Books and authors are a reliable static GK topic: the same 60–80 titles come up again and again. This page groups them by period so they are easy to remember.
Ancient India
Book Author Arthashastra Kautilya (Chanakya)Indica Megasthenes (Greek ambassador to Chandragupta Maurya)Ashtadhyayi Panini (Sanskrit grammar)Mahabhashya Patanjali Yoga Sutras Patanjali Natyashastra Bharata Muni Abhijnanashakuntalam, Meghaduta, Raghuvamsha, Kumarasambhava Kalidasa Mudrarakshasa Vishakhadatta Harshacharita, Kadambari Banabhatta Panchatantra Vishnu Sharma Mrichchhakatika Shudraka Aryabhatiya Aryabhata Charaka Samhita / Sushruta Samhita Charaka / Sushruta Buddhacharita Ashvaghosha Rajatarangini Kalhana (history of Kashmir, 12th century)Gita Govinda Jayadeva
Medieval India
Book Author Kitab-ul-Hind (Tahqiq-i-Hind)Al-Biruni Rihla Ibn Battuta Prithviraj Raso Chand Bardai Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi Ziauddin Barani Tughlaq Nama Amir Khusrau Padmavat Malik Muhammad Jayasi Ramcharitmanas Tulsidas Baburnama (Tuzuk-i-Baburi)Babur (in Turkish)Humayun-nama Gulbadan Begum Akbarnama, Ain-i-Akbari Abul Fazl Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri Jahangir Sur Sagar Surdas Bijak Kabir (compiled sayings)
Freedom struggle and reformers
Book Author Poverty and Un-British Rule in India Dadabhai Naoroji (drain theory)Anandamath (contains *Vande Mataram*)Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Neel Darpan Dinabandhu Mitra Satyarth Prakash Swami Dayananda Saraswati Gita Rahasya Bal Gangadhar Tilak Hind Swaraj (1909)Mahatma Gandhi My Experiments with Truth Mahatma Gandhi (autobiography)Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History Jawaharlal Nehru India Wins Freedom Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Annihilation of Caste Dr B.R. Ambedkar Why I Am an Atheist Bhagat Singh Unhappy India Lala Lajpat Rai The Indian Struggle Subhas Chandra Bose Gitanjali (Nobel, 1913)Rabindranath Tagore Gora Rabindranath Tagore
Hindi and Indian-language classics
Book Author Godaan, Gaban, Nirmala Munshi Premchand Kamayani Jaishankar Prasad Madhushala Harivansh Rai Bachchan Rashmirathi, Urvashi Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ Devdas, Parineeta Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Tirukkural Thiruvalluvar (Tamil)
Modern Indian writing in English
Book Author Malgudi Days, The Guide, Swami and Friends R.K. Narayan Untouchable, Coolie Mulk Raj Anand Kanthapura Raja Rao Train to Pakistan Khushwant Singh A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth Midnight’s Children (Booker 1981)Salman Rushdie The God of Small Things (Booker 1997)Arundhati Roy The Inheritance of Loss (Booker 2006)Kiran Desai The White Tiger (Booker 2008)Aravind Adiga Interpreter of Maladies (Pulitzer 2000)Jhumpa Lahiri Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam The Argumentative Indian Amartya Sen India After Gandhi Ramachandra Guha
Indian winners of the International Booker Prize
Book Author Year Tomb of Sand (Hindi: *Ret Samadhi*)Geetanjali Shree , translated by Daisy Rockwell2022 Heart Lamp (Kannada stories)Banu Mushtaq , translated by Deepa Bhasthi2025
Memory tips
K-K-K : K autilya – Arthashastra; K alhana – Rajatarangini; K alidasa – Shakuntalam.Banabhatta wrote about Harsha (Harshacharita), the king he served.Mughal memoirs : Babur wrote his own (Baburnama), Humayun’s was written by his sister Gulbadan , Akbar’s by Abul Fazl , Jahangir wrote his own.Gandhi wrote Hind Swaraj in 1909, on a ship returning from London to South Africa.
Exam-ready one-liners
Arthashastra: Kautilya; Indica: Megasthenes.
Rajatarangini (Kashmir’s history): Kalhana.
Harshacharita: Banabhatta; Mudrarakshasa: Vishakhadatta.
Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari: Abul Fazl; Humayun-nama: Gulbadan Begum.
Anandamath: Bankim Chandra; Neel Darpan: Dinabandhu Mitra.
Discovery of India: Nehru; India Wins Freedom: Maulana Azad.
Godaan: Premchand; Kamayani: Jaishankar Prasad.
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq won the International Booker Prize in 2025.
Related reading
Quiz: test yourself
Some ancient works are credited to authors by tradition; exams follow the standard attributions above.
