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India was a rich country with a thriving handicraft industry and rich cultural traditions before the advent of the Britishers and their colonial rule. However, “the drain of wealth” and European oppression lead to India being a mere subject to the European vested interests in profit and wealth. The book by A L Basham is rightly titled, “The wonder that is India”. The contribution of historical Indian authors to reconstructing the wonderful history of India is truly significant.
There are a lot of authors who have written about Indian history, Indian and Europeans and writers from other countries. However, European writers wrote in a way that justified and validated the colonial rule in India, by describing India’s history as dominated by despotic rulers. They gave the notion in their books, that India had, no sense and notion, of “one nation” and a country that is concerned about spirituality couldn’t rule itself. So, the Indian authors took the task upon themselves to reconstruct Indian history. Their work is significant and plays a huge role in changing the perception of the world about Indian history.
Some of the famous Historical Indian authors are:
Panchanan Mitra
Dr Panchanan Mitra was India’s first professor of anthropology. He was born on May 25, 1892, and died on July 25, 1936. He was one of the first in the country to attend Yale University and went on various anthropological excursions in India and other parts of the world. He was the head of the University of Calcutta’s Department of Anthropology, and his writings include prehistoric India (1923), History of Ameri-can Anthropology (1930) and Indo-Poly-nesian Memories (1933).
K.A Nilkantha Shastri
- A Nilakanta Sastri was a South Indian historian who lived from 12 August 1892 to 15 June 1975. Many of his writings are now considered standard reference works in the field. Sastri received Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, for his study and knowledge of sources, making him one of the most renowned historical Indian authors.
Some of his prominent works are:
Cultural Contacts Between Aryans and Dravidians (1967), A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar (1955) and A comprehensive history of India (1936).
Radhakumud Mukharjee
Radha Kumud Mukherjee was a prominent nationalist in India during the British colonial period in India and a historical Indian author.
In 1905, Mukherjee graduated from Calcutta University with a PhD. He taught first at Bengal National College. He began a succession of tenures in the Benares, Mysore, and Lucknow universities after 1915.
He believed in the concept of Greater India, where Indian merchants and explorers with large fleets took Indians to South Asia and established kingdoms there, as seen in his famous book: “Indian Shipping: A History of Indian Seaborne Trade and Maritime Activity”.
He also published, Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist (1947), Men and Thought in Ancient India (1912), The Fundamental Unity of India, A History of India and many more.
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh was an Indian novelist, diplomat, writer, and politician. He lived from February 2, 1915, until March 20, 2014. His experiences during India’s 1947 partition motivated Singh to author “Train to Pakistan” (1956 ) ( in 1998 It was adapted into a movie that became his best-known novel.
Khushwant Singh was born in Punjab. He received an LL.B. from the University of London. He served for eight years as a lawyer in the Lahore High Court, after which, he joined the Indian Foreign Service after India gained independence. His Job at UNESCO’s Department of Mass Communications in Paris, and All India radio, inspired him to seek a career in literature.
He was most recognised as a writer for his incisive secularism, wit, sarcasm, and a lifelong love of poetry. His contrasts of Westerners’ and Indians’ social and behavioural features are laced with biting humour. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was the editor of various literary and journalistic journals, and also two newspapers. Between 1980 to 1986, he was a Member of The parliament in the Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of Parliament.
R.C Majumdar
R C Majumdar was an Indian historian and academic. He was also a former Kolkata Sheriff.
Majumdar began his studies in ancient India. He authored the complete history of Champa, Kambuja Desa and Suvarnadvipa after extensive trips and research in Southeast Asia (1944). He took on the task of authoring a multi-volume series of books on Indian history at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s request. He struggled for twenty-six years, beginning in 1951, to portray the past of the Indian people, beginning from the Vedic Period through India’s independence in eleven volumes. Majumdar founded Nagpur University’s College of Indology in 1955 and became its Principal. He taught Indian history at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago from 1958 to 1959. He also became the chairman of the Asiatic Society from 1966 to 1968. He was the chairman of Bhangiya Sahitya Parishad from 1968 to 1969.
” The History and Culture of the Indian People,” the final book was released in 1977. He was also the editor of Dacca University’s three-volume history of Bengal. “Jivaner Smritidvipe” was his latest book.
Some of his famous works are Ancient India, History of the Freedom Movement in India, Classical accounts of India and Hindu Colonies in the Far East.
Ramchandra Guha
Ramachandra “Ram” Guha is an Indian historian. He is a well-known expert on India’s modern history.
He is the author of three very famous books:
- India after Gandhi
- Gandhi Before India
- Gandhi: The years that changed the world.
Conclusion
We are indebted to the historical Indian authors, for wonderfully crafting works on the history of India. It is interesting to know about our past, and understanding our history helps us understand the present. And these authors’ contribution to understanding our history is significant and extremely valuable.
