Vinay Lal

Department of History, UCLA

Office:  Bunche 5240; Tel:  310.825.8276

History Dept. Office:  Bunche 6265;

T: 310.825.4601; Email:  vlal@history.ucla.edu

Office Hours: Wed 2-3:30 PM; Friday, 3-4 PM; and by appointment

YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/dillichalo

Personal academic site:  www.vinaylal.com

Instructor’s pedagogic site [MANAS]: http://www.southasia.ucla.edu

Course website: https://moodle2.sscnet.ucla.edu/course/view/17F-HIST9A-1



Introduction to the Course:  The known history of India spans some 4,500 years, commencing with the Indus Valley Civilization.  This course offers an extraordinarily broad sweep of the Indian past, and our endeavor shall be to understand the principal contours of Indian history and those features which led to the development of an ‘Indian civilization’.  A chronological account is clearly indispensable for the acquisition of even a rudimentary understanding of Indian history; however, an inordinate focus on such an account, which is often no more than an accumulation of dates and facts, might obfuscate not only the manner in which the Indian past continues to obtrude upon the present, but those symbolic, spiritual, and cultural ‘unities’—and disunities—which continue to breathe life into India and the Indian sub-continent more generally.



Though the discussion sections in this course will help students to focus on the chronology, this course will, as suggested, be more than a mere enumeration of the chronological unfolding of Indian history.  Lectures will help to trace the development and contours of Indian civilization through thematic concerns.  For instance, among the most significant intellectual productions of ancient India are the two national epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. (A third epic, the Shilappadikaram, is more widely known in South India and cannot quite be viewed as pan-Indian.) In India, these epics occupy a rather different place than do the Iliad and the Odyssey in the Western world; and this is without any reference as such to the question of how we might define an “epic”, and whether the category “epic” is one that most Indians would use to describe these works.  Unlike the Homeric epics, which are now known only to well-educated people, and which have only a comparatively marginal living presence in contemporary Western imagination, in India the Ramayana and the Mahabharata continue to inform everyday life and are present across a large range of cultural, social, religious, and even political phenomena.   Despite the low literacy rates that are to be found in many parts of India, especially north and central India, stories from these two epics are known almost universally across the country and are still the subject of daily discussions.  References to some characters abound in contemporary Bollywood cinema.  Virtually no Indian art form is entirely free of the influence of these epics, and just as much in Hinduism is unthinkable without Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, similarly the Mahabharata continues to serve as the greatest repository of Indian folklore, literature, and philosophical disquisition.  Thousands of places in India are imbued with the presence of characters drawn from both epics.  One lives with the characters from the epics in myriad ways. Were this course to proceed only chronologically, we might well forget the living presence of the epics.



However, this is not a course on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata!  These epics are, once again, mentioned only as illustrations of the argument that this course will attempt both a chronological and thematic history of Indian civilization.  Among the subject matters treated in this course are the following, though this list is meant to be illustrative rather than comprehensive:

+ the development of the Indus Valley Civilization;

+ Aryan migrations to India;

+ the emergence and development of Hinduism,

+ Buddhism and Jainism in India;

+ Ashoka and the Mauryan empire;

+ epic literature (Ramayana and Mahabharata);

+ philosophical Hinduism (Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga, and Vedanta);

+ the flowering of Indian culture in the period of the Guptas;

+ the history of the Tamil people, and the literature of the Sangam period;

+ development of Indian art, literature, sculpture, and architecture;

+ India and the links with Afghanistan and central Asia;

+ the Indian polity, and the idea of village republics;

+ the theory and practice of caste;

+ the diffusion of Indian culture in South-east Asia;

+ Shankaracharya and decline of Indian Buddhism;

+ the emergence and, later, spread of Islam in India;

+ Muslim invasions, the politics of conquest, and the question of conversion;

+ Bhakti movement (Virasaiva poets, Jnaneshwar, Vidyapati, Chaitanya and Bengali Vaisnavas, Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas, Mirabai, and Tukaram);

+ development of Indian languages;

+ The Delhi Sultanate (Muslim dynasties in north India);

+ Hindu kingdoms in the south (for example, Vijayanagar);

+ Hindu temple architecture, 10th-16th centuries;

+ The Cholas and South Indian dynasties;

+ the Mughal Empire, from Babar to Aurangzeb;

+ the achievements of the reign of Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb;

+ art and architecture of the Mughals and Rajputana;

+ Sikhism:  its history and tenets;

+ Indo-Islamic cultural formations and encounters, 1000-1800;

+ Marathas, Rajputs, Afghans:  political and military history of early modern India

+ the beginnings of the European presence, and European rivalries, in India;

+ British rule in India (early phase and Company period);

+ the social history of India in the 19th century: famines, migration, labor history

+ India under colonial rule, and resistance to British domination;

+ social reform movements, and the “Bengal Renaissance”;

+ the Indian Rebellion of 1857-58;

+ Indian nationalism;

+ the political thought and practices of Mahatma Gandhi;

+ ‘Communalism’ and Hindu-Muslim relations, 20th century to the present;

+ Independence & the partition of India;

+ Constitution of India and post-1947 socio-economic developments; and

+ Some aspects of India as a democracy.



