Description
In this second edition of their successful A Concise History of India, Barbara Metcalf and Thomas Metcalf explore Modern India history afresh and update the events of the last decade. These include the takeover by Congress from the seemingly entrenched Hindu nationalist party in 2004, India’s huge advances in technology, and the country’s new role as a major player in world affairs. From the days of the Mughals, through the British Empire, and into independence, the country has been sustained and transformed by its institutional structures. As the authors argue, it is these institutions which have helped bring about the social, cultural, and economic changes that have taken place over the last half-century and paved the way for the modern history of India success story. Despite these advances, poverty, social inequality, and religious division still fester. In response to these dilemmas, the book grapples with questions of caste and religious identity, and the very nature of the Indian nation.View of Shah Jahan’s Red Fort, modern Delhi. Reproduced by courtesy of the Center for Art and Archeology, American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon, India.