Halsall Home | Ancient History Sourcebook | Medieval Sourcebook | Modern History Sourcebook
Other History Sourcebooks: African | East Asian | Islamic | Jewish | LGBT | Women's | Global | Science

---

***

This page is a subset of texts derived from the three major online Sourcebooks listed below, along with added texts and web site indicators. For more contextual information, for instance about Western imperialism, the Islamic world, or the history of a given period, check out these web sites.

• Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
• Internet Medieval Sourcebook
• Internet Modern History Sourcebook

 

Notes:	In addition to direct links to documents, links are made to a number of other web resources.
2ND	Link to a secondary article, review or discussion on a given topic.
MEGA	Link to one of the megasites which track web resources.
WEB	Link to a website focused on a specific issue.. These are not links to every site on a given topic, but to sites of serious educational value.

visits since June 15, 1998
LE FastCounter

 

---

Contents

• Indus Valley Cultures
  • General
  • Indus Valley
• The Vedic Age
  • General
  • Aryans
  • The Vedas
• The Formation of Religious Traditions
  • General
  • The Hindu Tradition
  • The Jain Tradition
  • Buddhism
• Medieval India
  • General
  • The Mauryan Empire (324-183BCE)
  • Ashoka (c. 270 - 237 BCE)
  • Culture
• Greek and Chinese Sources on India
  • General
  • Greek Sources
  • Chinese Sources
• Muslim Era India
  • General
  • The Mughals
  • Sikhism
• The Western Intrusion
  • General
  • European Imperialism
  • British Rule
• Indian Nationalism
  • General
  • The Indian National Congress
  • Gandhi
  • INA
  • The Muslim League
  • Independence
• India Since Independence
  • General
  • International Issues
  • India
  • The Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty
  • Regionalism
• Pakistan Since Independence
  • General
  • Pakistan
• Bangladesh
  • General
  • The 1971 Conflict
  • Bangladesh
• Burma
  • General
• Sri Lanka
  • General
• Indian Genders and Sexualities
  • Women
  • Homosexuality: General
  • Hindu
  • Muslim

• Further Resources on Indian History

 

---

Indus Valley Cultures

General

• WEB The Agricultural Revolution [At WSU]

Indus Valley

• Image: Harrapan Seals [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
• WEB Harrapa [Website]
  The Indus valley culture which had some interaction with Mesopotamia.
• WEB Harrapa Images [from the Indus Valley][At Then Again]
• WEB Early India:
  Harappan (3000 - 1500 BC/BCE)/ Aryan (1500 - 600 BC/BCE)
  Links and guide to art objects of the period. [At Internet Archive]
• 2ND S. Kalyanaraman: Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization (c. 3000 B.C.)  [At U Texas]
• 2ND Tariq Rahman: Peoples and Languagse in Pre-Islamic Indus Valley [At U Texas]
  

The Vedic Age

General

• WEB Ancient India [At WSU]
  A site by Richard Hooker.
• WEB Sanskrit Documents Page
  Texts in original languages.

Aryans

There is now some significant opposition among some writers to the idea that there was ever an Aryan [i.e. Indo-European] movement into India. This opposition seems to derive, at least in part, from nationalist desires to claim "we were always here". The linguistic arguments for some common group which moved into both India, Iran, and Europe remain compelling.

• The Laws of Manu, c. 1500 BCE, full text,  [At this Site]
• The Laws of Manu, c. 1500 BCE, excerpts,  [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
• 2ND Languages and Vedas [At Friesian.com]
  Odd page, with odder organization, but useful maps and data on numbers of language speakers and migrations. Also contains info on the Vedas and Upanishads.
• 2ND David Frawley: Myth of Aryan Invasion of India [At India Forum], a complete book, and  Myth of Aryan Invasion of India [At Hindunet] an article-length discussion.
  Frawley attacks 19th-century scholars such as Max Muller for bias, but seems unaware of his own problematic position. His argumentative strategies reek of special pleading.
• 2ND Siddhartha Jaiswal: Arayan Invasion Theory: Revising History to Change the Future [At Internet Archive, from Stanford]
  A freshman college paper explaining why the theory is wrong. The  full title and the text are worth considering, though. The author objected to the theory because it "undermined my belief in my culture". This sort of solipsistic "history" seems to motivate much of the discussion about the "Arayan Invasion".
• 2ND Richard Hooker: The Arayans [At WSU]
  A much more reliable account that the nationalist arguments above.

The Vedas

• Rig Veda: Hymn, excerpts, [At WSU]
• Rig Veda: Selection [At Mountain Man]
• The Purusha Sukta, The Vedic Hymn on the Supreme Being [At Ramanuja]
• Varuna, the All-Knowing God ('Rig Veda,' I, 25, 1-3, 7-14) [At Eliade Page]
• King Varuna is there   ('Atharva Veda,' IV, 16, 1-6) [At Eliade Page]
• Varuna and Indra (Rigveda) [At Eliade Page]
• 'What god shall we adore with our oblation?' (Rigveda)  [At Eliade Page]
• 'Indra- who as soon as born surpassed the gods in power' ('Rig Veda,' II, 12, 1-5 13) [At Eliade Page]
• A Vedic Hymn to the Goddess Earth  ('Atharva-Veda,' XII, I, selections) [At Eliade Page]
• 'Loose me from Sin' :A Hymn to Varuna ('Rig Veda,' II, 28) [At Eliade Page]
• 'How May I and Varuna be United?'  ('Rig Veda,' VII, 86) [At Eliade Page]
• 'Make Me Immortal' :A Hymn to Soma Pavamâna ('Rig Veda,' IX, 113, 7-11) [At Eliade Page]
• Hymns to Agni ('Rig Veda,' I, 11, III, VII, selections) [At Eliade Page]
• A Vedic Funerary Hymn ('Rig Veda,' X, I 8) [At Eliade Page]
  

