Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

This course will address the main themes and events that marked the history of the Indian subcontinent, from pre-modern to contemporary times. The aim of the course is to portray a comprehensive picture of the social, political, cultural and economic processes that contributed to shape the socio-political map of the subcontinent across the centuries, from the first waves of Islamic penetration (8^th – 9^th century), to the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire (16^th – 18^th c.), to the British colonial era and finally to the post-colonial transition and the formation of the independent Indian state (20^th c.). Emphasis will be placed on an interdisciplinary and trans-regional approach, which will present the history of the subcontinent in relation to the rest of the world, highlighting exchanges, communication and balances of power.

The course will explore key substantive themes in the history of the subcontinent, in order to provide the students with strong analytical tools to read India's political, economic and social development as one of the world's emerging super-powers in the twenty-first century. In particular the course main themes will be: 1) the creation and consolidation of a system of multiple belongings across castes, religions (sects and sub-sects), regional and language ties; 2) the dialectic between the sense of an "original" Indian identity and the long history of cultural, syncretic exchanges with other worlds and traditions; 3) the stratification of levels of power and territorial control that enabled the coexistence of different political systems at different scales.

This course is designed to familiarise students with concepts, methods, approaches and empirical research on the History of South Asia. By the end of the course students should be able to demonstrate:

• an understanding of the cultural context of specific topics and critical events in the history of modern South Asia, and an ability to develop case studies on their own.
• a deep understanding of the main issues regarding the political, economic and socio-cultural development of the independent Indian state.
• the capacity to write analytically about topics in the field and to cultivate a capacity for critical thinking.

The class will be conducted in presence, unless a possible worsening of the pandemic will make for the need to shift to the online mode. Attending students are highly recommended to come to class. Lessons will be streamed live on Webex.

The course will include lectures and seminars, in which students will be asked to read and present specific readings that will be previously assigned. The programme will follow, in a flexible and modifiable way, the following schedule:

• Week 1: Towards the Mughal Empire
• Week 2: Rise and fall of the Mughal dynasty; modernity and global networks.
• Week 3: From empire to colony: power clashes in the first colonial era.
• Week 4: the rise of the British Raj: territorial domination and socio-cultural hegemony
• Week 5: When identity becomes nation: rivalries, solidarities and conflict during the struggle for independence.
• Week 6: Religion, Culture and Citizenship in postcolonial India.