Famous Indian Historians

Renowned history scholar and JNU professor Romila Thapar has also taught at Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. She has previously been in the news for rejecting the Padma Bhushan twice, stating she didn’t accept state awards. She has also often opposed Hindutva and the “saffronization” of education.

Bengaluru-based Indian historian and author Ramachandra Guha is best known for his iconic books Gandhi Before India and India After Gandhi. As a journalist, he has also written on cricket and was a long-time columnist for The Hindu. He has also been honored with the Sahitya Akademi Award.

Mahadev Govind Ranade was an Indian social reformer, scholar, author, and judge. Ranade is credited with co-founding the Indian National Congress as well as founding several organizations like the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, Widow Marriage Association, and Vaktruttvottejak Sabha. He also contributed as an editor of a nationalist publication named Induprakash.

Islamic scholar and philosopher Abul A'la Maududi was born into an elite Aurangabad family. He grew up to be fundamentalist who believed Islam should be free of Western influences and launched the Jamaʿat-i Islami. Though an important figure in Pakistani politics, he was also imprisoned for a while for opposing the government.

Jairam Ramesh is an Indian politician and economist. From 2011 to 2014, he served as the Minister of Rural Development. An influential figure, Ramesh also served as the Minister of State at the Ministry of Environment and Forests from 2009 to 2011. Jairam Ramesh has contributed as a columnist for many popular publications and has also authored many books.  

At 22, William Dalrymple penned the award-winning book In Xanadu. His 6-year research in Delhi culminated in the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award-winning volume City of Djinns. He has also presented the 6-part docu-series Stones of the Raj and written for publications such as Time and The Guardian.

Islamic historian Ziauddin Barani is best remembered for his treatise on medieval India, Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi. A nadim of Muḥammad ibn Tughluq for 17 years, he was exiled after Tughlaq was deposed and died in poverty. Some of his works were inspired by Sufi mysticism, which viewed events as divine manifestations.

Apart from being a noted South Asian historian and a Tufts and Harvard faculty, Sugata Bose is also a descendant of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. A Presidency College and Cambridge alumnus, he has penned books such as His Majesty's Opponent and has also been a TMC MP.

Ram Sharan Sharma was an Indian historian and academic who worked as a teacher at the University of Delhi and Patna University between 1973 and 1985. He also served as the head of the departments of History at both universities. An influential figure, Ram Sharan Sharma had a strong say in matters pertaining to historical research in India. 

Born to a Marxist historian father, Mohammad Habib, Irfan Habib followed in his footsteps and grew up to be a Padma Bhushan-winning historian and author. The Oxford-educated Habib is known for his long-time association with AMU and has also spoken on topics such as fascism and the Aryan question.

Dipesh Chakrabarty is an Indian historian who works as a professor at the University of Chicago. In 2014, Chakrabarty was honored with the prestigious Toynbee Prize for his significant contributions to humanity. Dipesh Chakrabarty is also a prolific writer. In 2019, he was honored by the Government of West Bengal with the Tagore Memorial Prize.

Jadunath Sarkar rose from a humble background in a Bengal village and gained a scholarship at Calcutta University. He later taught both English and history and was associated with his alma, Presidency College, and BHU as a faculty. Specializing in Mughal history, he was later knighted by the British.

Hindi author Hazari Prasad Dwivedi was the son of Sanskrit scholar Pandit Anamol Dwivedi. Well-versed in astrology and Sanskrit, he later taught Sanskrit and Hindi at Visva Bharati. He also served BHU as the Reader of its Hindi department. He also won a Padma Bhushan and a Sahitya Akademi Award.

Sikh poet and theologian Bhai Gurdas is best known as the scribe of the Kartarpur Pothi, on which the Adi Granth is based. He had written countless ballads and short poems in Braj Bhasa, too. He had also been the first Jathedar, or leader, of the Akal Takht.

Islamic historian Abd al-Qadir Badayuni was the first Grand Mufti of India. Initially in the service of a local prince in Patiala, he later served Akbar. Known for his treatises such as Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, he later also translated Sanskrit texts and the Indian epics the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata.

Hari Vasudevan was an Indian historian and emeritus professor. He taught at many prestigious institutions like the Russian Academy of Sciences, Uppsala University, King's College London, and Cornell University. He is also credited with authoring and editing several books.