Translated by Daniélou's powerful rebuttal to the conventional view of India's history, which calls for a massive reevaluation of the history of humanity. *Explores historical occurrences from each major time period starting with the first appearance of man 30,000 years ago. *Couples the clarity and perspective of an outsider with the unique and specific knowledge of an insider. *By the internationally recognized Hindu scholar and translator of The Complete Kama Sutra (200,000 copies sold).
Alain Daniélou approaches the history of India from a new perspective-as a sympathetic outsider, yet one who understands the deepest workings of the culture. Because the history of India covers such a long span of time, rather than try to create an exhaustive chronology of dates and events, Daniélou instead focuses on enduring institutions that remain constant despite the ephemeral historical events that occur. His selections, synthesis, and narration create a thoroughly engaging and readable journey through time, with a level of detail and comprehensiveness that is truly a marvel.
Because of the continuity of its civilization, its unique social system, and the tremendous diversity of cultures, races, languages, and religions that exist in its vast territory, India is like a history museum. Its diverse groups maintained their separate identities and never fully supplanted the culture and knowledge of their predecessors. Even today one may encounter in India primitive Stone Age people whose technology has remained at what is considered prehistoric levels. Thus Daniélou's examination of India reveals not only the diversity and historical events and trends of that country, but also the history of all mankind. Through Daniélou's history of India we learn from whence we came, what we have discovered over the years in the fields of science, arts, technology, social structures, religions, and philosophical concepts, and what the future may hold for us.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

Good but.....:

An honest attempt by author to provide glimpse of Indian History. But the book is lacking in one big respect 'MAPS', we have this book on Indian History which discusses Indian history upto 6000 years back but has only two maps in the whole books. If you are not from India and are not versed with generic terms (used to describe states/area) then you should stay away from this book. Even if you are versed with Indian geography, you will still need access to couple of good maps to grasp authors point. Also... more info

Lots of unsubstantiated opinions, not backed by facts - avoid this book:

I was very disappointed in this book, as the author quite frequently adds unsubstantiated opinions and biases and cites them as fact. Those looking for a balanced and useful history of India should look elsewhere. Among my issues with the book: the author seems to dismiss any parts of Indian history he does not agree with and just ignores them (in one area, he says "From the moment when the Muslims reached India, its history has no further interest. It is a long and monotonous recital of murders massacres,... more info

religions, various conquest and independence!:

I was keen to read a brief history of India before reading about the Bristish Raj. Most parts of India history are not very attractive for someone not very aware of it, and it is not a fault of the author but because most of that history are wars of conquest, from the Greek, Afghans, Arabs, Mongols and Europeans. The Arabs were particularly violent in its wars of domination, sacking India and leaving its people in impoverishment. Then, the last part of the book, and the most interesting for me, present the... more info

6000 years and 6000 names:

This book covers the thousands of rulers that have governed India and the thousands of battles its fought over 6000 years. And that's about it. There are a handful of pages covering Gandhi and then onwards until 1971, when the book really ends. It is a tedious read. Although the book has a publication date of 2003, the only addition since 1971 is a three page note by the editor providing a couple of updates.

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