]
  • Indian Renaissance [1757-1917]
  • Buddhist Historiography

• 1 Seminar Course (1 credit)
• 1 Dissertation (9 credits)

COURSES WITH MODULES

CORE COURSES — Approved and offered in Sem 1 [Fall 2022]

• World History: An Overview [Core course in Sem 1]

The Modern Age ushered binding the world with newer complex bonds, new ideologies and concepts that are different from the connections of the ancient and medieval ages. This overview indicates the main currents in world history for the better understanding of the past, present and having a utility for future.

Modules

• Birth of Civilizations [Core course in Sem 1]

This course charts the history of ancient civilisations in Asia and beyond – Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, and Greece focusing on their origins, rise and flourish, all of which led to some distinct cultural characteristics.

Modules

• Cultural History of India [Core course in Sem 1]

This course highlights the fundamentals of Indian Culture and glances over the cultural development known through the Vedic corpus, the Epics, early Buddhist and Jaina literature and the Puranas. Aspects of social organization, religious, cultural and economic institutions, cultural assimilation, syncretism and trends of development of Indian culture till the Mughal times shall be studied.

Modules

• History and Archaeology [Core course in Sem 1]

The course provides a basic knowledge of the nature of archaeological records, cultural development, theory, methods, and practice. It explores the various aspects of early tools, technology, belief system, diet, settlement pattern, burial patterns, and the landscape through time and space. It stresses the interdisciplinary approach in understanding the human past.

Modules

ELECTIVES under Cafeteria Model — offered in Sem-1 Fall 2022

• South Asian History [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 1]

This course surveys the South Asian history from 1200-2020 A.D. focussing upon the greater Indian subcontinent from the North-Western frontiers to Bengal, stretching deep into peninsular India. Major dynastic histories of pre-modern north India and the Deccan, the rise of European colonialism and its impact, Indian independence and the post-colonial phase shall be studied.

Modules

• Maritime History of India [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 1]

The interdisciplinary course informs the rich nautical tradition of India from Indus valley civilization to contemporary time through the lens of maritime enterprise; and aims to help the student to better understand India’s maritime affairs holistically. Historical characteristics of maritime India spanning five millennia, the key undercurrents of maritime affairs amid the growing significance of the maritime domain are taught.

Modules

SEMESTER 2

CORE COURSES

• Indian Art, Aesthetics and Architecture and its Impact [Core course in Sem 2]

The course covers the history and issues of Indian Art, aesthetics and architecture and highlights the key conceptual and theoretical questions and debates. The impact of visual culture on the formation of human values, beliefs, creativity, cultural roots and identity in India is studied. Art practices in India, repertoire of styles and symbols reposing civilizational values and an overview of architectural practices are covered. Numismatic art, manuscript illustration, and architectural stylistic borrowings from Central and West Asia will be discussed.

Modules

• Cultural Anthropology/Ethno-archaeology [Core course in Sem 2]

The course introduces the fields of cultural anthropology and ethnoarchaeology, its theoretical understanding, relationship between the material and non-material dimensions of culture. Notions of field, field work, field notes and ethnographic narrative, living traditions, nature of interrelationships between archaeological and ethnographic records shall be studied. Ethnoarchaeological case-studies from India, Asia, Africa and Australia; and critical issues concerning interpretation and reconstruction of cultural past in ethnoarchaeological practices form part of the course.

Modules

• Routes in Asia and Beyond [Core course in Sem 2]

The course highlights the major historical linkages between India and Asia and cultural interconnectedness within Asia and Indian participation in Central Asia, Eurasia and South-east Asia. It discusses the historical geography of Indian sub-continent along the Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha with a firm focus on the development of towns/centres of cultural significance, trade, learning and arts along these routes.
Modules

ELECTIVES under Cafeteria Model —— SEMESTER – 2

• Digital Humanities [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 2]

Modules

• Pre and Protohistoric Archaeology in South Asia [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 2]

This course introduces the basic concept and outline of the Prehistory and Protohistory of South Asia. It explores the human origin, evolution, dispersal, stone tools technology, changing quaternary environment and associated fauna. Palaeolithic to Mesolithic site-distribution patterns, subsistence and settlement patterns are discussed. Cultural development phases of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic under Protohistoric age along with the Harappan civilization is part of the course.
Modules

• Economic History of India [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 2]

