JNU MA History Entrance Exam Syllabus and How to Prepare

Centre for Historical Studies (CHS) Jawaharlal Nehru University is one of the most competitive Centre in the world. The unique style of learning makes it most attractive. To put it simply, any one who is dreaming of part time jobs or UPSC prepareation can’t go for it as they will not find a free time after the course work!

Some of the Recommended Readings.

Ancient History
Medieval India

Modern History

Additional Readings

Indian History: Bibliography Alam, Muzaffar.

 The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the Punjab, 1707- 48. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986.

 Amin, Shahid. “Gandhi as Mahatma: Gorakhpur District, Eastern UP, 1921-2.” In Ranajit Guha, ed., Subaltern Studies III, 1-61. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1984. Guha, Ranajit.

Exam Pattern: ( see pevious question papers in the menu of question papers).  The question paper worth a total of 100 marks will be divided into three sections. Students will be required to answer questions from all sections. Section 1 will carry 30 marks. It will lhave one comprehension passage in English and candidates will be required to answer six questions based on the given passage. Section 2 will carry 20 marks. It will have 5 questions covering broad areas of the social sciences and other topical issues of current concern. Candidates will be required to answer 1 question from this section. Section 3 will carry 50 marks. It will have 12 questions covering specific periods/areas of history and candidates will be required to attempt 2 questions from this section.

More Readings

Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983. Habib, Irfan. The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707. Madras: Asia Publishing House, 1963. Essays in Indian history: towards a Marxist perception, New Delhi : Tulika, 1995. Jalal, Ayesha. Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Nandy, Ashis. The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983. Chandra, Bipan. Nationalism and colonialism in modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1981. Chandra, Bipan. India’s struggle for independence, 1857-1947. New Delhi, India: Viking, 1988. Gallagher, John, Johnson, Gordon, Seal, Anil, eds. Locality, province, and nation: essays on Indian politics 1870 to 1940. Cambridge: University Press, 1973. reprinted from modern Asian studies 1973. Hasan, Mushirul. Nationalism and communal politics in India, 1885-1930. New Delhi: Manohar Publications 1994. India’s Partition: Process, Strategy and Mobilization, editor Mushirul Hasan. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993. Jalal, Ayesha. The sole spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League, and the demand for Pakistan. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Jalal, Ayesha and Sugata Bose. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, and Political Economy. London: Routledge, 1998. Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi and Romila Thapar editors. Situating Indian History, for Sarvapalli Gopal. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986. Barbara Metcalf and Tom Metcalf: A New History of India Burton Stein: A History of India Delhi, OUP, 2003 Ramachandra Guha; India After Gandhi, 2007 NCERT History Text Books, Class 10, 11,