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India: An Illustrated History (Illustrated Histories (Hippocrene))
India is a land of contrasts and diversity, Echoes of vanished empires exist alongside its natural wonders and teeming modern cities. Today, India covers over two million square miles and has the world's second-largest population, which shares fifteen national languages and six major religions. This volume succinctly recounts 45,000 years of Indian history, from the earliest Indus valley settlements to the twentieth century struggle against British imperial rule to the challenges facing the country today. Sections on cultural traditions, regional cuisine, dress, and religion bring the varied facets of this nation to life. The book is ideal reference for travellers, students, and anyone intrigued by one of the world's oldest surviving civilisations. Where the past is ever-present.
249 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 22, 2020
Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed by this book. Any time an entire subcontinent's history is covered in about 200 pages one can expect that the coverage will be superficial and that is certainly the case here. A substantial amount of space is devoted to India's religious beliefs, which is among the least interesting thing about India for people who are not of Indian descent nor of particular fascination for heathen worship practices. Yet one could expect at least a little bit of insight in how India kept (if it kept) a unified civilization in the face of centuries of persistent political disunity that made it significantly easy for European imperial powers to strongly influence the country. The authors want to claim that the period of imperial rule was simply a little blip but that clearly wasn't the case since the Portuguese started their efforts to control the trade of the Indian Ocean going back to the early 1500's and the British raj and Portuguese possession of Goa lasted until after World War II. Overall this book is clearly written with the agenda of making India's culture seem to be particularly important as far as the world is concerned, and that task is subtly undermined by the lack of concern that the authors show to large swaths of Indian history.
This book is a bit more than 200 pages and is divided into two parts and seventeen chapters. After a preface the first part of the book consists of a discussion that focuses on Indian political history (I). The authors begin with a brief discussion of the Indus River Valley civilization (1) before moving to a longer discussion of the Vedic age (2) that includes a lot of discussion about the origins of Hindu epics, Jainism, Buddhism, and Bhakti. After that the authors discuss the first Indian Empire in the Mauryans and how that period ended in the ferocity of foreign invasion (3), after which the author discusses the Gupta dynasty that followed (4) as well as giving a very brief look at the Andhras, Pandyas, Pallavas, Cholas, Cheras, Hoysalas, and Vijayanagars of South India (5). A discussion of the Rajput era (6) then leads into a look at the rise of Islam (7) and the period of the Moghul dynasty (8) as well as early European voyages that led to the coast of India becoming dominated by the Portuguese, Dutch, Danes, French, and finally the English (9). At this point the author very briefly discusses the British raj as is it is something to be ashamed of (10) before spending a substantial time talking about the Indian Nationalist movement and Congress' political power during the early period after independence (11) as well as a look at India today that focuses on continuity with the Hindu past and contemporary technology (12). The second part of the book then contains a look at India's "living traditions" (II), including religion (13), various heathen rituals and customs (14), crafts (15), music and dance (16), as well as food (17), after which the book ends with a bibliography and index.
Ultimately, this book provides a stellar example of C.S. Lewis' hostility towards chronological snobbery. A substantial portion of the book's space devoted to history is spent looking at the history of the post-independence India since 1947, which is all the more striking given the thousands of years of Indian history that existed before that. More time is spent on the post-independence period of Israel's history than spent on the period of the Gupta dynasty, South Indian kingdoms, Rajput era, and the rise of Islam in India combined over the course of more than 1000 years, as well as more than the entire time spent talking about the Moghul dynasty and early European voyages, which demonstrates a severe lack of balance in the material covered. The authors seem to want the reader to think that India is impressive today and that a focus on Hindu festivals and the Nehru dynasty of politicians will impress those people who read about this book and who presumably come to it with little knowledge about the history of India as a whole, which is sadly not something that they will find to a great degree here.
This book is a bit more than 200 pages and is divided into two parts and seventeen chapters. After a preface the first part of the book consists of a discussion that focuses on Indian political history (I). The authors begin with a brief discussion of the Indus River Valley civilization (1) before moving to a longer discussion of the Vedic age (2) that includes a lot of discussion about the origins of Hindu epics, Jainism, Buddhism, and Bhakti. After that the authors discuss the first Indian Empire in the Mauryans and how that period ended in the ferocity of foreign invasion (3), after which the author discusses the Gupta dynasty that followed (4) as well as giving a very brief look at the Andhras, Pandyas, Pallavas, Cholas, Cheras, Hoysalas, and Vijayanagars of South India (5). A discussion of the Rajput era (6) then leads into a look at the rise of Islam (7) and the period of the Moghul dynasty (8) as well as early European voyages that led to the coast of India becoming dominated by the Portuguese, Dutch, Danes, French, and finally the English (9). At this point the author very briefly discusses the British raj as is it is something to be ashamed of (10) before spending a substantial time talking about the Indian Nationalist movement and Congress' political power during the early period after independence (11) as well as a look at India today that focuses on continuity with the Hindu past and contemporary technology (12). The second part of the book then contains a look at India's "living traditions" (II), including religion (13), various heathen rituals and customs (14), crafts (15), music and dance (16), as well as food (17), after which the book ends with a bibliography and index.
