History of Modern India

by Bipan Chandra

History of Modern India presents an authoritative overview of the history of what was known as British India. The text is largely based on the author’s research on nationalism and colonialism in India and also draws from the works of eminent historians of the period. Challenging and revising colonial and nationalist interpretations of history, this book moves away from a largely political narrative to a social, economic and religious history of modern India. It explains how conditions in India during the eighteenth century helped the British East India Company establish its rule in India. It also gives us important insights into the primary aim of colonial rule which was the economic exploitation of India through trade and investment. The topics are arranged thematically in order to showcase the various forces that went into the making of independent India. However, in the entire arrangement of themes, the chronology of the period is enmeshed innovatively with the various forces that evolved both as a cause and effect of British imperialist rule of the subcontinent. The book also provides a detailed account of the nationalist movement and introduces us to the contributions of different individuals who were behind the nationalist movement. A comprehensive textbook for students of history and interested readers, History of Modern India is essential reading for a broad based understanding of the making of modern India.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Politics, Indian Literature, Academic, Historical

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Bipan Chandra (born 1928) is an Indian historian, specialising in economic and political history of modern India. He has specialized on the national movement. He is considered an authority on Modern Indian History and is one of its most popular scholars.

Source for information : Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipan_Ch... ) and for the Author's photograph : Penguin ( http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/c... )

Reviews

[Swamy Atul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book proves why casual readers need historians like Ramachandra Guha. I gather Bipan Chandra is a highly respected name among those who prepare for civil services. I was disappointed with History of Modern India because I was expecting opinions from an IAS preparation text book. People find history boring in school because it deals merely in facts, dates and names. A study of history is incomplete unless we form opinions about it. We talk about it, discuss, argue and even demolish mosques because of our interpretation of history. A book that simply lays out the facts without the author giving his own touch is too academic for my taste. In fact, I think even academic study can be sexier. It is the story in the history appeals to the casual reader. I'm off to buy Guha's Makers of Modern India.

[Ajay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very old and its need to be updated. I read from one of my friend's review that this book has been discontinued by ncert. My sister was preparing for UPSC. So i took the opportunity of reading this book. Book quality is really terrible. Pages look really cheap like xerox copy.

Now lets come to content of book. Book is highly biased. Marxist bias is clearly shown in the every page of book. But alas that is the "Secular Indian History" which is sanitized by our Eminent Historians. He seems very biased about certain social reformers, Gandhi and Congress. There is no where in the book i find detailed picture of freedom fighters from Southern India. Its really high time to stop hero worshiping such leader. In history text book it should rational and neutral. Whether you are looking at reading this for an exam or plainly for research, this book is pretty unorganized.

Avoid it.
Not recommended.

[Pooja Banga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn’t focus on the political factors during that period, but deals with the economic, religious, and social history of India. Through the course of this book, Chandra provides insight on several events in modern Indian history such as the establishment of the British East India Company, which led to a tightened grip of the British over India. Chandra also explains that the major reason behind the colonial rule was to exploit India by means of investment and trade. The chapters in this book are arranged in chronological order, starting from the British Rule to the independence of the country. This piece of literature provides its readers with loads of information on the nationalist movement, throwing light on the contributions made by several different individuals. This book is a must-have for history students as well as for those who want to gain insight into the history of modern India.

[Aachal Bidwai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Best part of this book is that It’s compact, and handy to be finished in a day or two. But is not the best one if you want to dive into the British Indian history of colonialism. It’s missing Chronology and thus the beauty of context seems to be lost. Also, it’s descriptive and not prescriptive i.e it doesn’t provide (an) analysis or even any backdrop for it. Even for Civil Services Aspirants, I’ll recommend one quick skim-through this book and then move on with Spectrum for revisions and note making.

[Pragati Kulshrestha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is nothing but a verbatim recreation of ncert book on modern india by bipan chandra which has been discontinued by ncert now. This Books Solely Deals With History & Time Of Britishers & Revolutionaries, From The Inception Of Revolts Against Britishers.

It is v good read for anyone (specially students) interested in having a comprehensive viewpoint of all that has happened from 1757 - 1857 and beyond till independence. All the events are elucidated and are arranged under various relevant headings/sections.

[Sherin P L · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall a good book. A fair enough idea about the freedom struggle is in this book. But it lacks depth. So many important incidents are just mentioned or are not explained further. Many important personalities are not given due coverage, including Bose, Patel etc. Over emphasis on the deeds of Nehru is seen. So this book can't be counted as a comprehensive read of our freedom struggle. But good enough to get a blur picture of what has happened over the struggle years.

