A HISTORY OF INDIA: VOLUME I
582742
THIS BOOK IS EXCEPTIONAL AND I RECEIVED THIS BOOK ARRIVED MORE THAN ON TIME.  THE BOOKSELLER IS A CREDIT TO THE AMAZON COMPANY.
1434490
Fabulous. I am half way through it and relishing this great book. If you are interested in India and its people, then i highly recommend to read it.
769301
Very good insights into what happened during partition . It has exposed the movers and shakers behind the partition . Good perspective on Indian history
3039561
This is an excellent book, one for all historians and people who have an interest in people who have shaped the World.
The book arrived promptly, well packaged and in excellent condition.
1266268
This book is a powerful and necessary insight into a critical period of India's history. Many of us who were born after partition have never had an opportunity to experience those critical years which have helped form our collective national psyche. Dhar's writing is the perfect vehicle to travel this journey in. He is very balanced and objective in his views, even towards those who history regards with less reverence. To add to that, he had rare access throughout his career to some of India's greatest leaders, and reading this book gives us an insight into the real people they were, behind their otherwise well documented public personas. A thoroughly enjoyable read, I came away with a renewed appreciation of my country and it's early leaders.

As his generation slowly fades away, carrying great wisdom, experiences and learning; Som Nath Dhar deserves the highest praise for investing his twilight years in writing not just a poignant memoir, but a constitutive commentary on a great country's birth, infancy and early adolescence. Well done sir!
4609409
I bought this book on the recommendation of my professor of Buddhist studies. I have always been enchanted with India, its cultural diversity and heritage. Especially, being the land of the Buddha, I have a keen interest in the places where the Buddha lived and travelled, e.g. Lumbini, Kapilavastu, Sarnath, Nalanda, Rajagir, etc.

Although the Ajanta caves are situated far from the tracts of the path of the Buddha, being situated in central India, the cave temples are the best preserved examples of the ancient Buddhist art and culture.

 Most miraculously, these cave temples of the 3rd century B.C. period and others of the 5th century A.D., have preserved a spectacular array of the ancient painting work. This is also tantamount to the fact that the technology of pigment manufacturing was quite advanced in ancient India.

And, this book has produced some of the best photographs I have ever seen, along with all the stories. Good book, indeed!
1912203
A modern text discussing the language, culture and racial and geographical origins of the early Indo-Europeans.
Chapters include: World Vision: Language and Mentality, The Individual, the Group and the Universe; The Community: The People, The King, Duties toward the Community; Religion: General Characteristics of Indo-European religions, The Gods of the Universe, Rites and Gods of the Four Circles of Social Attachment, The Gods of the Three Functions, From Gods to Heroes, The Twilight of the Gods; Institutions: The Indo-European Legal Heritage, Law and Religion, Lineage and the Law; The Law and the Three other Circles; War; Production and Reproduction; and Geographical origin of the Indo-Europeans.
714458
This was a very good book on the history, and styles of the different tipis of the past.  I learned a lot about those who came before, and bought my own tipi afterwards.

Thanks
3769103
For those who like to know about Buddhist Architecture especially at the origin in India, this is a very good guide. The comprehensive reference from the different types of Buddhist architecture in India also provides a clue to developments in other parts of Asia. A glossary of terms at the end of book provides the reader with easy reference to Indian terms.
3013416
If all of your knowledge about Indian history is derived only from text book, then this is a great read to expand your knowledge and develop newer and more accurate understanding of Indian history. The greatness of the book is in it being most honest and truthful about history which is largely based on evidence gathered from numerous sources like archaeology, literature, linguistics, cultural studies and vast amounts of existing older historical writing. Most Indian history writing tends to sway between extreme view points of either Indian nationalism or one of imperialistic partisanship. This book is quite honest and stays somewhere ideally in the middle. In general author restrains himself from jumping to conclusions based on vague evidence. However, lack of evidence doesn't mean no story or less interesting story.  Largely relaying on evidence which is sometimes very obscure author using his intellect often makes very mature and educated conclusions and speculations about the actual course of events.

Keay is whimsical in some of his portrays of persons or events sometimes contradicting familial perception; some of which might well be true when looked at it from an absolute sense. For example though he refers to MK Gandhi as 'Mahatma'(great soul), Keay tends to think by no means Gandhi was most influential in the cause towards Indian freedom. Next, the role of revolutionaries in Indian freedom struggle who are idolized by many nationalists are brushed aside as terrorist activities in an absolute sense. Figures like Bhagat Singh etc don't even get a mention in the book! (I am not being critical of this). Other things, hes seen critical of the Brahmanical authority and caste system which has dominated most of Hindu society and religion based bloody conquests by medieval Muslim kings.

