CLUSTER UNIVERSITY SRINAGAR
UG- 4th Semester (NEP)
Subject: - History
Course Title: History of Ancient World Course Type (CT02)
Course Code: UGHIS22J402-CT2 Total Credits: 06; (Theory: 04; Tutorial/Practical = 02)
Objectives of the Course:
This course in Ancient world / Global history is an introductory type cutting across
geographies and cultures and deals with origin and growth of human cultures and societies in
Europe and Asia.
It acquaints learners with the beginnings of human evolution, revolutionary changes in
Neolithic age, state, economic and cultural formations across boundaries and societies in
global context.
The objective of this course is to expose the students to the foundations of human civilization, Ancient
Civilizations of Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and south -west Asia( Muslim civilization) and how these
entities have generated and shaped ideas, techniques, models and frameworks in different areas of
human life viz., state system, intellect, urbanism, social structures, religious aspect and art and
architecture.
Learning Outcomes: After completion of this course the student will be able to:
Trace long term changes in the relationship of humans to their landscapes, to resources and tosocial
groups.
Discuss that human history is the consequence of choices made in ecological and biologicalcontexts,
and that these choices are not only forced by external forces like environmental change but are also
enabled by changes in technology and systems of cultural cognition.
Delineate the significance of early food production and the beginning of social complexity.
Analyze the process of state formation and urbanism in the early Bronze Age Civilizations.
To think historically by making connections and comparisons between events and people across periods
of time and geography. Basically, students learn to think about the past from a cross-cultural and
comparative perspective.
Have a fair idea about the different aspects of the ancient history of Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and
Muslim civilization.
Demonstrate a broad and coherent body of knowledge, with depth in the underlying principles and
concepts pertaining to the study of Ancient world History.
Unit I. Evolution of Humankind
a) Evolution of Humankind: Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Cultures
b) Neolithic Revolution: Beginnings of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
c) State Structure, Economy and Religion of Bronze Age Civilizations:
Case Study of Mesopotamia
Unit II. Classical Greece
a) Slave Society in Ancient Greece
b) Agrarian Economy; Urbanization and Trade
c) Polis in Ancient Greece: Athens and Sparta
d) Greek Culture: A Survey
Unit III. Imperial Rome: From Republic to Empire
a) Ancient Rome from the Foundation of Republic to
MarcusAurelius: A Brief Political Survey
b) Agrarian Economy; Urbanization; Trade
c) Religion and Culture in Ancient Rome
d) Crisis of the Roman Empire
Unit IV. Rise of Islam
a) The Tribal Background of Arabs
b) Rise of Sultanates: Brief Survey of Umayyad, Abbasid and
Fatimid
Dynasties
c) Religious Developments: The Origins of Shariah and Sufism
d) Urbanization and Trade
Tutorials
Assignment/Group Discussions/Presentation/Quiz/Book Review/Field
Survey/Map work (Followed by Viva-Voce)
Unit V. a) Identification of Major sites and Geographical location of
EarlyCivilizations.
b) Contrasting Maps of Roman and Islamic Empires
Unit VI. a) A Review of Edward Gibbon’s work, Decline and Fall of
RomanEmpire
b) Watching a Documentary: Islam: The Untold Story by Tom Holland
Suggested Readings:
Burns and Ralph. World Civilizations. Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. I. 2011
V. Gordon Childe, What Happened in History? 2016
G. Clark, World Prehistory: A New Perspective. 1977
B. Fagan, People of the Earth. 1997.
Amar Farooqui, Early Social Formations. 2012
M. I. Finley, The Ancient Economy. 1992.
Jacquetta Hawkes, First Civilizations. Life in Mesopotamia, the IndusValleyand Egypt.
Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq. 1993.
H. W. F. Saggs, The Greatness that was Babylon.
UNESCO Series: History of Mankind, Vols. I - III
R. J. Wenke, Patterns in Prehistory.
G. E. M. Ste Croix, Class Struggles in the Ancient Greek World.
J. D. Bernal, Science in History, Vol. I.
V. Gordon Childe, Social Evolution. 2017
Glyn Daniel, First Civilizations. 1968.
Hauser, A Social History of Art, Vol. I.
Perry Anderson, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism.2013.
Marc Bloch, Cambridge History of Islam, 2 Vols.
Georges Duby, The Early Growth of the European Economy. Fontana, EconomicHistory
of Europe, Vol. I (relevant chapters).
P. K. Hitti, History of the Arabs. 1996
P. Garnsey and Saller, The Roman Empire.
S. Ameer Ali, The Spirit of Islam. 2010
J. Barrowclough, The Medieval Papacy. Encyclopedia of Islam, Ist ed., 4 vols.
M. G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam.1977
