A History of India

A History of India
Professor Michael H. Fisher, Ph.D.
The Great Courses
Audio download $64.95 when on sale
If the course is not on sale, check back– the sale price will come around again

This is a highly ambitious course. It succeeds.

Professor Fisher starts thirty thousand years ago discussing the native peoples of India, the Adivasi, who were present when later groups, the ones who ended up controlling India, arrived. In fact he starts millennia before that if you include the first chapter in which he discusses the geology of the region. He concludes discussing modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and mentions events as late as 2016.

In thirty-six lectures Fisher covers the little known Indus civilization, the rise of Hindu religion and culture, the Muslim rule of India, the British domination of the region, and the emergence of the modern nations of the region. Fisher is not an unbiased observer. He loves India and has lived there for extended periods. He clearly has a fondness for Hindu culture and religion. Nonetheless, he offers a balanced perspective, giving all of the players fair treatment.

If you are looking for a broad overview of the Indian subcontinent this is a great place to start. You might want to invest in the video download, as I know I missed a lot of visuals. However, I listen to these lectures on my walks, so the audio download is what I purchase.