In A New History of India for Children, award-winning historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee along with photographer–archivist Toby Sinclair and the late cultural historian Shobita Punja, tell the story of one of the oldest, most diverse countries in the world with simplicity and clarity. The book touches upon all the most important milestones in India’s history, from the first dinosaurs to roam its lands to the metro that snakes through its modern, metropolitan capital city.
It begins in prehistory, billions of years ago, describing how the geography of India came to be what it is today, and traces the evolution of Indian civilization through key events and people. What began with the Harappan Culture grew and flourished under the Maurya and Gupta empires, was enriched by the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal empire, and went on to be colonized and exploited by the British Raj. Led to glorious Independence by stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel, India then suffered the heartbreak of Partition, before evolving into one of the world’s most powerful countries in the twenty-first century.
This complete one-volume history for children, illustrated by maps and full-colour photographs, covers everything from lost cities and epic empires to colonial conquests and modern marvels. There’s something for every young reader in this fascinating account of India’s vibrant and eventful history.
Rudrangshu Mukherjee is Chancellor and Professor of History at Ashoka University of which he was the founding Vice Chancellor. He was educated at Calcutta Boys’ School, Presidency College, Calcutta, JNU and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was awarded a DPhil in Modern History by the University of Oxford. He taught in the department of history, Calcutta University, and held visiting appointments at Princeton University, Manchester University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. From 1993 to 2014 he was the Editor, Editorial Pages, The Telegraph. He is the author of many books—these include Nehru & Bose: Parallel Lives; Awadh in Revolt 1857–58: A Study of Popular Resistance; Spectre of Violence: The Massacres in Kanpur in 1857; The Year of Blood: Essays on 1857; Dateline 1857: Revolt against the Raj. His recent books include A Begum and A Rani: Hazrat Mahal and Lakshmibai in 1857; Tagore and Gandhi: Walking Alone, Walking Together; which won the Valley of Words Award 2022, nonfiction; and Twilight Falls on Liberalism. He is the editor of Great Speeches of Modern India and The Penguin Gandhi Reader and the co-author of New Delhi: The Making of a Capital and India: Then and Now.
Shobita Punja was the author of over fifteen books, including Museums of India, Divine Ecstasy: The Story of Khajuraho, and Daughters of the Ocean: Discovering the Goddess Within. She was invited to lecture on Indian art at various institutions and universities in India and abroad and worked with several cultural organizations such as CCRT and INTACH, also serving as CEO of the National Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Toby Sinclair is a London-born Scot who has been working in India since 1997. He has been involved in the production of wildlife, history, and cultural documentaries since 1995 and is a director at &Beyond Asia. He is a member of Ranthambhore Foundation’s executive committee and is a founder and past Vice President of The Responsible Tourism Society of India. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, London, and received the Carl Zeiss Wildlife Conservation Award in 2007. He continues to be involved in conservation issues.
