India in the Nehru Years offers a comprehensive account of one of the most formative periods in modern Indian history: the seventeen years between Independence in 1947 and Jawaharlal Nehru’s death in 1964.
Rather than presenting a conventional political biography, the book examines India as a republic in the making. Drawing on official records, parliamentary debates, government publications, constitutional documents, election reports, diplomatic records and historical scholarship, it evaluates both the achievements and contradictions of the Nehru era.
The book explores Independence and Partition, the Constitution, India’s first general elections, integration of the princely states, linguistic reorganisation, caste and gender reform, land reform, Five-Year Plans, public-sector industrialisation, scientific and educational institution-building, Kashmir, non-alignment, Tibet and China, the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Goa’s liberation and the state of the Republic in 1964.
Special attention is given to questions often simplified in contemporary political debate: the roles of Nehru, Patel, Ambedkar, Azad and other institution builders; Article 370; AFSPA and the Northeast; the origins of industrial licensing; the Second Five-Year Plan; Panchsheel; Kashmir and UN mediation; and responsibility for the 1962 military disaster.
The result is neither a celebration nor an indictment of Nehru. It is a documentary history of the institutions, choices, conflicts and unresolved dilemmas that shaped modern India.
Ideal for: students of Indian history and political science, civil-services aspirants, researchers, teachers and readers interested in post-Independence India.
Key Features
- Covers 1947–1964 in depth
- Based on official and scholarly sources
- 18 substantial chapters plus conclusion and appendices
- Chronology of major events
- Election and Five-Year Plan comparisons
- Key Acts and constitutional amendments
- Institution timeline
- Guide to primary historical sources
- Balanced treatment of controversial issues
- Detailed coverage of Kashmir, Northeast India and the 1962 war
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