The course aims to familiarize the students with the history of Indian economy and commerce. The key concepts and currents in economic history, the factors that promoted the economic development; the organization and institutions which were supportive to commercial life and the issues related to historical stages of Indian economy shall be discussed. It covers the study of commercial enterprises from ancient past to medieval times.
Modules

• Contemplative Traditions: India and China [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 2]

The course investigates the principal contemplative traditions in India and China from the standpoint of their cultural histories, focusing on the core ideas and practices marking each tradition. The course covers contemplative practices in the traditions of Early Buddhism, Vedanta, Yoga, Confucian, Dao & Chan (Zen). It is organized in a combination of chronology and themes.
Modules

SEMESTER 3

CORE COURSES — offered in Sem-3, Fall 2022

• Making Culture Portable: Maritime Interconnections in Indian Ocean [Core course in Sem 3]

This course on the evolution of Indian Ocean as an inter-cultural space, from prehistory up to the 1500s. It looks at the history of interconnections and discover especially the spread of culture across the societies the ocean connected. This course challenges us to visualize water as a dynamical connector of continents and cultures and to rethink maritime space in terms of geographies and webs of relationships.
Modules

• Historical Archaeology [Core course in Sem 3]

This course will advance knowledge of archaeology for an enriched holistic understanding of Historical period of India’s past. Socio-cultural formations and dynamics of contacts and exchanges in India will be examined from archaeological perspective.
Modules

ELECTIVES under Cafeteria Model–offered in Sem-3 Fall 2022

• History of Devotional Cultures: Sufism and Bhakti in India [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 3]

The course explores the devotional cults in a philosophico-historical framework. The foundational ideas, values and practices of Sufism and Bhakti; their mutual influences and impact on contemporary society is studied. Evolution of Bhakti and growth of its literature as well as, aspects of Sufi doctrines, traditions, idea of classical Sufism, and dimensions of Sufism in India are part of the course.
Modules

• International Relations of India over the Ages [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 3]

The study of international relations helps us better understand global changes and their implications on us. This course surveys India’s international relations over the ages and aspirations to develop India’s contemporary international relations. The philosophical foundation shaping Indian policy and the evolution of India’s international relations after India’s independence will be emphasised.
Modules

Elective cafeteria course in Sem 3

 

History of Science and Technology
Instructor: Dr.Tosabanta Padhan
Course

Science and technology have been major contributing factors for the development of all past societies and have shaped civilization’s course. This course provides a historical background to the development of technology during the Prehistoric, historic and medieval periods. It provides an in-depth study of the preindustrial phase of science and technology. The course will also highlight the major episodes of the concept technology; Lithic, Ceramic, Copper, Bronze, Iron, and Glass technology, and their metallurgical aspects. The invention of zero and concepts of mathematics, astronomy, ancient calenders, chemistry, life science, art and architecture, and the various sustainable crafts technology indigenously developed in India and other parts of the world will be studied. The course will entail India’s contributions to science and technology and how society was influenced by the forms of technological advancement.

Course Outcome

1. Understanding the role of India’s contributions to science and technology
2. Exploring the historical development of scientific and technological progress within a range of cultural, social and economic contexts
3. Developing in-depth knowledge of ancient science and technology

Module-1: Introduction to Science and Technology

• Lithic Technology and survival skill, Science and skill craft
• Bone technology, Rock painting, engraving, scooping, bruising
• Wood and perishable material technology

Module-2: Ceramic Technology

Pottery making technology: Neolithic pottery, Harappan pottery, Painted Gray Ware (PGW), Ochre Color Pottery (OCP), Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW), Rouletted ware, Glaze ware, Porcelain

Module-3: History of Architecture and Civil Engineering

History of House making: Huts, clay house, brick house, Harappan town planning and engineering, Forts and fortifications, Rock cut caves, Stupas, Temples, Minaret, Mosque

Introduction to Silpasastra: Construction Technology

Module -4: History of Agriculture and Hydrology: Agrarian Technology

Water management in Ancient India, Harappan, Mauryan, Gupta and Post Gupta eras, Medieval water management, Agricultural tools and technology

Module -5: Metallurgy, Glass technology, and Lapidary

Smelting Technology: Copper, Bronze, Zinc, and Iron, Textile and Weaving

Minting Technology: Cast, stamp, punch, die stuck, Glass technology, Gunpowder

Module-6: History of Mathematics, Astronomy, and Medicine

Development of Mathematics and Astronomy: Aryabhatta, Varahamihira, Bhaskara and Brahmagupta, Development of Medicine and Surgery: Charaka and Susruta