It is worth reiteration that owing to the very lengthy time span covered by the course, which is intended to provide a broad overview of some of the principal developments in Indian history, our treatment of subjects cannot be very detailed; and students are forewarned that the period after 1750 AD will receive even more truncated treatment.  Students interested in India during the colonial period, or South Asia after 1947, are advised that I offer two upper-division lecture courses, The History of British India and the Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia, each once every 3-4 years.  Lectures from both these courses are available in their entirety at my channel on YouTube (see below).



Requirements:

Students are expected to attend class regularly.  Lectures, 50 minutes long, will be held thrice a week, and TA’s have been advised to take note of attendance.  Section meetings will be held once a week, for two hours.  Section meetings will provide plenty of opportunity for debate and discussion.  Though in principle I am happy to take questions during the lecture hour, I may not always be able to do so, particularly if we running behind schedule.
Students will write a take-home mid-term exam.  You will be emailed the exam two days before it is due in class.  The exam will comprise of three essay questions and you will answer two of those questions.  If you miss the exam and wish to do a make-up, your grade will be deducted by one full letter grade.
There will also be a final exam, administered in class, of three hours duration.  Please note that the exam must be taken at the time that has been assigned beforehand by the Registrar’s office, which is Tuesday, December 12, 3-6 PM. Exceptions are not possible.
In addition, the students must complete whatever assignments are set by their teaching assistant.  However, TAs have been advised to keep written assignments to a minimum.


The grades for this course will be apportioned on the following basis:

Mid-term exam – 30%;

Section participation, attendance, and assignments – 20%; and

Final Exam – 50%



My History 9A lectures from Winter 2012 are now available on YouTube.  However, lectures this year will not be identical to those given in 2012.  I draw upon some new material and scholarship, and there may also be a difference in emphasis.  The lectures from 2012 can be accessed at my YouTube channel or by going to this link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy3KRgc0HE8B4neta_B8LPM0G9UWy-Cqe

Since the period under colonial rule receives less than two weeks of attention in our course, students might find more useful the lectures from my course on British India:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy3KRgc0HE8C1aMDhtEX5np43SxhcjOTC

Similarly, for the period after 1947, here are my lectures on contemporary (post-1947) South Asia: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy3KRgc0HE8B8YI7S4z0kkIy5tcQJrnnD



BOOKS.  Books for the course will be available for purchase at the UCLA Bookstore.  You should buy the following books:

John Keay, India, A History—Revised and Expanded ed (NY:  Grove Press, 2011);

Vinay Lal, Introducing Hinduism: A Graphic Guide (London:  Icon Books, 2005; new ed., 2010);

Carole Satyamurti, The Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling (W. W. Norton, 2015); and

R. K. Narayan, The Ramayana (New York:  Penguin Books).

All other readings are available online.

Please note that all four of the required books have also been placed on reserve at YRL.



A Note on the  Readings:  The reading for this course generally amounts to around 125-130 pages a week, with two exceptions.  The Ramayana is slightly longer; the Mahabharata, in the edition that has been ordered for you, is much lengthier but should nevertheless be read in its entirety. However, with the full awareness that many of you might not read the entire text, I will point your attention to the most important pages.  This reading is time-consuming but, as I hope you will agree, a sheer pleasure.  For readings from Keay and Jawaharlal Nehru, you will realize that certain pages can be skimmed.  In general, what you must bear in mind is that the most pressing topics will be discussed in class, and that correspondingly you should pay more attention to those readings and pages which speak to those topics.

            A few words about Nehru’s Discovery of India are necessary.  The book was first published in 1946; and Nehru was not a professional historian.  Most academics and scholars will hesitate in using this book at all: there is now a large body of scholarship on most of the subjects on which Nehru wrote, and many will consider his views outdated, peculiar, or unsubstantiated.  The book was written during a long prison stint in Ahmadnagar Fort without access to a specialized library and it also lacks a scholarly paraphernalia (notes, bibliography, etc). But for a variety of reasons, not least of them the fact that it puts on offer an enviable command over English, it should not be spurned; indeed, it allows readers access to a certain sensibility about ‘Indian civilization’.  Moreover, in its sweep it is unusually bold, and many of Nehru’s views have stood the test of time.  It is being included here also as a work that is a pleasure to read; but students should be aware that they will not be tested on this text as such, or on the views embraced by Nehru.

