| Theme IHarappan civilisation | - Subsistence: crops, animal bones, the ploughed field at Kalibangan, terracotta plough models (Banawali, Cholistan), canals at Shortughai
- Mohenjodaro's Citadel and Lower Town, planned drainage, the Great Bath and domestic architecture
- Craft centres: Chanhudaro (beads, shells, metal), Nageshwar and Balakot (shell), Lothal; sources of raw material such as Khetri copper
- Seals, script, weights and trade with Oman, Dilmun and Meluhha
- Burials and social difference, theories of authority, the end of the civilisation
- Discovery: Cunningham, Daya Ram Sahni, R.D. Banerji, John Marshall, R.E.M. Wheeler
- Citadel
- Mature Harappan
- Hoard
- Meluhha
| Part I, Theme 1 |
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| Theme IIEarly states | - James Prinsep's decipherment of Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s; Asoka as 'Piyadassi'
- Sixteen mahajanapadas, the rise of Magadha, Rajagaha and Pataliputra
- Mauryan administration, Asoka's dhamma and dhamma mahamattas; languages and scripts of Asokan inscriptions
- Kushana devaputra claims, Gupta rule and the Prayaga Prashasti by Harishena (Sanskrit)
- Agrarian change, land grants and agraharas, gahapatis, punch-marked coins and urban trade
- Limitations of inscriptional evidence
- Mahajanapada
- Prashasti
- Agrahara
- Punch-marked coins
| Part I, Theme 2 |
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| Theme IIIEarly societies | - The critical edition of the Mahabharata begun in 1919 under V.S. Sukthankar
- Patriliny, exogamy and endogamy, gotra rules, and Satavahana metronymics such as Gotami-puta
- Varna norms in the Manusmriti versus practice; the stories of Ekalavya and Draupadi
- Rulers outside the ideal order (Shakas as mlechchhas), access to property by gender and varna
- How historians read the Mahabharata as a dynamic text
| Part I, Theme 3 |
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| Theme IVBuddhism and Jainism | - Upanishadic ideas and debates; Mahavira and the tirthankaras; Jaina ahimsa
- The Buddha's teachings, the sangha and the Tipitaka (Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma)
- Sanchi: discovery in 1818, preservation funded by Shahjehan Begum and Sultan Jehan Begum; the fate of Amaravati
- Stupa architecture, sculpture and the shift to Mahayana and Bodhisattas
- Vaishnavism, Shaivism, avatars and early temples
- Stupa
- Tipitaka
- Bodhisatta
- Tirthankara
| Part I, Theme 4 |
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| Theme VMedieval society | - Al-Biruni (born 973, Khwarizm) and his Arabic Kitab-ul-Hind; his view of caste and purity
- Ibn Battuta from Tangier: reached Sind in 1333, served Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Rihla; cities, postal system, coconut and paan
- François Bernier, physician to Dara Shukoh: Travels in the Mughal Empire, the claim of no private property, East–West contrast
- Women, slaves and sati in travellers' accounts; Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi on Vijayanagara
- Kitab-ul-Hind
- Rihla
- Crown ownership of land
| Part II, Theme 5 |
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| Theme VIBhakti and Sufi traditions | - Alvars (Vishnu) and Nayanars (Shiva); Nalayira Divyaprabandham and Tevaram; Karaikkal Ammaiyar
- Basavanna (1106–68) and the Lingayats: burial of the dead, rejection of caste and rebirth, Kannada vachanas
- Sufism: khanqah, silsila, pir and murid, sama; the Chishti order and Nizamuddin Auliya's dargah
- Kabir, Guru Nanak and Mirabai; the Bijak and the Guru Granth Sahib
- Great and little traditions; integration of cults
- Silsila
- Vachana
- Khanqah
- Ziyarat
| Part II, Theme 6 |
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| Theme VIIVijayanagara | - Founded in 1336 by Harihara and Bukka; Sangama, Saluva (1485), Tuluva (1503) and Aravidu dynasties
- Krishnadeva Raya: Raichur doab (1512), Orissa (1514), Bijapur (1520)
- Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (Talikota), 1565; Colin Mackenzie's survey of 1800
- Amara-nayaka system, horse trade, the Tungabhadra and the Kamalapuram tank
- Royal centre: Mahanavami dibba, Lotus Mahal, Hazara Rama temple; Virupaksha and Vitthala temples, gopurams
- Amara-nayaka
- Gopuram
- Mahanavami dibba
| Part II, Theme 7 |
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| Theme VIIIMughal agrarian society | - Sources: Abu'l Fazl's Ain-i Akbari and its limits as a view from the top
- Raiyat and muzarian; khud-kashta and pahi-kashta peasants; jins-i kamil crops such as cotton and sugarcane
- Village panchayat and muqaddam, jati panchayats, the jajmani system
- Women's labour and property, forest dwellers and the jungle, zamindars
- Revenue: jama and hasil, the amil-guzar, land classes polaj and parauti
- Khud-kashta
- Jama
- Jins-i kamil
- Muqaddam
| Part II, Theme 8 |
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| Theme IXColonial rural society | - Permanent Settlement 1793 (Cornwallis), revenue sales, the Burdwan auction and the rise of jotedars
- The Fifth Report of 1813 and its bias
- Paharias and Santhals in the Rajmahal hills, Buchanan's accounts, Damin-i-Koh and the Santhal revolt of 1855–56
- The Deccan, ryotwari settlement, the cotton boom and the riots of 1875 beginning at Supa; the Deccan Riots Commission
- Jotedar
- Damin-i-Koh
- Ryotwari
| Part III, Theme 9 |
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| Theme XRevolt of 1857 | - Meerut, 10 May 1857, and the march to Delhi; Bahadur Shah as symbolic leader
- Leaders: Nana Sahib (Kanpur), Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Kunwar Singh (Arrah), Shah Mal (Barout), Gonoo (Singhbhum), Birjis Qadr and Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah
- Awadh: Subsidiary Alliance 1801, annexation and deposition of Wajid Ali Shah 1856, Summary Settlement and the taluqdars
- Rumours, rebel proclamations, repression and the representations of the revolt
- Taluqdar
- Subsidiary Alliance
- Summary Settlement
| Part III, Theme 10 |
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| Theme XIGandhi and national movements | - Return in 1915, BHU speech of February 1916, Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad
- Rowlatt Satyagraha, Jallianwala Bagh, Non-cooperation and its withdrawal after Chauri Chaura (1922)
- Lahore Congress and Purna Swaraj (1929), Independence Day 1930, Salt March from 12 March 1930
- Round Table Conferences, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Cripps (1942) and Quit India
- Sources: autobiographies, government records, newspapers, private letters
- Purna Swaraj
- Satyagraha
- Civil Disobedience
| Part III, Theme 11 |
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| Theme XIIConstitution-making | - First session 9 December 1946; 300 members; eleven sessions over 165 days; in force 26 January 1950
- Nehru's Objectives Resolution (13 December 1946); Ambedkar chairing the Drafting Committee; Rajendra Prasad as President
- Separate electorates: B. Pocker Bahadur for, G.B. Pant against; N.G. Ranga and Jaipal Singh on minorities and tribals
- Union, State and Concurrent lists and the case for a strong centre
- The language debate: Hindustani, Hindi and R.V. Dhulekar
- Objectives Resolution
- Separate electorate
- Concurrent List
| Part III, Theme 12 |
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