Just to have a general idea of Indian history, you don’t need to read 10 books. Just a book that surveys Indian history and touches upon it’s major aspects should be fine. However since you have asked for 10 books, here you go.
1) A Survey Of Indian History by Sardar KM Panikkar
This is by far the best survey of India history that I have come across. Short, to the point and a highly delightful read, I recommend you start with this book. I am not sure if it is available in print now, but any decent library should have this book. This book can give you a good introduction to a complex topic. It should also pique your interest enough to keep you going. Do remember, the book was written decades back, so some of the information is outdated, but largely the book remains relevant. The inaccuracies will be rectified by the next book.
2) A History of India by Burton Stein
A lot of people would recommend John Keay to you. Don’t be bowled over by his glossy, literary language. The man is a journalist and comes with all the inadequacies of his training in his history writing also. Burton Stein, on the other hand is a historian held in high repute in Academic circles. This combined with his excellent language makes his Indian history a better and more authentic read than John Keay’s. John Keay comes with a lot of baggage from his English background and his writing does reflect the British thinking of Indian history. Stein is an American and therefore is a different experience to read.
You will also be introduced to some new concepts like his segmentary State model which is rarely mentioned in other general history books.
3) An Advanced History of India Majumdar, Raychoudhary and Dutta
By no means any easy book, this was considered a masterpiece at the time of its release in 1946. Divided into three parts, ancient, medieval and modern the book is a little difficult to finish, given its length. The authors are nationalist historians, so beware of nationalist biases in their writing too (not saying its a bad thing, but you should be aware of the historian’s biases when you read him)
Some of the views expressed are outdated. However, I find this work the best to understand the political history of India, given how much less attention marxist historians give to political history.
Now that we have covered overviews, let’s get to specifics.
Ancient India
4) The Penguin History of Early India by Romila Thapar
Don’t let the anti-marxists fool you. Thapar’s work is as authentic as it comes. Her style is highly readable, analysis impeccable and her writing of the Mauryan and post Mauryan India the most authentic. Even if you are against Marxist historiography, this book will introduce you to its methods. It will also provide you with a tour of the trends in Indian historiography, misconceptions regarding Indian historiographical traditions etc. No further comments. Read Thapar.
5) The Wonder That Was India AL Basham
This book is a classic now. Almost indispensable. Basham will introduce to the cultural history of India so beautifully that you are left in awe. For once you will thank the British for their interest in India, which would not have happened not for the colonisation. This book is such a great experience.
Medieval India
6) Medieval India by Satish Chandra
This book is in two parts. Medieval India - From Sultanat to the Mughals - Part One - Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526)
Satish Chandra is a marxist historian. So expect him to explain away things like Aurangzeb’s bigotry and such actions. The book however is fantastic to gain to a good understanding of the economic, social and political aspects of Medieval India.
Besides it is essential to be able to understand the current discourse in medieval Indian history.
7) The Wonder That Was India SAA Rizvi
This book takes off where Basham stops. Rizvis writing is not as good as Basham’s. Nevertheless , it is a well researched book and covers a lot of aspects of cultural history of medieval India.
Modern India
8) From Plassey to Partition Shekhar Bandhopadhyaya
If I remember correctly, Subramaniam Swamy is not a fan of Bandhopadhyaya. That should not deter you from reading his book. It has very well formulated arguments, which you can accept or reject. Written in six chapters (I think the new edition has more chapters, I am not sure) this book covers almost all aspects of British rule and the Indian response. Another thing I love about this book is its type setting. It is a pleasure to read with its fantastic font.
9 ) India’s Struggle for Independence Bipan Chandra
Bipan Chandra was a marxist historian. However, there was one point over which he differed with the others of the same school. That was about the role of Gandhiji taking the movement to the masses.
Let me share an anecdote a famous historian shared about Bipan Chandra’s transformation (I was told this story by the historian in our private conversation)
While working on an oral history of India, Bipan Chandra happened to interview a lady who was a follower of Gandhiji. He asked her about the circumstances which caused her to follow Gandhiji. The lady told him his story.
As a young, ambitious woman, she was not interested in joining the movement. However her dad was a freedom activist who wanted his daughter also to join the movement. He enrolled her in Gandhiji’s ashram. The first task she was assigned as an inmate was to clean the toilets. This duty was unbearable for a middle class woman. She cried over her fate.
One day Gandhiji happened to see the woman crying and he enquired the reason. She said that she felt disgusted by the duty of cleaning toilets. Gandhiji just smiled and told her that she was relieved of her duty.
The woman was however curious as to who would take up her job. The next day she went over to see who was her replacement. To her shock, she saw Gandhiji himself cleaning the toilet. A man of his repute was doing it without the slightest remorse. He was a man of action and believed in the dignity of labour.
The incident changed the woman and she wholeheartedly took to Gandhian methods. The narration of this incident changed Bipan Chandra and his writing, while essentially Marxist, fully embraces the Gandhian role in the freedom struggle. He counters all the Marxian charges against Gandhiji’s portrayal as a bourgeois delieverer.
I highly recommend this book. It is a thoroughly engaging read.
Post Modern India
10) India Since Independence Bipan Chandra
I found this to be better than India after Gandhi. In fact, Guha has merely expanded upon Bipan Chandra’s book by resorting to popular writing. Bipan Chandra, as always, is highly technical in his analysis and this lends much more credence to his writing. If your aim is to engage in more conversation in popular circles, then read Guha’s India after Gandhi. Or better, read both (like I did)
Bonus
11) This Fissured Land Madhav Gadgil/ Ramachandra Guha
First, a confession. This is the one book in this list I haven’t read. However, I have heard very good reviews about this book. It deals with an aspect of Indian history rarely covered in other books:- The ecological history of India.
If you have made it to this point, reading all other 9 books, I am sure that you need no telling that you should top it off with this.