            Some of you may be using a later edition of Keay’s History; therefore, I have also given chapter numbers, if the page numbers do not coincide with the edition you are using.



MANAS:  A website that I developed largely for pedagogic purposes on South Asian history, culture, and religion will be of considerable use to you:  please see http://southasia.ucla.edu. You are encouraged to consult it, not as a substitute for the readings and lectures, but to complement them.



Note for Students with disabilities:  Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact me for additional assistance, and all such communications will be treated confidentially.  If you wish to request an accommodation—for example, additional time to complete an exam—due to a disability, please contact the Center for Accessible Education [formerly Office for Students with Disabilities] as soon as possible at A255 Murphy Hall, (310) 825-1501, (310) 206-6083 (telephone device for the deaf). Website:  http://www.cae.ucla.edu/



Policy on Cell Phones, Computers, and iPads:  The use of cell phones in class is not permitted.  Please ensure that your cell phones are turned off before class commences.  PCs and iPads may be used in class to take notes, but not to google, play games, chat, etc. You need not take snapshots with your camera of power point slides, since slides (except for photographs) will be posted to the course website every three weeks.



CALENDAR OF LECTURES AND READINGS:



Week 0 +I:

F, Sept 29:       Introduction; Orientalism

M, Oct 2:         Indus Valley Civilization; Aryans

W, Oct 4:        Aryans; Vedas; Upanishads

F, Oct 6:          Hinduism; the caste system

Readings:  Edward Said, Orientalism, pp. 1-28;

Nehru, Discovery of India, 49-52, 69-99; and

Keay, History of India, 1-36 (=Chapters 1 & 2)

Romila Thapar, Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 (UC Press, 2002), 104-17.



Week II

M, Oct 9:         Buddhism and Jainism

W, Oct 11:      Ashoka; the Mauryan Empire; the Indian polity

F, Oct 13:        South India:  Tamil people; Sangam Literature

Readings:

Lal, Introducing Hinduism, complete;

Keay, History, 37-100 (=Chapters 3-5);

Nehru, Discovery, 110-35; and

Swami Prabhavananda, Upanishads, 13-28, 63-78.



Week III

M, Oct 16:       Popular Hinduism; Ramayana

W, Oct 18:      Ramayana (concluded); Mahabharata

F, Oct 20:        Mahabharata (concluded); Bhagavad Gita; Philosophical Schools; Yoga

Readings: Nehru, Discovery, 99-110;

R. K. Narayan, The Ramayana, complete;

Romila Thapar, Early India, 98-104;

Satyamurti, trans., The Mahabaharata, pages TBA (read as much as you can);

Bhagavad Gita, in Radhakrishnan & Moore, eds., Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, 101-119, 138-45, 157-63



Week IV

M, Oct 23:       Gupta Dynasty

W, Oct 25:      Art, Sculpture, Architecture

F, Oct 27:        “Secular” Literature; folk tales; everyday life; Kanauj Triangle

Readings:

Keay, History, 129-54 (=Chapter 7); 180-212 (=Chapter 9)

Visnu Sarma, The Panchatantra, trans. Chandra Rajan (Penguin), 62-76, 132-3, 409-21;

Somadeva, Tales from the Kathasaritsagara, 214-228; and

A. K. Ramanujan, ed. and intro., Folktales from India (New York:  Pantheon, 1991), 238-40, 262-74.



Week V

M, Oct 30:       Shankaracharya and the decline of Indian Buddhism; South India:  Cholas

W, Nov 1:        India & Southeast Asia

F, Nov 3:         South India:  Hindu kingdoms; Muslim Invasions

Readings: Nehru, Discovery, 174-83, 200-14, 227-37

Keay, History, 231-261 (=Chapter 11);

Thapar, Early India, 363-380, 386-89; and

H Kulke & D Rothermund, A History of India, 3rd ed. (London:  Routledge, 1998), 152-80.



N.B.:  The mid-term will be emailed to you on Friday, Nov. 3, before 1 PM.  It is due in class on Monday, Nov 6, at 11 AM.  You are required to turn in a hard copy to your TA in class.



Week VI:

M, Nov 6:        Delhi Sultanate; Vijayanagar

W, Nov 8:        Bhakti Movement

F, Nov 10:       NO CLASS; VETERAN’S DAY HOLIDAY

Readings:  Nehru, Discovery, 237-57;

Keay, History, 262-88 (=Chapter 12)



Week VII:

M, Nov 13:      Bhakti Movement (concluded); Sikhism

W, Nov 15:      Sikhism (concluded); The Portuguese in India

F, Nov 17:       Mughals:  until the end of the reign of Akbar

PLEASE NOTE:  I will not be able to hold class on W, Nov 15 and F, Nov 17; however, there will be a two-hour make-up class.