[Sharayu Gangurde · Rating 1 out of 5]

Greatly disappointed with this book. It vilifies the British badly and I have never read such an anti-British book ever. Did not think Bipin Chandra would ever present history in such a manner. He seems very biased about certain social reformers and leaders. I fail to understand how could this book be on the NCERT syllabus! Not worth Civil Services prep for sure.

[Athul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its a bleeding text book. That's what this is.

[Parth Agrawal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always wondered why do we even need to read history books. We can't change it, we can't meet the people who were involved and doesn't matter how good an author is, we never really feel the actual urge that the characters of the story must've had felt. This book starts from decline of the era of Mughals that means basically from the era of Aurangzeb and has concluded on 15th August 1947, the day we got our independence. But if I just said that history was not a worthwhile endeavor, then why am I starting a story here? Precisely because of this reason only as I stand corrected

I've always heard my parents telling me that they in their graduation days have read this author and it was a treat. I totally agree with them. In 25 years, this author has neither lost his charm nor he has got any competition. In this particular book, as i mentioned earlier, he started with Aurangzeb but just try to soak in the depth of description that he has given--> From Aurangzeb, he has mentioned every Mughal ruler who led to its demise which means Bahadur Shah Zafar I, Jahandar Shah, Farukh Siyaar, Muhammad Shah, Shah Alam II, Akbar II, Bahadur Shah Zafar II and this is just the list of Mughal Emperors. Now, while the disintegration of Mughal empire was going on, various kingdoms surfaced during this time which includes Hyderabad, Mysore, Kerala, Maratha, Rajput, Sikhs etc

British Empire has enjoyed special attention in the whole book though. From the entry of British East India Company in 1608 in India. The journey continues as they make their first major move regarding the acquisition of political power in India when they defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, in connivance with Mir Jafar, in battle of Plassey in 1757 and from there on, the Britishers never looked behind as they came to this realization that in order to further their economic causes in India, it's easier to indirectly acquire the political leadership and keep making exceptions for the EIC. Dastak documents are one such example in which the Britishers had secured a farman from the Mughal empire where they didn't have to pay taxes for the entry or exit of their goods in Bengal. But the real twist of nationalism and communal-ism came into the picture around 1900-1940 when all the important leaders from Raja Rammohan Roy to Jawahar Lal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and many others decided that enough is enough and nothing would be satisfactory to us apart from Poorna Swaraj(Lahore session of Congress in 1929)

I won't rob you off the thrill and sequential bliss that this book is and though it is mostly favored and read by people who are preparing for upsc, i feel that every Indian should read this book as this one is the best collection of historical events, presented in an impartial manner, that I have come across as of now

[Abby Varghese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great book which serves as an introduction to History of India. This book gives a brief account of events that led to the formation of India as we know today. I loved this book because its not very factual but had an analytic edge which helps for CS aspirants.
Overall this is the best book I have read till now to get an holistic view of modern history of India.

[Rohit Shinde · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit biased toward Congress I think.

[Malvika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad. Not good either. It's a purely academic text, best for revising a day before exam. Also, best suited for people who know their history.

Not smth I'd suggest if you want to know about Modern Indian history. OR if you are planning to use this as a core text in your bachelors :p

[Keerthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a brief account of events that tied India together after the fall of Mughal Empire and the freedom struggle. Serves as an introductory read to those interested in the history of India.

[Akshita Bhardwaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike India's struggle for Independence, this happens to be a mere compilation of facts. For more exhaustive and opinion-based work India's struggle... by the same author, would be my recommendation.

[Sarath Ramakrishnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reprint of old NCERT 11th standard text book. Average. Biased at times.

[Shaloo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like history? Naa, I I don’t like history, but i have got to read that for my exams. 😎

This book explains how condition in India during the eighteenth century helped the British east india company establish its rule in india.

The book also defines the nationalist movements. This book gives you a broad understanding of making of modern india. The best thing i found in this book is all the events are arranged in a chronological order. This is the best book for upsc aspirants.

#keepflying #keepreading #bookreviews #books #blogger #history

[Deepu George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives the history of formation of the idea of indian from the time of east india company to the independence. Although the time after Gandhiji rose to prominence is known to all, the time from 1857 to 1920 was not very clear atleast for me. This book gave clarity to that period

[Srijan Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compact and well compressed but covered every glimpse needed with easy language.

[Ravi Bhati · Rating 3 out of 5]

A neat and clean write up on the History of India. Well written. Good reference book for competitive exams.