Author spends good time narrating the ancient and medieval Indian history. The modern portion especially the Indian freedom movement is somewhat brisk and (even misses some details) than I would have liked it to be; yet I liked his narration of Indian political history after Independence(1947) portraying the influential characters of Indira Gandhi, ZA Bhutto and Mujibur Rehman doing justice to real state of events. But for a good read on modern Indian History I am told Ramachandra Guha's 'India after Gandhi' is a good book. In this revised book, he even covers the most recent communal tensions of Ayodhya, Mumbai etc and the Afhgan/Taliban war against terror.

I was initially inclined towards buying different books for ancient, medieval and modern Indian history, but since I didn't find good recos for each separately,I decided to try this one-in-all book. Given the obscurity and lack of direct evidence associated with Indian history, one has to say its a great piece of work with all five thousand years of Indian history condensed into one precisely well written , highly recommended book.
1042771
This is an indispensable resource for those interested in the large number of LP and 7 inch (45s) records containing music from India. This discography includes both instrumental and vocal music and Hindustan and Carnatic styles. The material is arranged by the above categories and the artists who performed in the respective categories of Indian music between 1955 and 1983.  The compiler has made a great effort to list cross referenced recordings. Quite a few of the major artists had specific selections appear on multiple lps. In some cases lps were concurrently issued in the US and India or Europe. Unfortunately there is no alternate index by record series so one must know the artist rather than the record number to look up a recording. Somewhat confusingly the lists are arranged by artist first name rather than last; e.g. Ravi not Shankar.

It is however necessary to dispute the product description of this book as in any way "complete". The discography is probably more complete for US and European pressings of Indian music than Indian pressings. Even I have a number of Indian music lps of the 60s and 70s not listed here issued by EMI India (the largest record company in India - not at all obscure).
3229324
I bought this book to read a single volume, unbiased account of Indian history. On most parameters I got what I wanted from this book. It is no easy task to describe the 5000+ year history of the Indian subcontinent in a single book of around 500 pages. But John Keay's work is an admirable attempt. The book is very readable and should be enjoyed by anyone who loves reading about history. Instead of just reeling off incidents, places and dates, Keay also talks about how some historical incidents were reconstructed by using inscriptions, coins and other relics that have survived till the modern age.

The book starts off from the Harappan civilization and the entry of Aryans into the Indian subcontinent. This period is also the most difficult to analyze due to the dearth of conclusive historical evidence. Keay is also careful to avoid mixing the many myths of this era with what may have actually transpired. Once civilization took root in India, the book describes the rule of ancient dynasties like the Mauryas, Guptas and later the Vardhanas. It becomes evident that India was never an integral entity but ruled by a large number of smaller states that continuously vied with each other. South Indian history is well represented with descriptions from the Chalukya, Pallava and Chola times. There are quite a few maps and illustrations that nicely complement the prose.

The influence of Islam on Indian history has been significant. It started with the invasions of Muslims from the North West and peaked with the rule of the mighty Mughals. You can read about the Islamic invaders such as Ghazni, Timur and Nadir Shah who were responsible for the destruction of countless Hindu lives and temples. On the flip side, Islamic style has given India some of the world's most beautiful architectural wonders such as the Taj Mahal.

I was a little disappointed with the later chapters on modern Indian history. Keay belittles the Indian freedom movement and his tone of writing seems to indicate that the British left India because they were weakened by the two world wars and grew sick of running India in general. Keay is quick to point out the pros of British rule such as the unification of India and investment in infrastructure (such as the railways). But he never mentions the dark side - the British were in India for their own interests and had little interest in improving the lot of the people they were ruling. Little was done during the times of famine. Despite being once blessed with abundant natural resources, India and Pakistan have always been economically backward since independence in 1947. Keay also never mentions the fact that Jinnah, the man responsible for the creation of Pakistan, was an elitist and selfish ruler who never cared about the plight of Muslims. Keay rightly points out that the Indian army has abused human rights in Kashmir, but what about the cross border terrorism that emanates from Pakistan?

The book ends on a pessimistic note saying that India has not seen the end of religious or ethnic secession movements. While that may be true, the fact is that India, commonly referred to as the sub-continent, is made up of a population diverse in ethnicity, race, language and religion. India is a secular country that tries to maintain communal harmony but minor problems are always bound to crop up.

