Satish Chandra

Satish Chandra is an Indian historian, whose main area of specialisation is medieval Indian history.

He was the son of Sir Sitaram, a leading businessman from the former United Provinces.

Satish Chandra was Professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. Along with S. Gopal, Bipan Chandra, and Romila Thapar, he founded the Centre for Historical Studies at the School of Social Sciences in JNU. He was also its chairperson for a few years.

He has been described as of India's leading scholars of the Moghul period and as one of India's most influential historians. His book, Medieval India, has been widely used as a textbook in schools and colleges around India.

Through the 1970s, he was the vice chairman and chairman of the University Grants Commission of India. He was also the secretary and president of the Indian History Congress.

Among his various other appointments, in 1988, he was asked, by Union Public Service Commission, to head a committee to review the system of appointments to the higher civil services.

Satish Chandra belonged to the secular nationalist group of historians, along with Romila Thapar, R. S. Sharma, Bipan Chandra and Arjun Dev, who are sometimes referred to as "left-leaning" or "influenced by Marxist approach to history." In 2004 his textbook was reintroduced in the national curriculum after a hiatus of six years.

• Chandra, Satish (1986). The 18th Century in India: Its Economy and the Role of the Marathas, the Jats, the Sikhs, and the Afghans. Calcutta: Centre for Studies in Social Sciences. OCLC 17970100. 
• —— (1987). Essays in Medieval Indian Economic History. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. ISBN 978-8121500852. 
• Chandra, Satish, ed. (1987). The Indian Ocean: Explorations in History, Commerce and Politics. Sage Publications. ISBN 978-81-7036-059-9. 
• ——; Arunalacham, B.; Suryanarayan, V., eds. (1993). The Indian Ocean and its Islands: Strategic, Scientific, and Historical Perspectives. Sage Publications. ISBN 978-0-8039-9455-3. 
• Chandra, Satish (1993). Mughal Religious Policies, the Rajputs & the Deccan. New Delhi: Vikas Pub. House. ISBN 978-0-7069-6385-4. 
• —— (1996). Historiography, religion, and state in medieval India. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 978-8124100356. 
• —— (1997). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 978-8124105221. 
• —— (2002). Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court, 1707-1740. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-565444-8. 
• —— (2003). Essays on Medieval Indian History. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-566336-5. 
• —— (2008). State, Pluralism, and the Indian Historical Tradition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-569621-9. 
• —— (2012). State, Society, and Culture in Indian History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-807739-8.