Source materials for understanding Indian history and culture

Indo-Aryan

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Read the works of Sita Ram Goel, he skews to the right though.

Read both right and left historians if you want a balanced perspective.
Yup that's the plan.
I am going for Irfan Habib for left view but wasn't sure about who to pick from other end of spectrum.

RS Sharma and Bipin Chandra are the authors I have read while preparing for UPSC.
 

Indo-Aryan

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Read the works of Sita Ram Goel, he skews to the right though.

Read both right and left historians if you want a balanced perspective.

Any updated history books?
Lot has changed in past 20 years with new findings.
 

Chimaji Appa

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Oh boy. There are so many great Indologists that have put amazing detail in their work. I would start of with RC Majumdar as he has put so much detail and effort into his works and has been regarded as the greatest in Indology. I have seen his works cited by many western historians like Cynthia Talbot. Baij Nath Puri has also written some amazing books on the Gurjara Pratiharas and the classical Hindu era. Dasharatha Sharma has written the best book on the Chauhan Dynasties of Shakambiri, Ranthambore, Naddula, And Jalore. Jadunath Sarkar published some great works on the Military history of India. R.B. Singh, John McLeod, Cynthia Talbot, BP Sakasena, and John F Richards also have produced several great works. I really enjoyed the last 2 (Sakasena and McLeod’s) work on the Moghul Empire.
 

Indo-Aryan

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Oh boy. There are so many great Indologists that have put amazing detail in their work. I would start of with RC Majumdar as he has put so much detail and effort into his works and has been regarded as the greatest in Indology. I have seen his works cited by many western historians like Cynthia Talbot. Baij Nath Puri has also written some amazing books on the Gurjara Pratiharas and the classical Hindu era. Dasharatha Sharma has written the best book on the Chauhan Dynasties of Shakambiri, Ranthambore, Naddula, And Jalore. Jadunath Sarkar published some great works on the Military history of India. R.B. Singh, John McLeod, Cynthia Talbot, BP Sakasena, and John F Richards also have produced several great works. I really enjoyed the last 2 (Sakasena and McLeod’s) work on the Moghul Empire.
Are there books topics specifics like

1st semester
Ancient India

Indus valley civilization
Vedic age
Mauryan dynasty and administration
Gupta dynasty and administration
 

Indo-Aryan

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Course Structure
×

Semester 1 Courses
  • Early India
  • History of Medieval India
  • Nationalist Movement
  • Modern World-I
Semester 2 Courses
  • Early to Medieval India
  • History of Medieval India
  • Nationalist Movement
  • Modern World-II
Semester 3 Courses
  • Rise & Growth of Historiographic Trad. Part-I
  • Gr.A: History of Ancient J & K upto 1200 A.D.
  • Gr.A: Social History & Economic History
  • Gr.B: History of Ancient J & K
  • Gr.B: Society & Culture of Medieval India
  • Gr.B: Eco. History of Medieval India (1200-1540)
  • Gr.C: History of Modern J & K (1800-1885)
  • Gr.C: Economic History of Modern India till 1947-I
  • Gr.C: Social History of Modern India-I
  • Nationalism & Nat. movement in India & Open Course
Semester 4 Courses
  • Rise & Growth of Historiographic Trad. Part-II
  • Gr.A: History of Ancient J & K upto 1200 A.D.
  • Gr.A: Religion during the Early & Early Med. India
  • Gr.A: Indian Polity
  • Gr.B: History of Ancient J & K
  • Gr.B: Eco.History of Medieval India (1540-1750)
  • Gr.C: History of Modern J & K (1885-1947)
  • Gr.C: Eco. History of Modern India till 1947-II
  • Gr.C: Social History of Modern India-II
  • History & Culture of J & K and Open Course
 

Aaj ka hero

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Yup that's the plan.
I am going for Irfan Habib for left view but wasn't sure about who to pick from other end of spectrum.

RS Sharma and Bipin Chandra are the authors I have read while preparing for UPSC.
Read his book
And seriously how one can read a jihadi book, if I am not wrong this Habib mothe***ck tried to manhandle kerala governor.
They still allow his book,my god.
 

LurkerBaba

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Oh boy. There are so many great Indologists that have put amazing detail in their work. I would start of with RC Majumdar as he has put so much detail and effort into his works and has been regarded as the greatest in Indology. I have seen his works cited by many western historians like Cynthia Talbot. Baij Nath Puri has also written some amazing books on the Gurjara Pratiharas and the classical Hindu era. Dasharatha Sharma has written the best book on the Chauhan Dynasties of Shakambiri, Ranthambore, Naddula, And Jalore. Jadunath Sarkar published some great works on the Military history of India. R.B. Singh, John McLeod, Cynthia Talbot, BP Sakasena, and John F Richards also have produced several great works. I really enjoyed the last 2 (Sakasena and McLeod’s) work on the Moghul Empire.
+1 for RC Majumdar
 

aghamarshana

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Hello friends.
I am planning to have masters in history. I dropped the idea of civil services. So I have picked being History professor as career path in future.

