Five Books Make the Shortlist for the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2026

Shantanu Thakur

29 Oct 2026

2 Min

The New India Foundation (NIF) has shortlisted five books for the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2026, which recognises outstanding non-fiction on modern and contemporary India. The books cover the Indian Constitution, development since independence, the history of partitions in South Asia, statesman-diplomat K. M. Panikkar and classical singer Arun Kashalkar. All five were published in 2025. The prize carries a cash award of ₹15 lakh, and the ceremony will be held on 12 December 2026 at the Bangalore Literature Festival.

About the Prize

The annual award was established by NIF in 2018. It honours notable research and writing on India's history, society, culture, politics and economy in the modern and contemporary period. Books may be written in English or translated into English from other languages.

It is named after Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, an Indian freedom fighter, social worker and promoter of handicrafts and art forms.

The Shortlisted Books

A Man for All Seasons: The Life of K. M. Panikkar by Narayani Basu
Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple
Assembling India's Constitution: A New Democratic History by Rohit De and Ornit Shani
A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India's Development Odyssey by Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian
The Secret Master: Arun Kashalkar and a Journey to the Edge of Music by Sumana Ramanan

Jury

The shortlist was prepared by a seven-member jury headed by political scientist Niraja Gopal Jayal. The other members were N. Chandrasekaran, Rahul Matthan, Jahnavi Phalkey, Srinath Raghavan, Nirupama Rao and Manish Sabharwal. According to Jayal, the shortlisted books show the importance of thorough and innovative non-fiction in understanding India.

Winner and Previous Winners

The winner will be announced in December 2026 and will receive ₹15 lakh.

2025: Aparajith Ramnath
2024: Ashok Gopal
2023: Akshaya Mukul

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