Ancient, Medieval & Modern Indian History & Literature for UPSC, SSC & RRB Exams

     India’s literary and historical heritage spans thousands of years, from the philosophical insights of the Vedas and Upanishads to the epics of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Medieval works chronicle the rise and fall of empires, while modern writings reflect the struggle for independence and social reform. This compilation of books and authors is a useful guide for students and exam aspirants.

Sacred / Ancient Texts

Book / Work	Author / Tradition
Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda	Vedic Rishis
Upanishads	Various seers
Ramayana	Valmiki
Mahabharata	Vyasa
Bhagavad Gita	Vyasa (part of Mahabharata)
Puranas (18)	Various (Vyasa compiled)
Jataka Tales	Buddhist Tradition
Dhammapada	Teachings of Buddha
Tripitaka	Buddhist Canon
Arthashastra	Kautilya (Chanakya)
Mudrarakshasa	Vishakhadatta
Rajatarangini	Kalhana
Kathasaritsagara	Somadeva
Kamasutra	Vatsyayana
Prashnottarmalika	Amoghavarsha
Swapnavasavadattam	Bhasa
Buddha Charita	Ashvaghosha
Natyashastra	Bharata
Abhigyan Shakuntalam	Kalidasa
Vikramorvashi	Kalidasa
Raghuvansham	Kalidasa
Meghaduta	Kalidasa
Amarkosha	Amar Simha
Panchsiddhantika	Varahamihira
Brihat Samhita	Varahamihira
Aryabhatiya	Aryabhatta
Surya Siddhanta	Aryabhatta
Panchatantra	Vishnu Sharma
Nitisara	Kamandaka
Aihole Prashasti	Ravikirti
Charaka Samhita	Charaka
Sushruta Samhita	Sushruta
Lilavati	Bhaskara II
Harshacharita	Banabhatta
Kadambari	Banabhatta
Nagananda, Ratnavali	Harshavardhana
Gathasaptashati	King Hala
Ashtadhyayi	Panini
Mahabhashya	Patanjali
Naishadhacharita	Sri Harsha
Mrichchhakatika	Sudraka
Gita Govinda	Jayadeva
Thirukkural	Thiruvalluvar
Manusmriti	Manu
Nyaya Sutras	Gautama
Yoga Sutras	Patanjali

 

Classical & Medieval India

Book / Work	Author
Khamsa, Tughlaqnama, Khazain-ul-Futuh	Amir Khusrau
Kitab-ul-Rihla (Safarnama)	Ibn Battuta
Tahqiq-i-Hind	Al-Biruni
Shah Namah	Firdausi
Tabaqat-i-Nasiri	Minhaj-us-Siraj
Chandayan	Maulana Daud
Humayun Nama	Gulbadan Begum
Tuzuk-i-Babri (Baburnama)	Babur
Akbarnama, Ain-i-Akbari	Abul Fazl
Padshahnama	Abdul Hamid Lahori
Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri	Jahangir
Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi	Abbas Sarwani
Fatwa-i-Jahandari	Ziauddin Barani
Tawarikh-i-Firoz Shahi	Ziauddin Barani
Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh	Sujan Rai
Futuhat-i-Firoz	Firoz Shah Tughlaq
Futuhat-i-Alamgiri	Ishwardas Nagar
Bhavarth Dipika (Gita Tika)	Gyaneshwar
Padmavat	Malik Muhammad Jayasi
Gulshan-i-Ishq	Nusrati
Bhaktamal	Nabhadas
Kitab-i-Nauras	Ibrahim Adil Shah II
Kavirajamarga	Amoghavarsha
Kirti-Kalpa	Bhoja

 

Modern India

Book / Work	Author
Discovery of India	Jawaharlal Nehru
Toward Freedom, Glimpses of World History	Jawaharlal Nehru
My Truth	Indira Gandhi
My Experiments with Truth	Mahatma Gandhi
Hind Swaraj	Mahatma Gandhi
India Wins Freedom	Abul Kalam Azad
Unhappy India	Lala Lajpat Rai
Poverty and Un-British Rule in India	Dadabhai Naoroji
Gitanjali, Home and the World, Nationalism, Chitra, The Post Office, Visarjan	Rabindranath Tagore
Anand Math, Vande Mataram	Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Gora	Rabindranath Tagore
Gulamgiri	Jyotiba Phule
Geetarahasya	Bal Gangadhar Tilak
What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables	B.R. Ambedkar
The Untouchables, Who Were the Shudras?, Pakistan or Partition of India	B.R. Ambedkar
India After Gandhi	Ramachandra Guha
Freedom at Midnight	Dominique Lapierre & Larry Collins
Midnight’s Children	Salman Rushdie
The Argumentative Indian	Amartya Sen
India Unbound	Gurcharan Das
The Shadow Lines	Amitav Ghosh
An Era of Darkness	Shashi Tharoor
City of Djinns	William Dalrymple
The Last Mughal	William Dalrymple
India: A History	John Keay
Imagined Communities	Benedict Anderson
The Idea of India	Sunil Khilnani
A History of India	Romila Thapar
Ancient India	R.S. Sharma
A History of Modern India	Bipan Chandra
Political History of Ancient India	H.C. Raychaudhuri

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