This course surveys the history, culture and religion of the Indian Subcontinent, starting with the archaeological evidence from the Indus Valley Civilization in the third millennium B.C.E. and ending with the period preceding the cultural and political ascendancy of Islam in the thirteenth century. Lectures, readings and podcasts and videos together with section discussions will introduce students to the geographic, ethnic and linguistic diversity of South Asia, outline shifting political formations (including the emergence of the subcontinent's great empires), and engage with India's religious, literary, artistic and philosophical movements. This multifaceted history has fashioned India into a uniquely rich and endlessly fascinating world civilization, which—despite many ruptures and innovations—persists with remarkable continuity to the present day.