List of books about India
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
India history books
- Indica by MegasthenesMegasthenesMegasthenes was a Greek ethnographer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indica.He was born in Asia Minor and became an ambassador of Seleucus I of Syria possibly to Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, India. However the exact date of his embassy is uncertain...
, c. 300 BCE - AshokavadanaAshokavadanaThe Ashokavadana is a 2nd century CE text related to the legend of the Maurya Emperor Ashoka the Great...
, 2nd century CE - Ain-i-AkbariAin-i-AkbariThe Ain-i-Akbari or the "Institutes of Akbar", is a 16th century, detailed document recording the administration of emperor Akbar's empire, written by his vizier, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak...
, (Vol. 3 of AkbarnamaAkbarnamaThe ' , which literally means Book of Akbar, is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor , commissioned by Akbar himself and written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abul Fazl who was one of the nine jewels in Akbar's court...
). Abu'l-Fazl ibn MubarakAbu'l-Fazl ibn MubarakShaikh Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak also known as Abu'l-Fazl, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami was the vizier of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar's reign in three volumes, and a Persian translation of the Bible...
. 16th century - Jahangirnama (Tuzk-e-Jahangiri), 16th century
- Padshah NamaPadshah NamaThe Padshahnama is a genre of works written as the official visual history of Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan’s reign. Most significant work of this genre was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori in two volumes.-History:...
, by Muhammad Amin Qazvini. 1646 - The History of British IndiaThe History of British IndiaThe History of British India is a history of British India by the 19th century British philosopher and imperial political theorist James Mill....
, James MillJames MillJames Mill was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was a founder of classical economics, together with David Ricardo, and the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill.-Life:Mill was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of...
, 1818. - Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, by James TodJames TodLieutenant-Colonel James Tod was an English officer of the British East India Company and an Oriental scholar.Tod was born in London and educated in Scotland, later joining the East India Company as a military officer. He travelled to India in 1799 as a cadet in the Bengal Army where he rose...
, 2 vols. London, Smith, Elder (1829, 1832). - The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period (1-8 Vols.), by H. M. Elliot, Ed. John DowsonJohn DowsonJohn Dowson M.R.A.S. was a British orientalist. A noted scholar of Hinduism he taught in India for much of his life. His book Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology remains one of the most comprehensive and authoritative works on the topic....
, 1867-1877. - The Imperial Gazetteer of IndiaThe Imperial Gazetteer of IndiaThe Imperial Gazetteer of India was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881...
, 4 vols., (1881, 1908–1931) - The Discovery of IndiaThe Discovery of IndiaThe Discovery of India was written by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his imprisonment in 1942-1946 at Ahmednagar in the Ahmednagar Fort....
, by Jawaharlal NehruJawaharlal NehruJawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, 1946. - The History and Culture of the Indian PeopleThe History and Culture of the Indian PeopleThe History and Culture of the Indian People is a series of eleven volumes on the history of India, from prehistoric times to the establishment of the modern state in 1947. Historian R.C. Majumdar was the general editor of the series, as well as a major contributor. The entire work took 26 years to...
, 11 vols, ed. R.C. Majumdar. (1951)
Travelogues
- Great Tang Records on the Western RegionsGreat Tang Records on the Western RegionsThe Great Tang Records on the Western Regions is a narrative of Xuanzang's nineteen year journey through Chang'an to Central Asia and eventually South Asia between 626 and 645...
, by Hiuen Tsang. 646 CE. - Begums Thugs and White MughalsBegums Thugs and White MughalsBegums Thugs and White Mughals - The Journals Of Fanny Parkes is a 2002 historical travel book based on the journals of Fanny Parkes and edited by William Dalrymple....
. Fanny ParkesFanny ParkesFanny Parkes was a Welsh travel writer.She was the daughter of Anne and Major Edward Caulfield Archer, 16th Lancers, ADC to Lord Combermere and author of Tours in upper India, and in parts of the Himalaya Mountains; with accounts of the courts of the native princes, &c. She married Charles...
, ed. William Dalrymple. 2002 - The Hill of DeviThe Hill of DeviThe Hill of Devi is an account by E. M. Forster of two visits to India in 1912-1913 and 1921, during which he worked as the private secretary to the Maharaja of the state of Dewas Senior. The book was first published in 1953.E. M...
. E. M. ForsterE. M. ForsterEdward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
, 1953.
Modern travelogues
- A Walk Along The Ganges. Dennison BerwickDennison BerwickDennison Berwick is a travel writer. Educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, he emigrated to Canada in 1980...
. 1985. - India: A Million Mutinies NowIndia: A Million Mutinies NowIndia: A Million Mutinies Now is a nonfiction book by V. S. Naipaul published in 1990. It is a travelogue written during the author's sojourn in his ancestral land — India. It was the third of Naipaul's acclaimed Indian trilogy which includes An Area of Darkness and India: A Wounded...
. V. S. NaipaulV. S. NaipaulSir Vidiadhar Surajprasad "V. S." Naipaul, TC is a Nobel prize-winning Indo-Trinidadian-British writer who is known for his novels focusing on the legacy of the British Empire's colonialism...
. 1990.
Spiritual heritage
- Autobiography of a YogiAutobiography of a YogiIn 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda , published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, which introduced many westerners to meditation and yoga...
, by Paramahansa YoganandaParamahansa YoganandaParamahansa Yogananda , born Mukunda Lal Ghosh , was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a...
. 1946 - The Principal UpanishadsThe Principal Upanishads (book)The Principal Upanishads is a 1953 book written by philosopher and erstwhile President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , about the main Upanishads, which carry central teachings of the Vedanta. Originally published in 1953 by Harper, the book has been republished several times...
, by Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanSarvepalli RadhakrishnanSir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , OM, FBA was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He was the first Vice President of India and subsequently the second President of India ....
, 1953. - The Spiritual Heritage of India by Swami PrabhavanandaSwami PrabhavanandaSwami Prabhavananda was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher.-Biography:...
, 1962.
Religion, culture and arts
- Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish, The Indian craftsman (1909, Probsthain: London)