Books on India History

The Watercooler
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Greetings,

I was wondering on recommendations for books on the history of India? Looking for thorough, comprehensive and accurate. Preferrably as far back as possible and into the present day is fine.
Would love to know more of the history of the land that The Buddha came from. :grinning:

Thank you!

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“Buddhist India, by TW Rhys Davids is a classic study of Buddhism in its historical context by one of the true greats and founders of modern Indology in 1902. While partly outdated, much of the general picture that Rhys Davids paints is still relevant; and many of the mistakes he points out are still made. Available in its entirety at Buddhist India, by T.W. Rhys Davids. It’s best if you can read the whole book. For this workshop, Chapters 1–6 offer an excellent overview of the social background of the Buddha.”

Explanation from Ajahn Brahmali and Bhante Sujato’s Early Buddhism course schedule PDF here: https://bswa.org/bswp/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/EarlyBuddhismCourseBSWA.pdf

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Thanks so much! I will check all of that out ASAP!

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I was about to ask a similar question :slight_smile:
I was re-reading Buddhist India the other night and wondering if there is anything comparable written more recently. Rhys-davids comments a few time that he is waiting for more research on x or y.
That said it’s great primer, like Nevs said.

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@Khemarato.bhikkhu has a whole section in the library about it: Buddha’s India @ The Open Buddhist University

Things which directly come to mind are: The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 By Romila Thapar

And the History of India podcast: The History of India Podcast (it starts at the bottom and you have to work your way back to page 1).

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