A History of India

Contents: I. Extended Reading: 1. Introduction: A. The physical setting. B. The social setting. C. Resituating communities and states. D. Historian’s choice. II. Ancient India: Chronology. Extended reading. 2. Ancient days: A. The pre-formation of Indian civilization.. B. Vedic Culture. C. Political and religious developments. D. Religion in the later Vedic period. E. The nature of the Mauryan Kingdom. F. Towards the classical pattern. G. Early Hinduism. H. Developments in the south. I. The age of the early empires. J. The Gupta classical pattern. K. The classical pattern elaborated and extended: the south. III. Medieval and Early Modern India: Chronology Extended Reading. 3. Medieval India: A. Introduction. B. Medieval Kingdoms. C. The role of the Southern Kingdoms. D. The advent of Islam. E. The Indian development of Islam. F. The Deccan and the south. G. Vijayanagara. H. States and communities. 4. Early modern India: A. Introduction. B. The Mughal empire. C. The wars of the Mughal succession. D. The last act of the Mughals. E. The Maratha moment. F. The shadow of Europe. 5. The East India Company: A. Introduction. B. The joint trajectory of development. C. The Company perpetuates the past. D. The emergence of a new order. E. Mutiny and revolt. F. Late Company rule. IV. Contemporary South Asia: Chronology. Extended reading. 6. The crown replaces the Company: A. the contemporary state. B. After the mutiny. C. The rule of the Raj. D. The political economy of the late nineteenth century. E. Cultural change, education and new classes. F. The politicization of class, caste and gender. 7. Towards freedom: A. Two types of nationalism. B. Early Congress and its adversaries. C. War, Sacrifice and mass political mobilization. D. Imperialism’s paradoxical enemy. E. The first campaigns. F. Between campaigns. G. Conditions for a new politics. 8. Gandhi’s triumph: A. Civil disobedience. B. The left in politics. C. The right prevails. D. War and the last act begins. E. The bitter victory of partition. 9. New states, old nations: A. Territorial passage. B. The promises of Independence. C. Pakistan in parallel. D. The green revolution: promise of plenty. E. Environmental problems, old and new. F. The condition of women: Broken promises. G. Communal politics: shattered pluralism. H. India and the world. I. Promises kept, promises broken. Glossary of non-english terms. Persons. Notes. Index.

"This book provides an original, succinct but sustained narrative of the development of Indian society, culture, and polity from 7000 BC to the present. It throws new light on past and currently vexing questions, and relates contemporary India, with its promise and its problems, to a rich and varied past.

"The text is informed throughout by Stein’s personal vision and, in particular, his special interests in political and social development and the oft-neglected South.

"The book opens with an outline of the main argument. The author introduces his major themes, showing the interactions and tensions in Indian history between communities and states, between cultures and politics, and between the region and the outside world. The narrative that follows incorporates critically the accumulated findings of recent research on the whole range of Indian history and prehistory, considering the nature of premodern as well as contemporary politics, and examines the origins and consequences of the Mughal and British conquests as well as controversial recent issues, such as India’s national integrity, its commitments to secularism and improving the condition of women.

"The author’s insights reveal an in-depth understanding of India’s current problems and possibilities as it moves into its second half-century of independence.

"Illustrated with maps and photographs, and containing chronologies and a guide to further reading, this book will be valued for its vivid narrative and trenchant analysis." (jacket)

[Burton Stein also wrote Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India (1980) and Thomas Munro: The Origins of the Colonial State and his Vision of Empire (1989).]