This course offers an overview of the history of the subcontinent from c. 200 BCE to 1000 CE, divided this long, momentous period into three phases: c. 200 BCE-300 CE, 300-600 CE and 600-1000 CE. It highlights continuities and changes in politics, economy and society by focusing on political structures, class, caste, gender, agrarian relations, urban life and trade. Apart from Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the advent of Islam, the themes in religious history will include the age-old popular worship of snakes and yakshas and the pervasive influence of bhakti and tantra across religious boundaries. The emergence of regional configurations in politics and the remarkable efflorescence in literary expression, and art and architecture in the early medieval period will be highlighted. The course will also look at the many different ways in which the Indian subcontinent was connected with the wider world during these centuries.
