A History of India

This book is mercifully brief on the deconstruction of literary sources that South Asian area studies are prone to and (again quoting the on-target cover copy) "emphasises and analyses the structural pattern of Indian history." I wish it was longer than 335 pages. The first 2/3 of the book covers the pre-British period -- a good fraction. While relating more of the military viscitudes than I would like, there is some consideration of social, religious, and economic issues as well as ruling strategies. And the focus on 'great empires' is less than in most Indian histories, which is good since India has spent much more time disunited than united. Kulke and Rothermund break with the Hindu/Islamic/British periodization of Indian history, breaking periods before the Guptas and before the Mughals. All in all, it is a substantial improvement over Romila Thapar's effort, and a huge improvement over Stanley Wolpert's book.

This book is a very good general history of India. Overall, the historical narrative is both lucid and captivating, with the different sections and chapters well connected in a cohesive way. Except for the eighth chapter (which is mostly narrative), historical patterns, concepts and issues are well explored beyond the historical narrative, e.g. religious and political patterns in Medieval India in the 3rd chapter, or the problem of administrative penetration plaguing the Delhi Sultanate in chapter 4. Economic, social and cultural developments are also discussed at length, e.g. the survey of the rise of modern Indian literature in regional languages with its common themes and social significance in chapter 6. At the same time, it is rather disappointing that there is almost no treatment of the content of the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita in the early chapters. The authors also go to great lengths to present the reader with the historiography and development of research and research-approaches and theses around major topics. The chronology as well as the glossary of Indian terms at the end of the book are both very helpful. In later chapters, as the authors cover periods in which international developments made the world "smaller" and more interrelated, they go beyond the Indian theater to thoroughly explore developments in other corners of the world - e.g. Portugal and the Netherlands in the 5th chapter - which affected it. And yet, I found the last two chapters, apparently updated for the sixth edition, to be of lesser quality than the previous ones. Separate discussion of internal and external political developments in the 8th chapter makes it very difficult to follow either, given the interdependence between the two. The discussion of the Kashmir issue, saved as the last item of the chapter and also encompassing the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai , could have been much more profound and orderly. The summarizing chapter, named "Perspectives", was disappointingly far too short to capture the themes, patterns and lessons arising from the long sweep of Indian history presented throughout the book. Nevertheless, despite its faults that are unavoidable in such a broad general history of one of the world's oldest and greatest civilizations, I would highly recommend this book for any reader interested in gaining an introductory knowledge of Indian history.

Although this book provides a thorough and comprehensive rendition of the history of India, it is not for the casual traveler. Its verbage is very dense and reflects the sentence and vocabulary of non-native english speakers. Consequently, the intent of some sentences is difficult to discern immediately. It is a scholarly work but a challenge to plow through.

While this maybe a very scholarly book, it seemed to expect me to KNOW India's History and Geography BEFORE I even started to read it. The maps in the back are VERY small and would require a magnifying glass to see details.

Loved the book.

well explained, interesting, summarized

A slim volume with a lot of information. The authors are German which helps to keep their minds clear and avoid letting emotions get in the way of facts.

Nice book

An elaborate History Book.