CHSE Odisha Elective History study plan

Build a dated timeline from the Palaeolithic to the early historic period in India, marking the Stone Age sequence, the Indus Valley urban phase, the Vedic period, and the rise of the mahajanapadas.

Label a blank outline map of the subcontinent with key prehistoric and early historic sites (Mehrgarh, Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal, Dholavira, Inamgaon, Hastinapur, Rajgir, Pataliputra) and write one identifying fact for each.

Explain in writing the main features of Harappan urbanism - town planning, drainage, craft specialisation, seals, weights and measures, and long-distance trade - and list two debated points about its decline.

Compare the material and textual evidence for the Vedic period: identify which claims rest on the Rigveda, which on archaeology, and which on later epics and Puranas.

Summarise the main historiographical positions on the Indus script and on Aryan migration/inhabitation debates, stating what evidence each side uses without taking a side.

Trace the sequence of Magadhan expansion and explain the political and economic conditions that produced the Mauryan state.

Outline Ashoka's dhamma policy using edict content, and distinguish what the edicts actually say from later Buddhist tradition about him.

Describe the administrative structure of the Mauryan empire - provinces, officials, espionage, taxation - and evaluate the reliability of the Arthashastra and Megasthenes as sources.

Explain the political fragmentation after the Mauryas: the Shunga, Kushana, and Satavahana phases, and the early Deccan and Kalinga connections.

Analyse the Gupta period in terms of land grants, decentralisation, temple and art patronage, and the debate over whether it was a 'golden age'.

Identify the main features of post-Gupta regional kingdoms up to c. 1200 CE, including the Pallavas, Chalukyas, Cholas, and Rajputs, and note one source type for each.

Construct a chronological framework for Odisha from the Stone Age through the Kalinga war to the Bhaumakara and Somavamsi periods.

Explain the historical significance of the Kalinga war and assess how Ashoka's edicts at Dhauli and Jaugada are used as evidence.

Describe the Bhaumakara dynasty's rule, its significance for women rulers, and its religious patronage, citing inscriptional evidence.

Outline the Somavamsi and early Ganga periods, distinguishing their administrative and temple-building contributions.

Locate and describe the major early Odishan Buddhist and Jain sites, and explain what they reveal about maritime and religious networks.

Explain the structure and significance of the Ganga dynasty in Odisha, including the construction of the Jagannatha temple and the Sun temple at Konark.

Describe the administrative units, land revenue arrangements, and temple economy of medieval Odisha.

Analyse the rise of the Delhi Sultanate: the Ghurid conquests, the roles of the Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, and Lodi dynasties, and the nature of their administration.

Compare the market reforms of Alauddin Khalji and the token currency and taxation experiments of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, and evaluate the outcomes.

Explain the Vijayanagara and Bahmani kingdoms as southern and Deccan powers, and identify the main sources for each.

Analyse Mughal consolidation from Babur to Aurangzeb: military tactics, the mansabdari and jagirdari systems, and revenue administration under Todar Mal.

Evaluate Akbar's religious and political policies, including sulh-i kul and the Din-i Ilahi, and distinguish contemporary from later accounts.

Explain the Maratha rise under Shivaji and the later Peshwa expansion, and assess Maratha relations with Odisha and the Bengal frontier.

Trace the decline of Mughal central authority and the emergence of successor states, relating this to the political situation in eighteenth-century Odisha.

Describe the major medieval Odishan literary, temple, and art developments and identify one inscription or text supporting each claim.

Explain the phases of British territorial expansion, from the Battle of Plassey to the doctrine of lapse, and the role of the Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari, and Mahalwari systems.

Analyse the economic impact of colonial rule: deindustrialisation, commercialisation of agriculture, famines, and the drain-of-wealth debate.

Describe the major social and religious reform movements and their leaders, and evaluate the reform versus revival debate.

Trace the revolt of 1857: causes, spread, leadership, and consequences for Crown rule.

Outline the foundation and moderate phase of the Indian National Congress, including the economic critique of colonialism and the rise of extremism.

Explain the Gandhian mass movements - non-cooperation, civil disobedience, and quit India - including their causes, methods, and limits.

Compare the positions of Gandhi, Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Ambedkar on key questions of freedom and social justice.

Describe the constitutional developments from the Morley-Minto reforms to the Government of India Act 1935 and the Cabinet Mission.

Trace the modern Odishan story: the creation of a separate province in 1936, the merger of princely states, and the formation of the state in 1950.

Identify the main strands of Odishan nationalism and social reform, and name at least three figures with their contributions.

Summarise the major developments of post-independence India: integration of princely states, linguistic reorganisation, land reform, the Green Revolution, and economic liberalisation.

Explain India's foreign policy milestones, including non-alignment, the 1962 and 1971 wars, and the nuclear tests, and identify their significance.

Outline the major world revolutions - American, French, Russian, and Chinese - and the causes and consequences of each.

Describe twentieth-century world developments: the two World Wars, the Cold War, decolonisation, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Classify historical sources into primary and secondary, and explain the difference between archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic, literary, and archival evidence.

Evaluate competing historiographical approaches - colonial, nationalist, Marxist, subaltern, and feminist - and apply one to a topic already studied.