Development of Shipping, Navigation and Seafaring

Module- 7: Use of Technology an overview of Indian contributions to Science
Indian Sciences –Traditional Knowledge System, Concept: Engineering, Mechanics, Alchemy, Chronography, Energy and Power.
Select Readings

1. Agrawal, D.P., 2000. Ancient Metal Technology and Archaeology of South Asia (A Pan-Asian Perspective), Aryan Books International, New Delhi.
2. Agrawal, D.P., 2009. Harappan technology and its legacy. Rupa.
3. Andrefsky, W.(Ed)., 2008. Lithic technology: measures of production, use, and curation (p. 340). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4. Balasubramaniam, R., 2008. Marvels of Indian Iron through the Ages, New Delhi, Rupa & Infinity Foundation.
5. Bhardwaj, H. C., 1979. Aspects of Ancient Indian Technology, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi.
6. Biswas, A. Kumar., 1996. Minerals and Metals in Ancient India, New Delhi, D.K. Printworld.
7. Biswas, A. K. 1969. History of hydrology, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.
8. Chattopadhyaya, D. ed., 1982. Studies in the History of Science in India (2 Vols.). Editorial Enterprises, New Delhi.
9. Francfort, H.-P. 1992. Evidence for Harappan irrigation system in Haryana and Rajasthan, Eastern Anthropologist. 45.87-103.
10. Gopal, Lallanji, 1980. Aspects of Agriculture in Ancient India, Varanasi.
11. Joglekar, P.P. and Goyal, P., 2015. Animal Husbandry and Allied Technologies in Ancient India: From Prehistorical to Early Historical Times. Pentagon Press.
12. Kak, S., 1999. Concepts of space, time, and consciousness in ancient India. arXiv preprint physics/9903010.
13. Kak, Subhash C., 2000. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Selin, Helaine, ed. Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy. Boston: Kluwer.
14. Kanigel, R. 1991. The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Mathematical Genius, Ramanujan. New York: C. Scribner’s.
15. Kharakwal J.S., 2015. Indian Zinc Technology in a Global Perspective, Pentagon Press.
16. Kanungo, A.K. and Dussubieux, L. eds., 2021. Ancient Glass of South Asia: Archaeology, Ethnography and Global Connections. Springer Nature.
17. Taton, R., 1964. History of Science: Ancient and medieval Science from the beginnings to 1450 (Vol. 1). Newyork, Basic Books.
18. Salem, S.I. and A. Kumar. 1991. Science in the Medieval World, University of Texas Press, Austin.
19. Selin, H. and Narasimha, R., 2007. Encyclopedia of Classical Indian Sciences. Universities Press, Hyderabad.
20. Singh, B., Jha, G.N., Singh, U.K. and Mishra, D., 2012. Science and Technology in Ancient Indian Texts. New Delhi: DK Printworld.
21. Tirtha, S.B.K. and Agrawala, V.S., 1992. Vedic mathematics (Vol. 10). Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass
22. Indian Journal of History of Science
23. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge

Shared Past and Connected History: India and Southeast Asia

Instructor: Dr. Elora Tribedy

Course Description: The course explores the entwined historical past of India and Southeast Asia. A host of Cultural, religious, and political traditions which originated in India, influenced, and calibrated the flow of local processes and historical formation in mainland and maritime Southeast Asia. Looking beyond boundaries, these heterogenous manifestations in India and Southeast Asia will be examined within the single frame of ‘shared historical past’ in this course. In addition to the multifaceted networks and agencies of exchanges, state formation, agrarian economy, role of temple-oriented material and cultural development, interconnected history of Buddhism and Saivism, art, architecture, shared ideas, motifs and expressions from the mainland and insular regions of Southeast Asia will be examined in detail in this course.

Course Goal and Learning Objectives:

-To discuss and ancient interconnected Asian world instead of the Eurocentric segmented approach in studying Asian history.

-To familiarize students with themes and recent debates on the topic.

-To cultivate a critical understanding of commonality in historical processes

-To integrate visual and textual sources for a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of exchange.