The Formation of Religious Traditions

General

• The Indian Ascetic   ('The Laws of Manu,' VI, 33-65) [At Eliade Page]
• 2ND Concentration on a Single Point [At Eliade Page]
• 2ND Yogic Postures and Respitory Disciple  [At Eliade Page]
• 2ND Samadhi  [At Eliade Page]

The Hindu Tradition

• Indian Cosmogony ('The Laws of Manu,' 1, 5-16)  [At Eliade Page]
• The Creation of the World According to the Upanishads  [At Eliade Page]
• How to Become a Gadharva ('Shatapatha Brahmana,' XI, 5,)  [At Eliade Page]
• Diksha, an Indian Initiatory Ritual: Hinduism [At Eliade Page]
• The Moment of Death as Described by the Upanishads  [At Eliade Page]
• WEB Hindu Image Gallery [Website]
  Delightful. Mostly modern printed images.
• WEBIntroduction to Hinduism [At Internet Archive, from Geocities]
  A hyperlinked historical overview.   
• Ramayana c. 1000 BCE
  The older of the two Sanskrit poems, the Ramayana is a 50,000 line poem written by Sage Valmiki.
  • WEB The Ramayana [At Syracuse]
  • WEB Ramayana: Images and Maps  [At Syracuse]
  • 2ND Jean Johnson: Rama and the Ramayana: Lessons in Dharma [At U.C. Davis]
  • The Ramayana, summary  [At Syracuse]
  • Srimad Ramayana modern translation/summary? [At Hare Krsna]
  • 2ND Philip Lutgendorf: The Oral Tradition and the Many "Ramayanas"  [At Syracuse]
  • MAP Route of the Ramayana [At Syracuse]
• Mahabharata
  The most famous Indian text, this epic poem is divided into 18 sections and contains over 220,000 lines. The most famous section is the Bhagavad Gita.
  • The Bhagavad-Gita, complete text translated  by Kashinath Trimbak Telano, 1882, edited and updated by Richard Hooker [At WSU]
    Now the most readable version on the net.
  • The Bhagavad-Gita, c. 400 BCE, full text,  translated by Sir Edwin Arnold [in HTML, here]
  • The Bhagavad-Gita, c. 400 BCE, full text,  translated by  Ramanand Prasad [in HTML, At EAWC]
  • The Bhagavad-Gita, Full text, in Sanskrit [At Icon of India]
  • The Bhagavad-gita As It Is [At Krsna.com]
    The full text of the version by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in which transliterated Sanskrit is followed by a definition of each word, a translation and a commentary.
  • The Bhagavad-Gita: Recension by William Quan Judge, Combined With His Essays on the Gita, trans. by William Quan Judge [At TUP]
  • The Bhagavad-Gita, selections [At AOL]
  • Krishna's Dilemma, [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
  • The Mahabarata, excerpts on Kingship [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
• The Upanishads, c. 600 BCE
  • Upanishads - the secret wisdom [At AOL]
    Contains selected fragments.
  • Katha Upanishad [At Mountain Man]
  • The Mundaka Upanishad [At Sacred Texts.com]
  • Chandogya Upanishad [At Bharatadesam]
  • Sanderson Beck: The Upanishads [At West.net]
    Contains Beck's translations of many sections.
  • 2ND Essentials of the Upanishads [At Dvaita]
    An informative, and hyperlinked, essay, from the viewpoint of modern Vedanta.
  • 2NDThe Philosophy of the Upanishads [At Internet Archive, from Memphis]

Vasnaivism

• Vishnu, the Cosmic God ('Vishnu Pura-na,' 3, 17,14-34) [At Eliade Page]
• Krishna's Ephipany (Bhagavad-Gita, XI, Selections)  [At Eliade Page]
• Perform action, free from attainment to its fruits... ('Bhagavad Gita,' III, 8-9, 19-24, 31, 35) [At Eliade Page]
• Personal Worship: Puja Hinduism [At Eliade Page]
• The Merits of Building a Temple (Agni-purana,' XXXVIII, 1-50) [At Eliade Page]
• Vidyapati  (1352?-1448): Love Songs to Krishna [At WSU]
• WEB Sri Vaishnava Home Page

Shaivism

• 2ND Stephen F. Teiser, "The Spirits of Chinese Religion", from Donald S. Lopez, Jr , Religions of China in Practice, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996) [At Brooklyn College]
• Images
  • Image: Shiva Lingam/Yoni  [At Brooklyn College]
  • Image: Divinity: Shiva as Lord of the Dance [At Brooklyn College]
  • Image: Dancing Shiva [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]

Devotional Texts

• King Bhartrihari: One Law There Is, c. 100 CE [At this Site]

Tantrism

• WEB The Tantrik Homepage
  Includes links to other Tantric sites, as well as English translation of texts.

