Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Emancipatory Movements in Modern India Syllabus - Mumbai University 2026

Module 1: Ideas and Early Reform

• a Conceptual Foundations- Social equity, political rights, and economic justice
• b Colonial Society- Caste hierarchy; social mobility and modern education
• c Early Reformers – Raja Rammohan Roy; Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar; Jyotirao Govindrao Phule; Atmaram Pandurang Tarkhadkar; V. R. Shinde; Sree Narayana Guru; E. V. Ramasamy Periyar; Syed Ahmad Khan.

Module 2: Caste, Tribe and Marginal Movements

• a Anti-Caste Movements- Dr B. R. Ambedkar and Shau Maharaj
• b Tribal and Nomadic Movements: Adivasi and Nomadic struggles and identity assertion.
• c Social Mobilisation: Legal reforms and constitutional safeguards.

Module 3: Gender, Religion and Queer Movements

• a Women’s Movements: Savitribai Phule, Tarabai Shinde, R. D. Karve and Maharshi Karve; issues and challenges of Dalit, Adivasi and Nomadic women.
• b Religious Reform: Reforms in Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Buddhist
• c Queer Rights Movement: Gender identity; Section 377 and pride movements

Module 4: Nation, State and Contemporary Equity

• a National Movement: Gandhian equality; peasant struggles and labour movements.
• b Constitutional Justice: Fundamental rights; reservation and affirmative action
• c Contemporary Issues: Globalisation; new inequalities, history of Caste census and Social Equity

Text Books

• Omvedt, G. (1994). Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
• O’Hanlon, R. (1985). Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Sarkar, S. (1983). Modern India: 1885–1947. Delhi: Macmillan.
• Chandra, B., Mukherjee, A., & Mukherjee, M. (2008). India’s Struggle for Independence (Revised ed.). New Delhi: Penguin Books.
• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004). From Plassey to Partition and After: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman.

Reference Books

• Ambedkar, B. R. (2014). Annihilation of caste. New Delhi: Navayana.
• Omvedt, G. (1994). Dalits and the democratic revolution: Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit movement in colonial India. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
• Omvedt, G. (1995). Dalit visions: The anti-caste movement and the construction of an Indian identity. Hyderabad: Orient Longman.
• Guru, G. (2009). Humiliation: Claims and contexts. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Ilaiah, K. (2002). Why I am not a Hindu: A Sudra critique of Hindutva philosophy, culture and political economy. Calcutta: Samya.
• Chakravarti, U. (2003). Gendering caste: Through a feminist lens. Calcutta: Stree.
• Hardiman, D. (1987). The coming of the Devi: Adivasi assertion in western India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Hardiman, D. (1996). Feeding the Baniya: Peasants and usurers in western India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Sarkar, S. (1983). Modern India: 1885–1947. New Delhi: Macmillan.
• Chatterjee, P. (1993). The nation and its fragments: Colonial and postcolonial histories. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Guha, R. (1983). Elementary aspects of peasant insurgency in colonial India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Guha, R. (Ed.). (1982). Subaltern studies I: Writings on South Asian history and society. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Desai, A. R. (1966). Social background of Indian nationalism. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.
• Shah, G. (2002). Social movements and the state. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
• Shah, G., Mander, H., Thorat, S., Deshpande, S., & Baviskar, A. (2006). Untouchability in rural India. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
• Sen, A. (2005). The argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian history, culture and identity. London: Penguin Books.
• Kumar, R. (1993). The history of doing: An illustrated account of movements for women’s rights and feminism in India 1800–1990. New Delhi: Kali for Women.
• Yadav, Y. (1999). Understanding political change in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Thorat, S., & Newman, K. (2010). Blocked by Caste: Economic Discrimination in Modern India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Narrain, A., & Gupta, A. (Eds.). (2011). Law Like Love: Queer Perspectives on Law. New Delhi: Yoda Press.
• Lelyveld, D. (1978). Aligarh’s First Generation: Muslim Solidarity in British India. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Guha, R. (1983). Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.