Modules

1. Brief outline of History and Political Background (400-1300)
2. Historiography and Recent Debates on the mode of cultural exchanges: Sinicization, Indianization, Localization
3. Patterns of Socio-Political Formulations: From Chiefdom Societies to Early Polities:
4. Shared Religious Practices: Sanskrit Inscriptions in Southeast Asia
5. Shared Motifs and Architectural Practices: Champa, Sailendra, Angkor; Art and Iconographic Adherence

CORE READINGS:

1. The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Vol. 1: From Early Times to c. 1500, edited by Nicholas Tarling, Cambridge University Press
2. Asian Encounters: Exploring Connected Histories, ed. U. Singh and Parul P. Dhar, Oxford University Press, 2014
3. The Concept of Cultural Convergence Revisited: Reflections on India’s Early Influences in Southeast Asia, Hermann Kulke in Asian Encounters 3. Lost Kingdoms. Hindu Buddhist Sculptures of Early Southeast Asia, edited by John Guy et all). Metropolitan Museum of Art
4. Digital Archetypes: Adaptation of Early Temple Architecture in South and Southeast Asia, Sambit Datta, David Benyon, Ashgate, 2014
5. Vibrancy in Stone; Masterpieces of the Da Nang Muscum of Cham Sculpture Tran Ky Phuong. Vo Van Thang, Peter Sharrock, 2018, River Books
6. Acri, Andrea, Helen Creese and Arlo Griffiths (Eds.). (2011). From Lanka castwards: The Ramayana in the Literature and Visual Arts of Indonesia, Leiden: Brill
7. Monica L. Smith. (1999). “Indianization’ from the Indian Point of View Trade and Cultural Contacts with Southeast Asia in the Early First Millennium C.E”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 1-26
8. Miksic, John N. and Geok Yian Goh, (2017). Ancient Southeast Asia, London: Routledge
9. Kenneth R. Hall, (2011). A History of Early Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade and Societal Development, 100-1500, London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
10. Kulke. H. (1993; 2001). Kings and Cults: State Formation and Legitimation in India and Southeast Asia, New Delhi: Manohar Kulke, Hermann. (2001). “Royal Temple Policy and the Structure of Medieval Hindu Kingdoms, in Kings and Cults: State Formation and Legitimation in India and Southeast Asia, by Kulke, pp. 1-16. Delhi: Manohar.
11. Wolters, O.W. (1999). History, Culture and Region in Southeast Asian Perspectives, Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

ELECTIVES under Cafeteria Model Sem-3

• Learning from Ruins: Nalanda through the Ages [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 4]

The course relates the historical importance on Nalanda as an institution and its contribution to the development of scholastic traditions in the outward as well as inner sciences. It provides an overview to the doctrines, religious practices, and historical inter-linkages and influence of Nalanda across Asia.
Modules

ELECTIVES Under Cafeteria Model

INDIAN RENAISSANCE [1757-1917]
Instructors: Abhay Kumar Singh, Kashshaf Ghani

Course Description
The course will chart the history of the cultural renaissance originating from Bengal and the widespread social awakening in India at the critical juncture of the nineteenth century. This period was marked by two important developments of British colonial hegemony, and a sense of self-reflection among the intellectual elite under the impact of western education. The need was felt to counter the sharp criticisms from the British on Indian social institutions and customs, through a rediscovery of civilizational values from India’s past. This had to be combined with the use of reason and scientific perspective to create a new intellectual mentality among the Indian society. The course covers the time span from the Battle of Plassey upto the advent of Mahatma Gandhi in India. It will explore the processes of self-reflection and reform across the nation, through the contributions of leading scholars and reformers like Rammohun Roy, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Jyotibha Phule, Debendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore and Syed Ahmed Khan; besides the patriots like G. K. Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vinayak D. Savarkar, Lala Lajpat Rai and B. C. Pal. The glory of India’s ancient traditions was invoked as a historical memory to construct a modern nation-state that successfully challenged the colonial structure.

