India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a vast land with a large population and long history. Truschke (history, Rutgers; The Language of History: Sanskrit Narratives of Indo-Muslim Rule) offers a sweeping and detailed look at this history from Indus Valley Civilization (3300–1300 BCE) to the current day. This book includes substantial coverage of the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Readers will learn about the various empires that have ruled multiple parts of the subcontinent: Mauryan (320–185 BCE), Chola (848–1279 CE), Mughal (1526–1858 CE), and British (1858–1947 CE), as well as other numerous kingdoms and princely states. Truschke treats India’s tremendous religious history, languages, and literature substantially. The effort to include a variety of voices, not just those of the elite classes whose lives are often documented in historical sources, sets this work apart from other histories.