Indian history does not tell just one story. On the one hand, it tells the very different stories of "Punjab, Sindhu, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravida, Utkala, and Banga" – the very distinct linguistic and cultural regions of India. On the other, it tells the story of the arrival and establishment of the Aryas, Hunas, Afghans, Turks, and Mughals, Parsis, Christians, and Jews. It would be misleading to try to construct a master narrative out of all of these diverse episodes. Although the eras of pre-colonial unification of the subcontinent under Ashoka and, two millennia later, under Akbar, are seen as deeply significant moments, they are also exceedingly rare ones. The welding together of a democratic Indian nation after 1947 is a brilliant historical achievement that was accomplished by a conjunction of Indian intellectual power, and a commitment to democracy born out of Western education and experience. This book is constructed around the recognition of the many stories that together constitute that history. The volume begins with an authoritative overview of the period it covers. However, the larger part of the text contains a series of discrete entries that examine the specific periods, places, and people that go together to make up Indian history. These articles can be read in any order and put together in various patterns to help understand historical episodes or social processes in India. The overview articles provide an orientation to a long time period, but the individual entries are rich sources of detailed information about the many histories that have figured in the making of India, as we know it today.
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