Modules

1. Plassey and British Imperialism
2. Orientalism and Rediscovery of the Past
3. English Education and the Indian Response
4. Reformative Trends: Rammohun Roy and Brahmo Samaj; Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Arya Samaj, Swami Vivekananda and the Ramakrishna Movement
5. Radical Trends and Patriotic fervour
6. Rise of Cultural Consciousness: Dadabhai Nowroji and the ‘Drain of Wealth’ thesis; Rabindranath Tagore, Vidyasagar and others; Jyotiba Phule and Syed Ahmed Khan
7. Artistic Development – Painting, Sculpture
8. Economic/ Industrial Development
9. Towards Unity and Nationalism

CORE COURSES

• Framing History: Historiograph [Core course in Sem 4]

The course highlights key theoretical elements in the writing of history – context, space-time, fact, source, explanation, objectivity, hindsight and philosophy (of history. It introduces the general principles of historiography and interpretive tools to assess those. Dominant themes and diversity of historical approaches, key historiographical approaches, and emerging interdisciplinary possibilities are discussed.
Modules

New Elective under Cafeteria Model

TOPICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

Instructor: Dr. Amita Satyal
Course

“We do not manage the environment, only the human behaviors that affect its structure and processes.” This core course begins by asking the big question: How have the natural and the human worlds interacted in the past? Since the course takes a historical overview of the relationship of societies and their environment, it helps in identifying the watersheds within global environmental history and tracing the shifting patterns in the human-nature relationship from nearly 200,000 years ago up to the 20th century. The main aim of the course is to understand the environmental history in terms of the changing role and place of nature in human life. This is worked out at three different levels: understanding nature itself, the human factor, and cultural constructions of the environment. The course is organized around weekly lectures and class discussion. Course reading selections required for the course will be made available online.
Course Outcome

This course aims to identify watersheds in environmental history and how they may be seen in relation to the changing patterns of human-nature interactions over the time period under study. At the end of successfully completing the course, students will be able to:

1. Identify the key themes and issues in environmental history
2. Explain the historical relationship between people and nature
3. Develop cogent arguments around these themes
4. Learn how to make small changes towards developing a planetary ethic

Modules

1. Introduction: What is Global Environmental History, & why study it? (Weeks 1-2)
2. Studying Nature: How Geography and Climate Shaped the Environment? (Weeks 3-4)
3. The Human Factor: Energy & Water Regimes (Weeks 5-8)
   • Provisioning (Hunting-Gathering, c. 200,000 ya-10,000 BCE)
   • Planting (Agriculture-Metallurgy, c. 10,000 BCE-16th c)
   • Producing (Industrialization, c. 17th century-)
   • Information Economy (Implications for Sustainability, 20th c-)
4. Cultural Constructions of the Environment (Weeks 9-12)
   • Machines, Materialism & Consumption
   • Ecology & Religion
   • Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK)
   • Surviving Environmental Change: Understanding Cultural Lifeways
5. Places (Weeks 13-16)
   • Asia
   • Africa
   • Americas
   • Europe

Select Readings

1. Dipesh Chakravarty. The Climate of History in a Planetary Age. The University of Chicago Press, 2021.
2. Ian G. Simmons. Global Environmental History. Edinburgh University Press, 2008.
3. J. R. McNeill and Erin Stewart Mauldin. A Companion to Global Environmental History. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
4. Jago Cooper & Payson Sheets. Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Answers from Archaeology.
5. Jared Diamond. Guns, Germs and Steel The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton, 1999.
6. John Grim et al (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology. Earthscan, 2017.

Additional Readings

1. Andrew J. Hubbel & John C. Ryan. Introduction to the Environmental Humanities. Routledge, 2022.
2. Donald Worster. The Wealth of Nature Environmental History and the Ecological Imagination. Oxford University Press, 1993.
3. J. R. McNeil & W. H. McNeil. The Human Web. W.W. Norton, 2003.
4. Mark D. Hersey & Ted Steinberg (eds). A Field on Fire The Future of Environmental History. The University of Alabama Press, 2019.

• Indian Renaissance [1757-1917] [Elective cafeteria course in Sem 4]

The course covers the cultural renaissance in Bengal and the widespread social awakening in India which created the groundwork for freedom struggle. It studies the history of British colonial hegemony and the impact of western education; the awakened sense of self-reflection among the Indian intellectual elite; the ushering of religious and social reforms, and the rise of Indian nationalism.
Modules

New Elective (Decided on 21st December 2023 School Meeting)

Buddhist Historiography- Semester-4
School of Historical Studies

Course                             Elective Course under Cafeteria model
Name of the Course    Buddhist Historiography: Textual and Methodological Issues
Semester                         Fourth Semester
Year                                   2024
Instructor                         Dr. Pranshu Samdarshi
Course Details:
A number of studies on Buddhism in recent years have pointed out to a paradigmatic shift in the epistemological approach towards Buddhist studies. This course is designed to enable students to the dynamic nature of scholarship on Buddhist studies. Through this course we will introduce the trends and shifts in the ideas that have underpinned the research on Buddhist studies and writing. We will discuss how the Buddhologists of the past have approached the subject matter and how the recent theories of history (many of them drawn from other disciplines) have been used by the scholars writing in the discipline of Buddhist studies.

