This course looks at the second millennium of the common era. This period in time saw the rise of large empires within South Asia, which meant a centralised state, systems of revenue and trade. India saw the consolidation of a caste society and the rise of Islam. The Indic and the Islamic also began to emerge in art and architecture, music and dance. We will examine key historiographical debates around the medieval period, and common misunderstandings and stereotypes about this period of transformation.