A History of India

by Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund

A History of India is a compact synthesis presenting the grand sweep of Indian history from antiquity to the present. It remains the definitive text on the nation. This new edition has been thoroughly revised, containing new research, and an up-to-date preface, index and dateline.
The authors examine the major political, economic, social and cultural forces which have shaped the history of the Indian subcontinent in this survey. This classic text is an authoritative detailed account which emphasises and analyses the stuctural pattern of Indian history.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Academic

406 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 1990

Reviews

[Rick Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. What is this?

Hermann Kulke, German Historian writes about India.

A Short Overview of Indian History, suggested for beginners.

I appreciated, clear, lucid writing, with detailed sources.

Although; Written in Academic tone, and work of quality, it is accessible for lay readers.

2. So, What is inside of this?

Take a Glimpse of it:

a. Indus valley contained, Harappa and Mohenjodaro -- 3000 B.C [Located in Pakistan]

Researchers show they declined around 1800 - 1700 B.C.

Why did they decline?

Due to decline in Agricultural Productivity [Climate Change]

b. Semi-Nomadic People, Arya came from North-Western Plains

What time period?

Around 2000 B.C -- 1000 B.C.

They came through Afghanistan [William Jones, 1786]

c. Gangetic Culture & Urbanisation (1000 - 500 B.C)

d. Shakas and Vakatakas (500 C.E)
e. Indian campaign of Alexander the Great (327 B.C)
f. Maurya empire (322 B.C – 184 B.C)
g. Ashoka's Reign (322 B.C -185)
h. Rise of Buddhism (7th Century)
i. Gupta Empire (319 - 467) Golden Age of India

Rise of South India:
j. Pallavas ( 270s to 800s A.D )
k. Cholas (9th - 12th century)
l. Pandyas (6th - 10th & 13th Century)
m. Cheras (10th - 11th Century)

Central & North-India:
n. Rashtrakutas (750s-980s)
o. Chalukyas (600–1200s)
p. Islamic India & Delhi Sultanate (1200s–1500s)

Indian Story:
q. Vijayanagar Empire (1336 - 1646)
r. Mughal Emperors (1526 - 1858)
s. Colonial Rule (1857- 1947)
t. Indian Freedom Movement (1885 - 1934)
u. Partition of India (1935-1946)
v. India - The Republic (1947- Present)

3. Thoughts:
South-India is neglected on describing grand-story of India.

A Work that brings together Eastern & Southern India would be beneficial for all Indians.

Having read sufficient, Indian History.

It is time for me to move into, other parts of History.

More Thoughts:

Science & Technology specifically attracts me the most.

My next question, What Science & Technology has been developed in India; How & Why?

Deus Vult,
Gottfried

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an information heavy and very dry general history of the development of the state in India, from antiquity to the early 2000s. It focuses heavily on state organization, taxation, and military history at an institutional level. So it is quite dry but a useful reference with a good timeline, glossary, and bibliography in it as well. According to the authors, India never really had a political revolution. Ancient Indian kings formulated theories of ruling, while the Mughals figured out how to rule the incredibly diverse subcontinent in a centralized secular bureaucracy. The British followed their pattern and created a codified system, which was just handed over to the secular Indian National Congress at independence. Interesting stuff comparatively.

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

During 2009, my subject of study for the year was India - it's culture, history, economy.

This book was dry and flat, but extremely informative and useful. I'd recommend it to anyone look to have a very good summary of this amazing country.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the complex cultures of India from Neolithic times to now. If that seems rather a broad chronological sweep, it is, which makes it rather an impressive achievement for two authors to have achieved. To have updated it over five editions and retain the usefulness of the writing is doubly impressive. Crossing many academic fields, this survey gives a good general idea of the sweep of Indian history in a readable and erudite text that was useful, certainly, to this beginner.

This is a topic to which I feel a special affinity, since my mother's side of the family were among the last generation of British presence in India, so I grew up with stories of those last days of the Raj as well of Gandhi in my ears. That probably led me to an interest in Roman contact with India in grad school, so I've had some familiarity with the history of India before this book. It was, however, a pleasure to get more detail and a broader picture. The authors demonstrate a strong understanding of the culture and, usually, maintain a balanced tone throughout. There is a tendency to favour the Congress in the post-independence narrative which gets increasingly political as we move closer to our era. However, that doesn't detract from the soundness of the discussion.