[Ankush Rai · Rating 4 out of 5]

History of Modern India
Written by - Bipan Chandra
Publisher - Orient Black Swan
Year - 2009
Pages - 333
Dimensions - 22x14x1.7cm
Price - 395/-
Language - English/Hindi

This book is written by one of the prominent Indian Historian Bipan Chandra based on his own research on India's Colonial Rule. Right from the Decline of Mughals, Marathas, Sikh Empire till 1947 India's Partition the book has mention of all the events which happened in Indian subcontinent after the advent of the Europeans .
Key events such as annexation of the Princely states,1857 revolt, religious and social reforms , nationalist movement, phase of Indian National Congress, 1947 Partition are mentioned. Also annexation of Burma ,Nepal and Afghanistan's struggle with the British is also written.
As this book is highly recommended for Civil Services Aspirants ,it is advisable to use a highlighter to make notes ,important dates ,places ,names etc while reading this book. India's revolutionary movement - events starting after Tilak era is interesting . Book covers every important events of India's freedom struggle and is written in simple lucid language as a result this is the best book currently available to read about Indian History ,freedom struggle . It is highly recommended for Civil Services examinations.
Reader Rating 4.5/5
Reviewed by Ankush Rai
By - Get the facts History
IG - @getthefactshistory

[Vignesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The exploitation of India and the economic, administrative and social impact of the British rule was explained well. Can expect something more than the academic books.

[Ravi Prakash · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much chronological details, but it's a good book for clearing basic knowledge on various questions from the point of view of exams.

[Vivek Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite of its drawbacks no other work comes close to it. Also, sanghis should commit suicide instead of rambling nonsense.

[Pushpendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief and multi faceted.

[Kenneth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book, like any other mainstream history book on India, talks about Indian history from the vantage point of the ruling class/castes. It is deeply ahistorical in many respects and offers a birdseye view of Indian history as painted by the Brahminical class through the ages. I am saying this primarily because of the fallaciousness of the author's treatment of India as one single political entity throughout the ages. India, as we know it, was created by the British and solidified by the Congress according to the pleasant reveries of their leaders like Nehru. It is purely a modern construct that was chiselled by modern political forces. Historically, Indian has never been one nation and it can still only be considered to be a nation of nations. Therefore, presupposing the existence of India, while overlooking the fact that such an India never existed, can only amount to intellectual deceitfulness. Such posturing would help to maintain the present idea of India as conceived by the ruling classes. The pitfalls of this view are manifold; it, inter alia, results in the creation of a strong Centre, thereby costing states their regional autonomy. It also facilitates the undue glorification of India's past, which results in the spread of the rabid, hatemongering right-wing ideologies. The author also seems to be in line with such thought when he repeatedly talks about the greatness of India's economy before the colonial era. Which India is he talking about? Is he talking about the Mughals, the Naickers, the Peshawar, the Kashmiris, the Travancore kingdom, or the tribes of the North East? These kingdoms had nothing in common except for the caste system and similar societal hierarchies and similar economies.

Secondly, on page number 47, in the chapter titled 'The Indian States and society in the 18th century, he sings paeans about the exalted position of women and quotes an Englishman. Nothing could be further from the truth than this. Women, belonging to any religion, were treated inferiorly throughout history. He also sings praises to the virtues and moralities of the general public. I do not understand what sort of morals he managed to find in societies that were fissured by caste and religion.

Thirdly, while writing about the pre-independence struggles of various kingdoms, leaders and regiments against the British, he talks about their lack of patriotism or about their patriotic vigour. How can patriotism for India exist when India itself has not been established? Duh... When you are fighting for the Nizam of Hyderabad or for the King of Travancore, would you be fighting for India? Why do these historians overlook these basic logical fallacies in their writings?

Fourthly, while referring to the Indian elite, the author consistently uses two phrases - 'the educated class' and the 'moneylenders'. He also refers to the landlords/zamindars. He wilfully hides the castes which constituted these classes and how these classes owed their positions in society solely because of their castes. The Brahmins, in large measure, formed the educated class, thanks to their proximity to the ruling class throughout the centuries and to the religious/cultural hegemony that they have built. The money-lenders were/are Baniyas who were the worst parasites that sucked the living blood of the toiling Indian masses. To understand Indian history, it is important to know the caste locations of the ruling classes and how each of them worked together in tandem to exploit the Bahujan masses.

Fifthly, while writing about social reform and renaissance, he only talks at length about the Brahmin-UC-Ashraf reformers. Dr Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule, Periyar, Sree Narayana Guru, Ayyankali, Shahu Maharaj are either mentioned for the sake of mentioning or never mentioned at all. These tall leaders who fought for dignity and self-respect find no place in this textbook. While talking about caste, he refers to it in the past while throwing in a few concluding remarks about its sad prevalence. Also, while talking about the communal problem, he seeks to throw the weight of historical blame on the Muslims, while seeming to exonerate the rabid founders of Hindutva.

