Author: Roshen Dalal
Publisher: Penguin/Puffin
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 404
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0143335448
Description
In an informal, engaging style, this book tells the fascinating story of our land from the Indus valley Civilization to Independence. The colorful description of people, events and cultures, complemented by a host of illustrations and maps, brings history dramatically to life for the reader.
Tracing the social, political, cultural and economic development of India, the book focuses on the high points of Indian history: the Vedic Age, the Mauryan Empire, the Gupta period, the Battle of Panipat, the conquests of Alauddhin Khalji, who had the largest empire since Ashoka, the Bahmani and Vijayanagara kingdoms and their conflicts, the rule of Akbar, Shahjahan a d Aurangzeb and the building of the Taj Mahal, the British conquest, the 1857 Revolt, the Nationalist movement and, finally, the triumph of Independence.
The contribution of the important personalities who shaped this history, from Mahavira, Buddha, Alexander, Ashoka, Harsha and Babur to Tipu Sultan, Ranjit Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, is vividly described in fascinating detail. Every now and then the narrative pauses to dwell on the social and cultural life of the people, and the political, economic and religious changes that have been wrought over centuries, providing a comprehensive picture of what life was like in India at various points of time.
Informative, well-researched, entertaining and easy to follow, this is the perfect introduction to India’s history for children of all ages. This new edition features an attractive layout, all-new illustrations, a revised and updated text, and several brand new chapters.
Contents
Introduction
A System of Dating
Location of Places
India-Our Land
The First People
Village Life
The Indus Valley Civilization: An Urban Revolution
Village Life in Other Parts of India
The Rig Vedic Aryans
The Later Vedic Period
Archaeology and the Vedic Period
Megalithic Cultures
The Mahajanapadas and the Rise of Magadha
New Religious Sects between 600 and 400 BC
Alexander
The Mauryas
North India after the Mauryas
The Kushanas
The Satavahanas
Kingdoms of the South
Towns and Trade: 200 BC-AD 300
The Guptas
The Deccan and South India
Harshavardhana
Northern India between AD 700 and 1200
Some Other Kingdoms of the North
Life in the Northern Kingdoms
South India between AD 600 and 1200
India in AD 1200
Ghazni and Ghur
The First Sultans of Delhi
The Khaljis and the Tughlaqs
The Sayyids and the Lodis
Some Independent States
Life at the Time of the Sultanate - AD 1200-1500
The Bahmani and Vijayanagara Kingdoms
The Early Mughals
Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan
Aurangzed and the Decline of the Mughals
Life in Mughal India
The Marathas and the Sikhs
Other Independent States
Major Religious Developments between ad 1200 and 1750
The Europeans Arrive
The British Expansion and Conquest
Further Expansion-From Wellesley to Dalhousie
Administrative, Economic and Social Changes
Art and Culture - 1750-1857
Early Indian Reformers
The Revolt of 1857
The Indian States
The Rise of Nationalism
The Moderates and the Extremists
The Later Reformers
The Muslim League
Art and Culture after 1858
Social Change in the Twentieth Century
New Political Trends between 1908 and 1919
Mahatma Gandhi and Non-Cooperation
The Intermediate Years - 1922-1929
Civil Disobedience -1930-1934
The First Indian Government
India during the Second World War
India before Independence
The Last Phase -1945-1947