The book in the hands of the reader is a valuable collection of Questions and Answers that help the reader know about India from its earliest civilizations to the present day democratic set up in India. It addresses all types of readers from Research Scholars to enthusiastic students of History, those preparing for IAS, IFS, IPS etc. and also those preparing for TV Quiz like KBC2 and other competitive games based on knowledge. Indeed it is a first attempt of its kind, looking at the large encyclopedic volume of questions and answers it contains. Volume I Part I of the book [History of India] covers all periods of History from Ancient India to the present day renunciation episode of Sonia. It has a special coverage of Mahatma Gandhi, his assassination, his various movements for India’s freedom, without forgetting the noblest work he did in South Africa. The tragic end of Kalpana Chawla, the attack by terrorists on India’s temple of democracy i.e. the parliament, are all notable sections of the book. This part has a detailed History of Jammu and Kashmir through Questions and Answers with circumstances that led to terrorism, the ‘Intifada’ phase and the subsequent ‘Fidayeen’ attacks. Special sections covering Mother Teresa and her beatification, Swami Vivekananda and his speeches in the ‘Parliament of Religions’ [1893] & Sister Nivedita are other attractions [Ch. 10]. A brief section on the births and deaths of India’s intellectuals/saints like Tulsidas, Mirabai etc. add to the merits of the book. Volume 2 Part 1 [Religions] enriches the reader about various faiths in our country and contains the names of all 5 conches of the Pandavas and that of Lord Krishna, the names of Krishna’s 8 queens and Prophet Muhammad’s 12 wives, the 12 Apostles of Jesus, the 10 Commandments, the 8-fold path of the Buddha, the 6 Shankracharyas, the 24 Tirthankuras of Jainism and the 5 seats of Sikh Polity along with contents of the ‘Dasam Grantham’ and the names of all the poets/gurus whose verses constitute the ‘Guru Granth Saheb’ of the Sikhs. Part II [Indian Cinema] of this Volume begins with the invention of movie and starting from the first movies shown in India, it has all the firsts like the first film to receive President’s Gold Medal, the first woman to act in Indian Cinema etc. It has the lists of the winners of Dada Saheb Phalke Awards along with 48th to 51st National Awards and 47th to 50th [Golden Jubilee] Filmfare Awards with special coverage of some mega films. Part III [Cricket] of the Volume includes the first Test series of History giving names of the batsman who played the first Test ball of the History, the bowler who bowled the first Test ball and the one who took the first Test wicket, the fielder who took the first Test catch, the wicketkeeper who made the first Test stump as also the first ever Test 100 of Test History. Records in all fields like batting bowling fielding in Tests. LOIs and WC matches are exhaustively given. Players who played for 2 countries, related players, birthdays of 700 crickters, and ‘Wisden Player of the Year’ awards further enrich this part. Chapter 1, Cricket [India], interests the reader with lovable achievements of precious cricketers from Prince KS Ranjit Singhji to Viru the ‘Multan ka Sultan’ or ‘Najafgarh ka Raja’ as we call him out of love. The ‘Duckworth-Lewis Rule’ and the names of various cricket grounds all over the world have been taken with the help of some websites. The reader also finds the background of naming the England-Australia Test series as the ‘Ashes’. The book will undoubtedly be a valuable asset to every library in India and abroad.

Content - Preface vii Acknowledgement ix Abbreviations & Symbols used in the book xvii Part I : History of India Ch. 1 India Ancient 3 Earlier Man & Civilisations / Aryans 3 Magadha/Maurya Dynasty/ Chanakya/Alexander 5 Kushana Dynasty (NW India) 9 Pallava Dynasty 10 Gupta Dynasty 10 Pala/Rashtrakoot/Gurjara Pratihara/ Sena 10 Satavahana Dynasty 13 Harshavardhana/Rajyavardhana /Rajyashri 14 Chola of Tanjore (Thanjavur) 16 Chalukya Dynasty of Maharashtra (Badami) 16 Chalukya Dynasty-(Eastern Vengi of Andhra) 16 Chalukya Dynasty (Kalyani)-South India 17 Notes 18 Ch. 2 India-Medieval 22 Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni 22 Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Ghori 24 Slave Dynasty 25 Khilji Dynasty 29 Tughlak Dynasty 32 Sayyid Dynasty 36 Lodi Dynasty 36 Mughal Dynasty 37 (I) Babar 37 (II) Humayun 39 (III) Akbar 41 (IV) Jahangir 47 (V) Shahjahan 49 (VI) Aurangzeb & After 52 Shivaji 58 Sambhaji 61 Shahu & After 62 Some Popular Qs 63 Some