The significance of ancient Indian history
Modern historians of ancient India
Nature of sources and historical construction
Geographical setting
Ecology and environment
The linguistic background
Human evolution: the Old Stone Age
The Neolithic Age: first food producers and animal keepers
Chalcolithic cultures
Harappan culture: Bronze Age, urbanization in the Indus Valley
Identity of Aryan Culture
The age of the Rig Veda
The later Vedic Phase: transition to state and social orders
Jainism and Buddhism
Territorial states and the rise of Magadha
Iranian and Macedonian invasions
State structure and the Varna System in the Age of the Buddha
The Maurya Age
The significance of Maurya rule
Central Asian contact and mutual impact
The Satavahana Phase
The dawn of history in the deep south
Crafts, commerce, and urban growth (200 BC-AD 250)
Rise and growth of the Gupta Empire
Life in the Gupta Age
Spread of civilization in Eastern India
Harsha and his times
Brahmanization, rural expansion, and peasant protest in the peninsula
Developments in philosophy
Cultural interaction with Asian countries
From Ancient to Medieval
Sequence of social changes
Legacy in science and civilization