10 Best Indian History Books in India 2021 - Buying Guide Reviewed by Book Blogger

This book tops our list because of its comprehensive and intelligible portrait of Indian history and civilization. It presents a national historical point of view to understand the foundations of this great civilization. The book is truly unbiased as it does not conform to any political thought or movement.

In Ancient India, R.C. Majumdar gives a detailed analysis of the Harappan civilization and Ashokan edicts. It also gives a brief detail about the transformation of Bengal over the years. This book is considered a benchmark by many historians in that it presents unaltered accounts from primary sources.

The work describes the political, economic, religious, and cultural conditions of the country. It also discusses a few political theories and administrative organisations, but its primary stress is on the religious and cultural aspects of ancient India.

This book with eight volumes is undoubtedly the most extensive and comprehensive assimilation of historical facts. The book contains translations of medieval Persian chronicles based on the work of Henry Miers Elliot. It was originally published as a set of eight volumes in the nineteenth century.

The eight volumes present detailed evidence from the Muhammadan period in India. Elliot's aim was to contrast the justice and efficiency of the British rule compared to the cruelty of the Muslim rule. These volumes were highly contested when they were first published. Some other historians criticised the way the Muslim rule was presented. 

However, this book has stood the test of time and is a reliable source of knowledge about the reality of the Muslim rule as it contains scanned copies of the original artefacts.

Probably no political thinker has been as controversial as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. On one side, he is eulogized by people, and on the other, he is demonized. We, not following either of the notions, have put this book on the list because of its deep research and authentic references.

He is considered the intellectual fountainhead of the ideology of Hindutva, which has been a political issue even for the governments of today. Savarkar was critical of Gandhi, his pacifist ideals, and the Indian National Congress. Surprisingly, Savarkar called himself an atheist and even discouraged many Hindu rituals.

He studied law in London and became the most vocal voice in India for the Hindu community thereafter. He was arrested several times in India and unfairly tried for sedition. Most infamously, he was put in a jail, more commonly known as kaala paani. It was a jail where the British government kept its most influential dissenters and tortured them.

Cambridge History of India has at least six known volumes. It is one of the most major works of historical scholarship in India. Man scholars and historians consult this work and even teach history using this. This book remains as true to reality as possible.

The best aspect of this book is that it presents history the way it should be. It does not give any interpretations, but rather brings to you straight facts from the Mughal and British era. This enables the reader to decide and infer, which is the ideal way history books should be. This book will give you original copyright references, library stamps, and other useful notations.

This book has grown out of the valuable Sir William Myer Lectures of Madras University. It is a comprehensive survey of Indian life through the Vedic age to modern times. 

It includes the study of the role of the Aryans, the Buddhists, the Muslims, and the English to the growth of the Indian civilization. It is not a lengthy book but provides us with a bird's eye view of the subsequent factors that have contributed to the composite development of present-day India.

This book by K.S. Lal was published in 1999. It is a detailed study on the Muslim administration in India. In the first part, Lal writes about the obligations, income, and expenditure of the Muslim government in India. It lists the expenditure for monuments, royal benevolence, army, leisure, and gifts to Caliphs and Mecca. 

In the second part, he writes about the existence of the concept of a "Muslim State" even in today's India. In the third part of the book, K.S. Lal has answered some of the criticisms of his previous books. This book makes our list because of the painstaking nature of the author. 

During his research, he read and consulted six authentic Hadiths, the Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai, Sunan Abi Da'ud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, as well as the Qur'an and biographies of Muhammad. This amount of research enabled any writer to climb up the credibility chart.

William Dalrymple is a British historian who has won numerous accolades in his life. His other works, such as The Last Mughal, Kohinoor, and White Mughals, have been really well-received the world over.

This particular book is a story of how the East India Company took over large parts of Asia and how this resulted horribly for India. In August 1765, the East India company dethroned the last Mughal emperor and set up a government that was run by English merchants and traders.

Post this, the East India Company became an aggressive colonial power from an international corporation. This book gives a detailed analysis of the horrid crimes committed by the British in India. William's visceral understanding of India is clearly on display in this fantastic piece of literature.

This is a perfect book for people who are interested in India's geographical history. It is bound to satiate many curious minds. If you wondered why Mt. Everest was named after George Everest or did the Great Flood of Indian legend actually happen or how did the Europeans map India, then this is just the book for you.

Sanjeev Sanyal is a relatively new writer but with a lot of credibilities. In this book, he has focused on the idea that the history of any country begins with its geography. He sets off to explore India and look at how the country's history was shaped by its mountains, rivers, cities, and other things. 

He travelled to archaeological sites and old cities, crossed rivers, and immersed himself in old manuscripts to find out why Indians call their country Bharat!

This highly popular book makes our top 10 list because of the raw emotion it presents. Khushwant Singh brings forth the horrors of the "ghost train" that brought on it bodies of thousands of refugees. 

Train to Pakistan gives an idea about what ensued at the night of 14th August 1947, when India was divided into two separate nations. Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims had lived in harmony for many centuries, but one fateful night changed it all. 

This book is a novel that tells the story of an isolated village that plunges into the pit of religious hate overnight. People who had lived together for years turned against each other. The story revolved around a Sikh boy and a Muslim girl, whose love is ravaged by the sudden partition.

It seems odd to even think that existed for thousands of years has vanished. Sarasvati river is one such example. This river is even mentioned in Rig Veda, the oldest text in the world.

This book attempts to infer facts from fable and make a strong case for the existence of this river. Michel Danino has drawn reference from various sources like the Vedas, archaeology, geology, meteorology, folklore, and even local practices to prove the existence of this now eloped river.

Additionally, this book talks about the Indus Valley Civilization and its culture. Another interesting myth that the author busts is that the Aryans were native to India and were not invaders. This myth has been around for hundreds of years but has now been discredited by hard facts.