The Jain Tradition

• Jain Respect for Life ('Acaranga-sutra,' I, 1)  [At Eliade Page]
• Jain Doctrines and Practices of Nonviolence  ('Akaranga-sutra, I, 8, 1-3-IV-8) [At Eliade Page]
• Jinasena: On Creation, (Mahapurana [The Great Learning]). 9th Cent. CE [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
• WEB Jain Texts [At UNC-Sunsite]
• WEB Ahimsa Homepage
  With links to Jain and other texts on the subject of non-violence. [Internet Archive]
• WEB Jain History: An Outline [At Colorado State]
• WEB Yahoo!: Jainism

Buddhism

• General
  • 2ND Tricycle Magazine Guide to Basics of Buddhism
  • 2ND R.P. Hayes: The Dharma Tree [At Buddha Sasana]
    Explanation of variety of Buddhist groups and traditions.
  • 2ND Buddhist Scriptures [At Buddhism Depot]
  • WEB Yahoo!: Buddhism
  • WEB Center for Buddhist Studies, at the College of Liberal Arts National Taiwan University. Some texts, but mostly in Chinese.
  • WEB DharmaNet - Theravada Buddhism
    Mostly Theravada texts in English translation. [At Internet Archive]
  • WEB Buddhanet
    A splendid starting place, with many text files and attractive interface.
• The Buddha
  • Prince Siddhartha Encounters Old Age, Sickness and Death ('Digha-nikaya,' XIV ['Mahapadana suttanta'])  [At Eliade Page]
  • Gotama's First Masters   [At Eliade Page]
  • 'I am the Holy One in this world, I am the highest teacher. . .' ('Mahavagga,' I, 7-9) [At Eliade Page]
  • Gotama Buddha Ponders ('Majjhima-.nikaya,' XXVI ['Ariya-pariyesana-sutta']) [At Eliade Page]
  • Gotama Buddha Remembers His Earlier Existences ('Majjhima-nikaya,' IV ['Bhaya-bherava-sutta]) [At Eliade Page]
  • Buddha: First Sermon (c. 6th Century BCE) [At Brooklyn College]
  • Buddha: The Teaching of Buddha, an early sermon on Nirvana  [At Brooklyn College]
  • Buddha: The Four Noble Truths [At Buddhanet]
  • Buddha: The Basic Teachings [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
  • The Buddha Enters Nirvana (Ashvagosha, 'Buddhacarita,' XXVI, 83-6, 88-106) [At Eliade Page]
  • The Tathagata Announces that He has Entered Nirvana ('Saddharmapundarika,' XV, 268-72) [At Eliade Page]
  • The Buddha: Sources on His Life and Death
    • The Story Of Sumedha, Translated from the Introduction to the Jataka (i.3).
    • The Birth Of the Buddha, Translated from the Introduction to the Jataka (i.47²¹)
    • The Attainment Of Buddhaship, Translated from the Introduction to the Jataka (i.685)
    • First Events After the Attainment, Translated from the Maha-Vagga, and constituting the opening sections. Hail to that Blessed One, that Saint, and Supreme Buddha!
    • The Buddha's Daily Habits, Translated from the Sumangala-Vilasini (i.4510), Buddhaghosa's Commentary on the Digha-Nikaya
    • The Death Of the Buddha, Translated from the Maha-Parinibbana-Sutta (v. and vi.) of the Digha-Nikaya
• Buddhism in India
  • Sources on the Buddhist Order
    • Admission and Ordination Ceremonies, Reprinted from a paper by J.F. Dickson, B.A., in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1874
    • Mendicant Ideal, Translated from the Samyutta-Nikaya (xvi. 3¹)
    • And Hate Not His Father And Mother, Translated from the Visuddhi-Magga (chap. iii.)
    • Story Of Visakha, Part I, Translated from the Dhammapada, and from Buddhaghosa's comment
  • The Vinaya [Buddhist Monastic Code], full text [At Sacred Texts]
  • Faxian: Account of the Buddhistic Kingdoms. [At Brooklyn College]
• Theravada/Hinayana Texts
  • The Dhammpada [At Brooklyn College]
  • The Dhammapada extracts, [At WSU]
  • The Dhammapada, trans. by John Richards [At Coombs-papers]
    "An anthology of 423 Buddhist verses embodying ethical and spiritual precepts arranged by subject."
  • The Dhammapada,Wisdom of the Buddha, translated by Harischandra Kaviratna, Full Text [At  Theosophical University Press]
  • The Dhammapada, trans John Richards [At Evansville]
    This is a collection of 423 insightful verses from various Buddhist texts, arranged by category.
  • The Buddha Foretells the Gradual Decline of Religion ('Anagatavamsa') [At Eliade Page]
  • Gotama Buddha Talks of his Ascetic Practices ('Majjhima-nikaya,'XII ['Maha-sihanada-sutra'])  [At Eliade Page]
  • Gotama Buddha Practiced the most Severe form of Ascetism  ('Majjhima-nikaya,' XXXVI ['Maha-saccaka-sutra']) [At Eliade Page]
  • Sutta Nipata, selections from the Pali text translated by John D. Ireland. [At Purify Mind]
  • Sammaditthi Sutta, translated from the Pali by
    Bhikkhu Nanamoli  [At MIT]
  • Mahamangala Sutta [At Buddha Community]
    Side by side with the original Pali text. Known in English as the Discourse of the Supreme Blessings.
  • The Four Foundations of Mindfulness [At BuddhaNet]
    Part of the Satipatthana-a.