Readings: Nehru, Discovery, 257-73;

Keay, History, 289-319 (=Chapter 13);

Selections (4-5 pages) from the Bhakta poets (online); and

B D Metcalf and T R Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India, 2nd ed. (Cambridge UP, 2006), 1-28.



Week VIII

M, Nov 20:      Mughals:  until the end of the reign of Aurangzeb; Marathas; Shivaji

W, Nov 22:      Rajputs, Marathas, the French, & East India Company

F, Nov 22:       NO CLASS; THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

PLEASE NOTE:  Class will not be held on W, Nov 22, but there will be a make-up class.

Readings: Nehru, Discovery, 273-88;

Keay, History, 320-63 (=Chapter 14 & part of Chapter 15); and

K. M. Pannikar, Asia and Western Dominance, 21-54, 73-84.



Week IX

M, Nov 27:      East India Company, Mughal Decline, Sikh Kingdom

W, Nov 29:      British Raj:  Socio-Economic Histories; Indian Rebellion of 1857-58

F, Dec 1:         Social Reform Movements; Rise of Indian Nationalism

Readings: Keay, History, 383-413 (=Chapter 16), 436-47 (=part of Chapter 17).

Metcalf & Metcalf, Concise History, 29-122



Week X:

M, Dec 4:        Gandhi & the Congress; Nationalism and Communalism

W, Dec 6:        Independence, Partition, & the Assassination of Gandhi

F, Dec 8:         India as a Republic:  The Constitution, Democracy, and Voices from Below

Readings: Nehru, Discovery, 459-502;

Keay, History, 470-508 (=part of Chapter 18 and all of Chapter 19); and

Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, online at http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL010.PDF [Vol 10 of Collected Works, pp. 245-314]—it will be sufficient if you read around the first 30-35 pages, though I highly recommend that you read the entire text.





FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, December 12, 3-6 PM. This has been determined by the Registrar’s Office and it cannot be changed.

-------------------------------------------------------

Simple Guidelines for the Take-Home Mid-Term:



1. NUMBER and STAPLE your pages, which should be double-spaced. Use a 12-point Times New Roman or Garamond font.

2.  Proof-read your paper before submitting it; a computer spell-check will not suffice.  The computer will not help you distinguish between “complimentary” and “complementary”, or between “principle” and “principal”.

3.  Read your exam to yourself; if something doesn't sound right, the sentence may have to be rewritten.  Gross errors of grammar, diction, syntax and punctuation will be penalized.

4.  For rules of grammar and syntax, consult E. B. White, Elements of Style, or any one of handbooks for writers published by Oxford UP.  Not everything in White’s book need be endorsed, but for the most part you should follow his advice. Split infinities are, for example, not always easy to avoid.  Learn when to use the hyphen.  So "empire-building" is hyphenated; to pick a more difficult example, you'll write, "In the twentieth century" without a hyphen, but "twentieth-century British India" is the correct form in the second instance, since "twentieth-century" together qualifies "British India".

5.  Certain abbreviations are unacceptable:  for instance, write "British", not "Brit".  "Through" should not be spelled as "thru", and so on.

6.  On the subject of references, you must provide page citations if you are quoting from a text.  For example, if you quote from the Ramayana, it is enough to give the citation in the following form:  Ramayana, p. 28.  No bibliographic reference is necessary for texts used in the classroom.  IF, HOWEVER, you are using a different edition of the Ramayana than the one assigned in class, then you should ALSO give a complete reference at the end of the paper.   You are free to use books and articles not on the syllabus, but then you must provide citations not only for passages quoted from these works, but also in those instances where you have borrowed an idea from some other writer.  For consecutive references within your paper to the same text, it is enough to say: “ibid., p. 35.”  The best guide to follow is the Chicago Manual of Style, and their short reference style-sheet can be accessed at:

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

7.  References from the internet are acceptable, though you are urged to be very cautious and discriminating in your use of internet sources. On the whole, I would prefer if you were to use published sources.  If you do use internet sources, please be sure to give the URL for the website and the date you accessed it—for example, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/dutt/duttintr.htm (accessed 3 September 2017).

8.  References to my website, MANAS, or to my YouTube lectures are NOT acceptable.  Also, you may NOT cite my lecture notes (for example, Lal, class lecture, 5 May 2014), though you can cite my published work as you would for any other author.