Important Books and Authors Notes for SSC Exams

Books and authors is a favourite static GK topic in SSC General Awareness. Questions are asked as "Who wrote the Arthashastra?" or "Which book was written by Jawaharlal Nehru?". These important books and authors notes for SSC give the books of the ancient, medieval and modern periods in simple tables, with the Booker prize winners and practice questions.

Ancient Books and Authors

Medieval Books and Authors

Freedom Struggle and Modern Indian Books

Booker Prize Winners from India

Famous World Books and Authors

Tips to Learn Quickly

• Learn the books in groups: ancient, medieval, freedom struggle and modern.
• Link each author with one famous book, such as Kalidasa with Abhijnanasakuntalam and Kalhana with Rajatarangini.
• Learn the autobiographies and the jail books, such as Nehru's Discovery of India written in Ahmednagar Fort jail.

Quick Tips

• Learn the ancient books and authors first, because they are asked the most.
• Link the author with the type of work, such as grammar, play or history.
• Learn the four Booker prize winners from India with their year.
• Revise the list in the week before the exam.

Quick Revision Points

• Arthashastra was written by Kautilya and Indica by Megasthenes.
• Rajatarangini was written by Kalhana.
• Discovery of India was written by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy won the Booker prize in 1997.
• Wings of Fire was written by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

Practice Questions With Answers

1. Who wrote the Arthashastra?
   Answer: Kautilya
2. Who wrote the Rajatarangini?
   Answer: Kalhana
3. Who wrote Abhijnanasakuntalam?
   Answer: Kalidasa
4. Who wrote Discovery of India?
   Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru
5. Who wrote Wings of Fire?
   Answer: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
6. Who wrote Anandamath?
   Answer: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
7. Who wrote Gitanjali?
   Answer: Rabindranath Tagore
8. Who wrote the Akbarnama?
   Answer: Abul Fazl
9. Who wrote The God of Small Things?
   Answer: Arundhati Roy
10. Who wrote Godan?
    Answer: Munshi Premchand

How to Practise This Chapter

Learn ten books a day with their authors and test yourself by covering the author column. Then solve questions from our practice papers, the free SSC quizzes and the previous year papers page. Read the previous chapter, Classical Dances of India, and see all topics on the General Awareness notes page. For the history behind these books, read the Indian History notes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote the Arthashastra?

The Arthashastra was written by Kautilya, also called Chanakya, the minister of Chandragupta Maurya.

Who wrote the Ramayana and the Mahabharata?

The Ramayana was written by Valmiki, and the Mahabharata was written by Ved Vyas.

Which book gives the history of Kashmir?

The Rajatarangini by Kalhana gives the history of Kashmir.

Who wrote Discovery of India?

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote Discovery of India while he was in the Ahmednagar Fort jail.

Who wrote My Experiments with Truth?

Mahatma Gandhi wrote his autobiography, My Experiments with Truth.

Which Indian writers won the Booker prize?

Salman Rushdie (1981), Arundhati Roy (1997), Kiran Desai (2006) and Aravind Adiga (2008) won the Booker prize.

Who wrote Gitanjali?

Rabindranath Tagore wrote Gitanjali and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

Who wrote the Akbarnama?

The Akbarnama and the Ain-i-Akbari were written by Abul Fazl.

Which book was written by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam?

Wings of Fire is the famous autobiography of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

How can I learn books and authors easily?

Learn them in groups with the type of work, and revise the list with a quiz every week.

Are books and authors asked every year in SSC?

Yes. Books and authors are a common static GK topic in SSC General Awareness papers.

How many questions come from books and authors in SSC exams?

Usually one question comes from this topic in SSC General Awareness papers, but the number changes from year to year.