  • Discourse on the Mindfulness of Breathing [At Dharma]
    Selections from the Anapanasati Sutra.
  • Culasunnata Sutta [At Well.com]
    A  lesson on sunyata.
  • Metta Sutta [At Dharma.net]
    Sub-titled "The Buddha's Words on Kindness" 
  • WEB The Pali Canon, many full texts in Pali, many also in English [At Metta.lk]
• Mahayana Texts
  • Buddha's Sermon on the No-Self  [At Brooklyn College]
  • The Heart Sutra   [At Brooklyn College]
  • The Heart Sutra: Various Versions [At Coombs-papers]
  • Mahamangala Sutra (Discourse of the Supreme Blessings)  [At Coombs-papers]
  • The Bodhisattva's Infinite Compassion ('Shikshasamuccaya,' 280-2 ['Vajradhvaha-sutra']) [At Eliade Page]
  • Acts and Rewards of Devotion to the Buddha ('Shikshasamuccaya,' 299-301 ['Avalokana-sutra'] [At Eliade Page]
  • The Buddhist Conception of the Intermediate State ('Saddharma-smrityupasthana Sutra,' from chapter XXXIV, via Chinese version) [At Eliade Page]
  • Tibetan Book of the Dead: Death and Intermediate States  [At Eliade Page]
  • The Prophecy Concerning Maitreya, the Future Buddha ('Maitreyavyakarana') [At Eliade Page]
  • Milerepa Extols His 'Five Comforts'   [At Eliade Page]
  • The Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters [At the Refuge Library]
    The first Buddhist text taken to China, c. 67 CE.
  • WEB Kalavinka
    Contains very long excerpts from Nagarjuna's Treatise on The Great Perfection of Wisdom (Mahaapraj~naapaaramitaa Upadesha),  "an immense
    exegesis to the Mahaapraj~naapaaramitaa Sutra in 25,000
    lines. Classically, it is preserved only in a 100-fascicle Chinese edition translated from Sanskrit in 405c.e. by Kumarajiva, the brilliant and prolific translator-monk who was the premier transmitter to the Chinese of the Maadhyamika teachings of Nagarjuna."
• Chinese/Japanese Buddhist Texts
  • See also East Asian History Sourcebook
  • Pure Land
    • Extract from the Lotus Sutra: The Nature of the Buddha  [At Brooklyn College]
    • Extract from the Lotus Sutra: On Faith   [At Brooklyn College]
    • Kûkai's Initiation in the Esoteric Buddhism ('Kobo Daishi Zenshu,' I, 98 ff.)  [At Eliade Page]
    • 2ND Kuya, 'the Saint of the Streets'   [At Eliade Page]
    • Honen and the Invocation of Amida  [At Eliade Page]
    • Shinran: 'The Nembutsu Alone is True' ('Tannisho,' selections) [At Eliade Page]
  • Nicheren
    • Nichiren Sees Japan as the Centre of Buddhism's Regeneration [At Eliade Page]
    • Nicheren: Adoration to the Lotus of Perfect Truth  [At Eliade Page]
    • Nicheren Proclaims Himself the 'Bodhisattva of Supreme Action'   [At Eliade Page]
    • Nicheren's Transfiguration    [At Eliade Page]
  • Chan/Zen
    • Realizing the Solution (Hashida, Shobo genzo shakui, 1, 142-64),  [At Eliade Page]
    • Sitting and the Koan ( Shobo genzo zuimonki) [At Eliade Page]
    • The Importance of Sitting (Shobo getnzo zuimonki)  [At Eliade Page]
    • Contempt for Scriptures ( Shuso to shite no Dogen Zenji),  [At Eliade Page]
• Modern Renditions
  • The Gospel of Buddha  [At Brooklyn College]
  • The Word of Buddha  [At Brooklyn College]
• Images
  • General Buddhist
    • Image: Divinity: Relic of Shakyamuni Buddha's Finger at Famin
    • Image: Divinity: The Ten Most Important Mudras
  • Indian Art
    • Image: Divinity: Buddha from Gupta Period [India]
    • Image: Divinity: Indian Statute of Maitriya
  • Tibetan
    • Image: Divinity: Tibetan Wood block Print of of Maitriya
  • Chinese Art
    • Image: Divinity: Large Cult Statute of Buddha at Dongzhang
    • Image: Divinity: Buddha from Wei
    • Image: Divinity: Buddha from Tang Dynasty
    • Image: Divinity: Tang Buddha 2
    • Image: Divinity: Teaching Buddha from Cave of a Thousand Buddhas
    • Image: Divinity: Maitreya as Pu-tai, the laughing Buddha
    • Image: Divinity: Picture of Kuan Yin Tang Period
    • Image: Divinity: Picture of Kuan Yin 12th C.
    • Image: Divinity: Picture of Kuan Yin 13th C
    • Image: Divinity: Picture of Kuan Yin 17th C
    • Image: Divinity: Kuan-yin sitting in Royal Ease 12th C
    • Image: Divinity: Kuan Yin 7
    • Image: Divinity: Kuan Yin 8
    • Image: Divinity: Kuan Yin 9
    • Image: Divinity: Bodhidharma, founder of Ch'an Buddhism
    • Image: Divinity: Chan Buddhist Hui-neng tears up the sutras
    • Image: Divinity: A modern Buddhist Temple at Famin
  • South East Asian Art
    • Image: Buddha from Thailand (touching ground)
    • Image: Divinity: Cambodian Avalokiteshvara sitting in Royal Ease 11th C
  • Japanese Art
    • Image: Image: Monk doing Zazen
  • Unsure [!]
    • Image: Buddha with earth-touching mudra (bhumisparsha mudra)
    • Image: Divinity: Baby Buddha Taking a Bath
    • Image: Buddha with earth-touching mudra (bhumisparsha mudra)
    • Image: Divinity: Maitreya 3