I checked the syllabus and recommended books of History and sadly most of these are written by left leaning people like Irfan Habib.


Do you know any good history books written from nationalist or liberal school of history?
RC Majumdar
JN Sarkar
AL Shrivastava
AS Altekar
Nilakantha Sastri
Srinivasa Iyengar
SR Goel
These are some I've immediately recollected. And if u wish to study ancient a tad deeper do read the works of B.B. Lal and Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao - both were ther finest archaeologists India produced.
 

Indo-Aryan

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RC Majumdar
JN Sarkar
AL Shrivastava
AS Altekar
Nilakantha Sastri
Srinivasa Iyengar
SR Goel
These are some I've immediately recollected. And if u wish to study ancient a tad deeper do read the works of B.B. Lal and Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao - both were ther finest archaeologists India produced.
Thanks.
 

Bhadra

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1)Romil Thapar
2)Satish Chandra
3)A.L Basham
4)S.A Rizvi
5)Irfan Habib
6)K.A Neelakanta Shastry
7)M.N Srinivasan
8)Sumit Sarkar
9)Bipin Chandra

Read these authors to get a vague idea of Indian History based on facts .Rather than on conjecture
Read them, except AL Basham to have conjectures on Indian History and see how the facts can be cooked... :pound:
 

Chimaji Appa

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I find Romila Thapar to be quite hilarious. From claiming that Rajputs are of “Hunnish Stock” to trying to say the they were “impressed by Islamic culture” becuase they used the name Hammira( a sanskritized version of Amir). I have honestly never seen her works cited by any Western historians.
 

Bhadra

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I find Romila Thapar to be quite hilarious. From claiming that Rajputs are of “Hunnish Stock” to trying to say the they were “impressed by Islamic culture” becuase they used the name Hammira( a sanskritized version of Amir). I have honestly never seen her works cited by any Western historians.
She is the czarina amongst the historians of India in all aspects. She perfectly qualifies to be termed as the leftist Court Historian on the Nehru Dynasty from an influential family and with impressive connections.
 

Bhadra

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The only leftist writer who is indispensable for Understanding the British Colonial Rule and exploitation system in India is RP Dutta (Rajani Palm Dutta), once the Secretary of CPGB, His seminal work on India "India Today" is a must-read.

All these guys like Shashi Tharoor etc speak from his book....
 

Chimaji Appa

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She is the czarina amongst the historians of India in all aspects. She perfectly qualifies to be termed as the leftist Court Historian on the Nehru Dynasty from an influential family and with impressive connections.
I have not found any of her work "impressive" nor do I want to read more of her works. Her voices in Somnatha was very disappointing as she tried to whitewash Mahmud's atrocities by claiming that Hindus were in his army. It's sad.
 

Bhadra

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I have not found any of her work "impressive" nor do I want to read more of her works. Her voices in Somnatha was very disappointing as she tried to whitewash Mahmud's atrocities by claiming that Hindus were in his army. It's sad.
If you really want to understand what history is all about and why history is written in a particular way, do read a small book -
What is History - By EH carr (British Left-Liberal)
 

Tibarn

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Hello friends.
I am planning to have masters in history. I dropped the idea of civil services. So I have picked being History professor as career path in future.

I checked the syllabus and recommended books of History and sadly most of these are written by left leaning people like Irfan Habib.


Do you know any good history books written from nationalist or liberal school of history?
This website has a lot of the books by those like Sitraram Goel
 

Gautam Sarkar

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India had the world’s biggest libraries, by far, in addition to the world’s biggest universities. THAT went hand in hand with its temples

 

Bhadra

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India had the world’s biggest libraries, by far, in addition to the world’s biggest universities. THAT went hand in hand with its temples

I have been to this library which is indeed a marvel in itself. It is located in a village some distance away from the national highway in Jaisalmer district. The unfortunate part is that hardly anyone visits this library to utilise the treasure trove.

Baba Harbansh Singh Nirmal was a baba of Nirmal Akhada and more popular in the area for his "Gaushala". he used to give cows free of cost to the villagers nearby and far and thus had immensely contributed to the local economy. He built a huge magnificent structure in the midst of the Thar desert for the sample on top and the Library underground.
 

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