PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY
Value Added Course in common to all UG
programmes (Arts, Science and Commerce)
NEP SYLLABI
UNDERSTANDING INDIA
AFFILIATED COLLEGES
FROM THE ACADEMIC YEAR (2023-24 onwards)
Pondicherry University
NEP- Understanding India
Course Overview:
The course aims at enabling the students to acquire and demonstrate the knowledge and
understanding of contemporary India with its historical perspective, the basic framework of the
goals and policies of national development, and the constitutional obligations with special
emphasis on constitutional values and fundamental rights and duties. The course would also
focus on developing an understanding among students of Indian society, Indian knowledge
systems and cultural heritage.
Course Objective and Outcome:
The course aims at making the students understand India from global, national and local
perspectives. A student would be able to understand India in geographical, historical, social,
cultural and political settings. At the end of the semester, the students will be able to appreciate
the multicultural and multifaceted nature of India.
Unit I: Geography of India
India on the map of the world and its neighbouring countries
Geographical diversities
Unit II History of India
India’s Freedom Struggle
An introduction to Indian knowledge systems
Unit III: Communicating Culture
Oral narratives: Myths, tales and folklore
Introduction to the Tribal Cultures of India
Unit IV: Indian Social Structure
Continuity and change of the Indian Social Structure: Caste, Community, Class and
Gender
Unit V: Understanding Indian Polity
The evolution of State in India: Nature and origin
Interpretating India: Traditional, Modern and Contemporary
Constitution as a living document
Reading List
Unit I: Geography of India
Ramesh Dutta Dikshit, Political Geography: Politics of Place and Spatiality of Politics,
Macmillan Education,2020.
Deshpande C. D., 1992: India: A Regional Interpretation, ICSSR, New Delhi.
Johnson, B. L. C., ed. 2001. Geographical Dictionary of India. Vision Books, New Delhi.
Mandal R. B. (ed.), 1990: Patterns of Regional Geography – An International
Perspective. Vol. 3 – Indian Perspective.
Tirtha, Ranjit 2002: Geography of India, Rawat Publs., Jaipur & New Delhi.
Pathak, C. R. 2003: Spatial Structure and Processes of Development in India. Regional
Science Assoc., Kolkata.
Tiwari, R.C. (2007) Geography of India. Prayag Pustak Bhawan, Allahabad 12. Sharma,
T.C. (2013) Economic Geography of India. Rawat Publication, Jaipur
Unit II: History of India
https://iksindia.org
Bose D. M., S. N. Sen and B. V. Subbarayappa ed. (1971) A Concise History of Science
in India, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi.
Chandra, Bipan, Amales Tripathi & Barun De (1972), Freedom Struggle, National Book
Trust, New Delhi.
Husain, S. Abid. (2003). The National Culture of India, National Book Trust, New Delhi.
Kapoor, Kapil and Avadesh Kumar Singh ed. (2005), Indian Knowledge Systems, 2
Volumes, DK Printworld, New Delhi.
Mohanta, Basant Kumar and Vipin Kumar Singh ed. (2012), Traditional Knowledge
System and Technology in India, Pratibha Prakashan
History of Technology in India, 3 Volumes (1997-2012), Indian National Science
Academy, New Delhi.
The Cultural Heritage of India Series, 8 Volumes (2002), Ramakrishna Mission Institute,
Calcutta.
Unit III: Communicating Culture: Tellings, Representations, and Leisure
Kanak Mital, “A Santhal Myth, Five Elements” & M.D. Subash Chandran, “Peasant
Perception of Bhutas, Uttara Kannada” in Prakrti, The Integral Vision, Vol. 1 (Primal
Elements – The Oral Tradition, edited by Baidyanath Saraswati), pp. 119-125; 151-166.
A. K. Ramanujan, “‘A Flowering Tree’: A Woman’s Tale”, Oral Tradition, 12/1 (1997):
226-243.
Stuart H. Blackburn, “The Folk Hero and Class Interests in Tamil Heroic Ballads”, Asian
Folklore Studies, Vol. 37, No. 1 (1978), pp. 131-149.
Beatrix Hauser, “From Oral Tradition to "Folk Art": Reevaluating Bengali Scroll
Paintings”, in Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 61, No. 1 (2002), pp. 105-122.
Komal Kothari, “Myths, Tales and Folklore: Exploring the Substratum of Cinema” pdf .
Unit IV: Indian Social Structure
Singh, Y. (1968). Caste and Class : Some Aspects of Continuity and Change.
Sociological Bulletin, 17(2), 165–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038022919680205
Singh, Y. (1986). Modernization of Indian Tradition: A Systemic Study of Social
Change. India: Rawat Publications.
Gupta, D. (2000). Interrogating caste: understanding hierarchy and difference in Indian
society. India: Penguin Books.
Rege, S. (1996). Caste and Gender: The Violence Against Women in India. Italy:
European University Institute.
Xaxa, V. (2008). State, Society, and Tribes: Issues in Post-colonial India. India: Dorling
Kindersley (India), licencees of Pearson Education in South Asia.
Uberoi, P. (1994). Family, Kinship and Marriage in India. India: Oxford University Press.
Robinson, R. (2004). Sociology of Religion in India. India: SAGE Publications.
Srinivas, M. N. (2000). Caste: Its 20Th Century Avatar. India: Penguin Books Limited.
Jamil, G. (2021). Women in Social Change. SAGE Publishing India.
Bhasin, K. (2000). Understanding Gender.
Unit V: Understanding Indian Polity
Madhav Khosla. The Indian Constitution. New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Ramachandra Guha. Makers of Modern India. Cambridge, Mass., The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press, 2013.
Thapar, Romila. Indian Cultures as Heritage: Contemporary Pasts. London, Seagull
Books, 2021.
Venkataraghavan Subha Srinivasan. The Origin Story of India’s States. Penguin Random
House India Private Limited, 25 Oct. 2021.
J Sai Deepak. India That Is Bharat : Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution. New Delhi,
Bloomsbury, 2021.
