Modern India is experiencing an unusual and synergetic blend of the traditional and the modern in both domestic as well as in the international arena. On one hand, Indian Information Technology is being hailed as a power to reckon with, and on the other, the traditional Indian knowledge systems like Ayurveda, Yoga, etc. are beginning to be applied seriously around the world. For example, in the last few decades, there has been a wide acceptance of Yoga in western nations, with more and more people from all over the world flocking to India to get the Yogic solution to their health problems. Demand for remedies through Ayurveda is as high as ever, and several people are involved in bringing together the resources required to offer solutions to people. As a result of this scenario, there has been a renewed interest in various aspects of Indian History. This includes the authentic history of Indian polity, Indian sociology, Indian philosophy, Indian medicine, Indian fine arts, Indian martial arts, Indian art and culture, Indian performing arts and so on.

History and its purpose

History is the study of the past – the state of things and the events that took place. This may be undertaken for several purposes, some of which include:

• Understanding the present: the present is shaped by the events of the past, much like the events of the present shape the future. The present situation can be understood if something about its past is known. For example, a past war or dispute causes hatred in the present between those two people groups and acts of compassion and help in the past cause friendliness in the present.
• Fostering identity: There are several humans that exist in the world. In order to simplify understanding their respective characters, it is customary to divide them into groups based on various criteria – ancestry, connections to specific families, geographical origin or location, language, mannerisms, ethnic links, etc. A person then identifies with their own group. History helps understand the basis of these groupings and fosters bonds within and between people groups.
• Predicting the future: Actions of people in the past led to specific consequences. When these are documented and studied, the persons that live after them are able to avoid making similar mistakes as those before them or do beneficial actions. For example, a specific set of situations and actions had led to economic hardships in the past. If this is avoided, economic hardship will be avoided in the future.
• Inspiration: Various inspirational personalities have existed in the past. By preserving their memory, it is possible to remember their determination and courage and push forward in the present.
• It is part of every subject: History is essentially record keeping. Every subject preserve knowledge that has been already developed so that it can be cultivated further in the future. For example, scientific development is made of several research works that have piled up over several years. In this sense, it may not be called history, but a unified understanding of history facilitates the study of individual subjects by putting these developments in context.

Several more reasons can be pointed out, however, in its essence, these reasons make history worth studying.

Indian History

The history of India and the Indian Subcontinent is unique and has been widely studied. India is one of the oldest civilizations that continue to exist in the present.

Over the millennia in which it has existed, its peoplehave developed and cultivated a rich and varied history in several aspects of life – a vivid political history, several religious ideas, hundreds of languages, cultivated sense of art, a sophisticated culture and deep traditions, among other things. Each of these is applicable to not just India as a whole but to each group of people that exist as a thread in the fabric which makes the whole of the culture.

India has been widely studied through the course of historyby its own natives to understand their history and their present, as well as by foreigners since it has proven very exotic or interesting to them. The results of this have been widely published across the centuries.

Difficulties and controversies

While Indian history has been a subject of interest, its study is fraught with several difficulties, many of which have developed into full-blown controversies. Some major issues include the following:

First, several records dating to the pre-colonial and colonial era, which have remained until today, often exist in the form of palm leaf or paper manuscripts. These are kept at libraries where many of them, despite maximal efforts towards preservation, are in various stages of decay, owing to their age. While scholars have been devoting themselves for the past century and a half, at least, to take these out, transcribe and publish them, the number of manuscripts that have been published is estimated to be less than 10%.

Second, the records that have been published so far go only a few centuries into history. Any conflicts between the records of this era are easily resolved. However, as we go backwards into the eras such as the era Gupta or Mauryan Rule or the time of the Sangams, it becomes progressively more difficult to reconstruct the state of things or the events that took place, on a political, social, religious or other level.

Third, most Indian texts do not usually mention the date in which they are authored, with the exception of most astronomical texts and texts concerned with records.This gives rise to a large number of possible dates in which any text could have been authored and a historian is forced to resort to educated guesses to resolve any discrepancies that occur.

Fourth, over the years, especially in the modern era, several hundreds of books have been authored and published about various aspects of Indian history. Some are easily available, while others are more difficult to obtain, since they are out-of-print or too expensive. In some cases, one does not know of a book’s existence unless it is specifically searched for. This lack of availability or accessibility has seriously hampered progress.

All these issues, combined with a lack of availability of resources has created major issues in the understanding and study of the history of India and the Indian subcontinent.

Role of the associated website

The present website is envisaged as the first step towards a solution for the above-mentioned issues.

The website is composed of a collection of over 1000 books and manuscripts, all dealing with the general subject of Indian history, with some dealing with World History as well. While most of these books are in English, several of these books are in the Indian languages as well. The works are also classified on the basis of the following sub-fields of History for easy identification of the topics by students and researchers:

Classification criteria No.1

* Social and Economic Formations

* History of Ideas

* History of Peasants and Agrarian Relations

* Urban History

* Women’s History

* Demographic History

* Collective Consciousness, Social Movements

* History of Science and Technology

* Historical Geography

* Quantitative History

* Regional and Local History

* Place-names

* Editing, Calendaring and Translation of Sources

Classification criteria No.2

*Ancient history

*Archaeology

* Art history

* Auxiliary sciences of history

* Big History

* Chronology

* Classical studies

* Colonialism

* Comparative historical research

* Contemporary history

* Cultural history

* Demographic history

* Economic history

* Environmental history

* Historicity

* History of ideas

* Legal history

* Linguistic history

* Maritime history

* Medieval studies

* Military history

* Music history

* Nationalism studies

* Oral history

* Political history

* Social history

* Women’s history

* World history

For each book that has been presented, the following details have been extracted and presented where available:

1. Book Title

2. Author(s)

3. Publisher(s)

4. Year of Publication

5. Language of the book

6. Summary: the contents of the book have been summarized

7. Uniqueness: the key factor(s) that distinguishes this book from other similar books, e.g., target audience, specialties, new methodologies, etc.

8. Table of contents

Additionally, the entire book has been uploaded as a series of images with one image for each page.

The books chosen represent a wide selection of subject matters. Several books deal with specific empires such as the Guptas, Marathas, Mughals, etc., or specific regions such as North-East India, or specific time periods – Ancient Era, Medieval Era, etc. Some books focus on only a particular aspect of society such as politics, culture, religion, art, etc. while others are more general in character. There are also books devoted to specific personages such as kings or religious saints, etc. or in some cases to specific events, such as the Rebellion of 1857.

In this manner, the website puts together a large variety of resources. The books are searchable through an advanced-search facility that sorts them based on title, author, and other parameters.

It is believed that this website will prove highly useful to scholars, students as well as general readers who wish to know more about the history of India, since it removes the lack of resources and availability that has been a problem so far.