Had we not had some of the famous historians of Indian history, we would be left in the dark about various aspects of the past that we would not have known. It is seen how literature, sociology, politics, history are all related and none of these disciplines can make do without the inputs from the others. Some of the famous Indian historians are:

1. Abd-al-Qadir Bada’uni

Abd-al-Qadir Bada’uni (1540-1605) was an Indo-Persian historian and translator during the time of the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He translated Hindu works such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata but as an orthodox Muslim, he resented the elevation of Hindus to high offices according to Akbar’s reforms. His most famous works are ‘Muntakhab-un-Tarwarikh’ (Selection of Chronicles) and ‘Tarikh-i-Bada’uni’ (Bada’uni’s History).

2. R.C. Majumdar

Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (1884-1980) was an Indian historian and a professor of History at the (then newly established) University of Dacca. He later became the Vice Chancellor and Dean of Arts there. He was also Principal of Indology, Benares Hindu University. He was elected the general president of the Indian History Congress and became the vice president of the International Commission set up by UNESCO. He wrote detailed histories of Champa, Suvarnadvipa and Kambuja Desa. He also edited the large volumes of Indian history for twenty six years which described the history of Indian people from the Vedic Period to the present day (of 1955). He also taught Indian history at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania. 

3. Satish Chandra

Satish Chandra (1922-2017) was a historian whose main area of specialization was medieval Indian history. His famous works are ‘Essays in Medieval Indian Economic History’, ‘Mughal Religious Policies, the Rajputs and the Deccan’ and ‘Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court’, amongst others.

4. Barun De

Barun De (1932-2013) was an Indian historian who served as the first professor of social and economic history of the Indian Institute of Managament, Calcutta. He was the founder-director of the Centre of Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata. He was awarded the D.Litt. Some of his famous works are ‘Development and Political Culture: Bangladesh and India’, ‘Mukti Sangrame Banglar Chatra-Samaj’, ‘Proceedings of the Indian History Congress’ etc. 

5. Irfan Habib 

Irfan Habib (b. 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient medieval India, who follows the approach of Marxist historiography. His strong stance against Hindu and Islamic fundamentalism is well known. He is the author of several works such as ‘Essays in Indian History’, ‘Agrarian System of Mughal India’, ‘People’s History of India’ and so on. He was also the recipient of the Padma Bhushan and Yash Bharti.

6. Romila Thapar

Romila Thapar (b. 1931) is an Indian historian with her area of study being ancient India. She has written numerous books, including the popular volume ‘A History of India’, ‘The Past and Prejudice’, ‘Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History’, and so on. She is currently an Emeritus professor at Jawaharlal University, New Delhi. She was offered the Padma Bhushan award twice, but declined both the times.