The learning methodology for this course will be integrating different types of teachings, such as conventional classroom lectures, visits to sites, supplementary readings, audio-visual presentations, and self-motivated investigations.

Objective:

By examining some of the major shifts and debates in the domain of research of Buddhism the objective of this course is to analyse and explore the way and motivations behind different historians and researches who have given their own meaning to those discovered historical facts and shaped our way of thinking about Buddhism.

Upon successful completion of this unit, students will:

• Familiarizes to some of the key concepts and challenges faced by researches on Buddhism today.
• Acquainted with the preliminary methodologies of reading, researching, and framing of research question.
• Able to explore how historians, engage in conversations with others, and justify the significance, or usefulness of their work.
• Able to produce their own historiographical essay on scholarship of their choosing.
• Compare and contrast between different Buddhist works of art and monuments related to Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism in different parts of Asian continent.
• Articulate the importance of conservation of intangible Buddhist heritage

Syllabus:

Module 1: Introduction to Historiography: The Nationalist, Marxist and other approaches, critiques to the methods and practice, recent trends towards Historiography, the idea of Metahistory; Postcolonial Historiography and discerning the Eurocentrism in historical imaginations

Module 2: The resurgence of interest in Buddhism and its revival in 19th century India. The colonial project of discovering the ‘original’ Buddhism; Unargued preference and presumptions in colonial India; Extra-Indian origin theory of Buddhism

Module 3: Presuppositions and academic appropriation of Buddhism in early research works; Buddhism and the orientalist tropes; European scholars and selective translation of Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist texts

Module 4: The prototype of the European concept of Buddhism; Sanskrit as a language of Buddhism; Did Buddha really teach the Mahayana Sutras? – Social and geographical location of Buddhism as an interpretive problem;

Module 5: Transcultural Encounters: Western influence on Indian Scholars; Buddhism as an offshoot of Vedic tradition? Brahmanism, Shramanism and the concept of Greater Magadha; Portrayal of Buddhism in modern Indian literature

Module 6: Literal and figurative: Hermeneutical problems of Buddhist texts; Insider and outsider approach; Tantric Buddhism as an offshoot of Hinduism? -Misunderstanding of tantric Buddhist tradition and its practices; Corrective voices in contemporary times

Bhattacharyya, N N., History of Researches on Indian Buddhism. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1981.

Bronkhorst, Johannes., Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi 2013.

Burnouf, Eugène. Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism 2010. Translated by Katia Buffetrille and Lopez Donald S. Jr. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Conze, Edward. Short History of Buddhism. London: Unwin Paperbacks, 1982.

Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

Coomaraswamy, A., The True Scholar: Passages from A.K. Coomaraswamy on Art and Scholarship. Edited by Roger Lipsey. Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 2013.

Giovanni Verardi, ‘Issues in the History of Indian Buddhism’, Kyoto, 2011.

Greenblatt, Stephen, Towards a poetics of culture. Southern Review, volume 20, no.1, Mar 1987: 3-15

Kane, P V. History of Dharmaśāstra. Vol. V (ii). Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1941.

Lopez, Donald S Jr., Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988.

____From Stone to Flesh: A Short History of the Buddha. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2013.

Mishra, Vidyaniwas., “Coomaraswāmy” Edited by Balaram Srivastava. Historiography of Indian art. Varanasi: Pratibha Prakashan, 2006. 22-32.

Wedemeyer, Christian K. “Locating Tantric Antinomianism – An Essay Toward an Intellectual History of the ‘Practices/Practice Observance’ (caryā/caryāvrata).” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 34 (2011 (2012)): 349-420.

Wineburg, S., Historical Thinking: Critical Perspectives on The Past, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press, 2001

School of Historical Studies (SHS)
Students List – AY 2022-2024

Semester-1

[Admitted Batch 2022-2024]