RARE & OLD BOOKS

Before we search for the best history books on modern India, it is crucial to know which period of Indian history is considered to be modern. India has a vast history enriched with various social & political hegemony. So it is quite difficult to periodize the exact time that we can define as the modern historical period. There was the Vedic era, Hindu, Buddhist & Mughal era followed by the British Raj, but none indicates the beginning of the modern era. However, with the establishment of British rule, people were inclined towards Western education. This trend developed the knowledge of citizenship, people’s rights, administration, social security, etc among them. This new wave gave birth to a social reformation in India that became the approach towards modern India.

Upanishads, literally, “to sit near” (one’s teacher or Guru or a learned personality), in Indian tradition are a group of literature belonging to the Vedanta (the end of the Vedas), which describe the divine Vedic knowledge in an explanatory tone. It is a collection of several books (18 to 108 and more), the wisdom of great sages on matters of samsara (world flow), presenting knowledge that removes agyaan or ignorance and paves the way to the supreme truth. Upanishads contain discussions on the material and metaphysical nature of the world and can be seen as the seeds of Hindu philosophy as we know it today.

Upanishads, literally, “to sit near” (one’s teacher or Guru or a learned personality), in Indian tradition are a group of literature belonging to the Vedanta (the end of the Vedas), which describe the divine Vedic knowledge in an explanatory tone. It is a collection of several books (18 to 108 and more), the wisdom of great sages on matters of samsara (world flow), presenting knowledge that removes agyaan or ignorance and paves the way to the supreme truth. Upanishads contain discussions on the material and metaphysical nature of the world and can be seen as the seeds of Hindu philosophy as we know it today.