Ancient India – History Textbook For Class 11th (OLD NCERT)

About Ancient India by R.S. Sharma (Old NCERT, Class 11th)

Ancient India is the history textbook written by the historian R.S. Sharma for NCERT’s Class 11, and this listing is for the older edition that readers often call the Old NCERT. Students of history, readers preparing for competitive exams and anyone curious about early India have long turned to this book for a clear and compact account of the subcontinent’s distant past. For the print year and number of pages of the copy in stock, please message us on WhatsApp at 9906523492.

The book is written in English and is a paperback. Because it is an older NCERT title, copies are asked for again and again by students who want to read it in its original form.

About the author, R.S. Sharma

Ram Sharan Sharma was born on 26 November 1919 in Barauni, Bihar, and passed away on 20 August 2011 in Patna. He taught at Patna College and Patna University, where he headed the history department, and later taught at Delhi University. He was also the founding chairperson of the Indian Council of Historical Research and served as president of the Indian History Congress in 1975. His other writings include Sudras in Ancient India, Indian Feudalism and Looking for the Aryans. His NCERT textbook Ancient India was later revised and expanded by him as India’s Ancient Past, published by Oxford University Press in 2005.

What Ancient India covers

According to a published contents listing of the old NCERT book, Ancient India moves in order through the early history of the subcontinent. The topics include:

• The importance and the construction of ancient Indian history, including the sources historians use
• The geographical setting of India
• The Stone Age and the Stone-Copper phase
• The Harappan civilization
• The coming of the Aryans and the age of the Rig Veda, followed by the Later Vedic phase
• Jainism and Buddhism
• Territorial states and the first Magadhan empire
• Iranian and Macedonian invasions
• State and varna society in the age of the Buddha
• The age of the Mauryas and the significance of Maurya rule
• Central Asian contacts and the age of the Satavahanas

Editions of an older NCERT book can differ, so the contents of the copy you receive may not be identical to this list. Message us if you would like to confirm before ordering.

Why readers still choose this Ancient India textbook

Many history students value the book for its steady, easy-to-follow approach. It begins with how historians know what they know, which teaches you to think about evidence, and then walks through the major phases of early Indian history one after another. Because the chapters follow a clear order, it is simple to build your own timeline and to link social, economic and political change. Readers who later move to larger books often say that this textbook gave them a firm base.

How to read Ancient India well

• Keep a map beside you. Mark the regions, rivers and kingdoms as you meet them.
• Write short notes per chapter. Five or six lines on rulers, society, economy and religion are enough.
• Link topics. See how the Later Vedic phase prepares the ground for the age of the Buddha, and how the Magadhan empire leads to the Mauryas.
• Revise through questions. Ask yourself why and how, not only what and when.
• Read slowly. A few pages a day, with revision, work better than one long sitting.

Who should buy this book?

• Class 11th students and teachers who want this older NCERT text
• History students at school and college level
• Readers building a base in early Indian history for competitive exams such as civil services or JKSSB-type tests
• Libraries and book lovers who like to keep standard history textbooks

This listing does not promise marks or claim that the book covers any particular exam syllabus. It is a reading and reference book, and you should compare it with the syllabus given by your school, university or exam body.

Edition details

Title: Ancient India – History Textbook For Class 11th (OLD NCERT). Author: R.S. Sharma. Publisher: NCERT. Format: paperback. Language: English. Please message us on WhatsApp at 9906523492 to confirm the print year and page count of the copy in stock. Same-day dispatch from Srinagar. Delivery takes about 1 day in Srinagar and 3 to 10 days across the rest of India. Lafz Bookstore is open to school, college, exam and Kashmir books.

Frequently asked questions

Who wrote Ancient India? The book is by the historian R.S. Sharma and is published by NCERT.

What does Old NCERT mean? It refers to the earlier NCERT edition of this Class 11 history book that readers continue to look for.

Is it the same as India’s Ancient Past? No. India’s Ancient Past is a later, revised and expanded book by the same author, published by Oxford University Press in 2005.

How quickly will it arrive? We dispatch the same day from Srinagar. Delivery is about 1 day in Srinagar and 3 to 10 days in the rest of India.

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