This is an excellent introduction to the history and culture of India and well worth reading.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Factually this is an excellent book. For me it suffered from a lack of engaging prose, and as someone who has difficulty putting down a book unfinished it lead in the later sections to me opening it in an attempt to finish rather than engage the subject matter. That said, it does present a wealth of information in a well synthesized and concise manner that should give the determined reader a more than adequate background, with the strength of the book being the discussion of earliest civilizations of the sub-continent up until the initial conquest by the British empire.

[James Violand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something is lost in translation. These two eminent Indian historians are German. The problem is not with their scholarship but in rendering German into English. Little effort seems to be made. For the first 20 or so pages, I couldn't figure out what Ganga meant. Then it hit me: this means the Ganges River! These name problems are throughout the work. Syntax too is a struggle. There are maps in the back of the book that are irrelevant because they are too small to be read! Overall, the scholarship may be tops, but it is too difficult a read to be recommended.

[Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comprehensive, but assumes a geographic knowledge that I certainly didn't have. A few more maps along the way would have made this an easier read and better book.

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

A political, and to some extent military and economic, history of India. By summarizing a huge array of people and places over thousands of years in under 400 pages, it must be a significant achievement. I certainly know a lot more than I did before I read it (which was next to nothing). But I'm disappointed too.

The work only barely touches on the social, cultural, or religious history of India. The absence of the last of these is especially glaring seeing as religion is far and away India's greatest contribution to world civilization. The authors certainly make reference to religions (how could they not?) but they seem to assume that the reader is already well-acquainted with them. I wish they had written a work more like China: A History, which neatly introduces the reader to all aspects of that great and ancient people and region.

There are some helpful maps in this book. There ought to be four times as many.

[Who · Rating 3 out of 5]

A merely servicable overview. On the positive side, it spans the entirety with especially useful analysis of the continuity of the early empires. On the negative side, the jump between authors from ancient to modern is jarring both in style and perspective. There's no discussion of domestic trends whatsoever and only the briefest discussion of administrative ones. Ancient India is a confusing blur with little attempt to organize. Both authors take it for granted that the reader has sufficient background to know the location of geography of Indian towns by name, and the book hardly mentions the atrocities of partition. Of value only in sketchig outlines

[Jurkovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read to get organized for a major trip to the golden Triangle of Dehli, Agra and Jaipur, as well as a trip along the Ganges basin of Kolkata and Varanasi and Allahbad. Maps help. The ancient history (3000 yr BC) is fascinating, as is all of the invasions from the north and the the role of the Mughal empire and British raj in establishing "modern" Indian history --- and the political push by some to identify "real" Indians (simply a conservative ethnic cleansing misplaced idea) which this history identifies as fanciful and simply wrong.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of India spanning from prehistory through 2014. I did not realize before getting the book that this was more of an academic work than a popular history. The book has a tendency to introduce concepts without explaining what they are. A map of India showing the various regions referred to in the book would also have been helpful. As someone who was reading this book to learn about the history of India, these were barriers to entry. I ended up learning a lot, but this book would be better suited as an academic reference or a textbook for a history of India class.

[Anshuman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A History of India takes the reader from Harappa to Rajiv Gandhi, stopping at all the good points in between. It follows the rise and fall of empires with the same assiduous detail as it describes ancient pottery or systems of royal administration. Nothing goes unappreciated in this sprawling, albeit dry, saga of civilization on the subcontinent. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down.

[Frans Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers a lot of interesting facts but makes a strong impression that it’s meant to be accompanied by lectures which explain details further. When it comes to India’s political scene, for instance, it’s very hard to follow this book without previous knowledge.

[Stephan Carstens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in preparation for a trip to India. A very good overview with a lot of interesting pearls of knowledge spanning centuries of Indian history and explaining cultural behaviour. At least for me 😁

[Ryan Enser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This important history helped end my ignorance of the long and complex history of India.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

detailed history not much about culture which is what i really was searching for

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast. A comprehensive and concise overview presenting the History of India in a detailed account from antiquity, an account of economic, political, social and the cultural forces that have fashioned the Indian subcontinent. Read for personal research
Rating is related to the usefulness and contribution to my research. I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring. Many editions exist.

[Etonmess]

It is a very good synthesis about the origin behind its culture, its religion and how this has all united to make India, the country it is today. It also answers "how did the indus valley civilization vanish?" If read along with Midnight Children by Salman Rushdie, it may create an urgent desire to visit India.

[Himanshu Mishra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compact, crisp, and to the point.
This book is highly factual and the authors have refrained from making an in depth analysis of many, if not most, issues concerning the Indian history, which is just as well.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and boring, though information is excellent. Would not re-read this book and donated it.

[Larold Aarence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dry, heavy on the facts, and highly empirical. Just the way I like it.