A Brief History of India

Abstract

It is this collective story of the Indian past that this brief history tells. As in the fi rst edition of this book, themes important to this history include the great size and diversity of the Indian subcontinent, the origins and development of the Indian caste system, India’s religious traditions and their use and misuse in past and present, and the complexities of democratic majoritarian politics within a country with many castes, minorities, and religious groups.