Political Economy of the Ancient India
Political Economy of the Ancient IndiaPolitical Economy of the Ancient India
Md. Imtiazur Rahman
Content :
1. India from the Paleolithic Period to the decline of the Indus Civilization
2. The early Muslim period(North India under Muslim hegemony, c. 1200-1526)
3.Early Muslim India (c. 1200-c. 1500).
The Delhi sultanate
4. The Mughal Empire, 1526-1761 :
The significance of Mughal rule
The establishment of the Mughal Empire
Babur
Humayun
Akbar
Jahangir
Shah Jahan
Aurangzeb
5. British imperial power, 1858-1947
Climax of the raj, 1858-85
Social policy
6. European activity in India, 1498-c. 1760 , The Portuguese
7. The Republic of India
The Nehru era, 1947-64
Regional states, c. 1700-1850
The Marathas: early history
Additional facts of India:
8. Indian architecture
9. Indian literature
10. Indian music
11. Indian philosophy
Jaina philosophy
Mughal philosophy
Sruti and the nature of authority
12. Development of the notion of transmigration
Nagarjuna and Sunyavada
Contributions of Vasubandhu and Asanga
13. Indian sculpture
India from the Paleolithic Period to the decline of the
Indus Civilization
The earliest periods of Indian history are known only through reconstructions from
archaeological evidence. In the late 20th century, much new data emerged, allowing a far
fuller reconstruction than was formerly possible. This section will discuss five major
periods:
(1) the early prehistoric period (before the 8th millennium BC),
(2) the period of the prehistoric agriculturalists and pastoralists (approximately the 8th to
the mid-4th millennium BC),
(3) the Early Indus or Early Harappan Period (so called after the excavated city of
Harappa), witnessing the emergence of the first cities in the Indus River system (c. 3500�
2600 BC),
(4) the Indus, or Harappan, Civilization (c. 2600�2000 BC, or perhaps ending as late as
1750 BC), and
(5) the Post-Urban Period, which follows the Indus Civilization and precedes the rise of
cities in northern India during the second quarter of the 1st millennium BC (c. 1750�750
BC).
The materials available for a reconstruction of the history of India prior to the 3rd century
BC are almost entirely the products of archaeological research. Traditional and textual
sources, transmitted orally for many centuries, are available from the closing centuries of
the 2nd millennium BC, but their use depends largely upon the extent to which any
passage can be dated or associated with archaeological evidence. For the rise of civilization
in the Indus Valley and for contemporary events in other parts of the subcontinent, the
evidence of archaeology is still the principal source of information. Even when it becomes
possible to read the short inscriptions of the Harappan seals, it is unlikely that they will
provide much information to supplement other sources. In these circumstances it is
necessary to approach the early history of India largely through the eyes of the
archaeologists, and it will be wise to retain a balance between an objective assessment of
archaeological data and its synthetic interpretation.
The early Muslim period
North India under Muslim hegemony, c. 1200�1526
The first Muslim raids in the subcontinent were made by Arabs on the western coast and
in Sindh during the 7th and 8th centuries, and there had been Muslim trading
communities in India at least since that time. The significant and permanent military
movement of Muslims into North India, however, dates from the late 12th century and was
carried out by a Turkish dynasty that arose indirectly from the ruins of the \'Abbasid
caliphate. The road to conquest was prepared by Sultan Ma hmud...
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