Syllabus of History class XI
I: Early Societies
1. From the Beginning of Time
Focus: Africa, Europe till 15000 BC
(a) Views on the origin of human beings.
(b) Early societies.
Debate on present-day hunter-gatherer societies.
2. Early Cities
Focus: Iraq, 3rd millennium BC
(a) Growth of towns.
(b) Nature of early urban societies.
Debate on uses of writing
II: Empires
3. An Empire across Three Continents
Focus: Roman Empire, 27 BC to AD 600.
(a) Political evolution
(b) Economic expansion
(c) Religion
(d) Late Antiquity.
Debate on the institution of slavery.
4. Central Islamic Lands
Focus: 7th to 12th centuries.
(a) Polity
(b) Economy
(c) Culture.
Debate on the nature of the crusades.
5. Nomadic Empires
Focus: the Mongol, 13th to 14th century
(a) The nature of nomadism.
(b) Formation of empires.
(c) Conquests and relations with other states.
Debate on nomadic societies and state formation.
III: Changing Traditions
6. Three Orders
Focus: Western Europe, 9th-16th century
(a) Feudal society and economy.
(b) Formation of states.
(c) Church and society.
Debate on decline of feudalism.
7. Changing Cultural Traditions
Focus on Europe, 14th to 17th century.
(a) New ideas and new trends in literature and arts.
(b) Relationship with earlier ideas
(c) The contribution of West Asia.
Debate: Is the notion ‘European ‘Renaissance’ valid?
8. Confrontation of Cultures
Focus on the Americas, 15th to 18th century.
(a) European voyages of exploration.
(b) Search for gold; enslavement, raids, extermination.
(c) Indigenous peoples and cultures – the Arawaks, the Aztecs, the Incas.
(d) The history of displacements.
Debate on the slave trade.
IV: Paths to Modernisation
9. Displacing Indigenous Peoples
Focus on North America and Australia, 18th-20th century.
(a) European colonists in North America and Australia.
(b) Formation of white settler societies.
(c) Displacement and repression of local people.Debate on the impact of European settlement on indigenous populations.
10. The Industrial Revolution
Focus on England, 18th and 19th century.
(a) Innovations and technological change.
(b) Patterns of growth.
(c) Emergence of a working class.
Debate: Was there an Industrial Revolution?
11. Paths to Modernization
Focus on East Asia. Late 19th and 20th century.
(a) Militarization and economic growth in Japan.
(b) China and the Communist alternative.
Debate on the meaning of Modernisation.