John Keay - India - A History

Harper Press An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 77–85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith London W6 8JB

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This updated Harper Press edition published 2010

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers in 2000 Published in paperback by Harper Perennial 2004, reprinted 12 times

Copyright © John Keay 2000 and 2010

Maps and tables by Jillian Luff

John Keay asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007307753

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2013 ISBN 9780007382392

Version: 2014-12-01

For Tara

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Maps

Charts and Tables

Author’s note to the Second Edition

Introduction

1 The Harappan World: C3000–1700 BC

2 Vedic Values: C1700–900 BC

3 The Epic Age: C900–520 BC

4 Out of the Myth-Smoke: C520–C320 BC

5 Gloria Maurya: C320–200 BC

6 An Age of Paradox: C200 BC–C300 AD

7 Gupta Gold: C300–500 AD

8 Lords of the Universe: C500–700

9 Dharma and Defiance: C700–C900

10 Natraj, the Rule of the Dance: C950–1180

11 The Triumph of the Sultans: C1180–1320

12 Other Indias: 1320–1525

13 The Making of the Mughal Empire: 1500–1605

14 Mughal Pomp, Indian Circumstance: 1605–1682

15 From Taj to Raj: 1682–1750

16 The British Conquest: 1750–1820

17 Pax Britannica: 1820–1880

18 Awake the Nation: 1880–1930

19 At the Stroke of the Midnight Hour: 1930–1948

20 Surgical Procedures: 1948–1965

21 The Spectre of Separatism: 1962–1972

22 ‘Demockery’: 1972–1984

23 Midnight’s Grandchildren: 1984–

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Source Notes

Praise

Also by the Author

About the Publisher

South Asia – Physical

South Asia Today

The Harappan world C1900 BC

Northern India at the time of the Buddha (C400 BC)

Alexander the Great’s invasion, 327–6 BC

India under Ashoka

The Karakoram route

Peninsular trading stations in the first century AD

Western India C150 AD (with Shatavahana cave-sites)

Gupta conquests

Harsha’s probable empire C640 AD

Chalukyas and Pallavas in the seventh century

India and south-east Asia in the seventh to twelfth centuries

The Arab conquest of Sind in the eighth century

The Kanauj triangle: Rashtrakutas, Palas and Gurjara-Pratiharas

The land of the Shahis C1000 AD

The Ghaznavid empire under Mahmud of Ghazni C1030

The Chola kingdom C1030 and the expeditions of Rajendra I

Avanti/Malwa: the incarnations of a proto-state

Chahamana defeat and Muhammad of Ghor’s conquests 1192–1200

Eastern India C1200

The peninsular incursions of Ala-ud-din and Malik Kafur, 1296–1312

Delhi old and new

The stillborn states: India in the fifteenth century

The campaigns of Babur, Humayun and Sher Shah

The Bahmanid kingdom and its successor sultanates

Expansion of the Mughal empire, 1530–1707

Rajasthan under the Mughals

The Deccan and the south in the reign of Aurangzeb

Successor states of the Mughal empire

European trading stations C1740

The peninsula in the eighteenth century (the Anglo – French and Anglo – Mysore Wars)

The British in Bengal, 1756–65

British India in 1792, after the Third Mysore War;

British India in 1804, after Wellesley’s acquisitions

The Anglo-Maratha Wars 1775–1818

British India in 1820, after the Maratha Wars

British India in 1856, after Dalhousie’s annexations

The north-west in the nineteenth century: British expansion into Panjab, Sind and Afghanistan

Northern India during the Great Rebellion 1857–8

The partition of the Panjab, 1947

The peaks and troughs of dominion

The Mauryas: probable succession 321–181 BC

The imperial Guptas: probable succession

The Chalukyas and the Pallavas: the rival successions

The rise and fall of the Cholas of Tanjore

Avanti/Malwa: the incarnations of a proto-state

The Delhi sultanates. 1: The ‘Slave’ Dynasty, 1206–90

The Delhi sultanates. 2: The Khalji Dynasty, 1290–1320

Muslim conquest to Mughal empire: the dynasties of the Delhi sultanate

The Delhi sultanates. 3: The Tughluq dynasty, 1320–1413

The Great Mughals

Intermarriage of Great Mughals with the family of Itimad-ud-Daula

The Sikh Gurus: the chosen successors of Guru Nanak

The royal house of Shivaji (Bhonsle Chatrapatis)

The later Mughals

Succession of the Peshwas of Pune

British governors-general

British viceroys

Countdown to Independence

The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty

Political Succession in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh 1947–2009

When this book was first published in 2000 I had it in mind to write a sequel that would recount the events of the last fifty years in greater detail than was possible in a 5000-year history of the subcontinent. That project is at last under way. But working on it has made me even more aware of the cursory and selective nature of the final chapters in the first edition of India .

Ten years on, therefore, this new edition endeavours to make amends. As well as some updates and corrections to the original text, it contains an extensively rewritten chapter 19, a replacement chapter 20 and completely new chapters 21, 22 and 23. The narrative has been extended into the twenty-first century and an attempt made to compare the fortunes and explore the fraught relationships of all three of the post-Partition states – Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as India.

To anyone over sixty this will be more current affairs than history. It deals with events and personalities that may be familiar and it invites a more engaged and subjective treatment. Sadly it also lacks the authority that stems from a longer scholarly perspective. Much vital documentation remains unavailable for reasons of confidentiality or national security. Access to Pakistan’s national archive, for instance, is so restricted that most histories of that country rely heavily on such documentation as can be consulted elsewhere, notably in the UK and the USA. Yet over-dependence on the reports and correspondence of foreign diplomats and observers may give a very false impression of decision-making within Pakistan’s ruling establishment. Contemporary history is partial – in every sense. The new chapters at the end of this book are no exception.