Medieval India

General

• WEB Medieval India (600 BCE - 1526 AD) [Internet Archive]
  With links ot other site and art images.
• WEB Ancient India [At WSU]
  A site by Richard Hooker.
  Includes an India Atlas.
• 2ND Alexander in India [At Alexander the Great Homepage]
• 2ND Steve Muhlberger: Democracy in Ancient India [At Nipissing University]

The Mauryan Empire (321-185 BCE)

• Image: Maurayan Empire Map c. 250 BCE [At WSU]
• Kautilya: The Arthashastra, c. 250 BCE [At this Site]
  Extensive selections
• Kautilya: The Arthashastra - On Gender Issues, c. 250 BCE   [At this Site]
• Kautilya: The Arthashastra (3rd Cent. BCE) [At WSU]
  A treatise on government by the "prime minister" of India's first great emperor, Chandragupta Maurya.
• Kautilya: The Arthashastra (3rd Cent. BCE) [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
  Another selection.

Ashoka (c. 265-238 BCE; also given as c. 273-232 BCE)

• The Edicts of King Ashoka [At Colorado State]
• Ashoka, King of Behar: The Rock Edicts, c. 257 BCE, excerpts, [At this Site]
• Image: Ashoka's Pillar [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]

Gupta Empire (320-550 CE)

• Image: Gupta Empire Map c. 400 CE [At WSU]

Culture

• Tales From Ancient India [At this Site]
• Kalidasa (4th-5th C. CE?):  The Recognition of Sakuntala [At WSU]
  A text from the "greatest of all ancient Indian playwrights".
• Kalidasa (4th-5th C. CE?):  Sakuntala Translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1914), full text. [At Sacred Texts]
• Kalidasa (4th-5th C. CE?): Meghaduta or Clould Messenger [At Sacred Texts]
  Translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1914)
• Kama Sutra, translated by Sir Richard Burton,  [At Sacred Texts]

Greek and Chinese Sources

General

Greek Sources

• Greek Reports of India & Aryavarta [At this Site]
  From Herodotus.
• Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): The Histories 440BCE [At MIT][Full Text][Chapter length files][Book VII on the Persian War]
• Map: Alexander's Conquests to 323BCE [At PSU]
• Animated Map: Alexander's Campaigns [At WWU]
• Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Alexander [At MIT]
• Arrian: Anabasis Alexandri: Book VIII (Indica) [At this Site]
• Strabo: Geography: Book XV: On India [At this Site]
• Pliny: Natural History 6.96-111. (On India) [At this Site]
• The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century [At this Site]
• India and the Mediterranean: Bibliography [At this Site]

Chinese Sources

• Faxian: Account of the Buddhistic Kingdoms. [At Brooklyn College]
  

Muslim Era India

General

• For Islam in General see Islamic History Sourcebook

The Delhi Sultanate 1206-1526

Mughal India 1526-1761

• Babur
• Akbar
• Sidi Ali Reis (16th Century CE): Mirat ul Memalik (The Mirror of Countries), 1557 CE
  A Turkish traveler's account of the world of India and the Middle East.
• François Bernier: An Account of India and the Great Moghul, 1655 CE  [At this Site]
• The Great Moghul Aurangzeb: Farewell, 1707 CE [At this Site]
• Image: Mugal Empire Map [At WSU]
• WEB The Mughals [At WSU]
  A multi-media site by Richard Hooker.

Culture

• Qawalli Music

The Marathas

• WEB Shivaji on the Web [At Tripod]
  "Shivaji created a Nation. It was he who released forces that changed the political map of India in the eighteenth century. Within 50 years of the death of Aurangzeb, the Marathas had overrun the entire sub-continent of India and taken possession of a greater half of the country. It was only in 1803 that the sovereignity of India had passed to the British."

Sikhism

The Sikhs are an Indian people, defined by their religion, who emerged in India during the centuries of Muslim political power (which accounts for the placement of these texts in the Sourcebook).

• Kabir (d. 1575?): Selected Poems [At WSU]
• Kabir (d. 1575?): Sayings [At Internet Archive, from Rutgers]
• Sri Guru Granth Sahib, 1604, (also known as the Adi Granth) [At Sikhism Homepage]
  Full text of Sikh scriptures, with explanation of history. Also in English Version (Khalsa Consensus Translation)
• WEB The Sikhism Homepage
• WEB About Sikhism
• WEB Great Sikh Warriors
  Biographies of Great Sikh warriors of 17th to 20th century.
• WEB Fort: Panth Khalsa
  Modern Sikh nationalist site.
• WEBYahoo! Sikhism

The Western Intrusion

General

• Vasco da Gama: Round Africa to India, 1497-1498 CE 
• Ferdinand Magellan's Voyage Round the World, 1519-1522 CE 

European Imperialism

• St. Francis Xavier: Letter from India, to the Society of Jesus at Rome, 1543
• England, India, and The East Indies, 1617 [At this Site]
  Various sources including a letter from  Great Moghul Jahangir to James I, King of England.
• Thomas Mun (1571-1641): England's Treasure by Foreign Trade, pub 1664, extracts, [At Then Again] and extracts [At Hanover]
• Adam Smith: From The Wealth of Nations, 1776: Of Colonies, and The Cost of Empire [At The American Revolution Site]
• Trade Products in Early Modern History [At UMN]
• The South Sea Bubble [Modern Report][At History House]
• Analyses
  • John A. Hobson (1858-1940): Imperialism, 1902, excerpts
  • John A. Hobson (1858-1940): The Economic Parasites of Imperialism [At Marxists.org]
  • Vladimir Illyich Lenin (1870-1924): Imperialism and the Split in Socialism, 1916 [At Marxists.Org][Full Text]
  • Vladimir Illyich Lenin (1870-1924): Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism, 1916 [At Marxists.org][Full Text]
  • Joseph-Schumpeter: The Sociology of Imperialism, 1918  [At this Site]
  • Extent of European Colonialism in Statistical Terms [At Mt. Holyoke]