other Dynasties 66 Hoysala Dynasty (Dorasamudra-Karnataka) 66 Ahoms of Assam 67 Shah Mirza Dynasty (Kashmir) 68 Chakk Dynasty (Kashmir) 68 Nawabs of Bengal 68 Jats of Bharatpur 70 Nawabs of Oudh 70 Notes 72 Ch. 3 British Period (1599-1857) 75 General 75 Ranjit Singh/Anglo-Sikh Wars 88 Anglo-Mysore Wars (Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan) 91 Peshwas/Anglo-Maratha Wars 93 Koh-i-Noor 96 Notes 97 Ch. 4 1857 Sepoy Mutiny 99 Mutiny 99 Notes 102 Ch. 5 Portugal 103 General 103 Liberation of Portuguese Colonies 106 Notes 106 Ch. 6 Some Temples 107 Somnath Temple 107 Mahakala Temple 108 Konark Temple 108 Chennakesava (Vishnu) Temple 109 Ch. 7 Delhi 110 The 9 Cities 110 Notes 113 Ch. 8 British Period (1857-1947) 114 General 114 Major Events 121 Bengal Division 121 Gadar Movement 122 Provisional Government 122 Rowlett Act/Jallianwallah Bagh 123 Mapilla Revolt 123 Lucknow Pact & Nehru Report 124 Simon Commission 125 Red Shirt Movement 126 Revolt in Royal Indian Navy (RIN) 126 Partition/AIML/Khilafat/Unionist Party/Cabinet Mission 127 National Anthem & Other Patriotic Songs 131 Indian National Flag 132 Indian National Congress (INC) 134 Lokmanya Tilak 138 Mahatma Gandhi & The Freedom Struggle 139 Mahatma Gandhi Assassination 153 Mahatma Gandhi: (Miscelleneous Qs) 157 Jawaharlal Nehru 161 Vallabh Bhai Patel 162 Ras Behari Bose 164 Subhash Chandra Bose 165 Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar 168 Muhammad Ali Jinnah 171 Annie Besant 174 Some Other Great Men/Women 175 Journals/Magazines/Newspapers 176 Revolutionary Terrorist Activities for Freedom of India 178 Addenda: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 183 Notes 186 Ch. 9 India Post-Independence 198 General 198 Governor Generals of India 207 President of India 207 Prime Ministers of India 208 Vice Presidents of India (VP) 209 Constitution of India (Col) & Some Acts/Ordinances 209 Defence 212 Wars 215 5-Year Plans 221 International 222 States/UTs of India 224 Jammu & Kashmir (J & K) 229 Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha 239 Political Parties & Related Organisations 241 Internal Emergency 245 Netaji Disappearance 246 Ayodhya 247 Mandal Commission 252 Satellites/Rockets/Computers 254 Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) 260 13 Dec. 2001 261 Nobel Prize 264 Ramon Magsaysay Award 265 Aviation/Hijacking 265 First in Independent India 269 Kalpana Chawla (KC) 274 Sports/Adventure/Talent 277 Mountaineering (Mount Everest & other Expeditions) 284 India at Olympics (1920-2004) 285 17th Commonwealth Games (2002) 290 Beauty Queens 290 Prominent Days 291 Special Feature : Sonia Gandhi Alias Saint Sonia 292 Miscellany 294 Notes 295 Ch. 10 Some Miscellaneous Topics 318 Indian Railways 318 Phoolan Devi 321 Phoolan Devi Murder 325 Tehelka 327 Nepal (Assassinations in the King’s Palace) 330 India’s Saints/Poets/Intellectuals 334 Mother Teresa 336 Swami Vivekananda/Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa 340 Addenda 345 Notes 348 Bibliography 363 Volume 2 Contents Preface vii Acknowledgement ix Abbreviations & Symbols used in the book xv Part I : Religions Ch. 1 Buddhism 3 Siddharatha 3 Buddha 4 Buddhism 7 Notes 8 Ch. 2 Judaism & Christianity 11 (i) Old Testament (Moses) 11 (ii) New Testament (Jesus) 25 Christianity 35 Notes 36 Ch. 3 ISLAM 44 Muhammad 44 Ayesha 56 Miracle in mecca 57 Islam: Some Related Facts 57 Crusades 58 Notes 60 Ch. 4 Hinduism 63 Founders 63 Adi shankaracharya 65 Kumbha 66 Mahabharata (Some Selected Qs) 67 Miscellany 69 Notes 69 Ch. 5 Jainism 74 Mahavira 74 Notes 77 Ch. 6 Sikhism 79 First Guru 79 Second Guru 81 Third Guru 81 Fourth Guru 83 Fifth Guru 83 Sixth Guru 85 Seventh Guru 87 Eighth Guru 87 Ninth Guru 88 Tenth Guru 89 Notes 92 Part II : Indian Cinema Ch. 1 Indian Cinema 99 Brief History 99 Indian Cinema (Nostalgia) 106 48th National Awards (2001 – for films of 2000) 106 49th National Awards (2002 – for films of 2001) 108 50th National Awards (2003 – for films of 2002) 109 51st National Awards (2004 – for films of 2003) 110 Lagaan 111 Devdas 113 Miscellany 114 They Left Us Recently 119 Addenda 122 Notes 123 Part III : Cricket Ch. 1 Cricket (India) 131 Brief History 131 Test Records 140 I v A Test Series (2001) 150 General 150 Mumbai Test 151 Kolkata Test 153 Chennai Test 155 Limited Over Internationals (LOI) Records 157 World Cup (India) Records 162 Wisden Awards (2002) 166 Miscellaneous 166 Notes 172 Ch. 2 Cricket (World) 173 Test Records 173 Limited Over Internationals (LOI) Records 215 World Cup (WC) Records 234 Miscellaneous 252 Relative Players 253 Notes 255 New Updates 263 Bibliography 268