Ultimately, this book provides a stellar example of C.S. Lewis' hostility towards chronological snobbery. A substantial portion of the book's space devoted to history is spent looking at the history of the post-independence India since 1947, which is all the more striking given the thousands of years of Indian history that existed before that. More time is spent on the post-independence period of Israel's history than spent on the period of the Gupta dynasty, South Indian kingdoms, Rajput era, and the rise of Islam in India combined over the course of more than 1000 years, as well as more than the entire time spent talking about the Moghul dynasty and early European voyages, which demonstrates a severe lack of balance in the material covered. The authors seem to want the reader to think that India is impressive today and that a focus on Hindu festivals and the Nehru dynasty of politicians will impress those people who read about this book and who presumably come to it with little knowledge about the history of India as a whole, which is sadly not something that they will find to a great degree here.
April 1, 2023
Serviceable. Maybe 3.5 stars overall. In some ways, four stars, in others, three.
Four stars: amazing historical story, excellently balanced overview, great balance of faith, culture, politics, and more.
Three stars: writing is often choppy, recent history exposition is often redundant and our of order, lack of decent maps is annoying when geography is constantly mentioned--I looked at the one stylized map early in the book, but it's unclear.
Still, I'm glad to finally know about some of the great heritage of this awesome civilization, and now I actually understand the history of Kashmir and Pakistan. I had no idea that Muslims had influenced the history of Hindu India so much--their culture is quite a fusion!
I made notes of several classic texts to look up :)
Four stars: amazing historical story, excellently balanced overview, great balance of faith, culture, politics, and more.
Three stars: writing is often choppy, recent history exposition is often redundant and our of order, lack of decent maps is annoying when geography is constantly mentioned--I looked at the one stylized map early in the book, but it's unclear.
Still, I'm glad to finally know about some of the great heritage of this awesome civilization, and now I actually understand the history of Kashmir and Pakistan. I had no idea that Muslims had influenced the history of Hindu India so much--their culture is quite a fusion!
I made notes of several classic texts to look up :)
October 9, 2020
Basic!!
January 1, 2011
This was a free read form Kindle, one of many which I downloaded simply for the reason that it was free. I did not plan on reading this any time soon but I opened it out of curiousity and ended up reading it cover to cover in one sitting, which bodes well for the book or maybe I am simply starved for non-fiction. Do not read this for the illustrated description which I find to be false advertising. The illustrtations/photographs were limited and lacking.
As the preface states, this book is not for the specialist or researcher. I strongly agree. This book is perfect for people unfamiliar with the history of India. If I had read this as a teenager, the audience which I think most closely meshes with this book, I would have been desperate to visit the country. The book manages to convey feelings of romance and passion, the exotic and the mysterious, brutality and heartbreak. There were many areas touched upon that I would love to read more of, particularly the chapter on India's epics.
I found the little there was about India's epics to be fascinating, especially involving the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. I loved all of the myths woven throughout the book. I appreciated the extra insight into Jainism. I thought parts of the book were a little dry, especially involving British rule, but this may have been because British rule is the one part of the book I am knowledgeable in. The religious bits were repetitive, with nearly word for word definitions in separate sections of the book. The book's effect and organization would have been better served with religions covered near the beginning instead of a separate section towards the end and I wonder why the section on traditional dances was so long, though this may just be my ignorance showing through.
All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in beginning to explore the history, art, and culture of India.
As the preface states, this book is not for the specialist or researcher. I strongly agree. This book is perfect for people unfamiliar with the history of India. If I had read this as a teenager, the audience which I think most closely meshes with this book, I would have been desperate to visit the country. The book manages to convey feelings of romance and passion, the exotic and the mysterious, brutality and heartbreak. There were many areas touched upon that I would love to read more of, particularly the chapter on India's epics.
I found the little there was about India's epics to be fascinating, especially involving the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. I loved all of the myths woven throughout the book. I appreciated the extra insight into Jainism. I thought parts of the book were a little dry, especially involving British rule, but this may have been because British rule is the one part of the book I am knowledgeable in. The religious bits were repetitive, with nearly word for word definitions in separate sections of the book. The book's effect and organization would have been better served with religions covered near the beginning instead of a separate section towards the end and I wonder why the section on traditional dances was so long, though this may just be my ignorance showing through.
All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in beginning to explore the history, art, and culture of India.
February 3, 2011
A good introduction to India's cultural and political history. Short and brief though so if you're looking for something comprehensive, this is not it. But for the casual history reader, this is ideal. I'm not sure it's worth the $9.18 it's currently priced at. I got it as a free promo and knowing how short it is, I'm not sure it's worth that much.
Want to read
February 27, 2009A history book of India - which is a set of things I'm overdue to read - and it's small enough to bring to hockey and for transit! Perfect!
Just skimmed so far, very interesting already about Britain and their effforts to create divisions between Hindus and Muslims.
Just skimmed so far, very interesting already about Britain and their effforts to create divisions between Hindus and Muslims.
March 7, 2011
Not an in-depth history by any means, but a good way to get an overview of the diverse history of India, as well as the culture and religions.
April 21, 2014
Not at all in depth, but still a good overview of an old and complicated culture.
September 19, 2015
Pretty good short history. I enjoyed the fact that it was split into history and culture sections.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews