UGC NET History Syllabus (Code 06) — Full Official Syllabus

UGC NET History Syllabus (Code 06) — Full Official Syllabus

The complete official UGC NET History syllabus for Code 06, unit by unit, verbatim — every topic the paper can ask from, in one place, not a scanned PDF.

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Unit 1Negotiating the Sources
  • Archaeological sources: exploration, excavation, epigraphy, numismatics
  • Dating of archaeological sites
  • Literary sources: indigenous (primary/secondary), religious & secular texts, myths, legends
  • Foreign accounts: Greek, Chinese, Arabic
  • Neolithic & Chalcolithic: settlement, tools, exchange
  • Indus/Harappan Civilization: origin, extent, sites, society, polity, trade, decline — first urbanization
  • Vedic & later Vedic: Aryan debate, state structure, varna system, religious ideas
  • Iron technology; South Indian megaliths
  • Mahajanapadas: monarchies & republics; second urbanization (6th c. BCE)
  • Heterodox sects: Jainism, Buddhism, Ajivikas
Get the full Ancient India notes for this unit →
Unit 2From State to Empire
  • Rise of Magadha; Alexander's invasion & effects
  • Mauryan expansion, polity, society, economy
  • Asoka's Dhamma; decline of the Mauryan empire
  • Mauryan art & architecture; Asokan edicts (language, script)
  • Post-Mauryan powers: Indo-Greeks, Sungas, Satavahanas, Kushanas, Saka-Kshatrapas
  • Sangam literature: polity & society in South India
  • Trade 2nd c. BCE–3rd c. CE; trade with Rome
  • Mahayana Buddhism; Kharavela & Jainism
  • Post-Mauryan art: Gandhara, Mathura, Amaravati schools
  • Gupta-Vakataka age: polity, agrarian economy, land grants, land revenue
  • Gupta coins; beginning of temple architecture; Puranic Hinduism
  • Sanskrit language & literature; science, astronomy, mathematics, medicine
  • Harsha: administration & religion; Salankayanas, Vishnukundins in Andhra
Get the full Ancient India notes for this unit →
Unit 3The Emergence of Regional Kingdoms
  • Deccan: Gangas, Kadambas, Chalukyas (W & E), Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Hoysalas, Yadavas
  • South India: Pallavas, Ceras, Colas, Pandyas
  • East India: Palas, Senas of Bengal; Varmans of Kamarupa; Bhaumakaras, Somavamsis of Odisha
  • West India: Maitrakas of Vallabhi; Chalukyas of Gujarat
  • North India: Gurjara-Pratiharas, Kalacuri-Chedis, Gahadavalas, Paramaras
  • Early medieval traits: administration, political structure, legitimation of kingship
  • Agrarian economy: land grants, graded land rights, peasantry, water resources, taxation, currency
  • Trade & urbanization: routes, ports, merchandise, guilds; trade with Southeast Asia
  • Brahminical religions: Vaishnavism, Shaivism; temples, patronage, regional styles
  • Dana, Tirtha, Bhakti; Tamil Bhakti — Shankara, Madhava, Ramanujacharya
  • Society: Varna-Jati proliferation; women's position, marriage, property; tribes & untouchability
  • Education: agraharas, mathas, mahaviharas; growth of regional languages
  • State-formation debates: feudal / segmentary / integrative models
  • Arab contacts: Suleiman, Ghaznavid conquests, Alberuni
Get the full Ancient India notes for this unit →
Unit 4Sources of Medieval Indian History
  • Archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic sources; monuments; chronicles
  • Literary sources: Persian, Sanskrit, regional languages
  • Daftar Khannas: Firmans, Bahis/Pothis, Akhbarat
  • Foreign travellers' accounts: Persian, Arabic
  • Delhi Sultanate: Ghorids, Turks, Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids, Lodis; decline
  • Mughal foundation: Babur, Humayun, the Suris
  • Mughal expansion Akbar–Aurangzeb; decline; later Mughals
  • Vijayanagara & Bahmanis; Deccan Sultanates: Bijapur, Golkonda, Bidar, Berar, Ahmadnagar
  • Eastern Gangas; Suryavamshi Gajapatis
  • Rise of the Marathas: Shivaji's Swaraj; Peshwa expansion
  • Mughal-Maratha relations; Maratha Confederacy; causes of decline
Get the full Medieval India notes for this unit →
Unit 5Administration & Economy
  • Sultanate administration: theocratic state; central/provincial/local; succession law
  • Sher Shah's reforms; Mughal administration: Mansabdari, Jagirdari
  • Deccan systems: Vijayanagara polity, Bahamani administration, Maratha Asta Pradhan
  • Frontier policies; inter-state relations (Sultanate & Mughals)
  • Agriculture & irrigation; village economy; peasantry; land grants
  • Urbanization & demography
  • Industries: cotton textiles, handicrafts, agro-based; factories & technology
