author
James Talboys Wheeler
1824–1897
A Victorian historian and civil servant, he wrote sweeping accounts of India that helped shape how British readers understood the subcontinent in the nineteenth century. His books range from ancient history to the era of British rule, reflecting both deep industry and the assumptions of his age.
1 Audiobook
India Under British Rule from the Foundation of the East India Company
by James Talboys Wheeler
About the author
Born in Oxford in December 1824, James Talboys Wheeler was the son of a bookseller and was privately educated. After an unsuccessful start in publishing and bookselling, he turned to writing and produced educational works before building a reputation as a historian.
Wheeler became especially known for his multi-volume histories of India, including The History of India from the Earliest Ages. He later went to Madras in 1858 to edit the Madras Spectator, and in the 1860s he entered government service in India, eventually working in the Foreign Department of the Government of India. His career joined scholarship with administration, which gave his historical writing a distinctly official cast.
He spent many years writing about Indian history, religion, and imperial government, and he remained a widely cited authority for later Victorian readers. Today, his work is often valued as a window into nineteenth-century British views of India as much as for the history it set out to describe. He died at Ramsgate on January 13, 1897.