A History of India

India is home to some of the world’s oldest, greatest, and most successful civilizations. Today the South Asian subcontinent contains 20 percent of the world’s population and is a thriving center for global business. Over the next decade, India alone is expected to surpass China in population, making this region one of most significant economic powerhouses in the world.

Beyond the globalization of the 21st century, the region has always played a critical role on the world stage. Over the past 5,000 years, the subcontinent has been home to a rich tapestry of peoples and cultures. Two of the world’s great religions—Hinduism and Buddhism—as well as some of humanity’s most significant wisdom literature all have their origins in South Asia. And with its strategic location and unique geography, the lands east of the Indus River have long been a central hub for trade, migration, and cultural exchange.

Go inside this thrilling story with A History of India, a breathtaking survey of South Asia from its earliest societies along the Indus and Ganges rivers through the modern challenges of the 21st century. Taught by Professor Michael H. Fisher of Oberlin College, these 36 sweeping lectures enable you to understand the epic scope of the subcontinent’s history. Perhaps the most important facet of this history is how diverse the region truly is. Roughly the size of continental Europe, India—along with its neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh—contains a myriad of ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, religions, and cultural mores.

What’s more, the subcontinent has seldom been unified under a single empire or government, making its history complicated and difficult to navigate. With the expert guidance of Professor Fisher, you will:

See how geography and climate shaped the development of its civilizations—sometimes facilitating contact between groups, but often isolating them, which entrenched local cultural and governance systems.
Trace the migration of varied peoples over the mountains from Asia and Europe, as well as in through the coasts, creating areas of dynamic cultural exchange.
Delve into the legacies of the Mauryan Empire, the Mughal Empire, and British colonialism, three of the few governments that ever unified the subcontinent.
Witness the fight for independence from European powers and the partition of the region into the countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in the 20th century.
Review some of the largest challenges and opportunities faced by this area today, from expanding urbanization to the vast need for energy sources to the ongoing, heated political and ideological debates about national identity.

Professor Fisher reveals this complex narrative with skill and compelling insights. By the end of A History of India, you will understand the full scope of the region, its people, and its cultures, across time and today.

Lectures:
TTC8350 S01E01 Earliest History of the Indian Subcontinent
TTC8350 S01E02 Migration and the Adivasi
TTC8350 S01E03 Indus Valley Civilization
TTC8350 S01E04 Indo-European Vedic Culture
TTC8350 S01E05 Caste: Varna and Jati
TTC8350 S01E06 Epic Literature: Ramayana
TTC8350 S01E07 Epic History: Mahabharata
TTC8350 S01E08 Dharma in the Bhagavad Gita
TTC8350 S01E09 The Origins and Rise of Jainism
TTC8350 S01E10 The Origins and Rise of Buddhism
TTC8350 S01E11 The Mauryan Empire
TTC8350 S01E12 Ashoka's Imperial Buddhism
TTC8350 S01E13 Deccani and Southern States
TTC8350 S01E14 Northwest and North India
TTC8350 S01E15 Brahmanic Synthesis
TTC8350 S01E16 Indian Parsis, Jews, and Christians
TTC8350 S01E17 Islam Comes to India
TTC8350 S01E18 Indian Sultans
TTC8350 S01E19 The Early Mughal Empire
TTC8350 S01E20 The Reign of Emperor Akbar
TTC8350 S01E21 Later Mughal Emperors
TTC8350 S01E22 The Mughals and the Marathas
TTC8350 S01E23 Competing European Empires
TTC8350 S01E24 The British East India Company
TTC8350 S01E25 The Issues and Events of 1857
TTC8350 S01E26 The British Raj and Early Nationalism
TTC8350 S01E27 India and Indians in the World
TTC8350 S01E28 Mahatma Gandhi
TTC8350 S01E29 Nationalists Ambedkar, Bose, and Jinnah
TTC8350 S01E30 The Partition of 1947
TTC8350 S01E31 West and East Pakistan
TTC8350 S01E32 The New Pakistan
TTC8350 S01E33 Independent Bangladesh
TTC8350 S01E34 India under Nehru
TTC8350 S01E35 Modernizing India
TTC8350 S01E36 South Asia into the 21st Century