1. Ch. 1 Perceptions of the Past
Colonial reconstructions: Orientalist, Utilitarian
History and Nationalism
Marxist History
Cultural Histories of a different kind

4. Colonial Constructions 1.1. Orientalist readings
Wealth, magic, wisdom
Began with Colonial rule
Europeans searched for histories but could not find.
Sources in Sanskrit texts highlighting Hindu influences- so this is seen as the major factor in Indian History.
India described as ‘ahistorical’- no sense of history

5. Administrators- learnt Sanskrit, Persian and studied the texts
Regarded India with disdain
Encouraged b’cause-‘Knowledge about the colony would enable a greater control over it’- this is considered as the ‘necessary furniture of the empire’.
Baffled by the religion- no founder, no texts, nor head of religion-
Eg: William Jones, Henry Colebrook, Nathaniel Hallhead, Charles Wilkins, Horace Hayman Wilson, F. Max Muller.

8. European Romanticism An attempt to formulate Indian culture as uniform
Unchanging society
Metaphysics and little concern for material life
German Romanticism further endorsed this idea and presented India as ‘mystic land’.

9. 1.2. Utilitarian critique
Historians based in British- ideas current in Britain- India evaluated from this perspective and criticized India as backward.
Eg. James Mill, Thomas Macaulay
Division of history into Hindu, Muslim and British phases
Indian civilization is said to lack the qualities that Europe admired: rational thought and individualism.
Local rulers: dismissed as despotic- Oriental despotism
From understanding of Greek and Persian histories.
Concluded ultimately that everything was derived from Greek
Two national histories after India and Pakistan emerged from the former India.

10. Notions of Race and influence on History
Aryan invasion theory
Indo-European language
Aryan Home land- Nobody could identify it until now. A number of theories exist.
F. Max Mueller- Never visited India but father of this theory- Thomas Trautman proved the Aryan theory as spurious and not based on facts.
Aryan- Dravidian divide- North and South as different races based on their language
Led to many disputes and social movements during the centuries
Aryasamaj, Theosophical society, Brahmasamaj
Dravida Kazhagam

11. Land and Caste
Lack of attention to Institutions that controlled and took care of local affairs.
Questions on ownership of land
Caste – Caste did not really work the same way as it is described in the Law Books (Dharmasastras)
Institutions-not studies
These two issues occupied early historians
As a way to develop administrative structure for India
Different sources ‘discovered’- Numismatics- Inscriptions (Brahmi) various Buddhist canonical texts from Srilanka etc.

12. 2. History and Nationalism
Dynastic histories
Ancient, medieval and modern ages in Indian History.
Dialogue between colonizer and colonized.
Legitimate nationalist interpretation
Ex: R.G. Bhandarkar, R.C. Dutt, R.K. Mookherjee, H.C. Raychaudhuri, K.A. Neelakantha Sastry, R. C. Majumdar.
“golden age”: Ancient India
Cultural achievement – less attention to social realities
Glorious past : Ancient period

13. Nationalism
As nationalism is seen linked to community and religion- Glorious past was the Time before Muslim and British rule
New histories looking at the glorious past of the communities emerged
Regional histories: Modern linguistic states- claim to glory
Formation of two states Pakistan- India- new national histories
Hindu, Muslim periodization was accepted by both these groups.

14. India and Britain as emerged from these understandings
West- Britain
Spiritual
No individuality
No sense of history
Magic
Material
Individuality
Historical
Practical

15. 3. Marxist Histories and Debates
Marx’- Asiatic mode of Production- not applicable to India- However, Marxism influenced historical interpretations
D.D. Kosambi
Questions on Feudalism: Feudalistic state, Segmentary state- no clear formulation of Indian facts but application of European theories

16. 4. History as a Social and Human Science
Oriental studies
Socio linguistics
Archaeology
Cultural Anthropology
Sociology
Marginalized groups began to emerge and began writing their own histories: women, Scheduled Castes and tribes.

17. Indus Valley Civilization- Harappan Culture
Aryan settlements- Painted Grey Ware- small agricultural- pastoral societies.
Deccan- Central India- Microlithic Culture
South- Megalithic Culture
Racial mixture, but controversial.
Population- during early historical period- about 100 million- end of 18 c 253 million.

18. IV. The Indus Valley Civilization
      A. Natural Environment          1. The Indus River
        2. Cultivation          
3. Several adjacent regions shared cultural attributes with the core area
      
B. Material Culture
Identity, origin, and fate of the people of Indus society are in
dispute   2. Indus was a very urban society
         3. Technology and trade
4. We know little about the political, social, economic, and religious
          structures   

19. Bronze statue from Indus Valley
This small bronze statue from the Indus Valley was found in a house in Mohenjo-daro. It represents a young woman whose only apparel is a necklace and an armful of bracelets. Appearing relaxed and confident, she has been identified by some scholars as a dancer. (National Museum, New Delhi)

20. Harappan jewelery
Among the small objects found in the Indus Valley are these pieces of jewelry--made of gold and precious stones--which give some insight into the daily life of the time. (J.M. Kenoyer/Courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan)

21. Figurine from Mohenjo-daro
This small stone figure from Mohenjo-daro is thought to depict a priest-king. The man's beard is carefully trimmed and his upper lip shaved. The headband and armband have circular ornaments, probably once filled with colored paste. His robe with its trefoil designs was probably also filled with colors to suggest the fabric more vividly. (National Museum, Karachi)

22. Harappan seal
The Bronze Age urban culture of the Indus Valley is known today, alternatively, as the Harappan civilization, from the modern name of a major city. Archaeologists have discovered some three hundred Harappan cities in both Pakistan and India. It was a literate civilization, but no one has been able to decipher the more than four hundred symbols inscribed on stone seals and copper tablets. The Indus civilization extended over nearly 500,000 square miles in the Indus Valley, making it more than twice as large as the territories of the ancient Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations. This molded tablet, discovered among the many small objects at Harappan sites, depicts a female deity battling two tigers. It provides a glimpse of early Indian religious imagination and daily life. (J.M. Kenoyer/Courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan)

23. City
Mohenjo Daro
Mohenjo-daro, in southern Pakistan, was one of the best-known cities of the Harappan--or Indus--civilization. It was a planned city, built of fired mud bricks. Its streets were straight, and covered drainpipes were installed to carry away waste. From sites like this we know that the early Indian political elite had the power and technical expertise to organize large, coordinated building projects. (Josephine Powell)

24. Thapar: Periodization and Cultural History
Reconsidering periodization: In the place of Ancient, Medieval and Modern periods of Indian history, she proposes 12 fold division based on economy and regional shifts of power.
Use of literary and archaeological data together
Art, religion and society as facets of civilization

25. Painted Grey ware (Iron age in North India- The Gangetic Basin)

27. Microlithic Culture of Central India

30. Stonehenge- Salisbury England

31. INDIAN HISTORY Questions of economic and social relations.
Feudalism
2.Segmentary state
Orientalist Readings:
European Romanticism
A Utilitarian Critique: stagnant, absence of individualism and rational thought.
Colonial
Constructions
History
and Nationalism
IINiNDIAN
INDIAN HISTORY
1.Theories of Race
Glorification of Past
National history
Communal history
Regional history
Marxist
Histories
Thapar: Periodization,
Cultural History
History with multiple disciplinary knowledge not singular focus.
12 fold periodization based on economy and power shifts.