To conclude, the book whitewashes the historical contribution of the various Bahujan anticaste movements while extolling those who were simply propped up by the ruling elite. The author's convenient portrayal of Indian history by hiding all the sheer ugliness that it holds can be evidenced by his refusal to talk about the 40,000 civilians who were killed during Patel's conquest of Hyderabad. This reading of Indian history can only lead to the perpetuation of the status-quo. If you are concerned about change and justice, read Ambedkar and Periyar.

[Prathyush Sambaturu · Rating 3 out of 5]

TL;DR
This book provides a brief summary of the Indian history from the period of the downfall of Moghul Empire (1707- Aurangazeb's death) to the Indian Independence from the British rule in 1947. It provides an account of the following events of the Modern Indian History: the fall of Mughal Empire, the rise, and fall of the Marathas, the rise of the East Indian Company (EIC), the 1857 revolt, the birth of Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885, the Gandhian Era, and finally the Independence and Partition of India in 1947. This book only provides important notes on these events and does not even go into the details of many events that happened during this period. It is suitable as an overview for a reader who is new to Modern Indian history. You might need to read some other books in conjunction to get a detailed account of this period of Indian history.

Quick Summary:
In this book, the author narrates the story of Modern India beginning with the downfall of the Moghul Empire during the early 18th century. He examines the various reasons for the downfall of the glorious empire. The void in the political sphere of India created by the fall of such a powerful dynasty was to be filled by numerous small kingdoms. The Marathas had come to paramount power during the late 18th century. But during their westward expansion, they met with the Afghan forces under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali in the third Battle of Panipat only to suffer a loss. This and the repeated plunder of Delhi by Nadir Shah earlier and Ahmad Shah Abdali during this period provided the EIC an opportunity to assess the situation. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the EIC has been the de facto ruler of Bengal. From here on, the company shrewdly used the strategy of "Divide and Conquer" policy to gradually subjugate majority of India.

The common suffering and misery endured by the people across the country under the company rule gradually united them against one common enemy - the EIC. After the first major revolt in 1857, the British took the control of India into its own hands from the EIC. This only further increased the sufferings of the people such as huge burden of taxation and many other forms of suppression. Decades of the EIC rule plunged India into economic backwardness and its people into poverty and illiteracy. The lack of sense of unity among the people in various parts of India was time and again exploited by the EIC. In 1885, a group of western educated Indians formed the Indian National Congress under the supervision of a retired British civil servant in India.

INC was at the forefront in the nationalist movement of India. During the first phase (1885-1907), the moderate nationalists were active in filing petitions to the government to improve the administration. But the militant nationalism took over the second phase of the nationalist movement which also spread to INC. During both these phases, the mass movement involving people was absent. In 1919 Gandhi, who earlier returned from South Africa after leading the Indian people there against racial discrimination, took over the reins of Indian National Movement. This marks the beginning of Gandhian Era, which evoked a mass reaction from the people across the subcontinent. Also, during late 1920's, India witnessed many revolutionaries (Bhagat Singh, Azad, etc.) who sacrificed their lives for the independence of India. Slowly, the young socialist leaders such as Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose became active in the INC. In spite of all the movements, revolts, and uprisings, the British were not yet ready to leave India. This period also saw the rise of communalism in India.

In 1939, the second world war broke out and Britain which fought on the side of allies had to fight on many fronts. The Indian Army was used to fight the British wars without a consensus of its people. The popular revolt for Indian Independence in 1942 was suppressed by jailing majority of Indian freedom fighters. Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Indian National Army in South East Asia and along with the help of Japanese army reached till Burma. The plan was that they will enter India via Burma and release the Indian people from the yolk of British rule. But, Japan's retreat and the sudden death of Bose halted the aspirations of INA. After 1945, Gandhi and other freedom fighters who were just released from jail fought the final struggle for Independence. Due to various reasons, the British finally chose to grant the Independence to India. The British and the Indian politicians accepted the partition of India based on the demands of the communal forces. During the partition which was hurried and recklessly planned by the British, India witnessed one of the horrific killings of both Hindus and Muslim moving across the frontiers of the newly formed India. Nevertheless, plagued with economic backwardness, the looming darkness of partition, on the midnight hour of 14th August 1947, India became independent. This ends and begins the making of Indian Nation.