British India

• Conquest
  • WEB The East India Trade [At Scholiast]
  • 2ND East India Company History [At East India Company Page]
    The company still exists, and its homepage presents its history.
  • Robert Clive (1725-1774): Battle at Calcutta - Letter to the Lord Chancellor, Calcutta, 23 February 1757 [At Hillsdale]
  • Robert Clive (1725-1774): The Battle of Plassey - Letter to the East India Company, 26 July 1757  [At Hillsdale]
  • Robert Clive (1725-1774): The Battle of Plassey, 1757 [At this Site]
  • Robert Clive (1725-1774): Letter to William Pitt on India, 1759 [At Oswego]
  • Lieutenant T.W.E. Holdsworth: The Battle of Kelat, 1839, [PDF format][From Hillsdale]
  • C. G. Rawlings: The March to Lhasa, July 1904 [At Hillsdale]
• Government
  • Robert Clive (1725-1774): Speech in Commons on India, 1772
  • India: Regulating Act, 1773 [At this Site]
  • Edmund Burke (1729-1797): Speech in Commons on India, 1783 [At this Site]
  • Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859): On Empire and Education, 1830s,  [At this Site]
    Addresses the issue of education in India. An interesting example of the complete superiority felt by the British rulers.
  • Illustrated London News: Troop Steamer for Lower Indus River, 1861 [At Hillsdale]
• Clash of Cultures
  • Duarte Barbosa: Sati in Narsyngua.[At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
  • An Account of Sati from Vikrama's Adventures [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
  • Raja Rammohan Roy: A Second Conference Between an Advocate for, and An Opponent of the Practice of Burning Widows Alive, 1820 [At WSU]
  • Sir William Bentinck: On Ritual Murder in India , 1829, excerpts
  • Mountstuart Elphinstone: Indian Customs and Manners, 1840
    Includes graphic account of suttee.
  • Sir Monier Monier-Williams: Camp Life in India, 1850 [At this Site]
  • Dadabhai Naoroji: The Benefits of British Rule, 1871 [At this Site]
  • Charles Creighton Hazewell: British India, The Atlantic Monthly, November 1857, [At The Atlantic]
  • Field Marshal Lord Roberts: When Queen Victoria Became Empress of India, 1877 [At this Site]
  • Rev. Arthur Male: The Hill of Bones, Afghanistan 1878 [At this Site]
• The Mutiny
  • Elisa Greathed: An Account of the Opening of the Indian Mutiny at Meerut, 1857 [At this Site]
  • Charles Creighton Hazewell: The Indian Revolt, The Atlantic Monthly, December 1857, [At The Atlantic, subscription required]
  • Robert Traill Spence Lowell: The Relief of Lucknow [At this Site]
• Indian Cultures
  • Sir Monier Monier-Williams: The Towers of Silence, 1870
    The Parsee's in Bombay.
  • Lalon Fakir: Songs, 19th Century [At WSU]
  • Toru Dutt: Sonnet, 1876  [At WSU]
  • Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941): Gitanjali or "song offerings", 1913 [At School of Wisdom]
  • Rabindranath Tagore  (1861-1941): Once There Was a King, 1916 [At WSU]
  • Rabindranath Tagore  (1861-1941): The Home and the World, 1915, translated [from Bengali to English] by Surendranath Tagore, 1919, full text  [At ibiblio]
  • 2ND Ardeshir B. Damania: History Of Bombay [At UH.edu]
    
    

Indian Nationalism

General

• Jabez Sunderland: The New Nationalist Movement in India, The Atlantic Monthly, October 1908, [At The Atlantic, subscription required]

The Indian National Congress

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920): Address to the Indian National Congress, 1907 [At this Site]

Gandhi

• Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948): Indian Home Rule, 1909 [At WSU]
• Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948): I Shall Be Arrested, 1930,  letter written to Nehru.[At Internet Archive, from Letters Magazine]
• Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964): To His Jailers, 1932 [At Internet Archive, from Letters Magazine]
  ? letter written by Nehru while in jail for civil disobedience against the British government.
• Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964): Marxism, Capitalism and Non-Alignment, 1941, 1956, excerpts [At this Site]
• 2ND Mark Shepard: Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths, the 1990 Annual Gandhi Lecture for the International Association of Gandhian Studies, delivered at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville on October 2 [At Mark Shepard's Nonviolence Page]
• 2ND Mark Shepard: Gandhi Today: A Report on Mahatma Gandhi's Successors  [At Mark Shepard's Nonviolence Page]
• 2ND Narayan Desai: Gandhi Through a Child's Eyes   [At Mark Shepard's Nonviolence Page]
• MEGA YAHOO!: Gandhi

The Muslim League

• WEB Jinnah [At Internet Archive, from Texas]
  Mostly pictures.

Independence

• Winston Churchill: Announcement to the House Of Commons of Sir Stafford Cripps' Mission to India, March 11, 1942. [At PHA]
• Statement And Draft Declaration by His Majesty's Government With Correspondence And Resolutions Connected Therewith (Sir Stafford Cripps' Mission to India), Draft Declaration For Discussion With Indian Leaders Published 30th March, 1942 [At PHA]
• Government of India: Text of the Original "Quit India" Resolution Drafted by Gandhi and rejected by the All-India Congress Working Committee in favor of the modified version submitted by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Gandhi Draft was Presented to the Committee on April 27, 1942 [At PHA]
• Sir Stafford Cripps: Review of Negotiations With the All-India Congress, July 26, 1942 [At PHA]
• Sir Stafford Cripps: Statement on India, London, August 5, 1942
• Mohandas K. Gandhi: Speech   to the All-India Congress, Bombay, August 7, 1942 (Excerpts) [At PHA]
• Leopold S. Amery, British Secretary of State For India: Broadcast, London, August 9, 1942 [At PHA]
• Orders to American Military Forces in India, August 12, 1942 [At PHA]
• Winston Churchill: Report to the House of Commons on The Policy of The British Government in India, September 10, 1942 [At PHA]
• Mohandas K. Gandhi: Latest Message to America, October 31, 1942 [At PHA]
• WEB Robert K. Olson: Ambassador Henry Grady and Indian Independence [At UNC]
• British Government Statement: Policy in India, 1946 [At this Site]
• British Government Statement: Policy in Burma, May 1945  [At this Site]
• Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964): Speech On the Granting of Indian Independence,  August 14, 1947  [At this Site]
  

