Indian Political Thought

Indian Political Thought brings together the political thoughts of many different Indian thinkers from different time periods.

This comprehensive book focuses on the contributions that have been made by political philosophers, who belonged to different regions and eras. Indian Political Thought contains twenty two chapters and each one is dedicated to an individual. The first one elaborates on the thoughts of Manu, the Indian law maker. The author discusses his theories and the Manusmriti. This is followed by a section of Kautilya and his theories of public administration and state capitalism is discussed. The early life of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who lived from 1772-1833, is also covered here. His activism to ban polygamy, stop the practice of sati and allow women's right to property are highlighted.

The ideas of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj, are also included in Indian Political Thought. Swami Vivekananda's speech at the Parliament of Religions is analysed by Padhy. Chapters six and seven are dedicated to Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, respectively. Readers will also be able to learn about Sri Aurobindo's thoughts on nationalism and human unity. The ninth chapter focuses entirely on the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The author dives into his ideals of Ahimsa, Satyagraha and Swaraj. One chapter covers the life of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The role of Subhash Chandra Bose in India's nationalist movement is also discussed in Indian Political Thought.

Readers can learn more about Manabendra Nath Roy, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Madhusudan Das, B R Ambedkar and Gopal Bandhu Das. The eighteenth chapter elaborates on the ideals of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This is followed by a chapter on Lala Lajpat Rai, the propounder of Swaraj. The last three chapters of Indian Political Thought cover the ideas of Ram Manohar Lohia, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Mahatma Jyotirao Govindrao Phule.

This textbook is ideal for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Political Science. Indian Political Thought, published by New Arrivals - PHI in 2011, is available in paperback.