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The Archaeology of the Indian Subcontinent

Module description

The module outlines the archaeological record of the Indian subcontinent from the emergence of the Indus civilisation to the medieval empire of the South Indian Cholas. It will examine distinctive features of the Indus culture and track the rise of proto-historic urbanisation in the Gangetic plain and across the subcontinent and into Sri Lanka. The unifying character of the Mauryan Empire under Asoka and the spread of Buddhism define the Early Historic period. Cultural development will be examined through the material evidence of coinage, ceramics and metals.

Module aims - intentions of the module

 A major theme of the module will be external contacts and Indian Ocean trade through the first millennium AD. The module will conclude with the disintegration of central polities and the patchwork array of southern Indian kingdoms. Changes in the cultural history of the subcontinent will be seen through recent archaeological evidence and through the art and architecture of the region's standing monuments.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Know the features of the cultural history and material development of the Indian subcontinent during the first millennia BC/AD and the pertinent debates on the interpretation of the archaeological record of the region
• 2. Understand the character and complexity of South Asian societies from the proto-historic to the medieval period.
• 3. Assess the types of datasets commonly encountered in Indian archaeology, comprising many categories of material culture spread over varied political, cultural and environmental zones

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Be aware of the changing nature of social, economic and political organisation and how they are expressed in the archaeological record
• 5. Research a topic guided by a reading list
• 6. Understand and critically evaluate archaeological information from a wide range of sources
• 7. Organise information synthetically to address key thematic issues

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Learn from peers, both giving and receiving constructive criticism
• 9. Self-reflect on progress within a co-operative group environment
• 10. Develop competence in word processing and report presentation

Syllabus plan

• Defining the Indian subcontinent: natural and cultural environments
• Indus: the rise and decline of Harappan culture 
• Proto-and early history I: the Ganges and the beginnings of urbanisation
• Proto- and early history II: material culture, settlements and cities; Peninsular India to Sri Lanka 
• Ashoka and the Mauryan Empire: political unification and Buddhism
• External contact overseas: east and west trade, technology transfer and cultural exchange 
• Dravidian South India: the monumental dynasties of the Chalukyas, Pallavas, Pandyas and Cholas
• Archaeology, archaeologists and excavations: key events

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Allchin, F.R. and B, Allchin, 1968 The birth of Indian civilisation, Penguin, London
• Allchin, F.R., 1995 The archaeology of Early Historic South Asia, Cambridge University Press
• Allchin, F.R. and D.K. Chakrabarti (eds) 1997 A source-book of Indian Archaeology, vol. II Settlement, technology and trade, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi
• Basham, A.L., 1954 The wonder that was India, Sidgwick and Jackson, London
• Chaudhuri, K.N., 1985 Trade and civilisation in the Indian Ocean: an economic history from the rise Islam to 1750 Cambridge University Press
• Keay, J., 2010 India, a history from the earliest civilisation to the boom of the twenty-first century, Harper Press, London
• Kulke, H. and Rothermund, D. 2004 A history of India Routledge
• Ray, Himanshu P., 1999 The winds of change: Buddhism and the maritime links of Early South Asia Oxford University Press, USA
• Ray, Himanshu P., 2003 The archaeology of seafaring in Ancient South Asia, Cambridge World Archaeology
• Singh, Upinder. 2009 A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson Education, New Delhi
• Stein, B., 1998 A history of India, Blackwell publishing, London
• Tapar, R., 1990 A history of India vol. I ...to 1526, Penguin, London

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• Journal of South Asian Studies
• Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology
• Man and Environment
• Current Science
• Michael Wood's India (DVD)

Key words search

Archaeology, India, Sub Continent