DU BA History 2nd Semester Notes PDF Download (BA Hons & BA Programme)
Welcome to the (Delhi University) DU BA History 2nd Semester Notes PDF section.
Here you can access complete unit-wise notes for both BA (Hons) History and BA Programme History, strictly following the official DU syllabus.
These notes are available in PDF format, making it easy to study for exams, assignments, and revisions.
🏛️ B.A. (Hons) History – 2nd Semester Notes
📘 Core Course III: History of India – II
Unit I: Introducing the early historical: Sources (600 BCE onwards) and historiographical trends
Unit II: Changing political formations (c. 600 BCE to c. 300 CE)
[a] The mahajanapadas; monarchies and ganas/sanghas
[b] The Mauryan empire: political structure; the nature of dhamma
[c] Post-Mauryan polities with special reference to the Kushanas and the Satavahanas
[d] Tamilakam
Unit III: Economy and society (c. 600 BCE to c. 300 CE)
[a] Expansion of agrarian economy and production relations
[b] Urban growth: north India, central India, the Deccan and south India; craft production; trade interactions across India, Asia and beyond
[c] Social stratification: class; varna; jati; untouchability; gender; marriage and property relations
Unit IV: Towards early medieval India (c. 4th century to 750 CE)
[a] Introducing the early medieval: changing perspectives
[b] The nature of polities: the Gupta Empire and its contemporaries; post-Gupta polities — Pallavas, Chalukyas and Vardhanas
[c] Agrarian expansion; land grants; changing production relations; graded land rights and peasantry
[d] Urban patterns; trade and currency
[e] Varna; the proliferation of jatis; changing norms of marriage and inheritance
Unit V: Religion, philosophy and society (c. 600 BCE – 750 CE)
[a] Shramanic traditions with special reference to Buddhism and Jainism
[b] Consolidation of the Brahmanical tradition
[c] Puranic Hinduism
Unit VI: Cultural developments (c. 600 BCE – 750 CE)
[a] A brief survey of creative literature; scientific and technical treatises
[b] Art and architecture; forms of patronage
📗 Core Course IV: Social Formations and Cultural Patterns of the Ancient and Medieval World – II
Unit 1: Ancient Greece and Rome
[a] Evolution of the ‘polis’ and changing political formations in ancient Greece: Athens and Sparta.
[b] Rome from Republic to Principate (c. 500 BCE – 200 CE)
i) Conflict of the Orders: Imperial expansion and social tensions in the Republic
ii) The Augustan experiment – the Principate and the crisis in the Empire.
[c] Slavery in the Ancient Greek and Roman world (emergence, expansion, role and features in Greek society; its role in Roman economy and society)
[d] Culture and religion in Ancient Greece and Rome
Unit 2: Feudal societies in medieval Europe (8th – 14th centuries)
[a] The emergence of medieval monarchies, aristocracies and nobilities
[b] Growth of seigneurial authority: a dependent peasantry and transitions from Colonate to serfdom
[c] Early feudal state and the Church
[d] Cultural Patterns in medieval Europe
[e] Transitions in the feudal economy from 11th – 14th centuries
i) Agriculture: changes in serfdom and seigneurie
ii) Growth of trade and towns and their impact
iii) Onset of ‘feudal crisis’ in 13th and 14th centuries
Unit 3: Early Islamic Societies in West Asia: Transition from tribe to state
[a] Pre-Islamic tribal society in Arabia
[b] The Prophet and the Ummah
[c] State formation: The Caliphate – Rashidun, Ummayads and early Abbasids (c. 632 CE to c. 800 CE)
[d] Cultural transformations: Adab, literature and the urban tradition
📙 GE Course III: Delhi through the Ages – From Colonial to Contemporary Times
Unit I: Delhi before 1857: Company Raj, Mughal Court and Literary Culture
Unit II: 1857 in Delhi: Rebel violence and British re-conquest
Unit III: Making of New Delhi: Imperial ideology and Urban Morphology
Unit IV: Delhi in 1947: Partition and its Aftermath
Unit V: Making of Contemporary Delhi: Displacement and Resettlement
Unit VI: Capital Culture: Public Spaces and Socialities
📕 GE Course IV: The World After 1945
Unit I: A New World Order
a. De-colonisation and after (Focus on Algeria and Indonesia)
b. Politics of Cold War: Super Power Rivalries (Focus on Korea and Vietnam)
c. United Kingdom: The Challenge of the Welfare State
d. South Africa: From Apartheid to Reconciliation
Unit II: Social Movements
a. Environmental disasters and Struggles: Chipko Movement; Struggles for the Amazon; Bhopal; Chernobyl
b. Student Movements: Paris 1968; Beijing 1989
c. Civil Rights Movement: Martin Luther King and Malcom X
d. Movements for Democracy: The Arab Spring
e. Women’s Movements: Issues and Debates (focus on Black feminism and Feminism in the Islamic World)
Unit III: A Global Culture
a. Spectator Sports
b. Cinema and Digital Media
c. Music: Cross Cultural Influences
d. Food and Globalisation
📖 GE Course V: History and Culture – Representations in Texts, Objects & Performance
Unit I: Kings, bhands and politicians
Unit II: Perceiving cultures and negotiating identities
Unit III: Performing Devotion: rituals, songs & processions
Unit IV: Storytelling with objects: Masks, puppets & scrolls
🎓 B.A. History Programme – 2nd Semester Notes
📔 Core Course II: History of India, c. 300 to 1200
Unit I: Survey of the sources
Unit II: The Guptas and Vakatakas: State and administration, economy, society, religion, literature, art
Unit III: Changes in the post-Gupta period, characterizing early medieval
Unit IV: Vardhanas, Pallavas and Chalukyas: political and cultural developments
Unit V: Rashtrakutas, Palas and Pratiharas: The tripartite struggle
Unit VI: Emergence of Rajput states in Northern India: Socio-economic foundations
Unit VII: The Cholas: State and administration, economy and culture
Unit VIII: The Arabs, the Ghaznavids in the northwest, trans-regional exchange
📒 Communicating Culture – Tellings, Representations and Leisure
Unit I: Tellings: Myths, tales and folklore
Unit II: Performance as communication: Theatre, puppetry and music
Unit III: Processions as display: Yatra, barat & julus
Unit IV: Sporting: Mind, body & nation
💾 DU BA History 2nd Semester Notes – Download Table
| Course Type | Paper Title | Download Link |
| BA (Hons) History | Core Course III: History of India – II | [Download PDF] |
| BA (Hons) History | Core Course IV: Social Formations and Cultural Patterns of the Ancient and Medieval World – II | [Download PDF] |
| BA (Hons) History | GE Course III: Delhi through the Ages – From Colonial to Contemporary Times | [Download PDF] |
| BA (Hons) History | GE Course IV: The World After 1945 | [Download PDF] |
| BA (Hons) History | GE Course V: History and Culture – Representations in Texts, Objects & Performance | [Download PDF] |
| BA Programme History | Core Course II: History of India, c. 300 to 1200 | [Download PDF] |
| BA Programme History | Communicating Culture: Tellings, Representations and Leisure | [Download PDF] |
📚 Notes for Students
- Fully aligned with Delhi University’s updated syllabus
- Ideal for exam preparation, assignments, and revision
- Covers all units exactly as per DU syllabus
Available for free PDF download for offline study
