How I help my students understand the links between complex medieval history and today’s India

What does it mean to teach the history of medieval India in our times? Working at an undergraduate college has helped me see just how complex this endeavour can be. When students come to the classroom, their understanding of Indian history is shaped primarily by what they have learned in school textbooks – but also by popular films and social media.

Their attitudes to medieval India often reveal how several faultlines in today’s India have developed.

Medieval India roughly corresponds to the period between the eighth century CE and the 18th century CE. It saw major changes in religion, political life, law, governance, food and everyday life. It is one of the most debated periods of Indian history, both by historians and among politicised citizens.

As someone new to teaching undergraduate students fresh out of school, my challenge is to introduce the idea that the period is more intricate and multi-layered than it is often made out to be.

The idea of “medieval India” is the outcome of history being classified into three periods (ancient and modern, being the others) by historians who uncritically adopted this categorisation from the scholars of European history.

I began the course by introducing what constitutes the “medieval” in India. The...

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