Civil Services Prepby Garima Malik & Nitin Sangwan Account

UPSC Prelims · General Studies

Ancient, medieval & culture

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Indian art and culture / Literature, languages and sources

Sources: inscriptions, coins, travellers and archaeologists

Practise 1 PYQ

Concepts to cover

  1. Prashastis, land-grant copper plates, donative records, edicts; Brahmi decipherment (Prinsep 1837); key inscriptions Hathigumpha, Allahabad, Junagadh, Aihole, Nashik, Uttaramerur, Mandasor, Gwalior
  2. Punch-marked, Indo-Greek portrait, Kushana and Gupta gold, Satavahana lead, Chola and Vijayanagara gold (varaha, fanam), tanka and jital, rupiya and dam
  3. Megasthenes, Pliny and the Periplus, Ptolemy, Fa-hien (Chandragupta II), Hiuen Tsang (Harsha), I-tsing
  4. Al-Biruni, Marco Polo (Pandya, Kakatiya coast), Ibn Battuta, Abdur Razzaq, Nicolo Conti, Paes and Nuniz, Barbosa, Bernier, Tavernier, Manucci
  5. Cunningham (ASI 1861), Burgess, Walter Elliot and Alexander Rea (Amaravati and south Indian sites), Longhurst (Nagarjunakonda), Robert Sewell (Vijayanagara, A Forgotten Empire), Marshall (Harappa), Wheeler
  6. Colonial, nationalist, Marxist and subaltern readings; periodisation debates (ancient, medieval, modern)
Where to study

Themes in Indian History Part I, Class XII, Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies

  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, pp. 1-25 (printed 28-52)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 1. Prinsep and Piyadassi; 2. The Earliest States: Inscriptions; 7. Back to Basics; 8. The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence, pp. 1-2 (printed 28-29)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 7. Back to Basics: How Are Inscriptions Deciphered?; 8. The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence, pp. 19-22 (printed 46-49)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 4. New Notions of Kingship: In praise of Samudragupta (Allahabad pillar); Rudradaman (Junagadh), pp. 10-11 (printed 37-38)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 6. Towns and Trade (coins: punch-marked, Indo-Greek, Kushana, Gupta, Yaudheya), pp. 17-18 (printed 44-45)
  • Theme 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns, 3. An Early Empire (Megasthenes); 6. Towns and Trade (Periplus), pp. 5-17 (printed 32-44)

India’s Ancient Past · R. S. Sharma

  • ch. 2 to 3

Indian Art and Culture · Nitin Singhania

  • ch. 4 to 5 and 31
  • ch. 4
  • ch. 5
  • ch. 31

Our Pasts I, Class VI, ch. 8 Vital Villages, Thriving Towns

  • ch. 8 Vital Villages, Thriving Towns, Coins; Other means of exchange, pp. 6-7 (printed 84-85)

Tamil Nadu State Board Class XI History, Volume I

  • Lesson 10 Advent of Arabs and Turks, Iltutmish (tanka and jital), p. 170 (printed 166)
  • Lesson 8 Harsha and Rise of Regional Kingdoms, Division of the Empire; Buddhist Assembly at Prayag (Hiuen Tsang), pp. 132-133 (printed 128-129)
  • Lesson 11 Later Cholas and Pandyas, 11.2.3 Economy (Marco Polo), pp. 204-205 (printed 200-201)

Our Pasts I, Class VI, ch. 9 Traders, Kings and Pilgrims

  • ch. 9 Traders, Kings and Pilgrims, The quest of the pilgrims; Pilgrims; How Fa Xian returned to China (Fa Xian, Xuan Zang, I-Qing), pp. 7-8 (printed 97-98)

Themes in Indian History Part II, Class XII, Theme 5 Through the Eyes of Travellers: Perceptions of Society

  • Theme 5 Through the Eyes of Travellers, 1. Al-Biruni and the Kitab-ul-Hind; 2. Ibn Battuta's Rihla; 3. Francois Bernier; Timeline: Some Travellers who Left Accounts, pp. 2-23 (printed 116-137)

Tamil Nadu State Board Class XI History Volume II (lessons 12 to 19), full text

  • Lesson 12 Bahmani and Vijayanagar Kingdoms, Sources (Nuniz, Paes, Abdur Razzak, Nicolo Conti), pp. 5-6 (printed 1-2)

Themes in Indian History Part I, Class XII, Theme 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

  • Theme 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones, 10. Discovering the Harappan Civilisation: 10.1 Cunningham's confusion; 10.2 A new old civilisation; 10.3 New techniques and questions (Marshall, Wheeler), pp. 19-21 (printed 19-21)

Themes in Indian History Part II, Class XII, Theme 7 An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara

  • Theme 7 An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara, 1. The Discovery of Hampi: Colin Mackenzie, pp. 1-2 (printed 170-171)

Themes in Indian History Part I, Class XII, Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments

  • Theme 4 Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings, 8. Discovering Stupas: The Fate of Amaravati and Sanchi (Colin Mackenzie, Walter Elliot, Cunningham), p. 17 (printed 98)

Archaeological Survey of India: History of the Survey (1784 to 1861 and after)

  • History of the Survey: From 1784 to 1861; Cunningham and the founding of the Survey in 1861

Our Pasts II, Class VII, ch. 1 Introduction: Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

  • ch. 1 Introduction: Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years, New and Old Terminologies; Thinking about Time and Historical Periods (periodisation), pp. 3-13 (printed 3-13)

Themes in Indian History Part I, Class XII, Theme 3 Kinship, Caste and Class: Early Societies

  • Theme 3 Kinship, Caste and Class, 6. Handling Texts: Historians and the Mahabharata, pp. 20-24 (printed 72-76)
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