The period of the Vedas, Braahman. as and Upanis.ads is a sort of transition from prehistory to history. If history, as distinct from archaeology, is the study of

human past from written sources, then India's history begins with the Aryans. The . g Veda, and the great body of oral religious literature which followed it in the first half of the Ist millennium B.C., are part of the living Hindu tradition. The Vedic hymns are still recited at weddings and funerals, and in the daily devotions of the braahman. . Thus they are the part of historical India, and do not belong to her buried prehistoric past. But they tell us little about the great events of the time, except in irritatingly vague incidental references; even on social conditions their information is scant; only on religion and thought is the historian more fully informed.
Yet from the hymns of the . g and Atharva Vedas, the sacrificial instructions of the Braahman. as, and the mysticism of the Upanis.ads, the outlines of a culture emerge, though often all too vaguely, and here and there we see the faint wraiths of great sages and tribal leaders, whose importance for their times was such that their names were recorded in Sacred literature. Around these phantoms later tradition draped a glittering mantle of legend, legend in which many Indians still implicitly believe, and which, in other contexts, is exceedingly important. But when the mantles are removed only vague shadows remain, little more than the names of chieftains who three thousand years ago waged successful war against their enemies. For the period before the time of the Buddha we can only trace the general character of the civilization which produced the Vedic literature and give a brief and tentative sketch of its expansion.

1. What do you understand by proto history period of India

2. Why is Oral religious literature of the past considered to be part of living Hindu tradition

3. Is there any historical significance of the Vedic hymns

4. How useful are the Brahmanas and Upnisads in constructing cultural history of that period

5. Why is it not possible to obtain a comprehensive picture of Indian civilization for the pre-Buddha period

6. Who were the aborigines of India

7. What do you understand by 'Megalithic Culture'

8. Identify five Harappan sites discovered after independence.

9. Name the different subjects discussed in the Atharva Veda.

10. What constitutes the Vedanga

11. Explain the term Karsaapana

12. What is the Arsa form of marriage as mentioned in the s utra literature of India

13. Discuss the representation of elephant in the Mauryan art.

14. Which was the main centre of 'Mamalla style of art' From which Pallava king did it get its name

15. What do you understand by the term Maharashtra Dharma

16. Explain the p rdah in the art of music.
17. Highlight the significance of Janamsakhi Narration.

18. What do you mean by Home charges

19. Define Utilitarianism.
20. How would you distinguish between the primary and secondary sources

21. Discuss the place of female deity in Vedic mythology.

22. Assess the contribution of the Alvar Saints to Vaishnavism.

23. Give a brief account of Uinga-worship upto the Gupta period.

24. How the philosophy of Ramanuja differs from that of Sankara.

25. What are the main principles of Arya Samaj

21. Trace the development of Buddhist Chaitya -architecture upto the 3rd Century A.D.

22. Underline the foreign elements in the Mauryan art.

23. Discuss the artistic significance of Kusaana coins.

24. Describe the scenes of the Ajanta caves of Gupta era as depicted in the 16th and 17th caves.

25. Give a brief account of the architectural features of Kandariya Mahadeva temple of Khajuraho.

21. Discuss the psycho-moral basis of the Asrama system.

22. Examine the evidence for female education in ancient India.

23. Describe the main points of difference on property right between the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga schools.

24. What were the principles of taxation in ancient India

25. Discuss the organization and functions of guilds in ancient India.

21. What were the major features of regional styles of Indo-Islamic architecture

22. Describe the characteristic features of Vijayanagara art.

23. What were the reasons for sufism acquiring a wide spread significance in medieval Indian society

24. Write a brief note on tawwakk l and kasb

25. Examine the factors that contributed in the growth of regional literature during the sultanate period.

21. How did deindustrialization affect Indian economy

22. Would you accept the nationalist view that railways helped spread famine in India

23. Examine the political ideology of Tilak.

24. Trace the evolution of the concept of Swaraj.

25. Analyse the sub-altern historiography of India nationalism.

26. Critically discuss the main religious trends prevalent in the early medieval India.

27. Trace the various stages in the development of the rock-cut architecture in Western India.

28. Give an account of Ancient Indian republics. Why did they disappear

29.Discuss the gender relations in medieval Indian Society.

30. Analyse the ideas of 19th century Indian intellectuals on the question of modernization of Indian religion and culture.