India Since Independence

General

• WEB Documents Relating to Global Economic Issues [At Mt. Holyoke]
• WEB Documents Relating to Jammu and Kashmir [At Mt. Holyoke]
• WEB Globalization [At Mt. Holyoke]
• WEB Trade [At Mt. Holyoke]
• WEB Multinational Corporations [At Mt. Holyoke]
• South Asia: Country Studies
  -Prepared for Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army. These are full descriptions of the countries concerned, in terms of history, geography, economy, etc. There are also useful bibliographies. [At LOC]
  • Bangladesh
  • Bhutan
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
• South Asia: Constitutions
  • Nepal Constitution, 1990 [At ICL]
  • Tibet Constitution 1991 [At ICL]
    This is the constitution of the "government in exile".

International Issues

• Prime Minister Nehru: Speech to Bandung Conference Political Committee, 1955  [At this Site]
• Declaration of Pakistan and India on Jammu and Kashmir, 1966 [At this Site]
• Senator Fulbright: Appraisal of US Policy in the Dominican Crisis, September 15, 1965  [At this Site]
  A wide-ranging critique of US foreign policy.
• US National Security Decision Memorandum 289: Lifting Embargo on Lethal Military Supplies ot India and Pakistan [At Utexas]

India

• K.R. Malkani: The Sindh Story [AT UIUC]
• MAP States of Modern India [At India History]
• WEB Free India [At Free India Org]
  Has a distinct nationalist basis.
• Indian Constitution [At ICL]
• Arthur Bonner: India's Masses: the Public That Can't Be Reached, The Atlantic Monthly, October 1959, [At The Atlantic, subscription required]
• Leland Hazard: Strong Medicine for India; The Atlantic Monthly, December 1965, [At The Atlantic, subscription required]

The Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty

• CNN: Assasination of Indira Gandhi [video] [At CNN]

Regionalism

• WEB Fort: Panth Khalsa
  Modern Sikh nationalist site.
• Conor Cruise O'Brien: Holy War Against India, The Atlantic Monthly, August 1998, [At The Atlantic, subscription required]
  On Sikh Nationalism.
  

Pakistan Since Independence

General

• Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1914-1978): Selected Poems [A WSU]
• WEB Hinduism [At Allaahuakbar.net]
  A virulently anti-Hindu page.
• National Anthem of Pakistan [At this Site]

Pakistan

• WEB Mir Murtaza Bhutto (1954-1996)
• WEB Yahoo!: Pakistan
  There is very little on the history of the country.
• WEB Faiz Ahmed Faiz
  Some works of the great Pakistani poet.
  

Bangladesh

General

• WEB Yahoo!: Bangladesh

The 1971 Conflict

• WEB Bangladesh Liberation War Museum
• WEB India-Pakistan War, As reported at the time by TIME Magazine. Probably the best online source.
• TIME Dec. 6, 1971 Conflict in Asia: India v Pakistan
  • A letter from the publisher
  • India and Pakistan: Poised for War
  • Hindu and Moslem: The Gospel of Hate
• TIME Dec. 13, 1971
  • India and Pakistan: Over the Edge
• TIME Dec. 20, 1971 The Bloody Birth of Bangladesh
  • Out Of War, a Nation is Born
  • The U.S. : A Policy in Shambles
• TIME Dec. 27, 1971
  • India: Easy victory, Uneasy Peace
  • "We Know How the Parisains Felt" Time correspondent Dan Coggin, who covered the war from the Pakistani side, was in Dacca when that city surrendered. (His report)
• WEB Dhaka '71
  Online photo exhibition commemorating the war of independence. [At Internet Archive]
• WEB The 1971 India-Pakistan War
  The site is not a historical site - it adopts a relentlessly Indian nationalist perspective.
• 2ND R.J. Rummel: Statistics of Pakistan's Democide: Estimates, Calculations and Sources [At U Hawaii]
  

 

Burma

General

• British Government Statement: Policy in Burma, May 1945  [At this Site]
• U Nu: Burma Looks Ahead, 1951  [At this Site]
  

Indian Genders and Sexualities

Women

• Women in Asia: Press Reports
• NY Times Report on Recent UN Women's Conference

Homosexuality: General

It has proved to be extraordinarily difficult to find much information about South Asian homosexuality.

• WEB People With a History: Online Guide to LGBT* History
• 2ND Ian Iqbal Rashid: Naming Names or How Do You Say 'Queer' in 'South Asian'? [PDF file] [At Rungh]
• Samalinga
  Collection of South Asian Queer Writings on the WWW

Hindu

• Ramakrishnan: "Bisexuality: identities, behaviors, and politics", Trikone April 1996 [At Internet Archive, from U Texas]
• Vatsyayana: Kama Sutra, Part 2. Chap 9, 1883 trans. by Richard Burton. [At Bibliomania.com]
  On "Mouth Congress" and "different types of eunuchs".
• The Vinaya [Buddhist Monastic Precepts]
• WEB Shri Krishna as Kali and Lalita [At Shivashakti]
  Although the sexual relationships of Indian gods often follow heterosexual expectations, the individual God/dess may change form and be incarnate as another. This story could be read as gay, lesbian, or multiply transgendered.
• WEB Tantrik Links [At Shivashakti]
  Tantricism was the "short path" to Enlightenment in Hinduism and Buddhism. Sexual ecstasy was a particularly important feature, often represented by heterosexual "yab-yum" figures.

