India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy (Revised and Updated)
by Ramachandra Guha · Ecco
Political history of independent India from 1947: integration of the princely states, linguistic reorganisation of provinces, wars with China and Pakistan, the Emergency, economic liberalisation and coalition politics. The post-independence period is where general histories thin into journalism, and this is the one archival account of it written as history. Built from archives, private papers and contemporary newspapers across roughly 900 pages.
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Public-domain primary sources for South Asian history arranged chronologically: Vedic and Buddhist texts, inscriptions, Mughal chronicles, travellers' accounts, colonial administrative documents and nationalist writings. Edited by Paul Halsall and hosted by Fordham University.
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A Concise History of Modern India (3rd Edition)
Cambridge survey running from the late Mughals through East India Company rule, the 1857 rebellion, nationalism, Partition and independence, ending around 2010. Thematic chapters on economy, caste, gender and religion rather than a purely chronological account. Fills the colonial gap between Eaton (ends 1765) and Guha (starts 1947) — the period a learner most needs help with, because it is the most contested.
India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765
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Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300
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