Biographies, chronicles of political movements on Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize longlist

The longlist for Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2025 is out. Awarded by the New India Foundation (NIF), it features 10 works of non-fiction on modern and contemporary India. These works, published in the last year, explore a wide range of themes like biographies of pioneering leaders, cultural icons, political movements, social change and communities that have shaped India’s trajectory.

Instituted in 2018, the NIF Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Book Prize (KCBP) is India’s largest and most prestigious Book Prize for non-fiction, open to writers of all nationalities who have worked on any aspect of Indian history after Independence. The work can be originally written in English or translated into English, and welcomes a wide range of non-fiction genres.

The 2025 KCBP Longlist was selected by an eminent jury, including chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group N Chandrasekaran, entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal, political scientist Niraja Jayal Gopal, historian Srinath Raghavan, Rahul Matthan of Trilegal, Ambassador Jawed Ashraf and Yamini Aiyar. The winning author will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh.

Announcing the longlist, Prof Jayal said, “The 8th edition longlist of the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize features works that are not only distinguished by their research and craft, but also by their ability to weave the threads of the past into the challenges and debates of the present. Together, these books remind us that understanding India is an ongoing, layered journey, one enriched by the rigour, empathy, and imagination of our finest non-fiction writers.”

Ashok Gopal won last year’s Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize for ‘A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of BR Ambedkar’. Previous winners include Akshaya Mukul (2024) for ‘Writer, Rebel, Soldier, Lover: The Many Lives of Agyeya’ (Penguin) and Shekhar Pathak (2023) for ‘The Chipko Movement: A People’s History’, translated by Manisha Chaudhry (Permanent Black).

The Prize is named in honour of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, a patriot and institution-builder whose contributions to the freedom struggle, the women’s movement, refugee rehabilitation, and the revival of Indian theatre and handicrafts have left a lasting legacy.

THE LONGLIST:

Savarkar and the Making of Hindutva | Janaki Bakhle

India’s Forgotten Country: A View from the Margins | Bela Bhatia

Iru: The Remarkable Life of Irawati Karve | Urmilla Deshpande and Thiago Pinto Barbosa

India’s Near East: A New History | Avinash Paliwal

Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity | Manu Pillai

Engineering a Nation: The Life and Career of M. Visvesvaraya | Aparajith Ramnath

The Backstage of Democracy: India’s Election Campaigns and the People Who Manage Them | Amogh Dhar Sharma

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: The Art of Freedom | Nico Slate

Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar | Anand Teltumbde

The Gujaratis: A Portrait of a Community | Salil Tripathi