BMET 22A53 - Ancient Indian History

This course, Ancient Indian History: Narratives of Polity and Governance, examines the intellectual traditions of Indian political thought through a comparative and historiographical lens. Anchored in Aurobindo Ghosh’s theoretical framework, it explores how concepts such as dharma, kingship, republican governance, and civilisation shaped Indian polity, and how these differ from Western notions of sovereignty, law, and the nation-state.

The course unfolds in three parts:

Part I: Theoretical Framework introduces students to civilisational and historiographical approaches, contrasting Indian models of kingship and republican governance with Western categories of sovereignty and conflict. Readings from Aurobindo, Thapar, Weber, Fukuyama, and Basham establish the methodological lens for comparative analysis.

Part II: Texts and Treatises engages directly with primary sources such as the Manusmriti, Arthashastra, and Panchatantra. Students examine how law, governance, and

narrative pedagogy articulated authority, balancing moral legitimacy with pragmatic statecraft. Secondary scholarship by Trautmann, Davis, Lingat, Olivelle, and Alphonso- Karkala situates these texts within broader traditions of jurisprudence, ethics, and political counsel.

Part III: Historical Contexts traces the evolution of Indian polity from republican assemblies and monarchies (600–321 BCE), through Mauryan centralisation (321–185

BCE), to post-Mauryan mercantile networks (200 BCE–300 CE). Readings from Thapar, Singh, Lahiri, Chakravarti, and Stein highlight debates on empire, violence, trade, and legal pluralism. The course culminates in a synthesis of historiography, with Pollock and Thapar emphasizing the role of language, narrative, and scholarly interpretation in shaping our understanding of Indian political traditions.

Throughout, students are encouraged to critically assess convergences and divergences between Indian and Western traditions, situating Indian political thought within global comparative frames. The central assignment—a literature review—requires students to evaluate primary texts and secondary scholarship, trace historiographical debates, and articulate an analytical perspective on themes such as sovereignty, dharma, kingship, republican governance, and civilisation versus the nation-state.

By the end of the course, students will have developed a nuanced understanding of how Ancient Indian texts, institutions, and narratives articulated alternative models of governance, and how historiography itself becomes a site of political thought.

 1 Literary Review – 50%,

Literature Review

The literature review is the central component of this course, students are expected to produce a 2000–3000 word review essay that critically surveys both primary sources (e.g., Manusmriti, Arthashastra, Panchatantra) and secondary scholarship. The review should identify major debates, highlight convergences and divergences between Indian and Western traditions, and situate Indian political thought within broader comparative frameworks.

The literature review must go beyond summarizing texts: it should evaluate arguments, trace historiographical shifts, and articulate a clear analytical perspective on themes such as sovereignty and dharma, kingship and republican governance, or civilisation versus the nationstate.

Students are encouraged to incorporate memoirs, biographies, or archival material where relevant, to enrich their analysis.

Key stages :

Week 3: Proposal (400–500 words + draft bibliography)

Week 7: Detailed outline and bibliography

Week 11: Final paper submission

Source Presentation

Each week, 1–2 students will present a source (textual or historiographical), contextualising and analysing it in 5–10 minutes. Sources must be shared 48 hours before class.

Class Participation

Active engagement in weekly discussions is expected. Students may be asked to introduce readings and launch debates.