A strong research proposal (synopsis) is central to PhD admission — both for the written screening most universities conduct and for the viva that follows. This section covers the standard structure, gives practical drafting guidance for History-specific proposals, and provides two complete model proposals as templates you can adapt.
| Section | Purpose | Typical Length |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Concise, specific, indicating scope (period, region, theme) | One line |
| Introduction / Background | Situates the topic, establishes its historical and historiographical context | 300–500 words |
| Statement of the Problem | Precisely defines the research question or gap being addressed | 150–250 words |
| Review of Literature | Surveys existing scholarship, identifies the specific gap the proposed research fills | 500–1000 words |
| Objectives | 3–5 clear, specific, achievable research objectives | Bullet list |
| Research Questions / Hypotheses | Specific questions the research will answer (History proposals more often use research questions than formal hypotheses) | 3–5 questions |
| Sources and Methodology | Primary sources to be consulted, archives/repositories, method of analysis (source criticism, comparative method, etc.) | 300–500 words |
| Proposed Chapterisation | Chapter-by-chapter outline showing logical development of the argument | List with brief descriptions |
| Significance of the Study | Why the research matters — historiographical, methodological, or contemporary relevance | 150–250 words |
| Tentative Timeline | Realistic phase-wise plan (archival work, writing, revision) across the PhD duration | Table format |
| Select Bibliography | Key primary and secondary sources already identified | 15–30 entries |
Statement of the Problem: Colonial district gazetteers, exemplified by William Logan's Malabar Manual, are frequently used by historians as straightforward empirical sources for regional history. This proposal instead examines the Manual as an active instrument of colonial governance — investigating how its classificatory treatment of caste and land tenure shaped, rather than merely recorded, subsequent administrative and revenue policy in Malabar.
Objectives: (1) To analyse the Manual's classificatory framework for caste and tenure categories; (2) To trace how these categories were subsequently operationalised in revenue settlement and administrative practice; (3) To assess continuities and divergences between the Manual's categories and pre-colonial social/tenurial arrangements as reconstructed from other sources.
Sources and Methodology: Primary analysis of the Malabar Manual itself; comparison with Mysore/Madras Presidency revenue records (Tamil Nadu State Archives); triangulation with temple and local administrative records where available; source-critical method attentive to colonial "investigative modalities" (following Bernard Cohn's framework).
Significance: Contributes to the historiography of colonial knowledge-production and to regional Malabar social history, offering a methodological model for critically reading similar gazetteers for other regions.
Statement of the Problem: Existing scholarship on the 1921 Mappila Rebellion has focused predominantly on its immediate causes (Khilafat agitation) and its violent episodes. This proposal instead examines the longer-term agrarian relations — tenancy arrangements, rent disputes, and landlord-tenant relations — in the decades before and after 1921, situating the rebellion within a longer agrarian history rather than treating it as an isolated communal/political event.
Objectives: (1) To reconstruct patterns of tenancy and rent in Malabar in the pre-1921 decades using revenue and settlement records; (2) To examine how the Malabar Tenancy Act (1930) responded to grievances documented before 1921; (3) To assess the extent to which agrarian, as opposed to purely religious/political, grievances shaped local participation in the rebellion.
Sources and Methodology: Colonial revenue settlement reports; the Malabar Tenancy Committee Report; district administrative correspondence; supplementary use of independently authored regional historical accounts of the rebellion as secondary interpretive material, read critically alongside official records.
Significance: Offers a corrective, agrarian-history-centred reading of a heavily communally-framed historical event, contributing to both Malabar regional history and the broader historiography of peasant movements in colonial India.
| Phase | Duration | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 12 months | Coursework (where applicable); comprehensive literature review; archival survey and permissions; refine research questions |
| Year 2 | 12 months | Primary archival research; data/source collection; preliminary analysis; present at conferences for feedback |
| Year 3 | 12 months | Continued analysis; first full draft of chapters; advisor review cycles |
| Year 4 | 12 months | Revision; completion of remaining chapters; final draft; submission and viva preparation |
