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CUET Syllabus History
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. Shiftsin 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 the Mahabharata.
  • Excerpt: From the Mahabharata, illustrating how it has been used by historians.

Unit IV: A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa

  • Broad overview:
  1. A brief review of religious histories of Vedic religion, Jainism, Vaisnavism, Saivism.
  2. Focus on Buddhism.
  • Excerpt: Reproduction of sculptures from Sanchi. Discussion: Ways in which sculpture has been interpreted by historians, other sources for reconstructing thehistory of Buddhism

    • Unit V: 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 For whom they wrote.
    • Excerpts: from Alberuni, Ibn Batuta, Bernier.
    • Discussion: What these travel accounts can tell us and how they have been interpreted by historians.

    Unit VI: Religious Histories: The Bhakti-Sufi Tradition

    • Broad overview:
    1. Outline of religious developments during this period.
    2. Ideas and practices of the Bhakti-Sufi saints.
  • Story of Transmission: How Bhakti-Sufi compositions have been preserved.
  • Excerpt: Extracts from selected Bhakti Sufi works.
  • Discussion: Ways in which these have been interpreted by historians

    • Unit VII: New Architecture: Hampi

    • Broad overview:
    1. Structure of agrarian relations in the 16th and 17th centuries.
    2. Patterns of change over the period.
  • Story of Discovery: Account of the compilation and translation of Ain-i-Akbari.
  • Excerpt: From the Ain-i-Akbari
  • Discussion: Ways in which historians have used the text to reconstruct history

    • Unit IX: The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles

    • Broad overview:
    1. Outline of political history c. 15th-17th centuries.
    2. 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 texts to reconstruct political histories.

    • Unit X: : Colonialism and Rural Society: Evidence from Official Reports

    • Broad overview:
    1. Life of zamindars, peasants and artisans in the late18th century.
    2. East India Company, revenue settlements and surveys.
    3. 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 of Francis 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 X1: : Representations of 1857

    • Broad overview:
    1. The events of 1857-58.
    2. How these events were recorded and narrated.
  • Focus: Lucknow.
  • Excerpts: Pictures of 1857. Extractsfrom contemporaryaccounts.
  • Discussion: How the pictures of 1857 shaped British opinion 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

    • Broad overview:
    1. The nationalist movement 1918-48,
    2. The nature of Gandhian politics and leadership.
  • Focus: Mahatma Gandhi in 1931.
  • Excerpts: Reports from English and Indian language newspapers and other contemporary writings.
  • Discussion: How newspapers can be a source of history.

    • Unit XIV: : Partition through Oral Sources

    • Broad overview:
    1. The history of the 1940s;
    2. Nationalism, Communalism and Partition.
  • Focus: Punjab and Bengal.
  • Excerpts: Oral testimonies of those who experienced partition
  • Discussion: Ways in which these have been analysed toreconstruct the history of the event.

    • Unit XV: : The Making of the Constitution

    • Broad overview:
    1. Independence and the new nation state
    2. The making of the Constitution.
  • Focus: The Constitutional Assembly debates.
  • Excerpts: From the debates
  • Discussion: What such debates reveal and how they canbe analyzed