Culture and history of ancient India

The course aims to give the basis for understanding and studying Ancient India. It covers a time span from 1500 B.-C to 500 A.D. with particular reference to the north-western Vedic culture and to the influence of neighbouring countries. Alongside a presentation of the most salient turning points, we will focus above all on the sources for approaching the study of this complex area in order to provide students with the tools to deal with it. The focus will therefore be on linguistic, literary, epigraphic and, albeit to a lesser extent, archaeological data. The course includes a monographic section that varies from year to year and that for the year 2022-23 will be entitled: Prophesying the Past: Yugapūraṇa and the Brahmanical Vision of the Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian Kingdoms. No prior proficiency in Indian languages is necessary: the texts will be read and discussed through translations by the lecturer. The basic text of the course will be Thapar, Romila, 2003 The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. Other material will be provided in class.

Master’s degree Programme “Ancient Egypt and Western Asia: archaeology, history and languages” (AEWA)