Keay also points out the irony that although India takes pride in its ancient civilization, most of those sites lie in present day Pakistan. On the other hand Pakistan, which glorifies the Mughal rule, finds that the best examples of Mughal art and architecture are left in India. On the whole this book was informative and enjoyable, but the last few pages did not go down well with me.
4662728
A thorough and convincing study for the theory that the Apostle Thomas made his first missionary journey into northern India prior to making the missionary journey into south India and martyrdom.  Dr. Kurikilamkatt begins with a detailed study of the historical and geographical background needed to understand the details of the various ancient traditions.  He follows that with hints from the ancient sources that tend to confirm the northern India tradition within the apocryphal "Acts of Thomas" document and church histories.  This is a work certain to please the professional church historian and laymen St. Thomas admirers alike.  A brilliant and pleasant read that makes ancient Indian and ecclesial history come alive for the modern reader.  Very well done indeed.
717343
This is a reprint of a book almost 100 years old.  The author was an English Peer of the realm who lived and served in India for much of his career.  He collected Indian arms and armour and researched them widely.  The book is part catalogue, with many excellent engravings of weapons.  Because of the old style the weapons are grouped into "artistic displays" and it is sometimes time consuming to flip back and forth between plates and descriptions.  In addition to the catalogue sections there are discussions of each geographic area and the weapons used and excellent introductory chapters on Indian history from the Moghuls to the 19th century.  When this book was originally written the term India encompassed modern Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc.  So the book includes many "Indo-Persian" weapons. The book contains much information which I have never found elsewhere. Overall very worthwhile for the collector, research or interested reader.  (Note: I do not have the new Dover copy, but a 1990s reprint issued by an Indian publisher.  Nevertheless, I assume the Dover version is just as good.)
2153340
This is a look a peep  at the history of Egypt, and the comparing of the old with the new.  This is a moderately-long book that can be read in about one sitting or two, and was first published in 1912, and reprinted in 1916.

I enjoyed the descriptions of geography, explanations of the importance of the Nile River and rainfall, traditions, and of religious history comparisons made between the Bible and discovered (as of the turn of the century) Egyptian artifacts.  It is important to note that this book was written and published before the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamens tomb.
1540566
This is vol 1.  There is a vol 2 I'm starting now.  Weaves religion, philosophy & science over time to show how one influenced the others and how history impacted all three.  Astonishingly complete, yet accessible.
1578748
Review
`Delhi By Heart' is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the history of the subcontinent. Though written in the smooth, simple language of a travelogue, it still has the potency of a history book that draws the reader in right from the start.

"I grew up and lived in a milieu that conditioned me to resent India, especially its role in dismembering the Pakistani state in 1971. At the same time, I also lived in the semi-schizophrenic state of being part of the `enemy' landscape. The cultural references, historical threads and many other bonds were far too strong".

As the name suggests, the book traces the travels of the author through Delhi at various stages of his life. What makes it an interesting read is that the author speaks about how his impressions of the city and its people change with every trip that he makes - starting as a student and continuing on through his career as a young civil servant and beyond.

An important aspect explored in the book is the cold distance that exists between Pakistan and India despite their heavily intertwined histories and strong cultural similarities. The author discusses how he, as a Pakistani, is perceived in India; and how he in turn sees them under the similar shadow of years of conflict and strained relationships. Yet, all it takes is one quick conversation, one friendly joke made in a shared language, to break years of ice and realize that the geography that separates us holds no power against the history that irrevocably connects us.

"The predominantly Muslim locality reminds me that this part of the city is at the core of my cultural heritage. For a second I am not an alien even though I have filled in the form some hours ago under a law that regulates foreigners of Pakistani origin. I am there yet not there. Elemental yet separate.

In his travels, the author visits tombs and shrines littered throughout Delhi - relics of the past now largely forgotten and falling into disrepair as life moves on around them. With Sadia Dehlvi as his guide, the author explores Delhi's past, and attempts to understand the threads of history torn apart by the trauma of partition.
"Partition in India, Pakistan, and especially in Bangladesh have not undergone the much-needed healing process. Truth and reconciliation of the South African type still remains a vague dream perhaps never to be realized."

The history of India and Pakistan taught to their people have both been tailored to suit the needs of the ones in power - an abhorrent phenomenon equally prevalent on both sides of the border. In `Delhi By Heart', the author discusses this:

"...India's Muslim rulers have been portrayed as barbarous invaders and the medieval period set as the dark age of Islamic colonial rule which erased the glories of the Hindu empires that preceded it"

The book takes a lighthearted turn as the author sets about to sample the many tastes of Delhi. In a mouthwatering chapter, he talks about the scores of delicacies available on the streets of the city, and how they differ only subtly from the street food of Pakistan.

"Delhi's street food is wondrous, a world unto itself, found everywhere and not necessarily in the most hygienic conditions despite court orders. While samosas and tikkis are no novelties for Pakistanis, the chutneys and flavours have subtle differences."

`Delhi By Heart' is Raza Rumi's first novel. In a world where the politics of India and Pakistan almost always overshadow the history and culture, it is a refreshing read. Consisting of only three hundred something pages of a smooth and flowing writing style, it is a quick read; yet manages to fill the reader's mind with vivid images of everything the author sees and feels during his sojourn into the heart of India.