India: A History. Revised and Updated

I really enjoyed this. 4,000+ years of history from the Indus Valley to the Republic of India. Keay is, or at least appears to be, a master of the subject. He also seems to do a very good job of remaining objective when it comes to the more contentious parts of Indian history.

Being an Indian myself, I have gone through our history labouriously over the 10 years in primary schooling. This book covers it all exceedingly well and also relates too other civilizations / events around the world. Nowhere did I find it wanting for details. There were several eyeopeners as the history was narrated in stark impartial reality - so it was refreshing after being misled by the grandeurs depicted on some dramatised versions on Indian TV. The only fallback is that the language is a bit complex and is not suited for continuous and smooth reading. I think this has been mentioned by one more reviewer. Some may also find it too detailed as it takes great pains to cover all events and dynasties, and justify the conclusions by stating archelogical evidences. However, I do not regret buying it and will recommend to anyone who wishes to get an idea of Indian history.

I should explain that I only read the second half of this book, from about 1600 when the British became involved. I bought it because I wanted to know more about the British East India Company, and also wanted an overview of the history since partition. For these purposes the book was great. On Amazon.co.uk many reviews refer to the book being hard work to read, and many American reviews describe it as dry. I found it neither, although it did take me thirty or forty pages to tune into the author's style, which is really high-grade journalism, not to question his scholarship. It reads like an articulate lecture by someone who thoroughly understands his subject. One reviewer said you need some prior knowledge. Perhaps you do. I came to the book with knowledge of post-independence India being only what I had gleaned from newspapers over the years, but that was enough. I had also many years ago read Gandhi's autobiography, which is a book that sticks in the mind. Regarding the East India Company and the development of British rule, Keay dispels any notion of the British as avuncular colonists. When push came to shove they were decisive and at times brutal. We Brits like to appear as nice imperialists. Effective yes; nice, not unless it was convenient. Having said that the Brits and Indians appear to have had a certain mutual regard. The story since independence is complex and fast-moving and I felt Keay told the story with conviction. He doesn't burden his text with footnotes, jargon or prevarication and plonks his opinion down on the page, which is just as well given how much he has to tell. He has a tendency to try and see the positive in authoritarian actions by different rulers, for example Indira Gandhi and Bhutto. Gandhi instituted a rule of emergency but according to Keay she did it temporarily in order to sort out a raft of administrative disasters, which she did before returning the country to democracy. I enjoyed what I read of this book very much and would recommend it.

John Keay, in writing a one volume history of one of the world's largest and oldest civilizations set himself a gargantuan task, and has pulled it off rather well. The work is not perfect, but it's merits far outweigh any defects. To begin with, the early part of the book covering the ancient times is perhaps the most difficult to follow, but when one reaches around AD 1,000 it becomes more readable. The early years, chronicling the early settler civilizations such as the Aryans and the Dravidians at times resemble a travelogue, and one may find themselves lost as some of these peoples are not adequately characterized. Perhaps the most monumental figure of ancient India, Ashoka, gets too little mention. He does receive a chapter, but such a key figure deserves much greater depth. Having said this, the book becomes far more readable and informative when it reaches the Mughal Empire, and the coverage of the British conquest, rule and ultimately independence is superbly done. A particular strength is that Keay does not take the easy way out post 1947 and simply chronicle the Republic of India, rather he gives a full coverage of the key events shaping all 3 successor states, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It must be said that Keay's chronicling of the modern history of the Indian subcontinent is superb, and if he follows through with a modern history of India (a possibility he hints at in the introduction) I will certainly read it. However, the book, as a complete history of India succeeds, and delivers a reasonably objective and impartial account. For those who are interested purely in modern India, this book is still highly recommended as the modern section is superb. However, any enthusiast of India should at the very least attempt John Keay's chronicle of this spellbinding civilization.

A very readable history of such an ancient and great civilization. Usually these kinds complete histories can be so stifling and boring — lists of dates and battles and kings. — but this book keep you interested and keeps you coming back for more. John Keay is a fascinating story teller. But this is not a story, it is real history, made quite interesting by his excellent writing.

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Das mit der indischen Geschichte ist nicht ganz einfach. Nicht nur ist diese für den Leser ein schreckliches Durcheinander von diversen Kulturen und Reichen, auch die indischen Namen sind nicht immer ganz einfach zu merken - zumal diese gelegentlich auch noch mehrfach Verwendung finden. Und dann gibt es auch noch das Problem, dass man sich über vieles streiten kann, weil die Überlieferung bis in die frühe Neuzeit eben nicht gerade anwenderfreundlich ist, also man auf viele Punkte nur indirekt schließen kann. Und das macht dann die Geschichtsschreibung in Indien zu einem Minenfeld, denn dort soll aus der fernen Vergangenheit auch immer mal wieder die eine oder andere Tagespolitik begründet werden. Als Beispiel für diese Diskussionen müssen wohl auch der Prozess und die Einordnung der arischen Einwanderung gelten. John Keay macht aus dieser Situation eine ganze Menge. Obwohl das Buch nicht gerade kurz ist, erzählt er nicht sklavisch alle Details nach sondern setzt Schwerpunkte, die ihm dann erlauben, die wesentlichen Gründe und Argumente für bestimmte Theorien nachvollziehbar machen. Ganz undogmatisch entscheidet er sich dann für eine wahrscheinliche Theorie als Grundlage seiner Darstellung, lässt aber offen, ob nicht spätere Funde oder bessere Argumente noch einmal zu einer anderen Wertung führen können. Im Kern folgt er dabei Leitlinien, die sich auch in anderen Büchern über indische Geschichte finden, er bewegt sich also auf sicheren akademischen Boden. Das einzelne seiner Stellungnahmen aber dennoch hier auf Amazon kritisiert werden, ist vieleicht verständlich, stellt aber aus meiner Sicht keine wirkliche Kritik am Buch selbst dar. Eine Freude zu lesen ist dieses Buch aber aus einem anderen Grund: Es ist einfach sehr, sehr gut geschrieben. Ich habe einmal gelesen, dass man sich dann etwas gut merken kann, wenn man eine emotionale Verbindung zu etwas entwickelt. Und da ist es mit dem Lernen von Daten und Fakten aus der indischen Geschichte eben nicht ganz einfach. Ein Reich, ein Herrscher scheint jeweils seinen Vorgänger abgelöst zu haben, ohne dass sich in der Struktur der Herrschaft wirklich etwas verändert hat. Anders: Es fällt eben gerade nicht so einfach, aufgrund der überlieferten Faktenlage die Guten und die Bösen in dieser Geschichte zu identifizieren. Keay sucht sich aber aus den vorhandenen Informationen das heraus, was die handelnden Menschen in dieser Geschichte lebendig werden lässt, er baut auf einzelnen, überlieferten Anekdoten auf und macht daraus kleine Biographien. Und die bleiben dann im Gedächtnis. Dass daneben auch die strukturellen Veränderungen dargestellt werden (Beispiel: Entwicklung der Administration bis hin zum Reich der Mogul), macht das dann zu einer wirklich gelungenen Gesamtansicht.

This book is definitely not a light read and the language can also be a difficult to follow for a lay reader. A reader with a decent understanding of Indian history will be able to follow the book, but harder for those not attuned to Indian history. Whats good about it is that it is comprehensive and detailed.

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.