India Through the Ages: A Popular and Picturesque History of Hindustan

Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
828K words
Chapters
83

Tags

English Originals World History Human GeographyIndian HistoryImperial Rise and FallIllustrated GuideSouth Asian CivilizationReligious CultureExotic CultureSocial ObservationFolk CustomsGeneral History

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.India Through the Ages: A Popular and Picturesque History of Hindustan by SteelAuthor: Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929,Language: English, Class: DS: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Asia, Release Date: May 29, 2012

Editor's review

This is an old English book narrating Indian history in a popular style; author Flora Annie Steel set out to be "popular and picturesque," weaving Indian history from ancient times to the modern era into a highly readable narrative. Its value lies not in offering the latest scholarship but in showing how a British author of the late Victorian to early twentieth century viewed India: readers can see the periodization, character judgments, and narrative tastes of the colonial era, and feel the language style of popular history writing of that time. Its descriptions of dynastic change, social customs, and geography make it suitable as an introductory reader on Indian history or as English source reading. Read it as "a popular history bearing the marks of its era": enjoy its storytelling while remaining alert to its possible Eurocentric perspective. Suitable for reading in segments during commutes, travel, or history-themed reading plans; better with maps and chronologies at hand.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and chapter titles first, sketch your own timeline, then start the text
  2. Keep an Indian history chronology and map at hand to check place names and dynasties
  3. Annotate obviously era-biased judgments rather than skipping them
  4. Read one or two chapters a day to keep the narrative coherent, then write an overall review

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background in history? Fairly suitable. The author aimed at popularization, and the narrative is连贯 and vivid, so beginners can read it as an introductory story. But the book involves many dynasties, place names, and figures; read with a chronology and map, or you may get confused. Afterwards, consult a contemporary general history to correct outdated views.
Are the historical views in the book still reliable today? Do not treat them as authoritative conclusions. The book was written in the colonial era; its narrative framework and character judgments carry a clear period perspective, and some factual details may not match contemporary research. Its value lies more in presenting a tradition of history writing and the ideas of its time. Read it as "history reading beyond the sources," stay critical, and compare it with modern scholarship.
How difficult is the English, and what level is needed? It is popular historical narrative; sentences are long but vocabulary is not obscure. Readers with CET-4 or above and familiarity with historical expression can try it. Proper nouns are numerous; look them up as you read. For extensive reading, skip dense passages of names and places first and follow the main line of each chapter.
What should I note when reading the electronic edition? The book comes from Project Gutenberg as a public-domain electronic text, mainly plain text, and may lack the illustrations and maps of the print edition. Use reading software with dictionary lookup and annotation, and prepare maps yourself. As it is the original English edition, distinguish the main text from publication information pages and avoid mistaking version notes for content.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929 Author

Flora Annie Webster Steel (1847–1929) was a British writer best known for her works on India and for her retellings of folk tales. Her output ranged widely: she produced story collections for children such as Tales of the Punjab: Folklore of India and English Fairy Tales, as well as novels set against Indian society and history, including On the Face of the Waters: A Tale of the Mutiny, The Flower of Forgiveness, The Potter's Thumb, The Hosts of the Lord, In the Guardianship of God and In the Permanent Way. Her writing often draws on Indian folklore and on the realities of colonial life, with plain narration and a strong sense of place. Public information about her life is limited, but the twenty works held here show a lasting engagement with folk literature and with exotic settings, contributing to both children's literature and fiction about India.