CUET 2023 Syllabus History

HISTORY-314

CUET Entrance Exam


Syllabus for Class 12

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Note:
There will be one Question Paper which will have 50 questions out of which 40 questions need to be
attempted.

Unit I: The Story of the First Cities Harappan Archaeology
Broad overview: Early urban centres.
Story of discovery: Harappan civilization.
Excerpt: Archaeological report on a major site. Discussion: how it has been utilized by archaeologists/
historians.

Unit II: Political and Economic History: How Inscriptions tell a story
Broad overview: Political and economic history from the Mauryan to the Gupta period.
Story of discovery: Inscriptions and the decipherment of the script. Shifts in the understanding of political and
economic history.
Excerpt: Asokan inscription and Gupta period land grant.

Discussion: Interpretation of inscriptions by historians.
Unit III: Social Histories using the Mahabharata
Broad overview: Issues in social history, including caste,class, kinship and gender.
Story of discovery: Transmission and publications of theMahabharata.
Excerpt: From the Mahabharata, illustrating how it hasbeen used by historians.

Unit IV: A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa
(a) A brief review of religious histories of Vedicreligion, Jainism, Vaisnavism, Saivism.
(b) Focus on Buddhism.
Story of discovery: Sanchi stupa.
Excerpt: Reproduction of sculptures from Sanchi. Discussion: Ways in which sculpture has been interpretedby
historians, other sources for reconstructing thehistory of Buddhism.

Unit V: Agrarian Relations The Ain-i- Akbari

(a) Structure of agrarian relations in the 16th and 17thcenturies.
(b) Patterns of change over the period.
Story of Discovery: Account of the compilation andtranslation of Ain-i-Akbari.
Excerpt: From the Ain-i-Akbari
Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the textto reconstruct history.

Unit VI: The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles
(a) Outline of political history c. 15th-17th centuries.
(b) Discussion of the Mughal court and politics.
Story of Discovery: Account of the production of court chronicles, and their subsequent translation and transmission.

Excerpts: from the Akbarnama and Padshahnama.

Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the textsto reconstruct political histories.

Unit VII: New Architecture: Hampi
(a) Outline of new buildings during Vijayanagarperiod — temples, forts, irrigation facilities.
(b)Relationship between architecture and the politicalsystem.
Story of Discovery: Account of how Hampi was found.
Excerpt: Visuals of buildings at Hampi.
Discussion: Ways in which historians have analysed andinterpreted these structures.

Unit VIII: Religious Histories: The Bhakti-Sufi Tradition
(a) Outline of religious developments during thisperiod.
(b) Ideas and practices of the Bhakti-Sufi saints.
Story of Transmission: How Bhakti-Sufi compositionshave been preserved.
Excerpt: Extracts from selected Bhakti Sufi works.
Discussion: Ways in which these have been interpretedby historians.

Unit IX: Medieval Society through Travellers’ Accounts
Broad Overview: Outline of social and cultural life as they appear in travellers’ accounts.
Story of their writings: A discussion of where they travelled, why they travelled, what they wrote, and
forwhom they wrote.

Excerpts: from Alberuni, Ibn Batuta, Bernier.

Discussion: What these travel accounts can tell us andhow they have been interpreted by historians.

Unit X: Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports
(a) Life of zamindars, peasants and artisans in the late 18th century.
(b) East India Company, revenue settlements andsurveys.
(c) Changes over the nineteenth century.
Story of official records: An account of why official investigations into rural societies were undertaken andthe
types of records and reports produced.

Excerpts: From Firminger’s Fifth Report, Accounts ofFrancis Buchanan-Hamilton, and Deccan Riots Report.
Discussion: What the official records tell and do not tell, and how they have been used by historians.

Unit XI: Representations of 1857
(a) The events of 1857-58.
(b) How these events were recorded and narrated.

Focus: Lucknow.

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Excerpts: Pictures of 1857. Extracts from contemporaryaccounts.

Discussion: How the pictures of 1857 shaped Britishopinion of what had happened.

Unit XII: Colonialism and Indian Towns: Town Plans and Municipal Reports
Broad Overview: The growth of Mumbai, Chennai, hill stations and cantonments in the 18th and 19th century.
Excerpts: Photographs and paintings. Plans of cities. Extract form town plan reports. Focus on Kolkata town planning.
Discussion: How the above sources can be used to reconstruct the history of towns. What these sourcesdo not reveal.

Unit XIII: Mahatma Gandhi through Contemporary Eyes
(a) The nationalist movement 1918-48,
(b) The nature of Gandhian politics and leadership.
Focus: Mahatma Gandhi in 1931.
Excerpts: Reports from English and Indian languagenewspapers and other contemporary writings.
Discussion: How newspapers can be a source of history.

Unit XIV: Partition through Oral Sources
(a) The history of the 1940s;
(b) Nationalism, Communalism and Partition.
Focus: Punjab and Bengal.
Excerpts: Oral testimonies of those who experiencedpartition.
Discussion: Ways in which these have been analysed toreconstruct the history of the event.

Unit XV: The Making of the Constitution
(a) Independence and the new nation state.
(b) The making of the Constitution.
Focus: The Constitutional Assembly debates.
Excerpts: From the debates.

Discussion: What such debates reveal and how they canbe analyzed.