Muslim

• 2ND Richard Burton: Terminal Essay, from his edition of the Arabian Nights.
  Burton' compilation of data on variety of societies was meant to explain some of the stories in The Nights. In doing so, he provided first overview of Islamic homosexuality.
  
  

Further Resources on Indian History

As in a number of other historical areas, a  real problem with much of the online material on South Asian history is that it is presented with manifest nationalist (or other ideological bias). In reviewing many sites for this page, there seem to be a phenomenon of science and engineering graduate students setting up web sites on Indian or Islamic history/culture with virtually no regard for authenticity or historical method. [Imagine if history graduate students began setting up websites on chemical engineering based on their "feelings".] I have tried to indicate which sites are, in my opinion, reliable and which are not.

• E-Texts
  • MEGA Virtual e-Text Archive of Indic Texts [At Indology.info]
  • MEGA WWW Virtual Library: Asian Studies: South Asian Studies: India>
  • WEB Vienna E-Text Archives [Internet Archive]
  • WEB Electronic Texts of Literature in Indian Language  [At Geocities]
  • WEB Hindi: The language of songs [At Colorado State]
    Includes a history of the language, as well as some texts. with a wonderful Hindi Links page
  • WEB Malayalam Page
    No texts as yet.
  • WEB Telugu Literary Home Page [At BGSU]
    with a section English Translations of Telugu Classics
• Web Guides
  • MEGA YAHOO!: Indian History
  • MEGA YAHOO!: India - Art History
  • MEGA YAHOO!: Hinduism
  • MEGA INDOLOGY Internet Resources for Indological Scholarship [At Indology.info]
    A scholarly oriented site.
  • MEGA 123India : Arts and Culture : History
    A YAHOO! type directory for India.
  • MEGA Internet Resources on India [At WSU]
    Guide by Richard Hooker.
  • MEGA Asian News Sources Online [At Kidon]
    An extensive guide to Asian newspapers, radio stations, etc. online. Includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
• Academic History/Culture Sites
  • WEB Itihaas: The History of India
    A major site. Very well done online history, with timelines, etc. Contains data available nowhere else on the net (e.g. dates of British governors.)  Takes a moderate nationalist line (e.g. takes care to point out Muslim destruction of Hindu sites, but does not try to cast Akbar as a villain.)
  • WEB Manas: India and Its Neighbors [At UCLA]
    The history, politics, culture, and art of India/Indian sub-continent. One of the best sites.
  • WEB My India [At Internet Archive]
    Middlebrow introduction.
  • WEB Culture and Heritage of India [At Goverment of India]
    Includes pages about India's history.
  • WEB Mircea Eliade: From Primitives to Zen [at enteract.com]
    Complete texts of Eliade's religion anthology online.
  • WEB Lonely Planet: Destination India
  • WEB Rough Guide: India
    Includes a Brief History of India
  • WEB The Atlantic Magazine: Indian Passages
    Articles from the Atlantic Monthly on India 1857-today. Subscription required.
  • WEB India Documents [At Mt Holyoke]
• Nationalist History/Culture Sites
  • WEB Hindunet: Indian History with its Library of Hindu History and The Hindu Universe
    While these linked sites have much of interest, they are not reliable in terms of history, although may be useful in explaining and exploring modern Hindu belief and practice.. Since they come up repeatedly on search engines, there is an effort here to explain what is wrong.
    The main problem is that they promote a  nationalist view of Indian history and, frankly, nationalists of any sort have proved repeatedly that they are unable to write a history of their own land. The specific problems with this site are as follows:
    - It denies the theory of an Arayan invasion [which may indeed be suspect], but allows no countervailing voice. Scholarship will allow more than one voice to be heard.
    - It promotes the dogmatic religious idea that the Ramayana and Mahabharata are discussions of real historical periods.
    - It seeks to present the Moghul/Islamic period in entirely negative terms, and to promote the idea that Indian resistance to the British Raj was a work of the "Hindu People".
    In sum: these sites are unreliable exercises in political propaganda. Use them with this in mind.
  • WEB History of India [At historyofindia.com]
    Very well illustrated account in Indian history.
  • WEB Itihaas by Akhilesh Mithal [At Geocities]
    Writings about Indian history. While Mr. Mithal presents highly opinionated pieces, he eschews the turgid Hindu/Muslim/Sikh "identity nationalisms" for a more embracing vision of India. It's still nationalism though!.
    

Other Resources

• Map: Asia

---

© This text is copyright. The specific electronic form, and any notes and questions are copyright. Permission is granted to copy the text, and to print out copies for personal and educational use. No permission is granted for commercial use.

If any copyright has been infringed, this was unintentional. The possibility of a site such as this, as with other collections of electronic texts, depends on the large availability of public domain material from texts translated before 1923. [In the US, all texts issued before 1923 are now in the public domain. Texts published before 1964 may be in the public domain if copyright was not renewed after 28 years. This site seeks to abide by US copyright law: the copyright status of texts here outside the US may be different.] Efforts have been made to ascertain the copyright status of all texts here, although, occasionally, this has not been possible where older or non-US publishers seem to have ceased existence. Some of the recently translated texts here are copyright to the translators indicated in each document. These translators have in every case given permission for non-commercial reproduction. No representation is made about the copyright status of texts linked off-site. This site is intended for educational use. Notification of copyright infringement will result in the immediate removal of a text until its status is resolved.

© Paul Halsall June-October 2000
Last updated March 13, 2007
halsall@fordham.edu