[Aman Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a guy who was always fond of learning history but can't read 600+ pages book. This book has surely come to the rescue. It covers all the major events in Indian history to such a great extent that too in merely 300 pages. A must for those who want to cover 200 years of India's journey in just 2 weeks. The author's balanced view was a bonus for me.

The book takes you onto a voyage with some medieval India linkage initially which sets the right tone needed. One of the things that I personally liked that each chapter has sub-sections which cover the social, economic, administrative and cultural life of the people during that era. It delves down into the initial coming off the europeans including Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, French and Britishers and the tussle between them and with the existing rulers.
A great deal of emphasis was given on the rationalising of every moment in history from the decline of the Mughals and the emergence of the East India company to the Landlordism to the spread of communalism to the factors for India's Independence. The bridge between the world events and the happenings of India are pointed out elegantly. The upsurge in socialist ideas after Russian revolution and the effect of the great depression, the ww1 & ww2 affecting nationalists interests have been figured out in a great deal. He also quotes the Indian Leaders or British officials wherever necessary, this helps in realising the though process, and what issues and concerns were surrounding them and what steps and remedies did they take to rectify it. The author at times goes onto advice what could have been done better, I remember he suggests what could have been done to avoid communal feeling and subsequently partition.

As every rose has some thorns, there are some things where it could have been better off. Firstly, the decline of the Mughals was compressed in a very compact way. Secondly, the years after 1919 Rowlatt Act are covered in a hurry which was the actual period of uprising, strikes and hartals. The major events, the Non Co-operation and Civil disobedience movement were also not written in details. To provide a glimpse the revolt of 1857 had more coverage than all major movements.

The whole book was like a story telling and I never felt reading history, it seemed like a novel. But as every gain comes with a loss, to have a just insight to the Indian modern history this would be the first go to book but to dive into more details then this might not be your desired trajectory.

[Shiva Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

History of modern india talks briefly about the reasons why which the mughal empire vanquished and how did british emerged victorious apart from it tells us about the british era problems and how a common indian except princes ate affected from it and what disaster this foreign rule were to Indians , this book also talks about in detail the freedom struggle and different leaders involve in it and their persona of effect as well as it describes the indian freedom struggle was conducted in three phases and how in later years it came closer to LEFT ideology apart from it also emphasized on the communal role of different groups which was the main hindrance in the freedom of country as well as later become the main reason behind the division of country and this communal role was particularly in favour of british and princes which basically was done through leaders of hindu mahasabha and national congress
This book also talks about certain terms such as militant nationalism and revolutionary nationalism which in my point of view is particularly the wrong terms signified to the freedom fighters of the most vibrant era of the indian history as well as somewhere it is also talks about hostile activities as terrorists activities
Well apart from this negative point it basically talks about our freedom struggle mostly around Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi
History of modern india is a fabulous books as it talks about the era of mass struggle and how india evolved to it's freedom

[Shashank Navandhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few months ago I was reading an article on the Ramchandra Guha's website which was an interesting read. I considered reading more of his work. Got to know about his tremendous work 'India After Gandhi'. I started reading his work, but somewhere I felt that I am confining myself by knowing only about Independent India and this made me go as far back as possible and hence I read History Of Medieval India. And now this book.
Again, like the book on History Of Medieval India, this book too ,certainly, has been very brief and Bipan Chandra has covered large extent of Indian history after the decline of Mughals.
It's painful to know the suppression of Britishers reshaping every aspect of India. How East India Company and British imperialism made every Indian suffered. How Indians were being treated, how they were exploited, how they were looted (Loot is one of the first Hindi word to enter the Oxford dictionary, in 1788). How just a few people sitting in an office miles away from India ruled millions. How Indians were used for filling British empire's deep pockets.How Britishers weakened Indian traditional market to set up their industries here. How the dates of the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the British conquest of Bengal virtually coincided. And much more.
It is all here, in this book. In this single book. It will answer all your "How, What, When and Why about India after the decline of Mughals".

#nonfiction

[Muthu Ramanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though it may appear as a just another boring History textbook, but for me this book did the magic. It was penned by Bipan Chandra (an authority in Indian History) had me hooked to the narrative and his eloquent word described the event as if we are/had witnessed it. The content of the book is little when compared to the vast & ancient history of the land [India], this book did more than justice to the area which it focuses, that is: Modern India: begins with the death of last great Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and ensuing struggle for throne of Hindustan, then it moves on to how humbly East India Company (ECI) entered into India and how emerged as its colonial masters, the last part details the struggle for Independence (1857-1947) and ends with India's becoming the largest constitutional democracy on 1950.
An interesting feature of this book is that it contains map for almost every chapter. This did the magic to me to and it's an essential prerequisite for anyone who wants to know past of this country {India}.