John KeayIndia: A History. Revised and Updated

In 3000 pages this covers the range of Indian history, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, from the Harrapan civilization of 3000 BC to the present day.The first few chapters discuss archaeology as well as history, since there are no written records of the Harrapan civilization, and records are scarce for later civilizations, including the period in which the epic poems Mahabharata and Ramayana were written, as well as the life of Buddha. The historical record starts appearing with the reign of Ashoka who left inscriptions on numerous columns around the country, but it is fragmentary for many centuries after that.There was more detail on the subsequent dynasties than I could absorb on a first reading. A second reading might help. Some readers might prefer studying a less complete introduction like the excellent series of videos, Story of India, produced by Michael Wood.A high point in the book is a discussion of Mughals, Muslim invaders who are responsible for many of the most impressive Indian monuments, including the Taj Mahal, and the Fatehpur Sikri of Akbar the Great. The rulers from this period seem to have been psychopaths who did not flinch from killing brothers or fathers in order to achieve the throne.Although there were efforts in India to foster tolerance between Muslims and Hindus, independence led to a fracturing of India, first into India and Pakistan along religious lines, with East Pakistan becoming an independent state, Bangladesh. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives when forced to move to states consistent with their religious beliefs.At partition in 1947 the population of India was 330 million Indians and about 30 million each in East and West Pakistan. The population of India has quadrupled since then, and the populations of Pakistan and Bangladesh have increased by a factor of about 6.We live on a finite planet. Such population growth is unsustainable. One wonders why the British and the Indians themselves did not realize that continued population growth would produce continued poverty.There was an effort to establish a form of democracy, although it was corrupted to a form of “demockery” to quote one of the chapter titles. But can democracy work when the people are malnourished? Or are demagogues inevitable?Perhaps one needs a benevolent autocracy at least for poor countries, although such autocracies are rare. The China autocracy introduced a one-child policy in 1979. It is amazing that more people don’t notice the vast difference in outcomes.China now vies with the US for economic dominance, while malnutrition is still a source of early death for many in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This in spite of the Green Revolution.And time has been lost. Population growth cannot continue forever. In fact, it leads to global warming, which threatens human extinction.The simple use of birth control would alleviate much suffering and might help India achieve higher living standards, as well as curb sectarian violence in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

First off, let me explain why I wanted to read this book. I realized a few years ago that there were massive parts of the world, for example the "Middle East" and China, about whose history I knew nothing. I couldn't have told you what the lands of Arabia were like prior to the present day, or when the imperial age ended in China, etc. So I started to collect and read some history books that gave the reader an overview of the known history of a particular region. Thus far, I've read such a book about the Middle East and China. India was next for me.My review, then, is based on my judgment about the book as in introduction to and survey of the history of the region of world currently known as India. For my purposes, I find the book to be quite good. India seems to defy extensive historical summary because of the many different people who have lived in the region throughout history and the relative lack of documentation detailing the early history of those people and their political associations. Like China, India's multitude of kingdoms had elastic borders, with many contemporary nations occupying the subcontinent at any given time. Referring to India as a single entity is often a geographical convenience more than a reality of governance.That Keay is knowledgeable about the history of the region is certain, and his book's approach to describing the cultural and political factors that set the events of India's history to movement is certainly informative. There are a few points in the book, however, where relating the myths and legends of the people are too seemlessly blended with the narrative of the historical fact (or theory, as the facts are often in dispute).As a simple consequence of the complexity of the topic, the crush of information (like the list of a regions of a monarch's conquests, for example) can overwhelm to the point of diluting understanding. I would have found the descriptions more informative if I had been provided with more of a summary of the historical significance of a king or kingdom, providing the list-like information bracketed as a section. The names of the conquered in a particular conquest are not useful for such a coarse view of India's history, and their listing exhausts the reader.There is one weakness that I attribute to the information presented. When studying a large region, I like to have a feel for where in the geography of the region a certain thing or event was located. Keay does mention place names, but from the very outset of the book, I had the feeling that I would be getting more out of the book if I was more familiar with the geography of India. For example (for those like me with a knowledge of U.S. geography), imagine reading a passage that described an area stretching from Salt Lake City to Nashville - not a very useful description for a person not familiar with at least the general location of those cities within the overall geographic region. One cannot easily envision whether this is a large area or a small area, north, south or centralized, near the borders or far from them without at least a feel for their position. I recommend reading this book alongside a good map.For generalists unfamiliar with the topic, I also recommend reading the book with a personal list of non-English terms that are presented in the book. Although Keay does a good job of explaining and introducing concepts that are best expressed in the native language, it is easy to forget many pages later what the deccan, arya-varta, hind, stupa, etc. etc. refer to exactly.The weaknesses of the book are far outweighed by the book's strengths - at least for my stated purposes. The author's style is reasonably readable given the often-times dry material. I am dinging one star for not condensing the overly detailed conquests and bloodlines of comparatively trival houses, as I just feel that, while important to the student of India's history, they are out of place in a survey this general, and dilute the most salient points of interest of these ancient kingdoms. Still, I shouldn't complain about getting exactly what I asked for, which is a complete history of India from the earliest extant knowledge to the present day.

This is an outstanding general history of India and is strongly recommended. The narrative is very well written and organized, making it a very useful broad discussion of Indian history. I had read a similar general history of India 15 years ago and this book is far better written and includes much recent scholarship.There a few minor challenges to the book, in particular its introduction to the European presence in India is weak but it eventually recovers the narrative as the British presence becomes a real factor in India.All that said, this book is long. In that context, it is a great book for those interested in Indian history. For those interested in a short summary, look elsewhere.I read this book to prepare for a my first tourist trip to India and loved it -- it brought to life the great palaces in Delhi and Agra and made real the forces that shaped India such as modern nationalism, the Raj, and the Chola.

This is quite a unique book in the sense that it accounts for all the history of India (and in the final chapters of Pakistan and Bangladesh) from the very beginning to the last 2000's in a rather detailed and chronologically organized manner with clear language and explanations, and many pictures to accompany the text. Precisly what I was looking for!In spite of some strange (and poor jabs) at Ancient Greek language and values (e.g. the inferiority in the expressiveness of Ancient Greek compared to Sanskrit while contrary to Modern Greek, Hindustani was unable to draw from Sanskrit to modernize the language to the admission of the author) I would most definitely give this book top marks and would whole heartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to read about the history of the Indian subcontinent.