Indian and South Asian history books
Indian and South Asian history books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
The Agrarian System of Mughal India (1526-1707)
Irfan HabibA foundational economic study of land revenue and rural society under the Mughal empire, drawing on administrative records.
The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760
Richard Maxwell EatonTraces how settlement and conversion spread in Bengal through the frontier, questioning top-down accounts of Islamization.
The Discovery of India
Jawaharlal NehruWritten in prison, it is a nationalist reflection on India's past and an early attempt to present the country as a single civilization.
Hind Swaraj
Mohandas Karamchand GandhiA short polemical text in dialogue form that sets out Gandhi's critique of modern industrial civilization and of British rule.
Annihilation of Caste
B. R. AmbedkarA critique of Hindu caste society and its religious justifications, written as a speech that was never delivered as written.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
More indian and south asian history books
- Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India
Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial IndiaRanajit Guha - Provincializing Europe
Provincializing EuropeDipesh Chakrabarty - The Idea of India
The Idea of IndiaSunil Khilnani - India After Gandhi
India After GandhiRamachandra Guha - The Other Side of Silence
The Other Side of SilenceUrvashi Butalia - The Great Partition
The Great PartitionYasmin Khan - Midnight's Furies
Midnight's FuriesNisid Hajari - The Anarchy
The AnarchyWilliam Dalrymple - India
IndiaJohn Keay2000 - India's Ancient Past
India's Ancient PastR. S. Sharma2005 - A history of ancient and early medieval India
A history of ancient and early medieval IndiaUpinder Singh2008 - A history of India
A history of IndiaRomila Thapar1965