  • Trade: state policy, internal/external trade, European trade, ports
  • Hundi & insurance; state income/expenditure; currency & mint
  • Famines & peasant revolts
Get the full Medieval India notes for this unit →
Unit 6Society and Culture
  • Social organisation & structure
  • Sufis: orders, beliefs, leading saints, social synchronization
  • Bhakti movement: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism; North & South saints; women saints
  • Sikh movement: Guru Nanak, Adi Granth, Khalsa
  • Social classes: ruling class, Ulemas, mercantile/professional classes, Rajput society
  • Rural society: chieftains, village officials, cultivators, artisans
  • Women's position: Zanana system, Devadasi system
  • Education: centres, curriculum, Madarasa education
  • Painting schools: Mughal, Rajasthani, Pahari, Garhwali; development of music
  • Art & architecture: Indo-Islamic, Mughal, regional styles, Mughal gardens, Maratha forts
Get the full Medieval India notes for this unit →
Unit 7Sources of Modern Indian History
  • Archival materials, biographies, memoirs, newspapers, oral evidence, coins
  • European traders 16th–18th c.: Portuguese, Dutch, French, British
  • Establishment & expansion of British dominion
  • British relations: Bengal, Oudh, Hyderabad, Mysore, Carnatic, Punjab
  • Revolt of 1857: causes, nature, impact
  • Company & Crown administration (1773–1858)
  • Paramountcy, civil service, judiciary, police, army; princely states policy
  • Local self-government; constitutional changes 1909–1935
Get the full Modern India notes for this unit →
Unit 8Colonial Economy
  • Changing trade: composition, volume, direction
  • Agriculture: commercialization, land rights/settlements, rural debt, irrigation
  • Decline of industries: artisans, de-urbanisation, economic drain, world wars
  • British industrial policy; factory legislation; labour & trade unions
  • Monetary policy, banking, currency; railways, roads, post & telegraph
  • New urban centres; town planning; famines, epidemics; tribal & peasant movements
  • Contact with Christianity: missions, critique of Indian practices
  • New education policy; English language; science, health & medicine
  • Indian Renaissance: socio-religious reforms; middle class; caste associations
  • Women's question: nationalist discourse, organisations, British legislation
  • Printing press & public opinion; modernisation of languages, painting, music
Get the full Modern India notes for this unit →
Unit 9Rise of Indian Nationalism
  • Social & economic basis of nationalism
  • INC birth & ideology 1885–1920: early nationalists, assertive nationalists, revolutionaries
  • Swadeshi & Swaraj
  • Gandhian mass movements; Subhas Bose & INA; middle-class & women's role
  • Left-wing politics; depressed class movement; communal politics; Muslim League
  • Towards independence & partition
  • Post-independence: integration of princely states — Kashmir, Hyderabad, Junagarh
  • Ambedkar & the Constitution; bureaucracy; new education policy
  • Economic policies & planning; development, displacement, tribal issues
  • Linguistic reorganisation of states; Centre-State relations
  • Foreign policy: Panchsheel; Emergency; liberalisation & globalisation
Get the full Modern India notes for this unit →
Unit 10Historical Method, Research, Methodology, and Historiography
  • Scope, importance, objectivity & bias in history
  • Heuristics, criticism, synthesis; history as science/art/social science
  • Causation & imagination; regional history; recent trends
  • Research methodology: hypothesis, sources, data collection (primary/secondary)
  • Recent historiography; topic selection; notes, references, footnotes, bibliography
  • Plagiarism & intellectual dishonesty
  • Beginnings of historical writing: Greek, Roman, Church; Renaissance impact
  • Von Ranke's revolution; Marxist philosophy of history
  • Spengler's cyclical theory; Toynbee's Challenge-Response; post-modernism
Get the full Historiography notes for this unit →

Concepts, Ideas and Terms

Part of the official syllabus itself — terms the paper can draw on across any unit, not tied to one.

What this covers

  • All ten units of the official UGC NET History syllabus, exactly as notified — real text, not a PDF scan.
  • Use it as a checklist: tick a topic only once you can answer a PYQ on it.
  • Every chapter of the Itihaaskar notes is mapped back to these units.
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