Kharavela, The Satavahanas, Tamil States of the Sangam Age; Administration, Economy, land grants, coinage, trade guilds and urban centres;
Buddhist centres; Sangam literature and culture; Art and architecture.
PYQs: Early State and Society in Eastern India, Deccan and South India [1985-2025]
- Discuss the military activities of Kharavela of Kalinga. Do you think that his reign is significant for military expeditions alone? (1993)
- How do recent archaeological findings and Sangam literary texts enlighten us about the early state and society in South India? (2008)
- Trace the role of guilds and trade organizations in the development of early Indian economy. (2015)
- “Not only does ancient Tamil literature furnish an accurate picture of widely disparate classes, it also describes the social condition of Tamil country as it was.” Discuss. (2015)
- The accurate picture of the complex sociocultural milieu of Peninsular India is presented in the early Sangam literature. Delineate. (2017)
- The discovery of monsoons by Hippalus gave a new direction to Indo-Roman trade during the Satavahana period. Comment. (2019)
- Discuss the salient features of cultural traditions of South India as reflected in Sangam Literature. (2020)
- How far the Sangam literature acts as a window into the social and cultural traditions of ancient South India? (2023)