SSC Important Books and Authors List with Practice Questions

Books and Authors is a popular static GK topic in SSC CGL, CHSL, MTS and GD. Usually one or two questions in the General Awareness section ask "Who wrote this book?", and the same famous books repeat across years. This practice paper gives you a clean list of 68 important books and authors in three tables and 30 practice questions with answers.

Practice Paper at a Glance

How to Study Books and Authors for SSC Exams

The topic is purely memory-based, so the best method is to learn the list in small groups and revise it often.

• Group the books by period: ancient and medieval, modern Indian and world literature.
• Pay special attention to the books written by the same author (Kalidasa, Banabhatta, Tagore, Orwell).
• Link each book with a short fact: the author's state, the period or an award.
• Revise the list once every week and attempt a quiz to check the memory.

Important Books and Authors List

Ancient and Medieval Indian Books

Modern Indian Books (Freedom Struggle and Literature)

Famous World Books and Authors

Memory Tricks

• Banabhatta wrote two books starting with H and K: Harshacharita and Kadambari.
• Kalidasa wrote the play Abhijnanashakuntalam and the poem Meghaduta.
• Abul Fazl wrote two books for Akbar: Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari.
• Gandhi wrote My Experiments with Truth (autobiography) and Hind Swaraj.
• Nehru wrote The Discovery of India and Glimpses of World History in prison.
• Orwell wrote two books about politics: Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Set 1: Ancient, Medieval and Freedom Struggle Books (Q1–Q10)

Q1. Who wrote "Arthashastra"?
Answer: Kautilya (Chanakya)
Solution: "Arthashastra" is the work of Kautilya (Chanakya).

Q2. Who wrote "Indica"?
Answer: Megasthenes
Solution: "Indica" is the work of Megasthenes.

Q3. Who wrote "Rajatarangini"?
Answer: Kalhana
Solution: "Rajatarangini" is the work of Kalhana.

Q4. Who wrote "Harshacharita"?
Answer: Banabhatta
Solution: "Harshacharita" is the work of Banabhatta.

Q5. Who wrote "Abhijnanashakuntalam"?
Answer: Kalidasa
Solution: "Abhijnanashakuntalam" is the work of Kalidasa.

Q6. Who wrote "Ain-i-Akbari"?
Answer: Abul Fazl
Solution: "Ain-i-Akbari" is the work of Abul Fazl.

Q7. Who wrote "Baburnama"?
Answer: Babur
Solution: "Baburnama" is the work of Babur.

Q8. Who wrote "The Discovery of India"?
Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru
Solution: "The Discovery of India" is the work of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Q9. Who wrote "My Experiments with Truth"?
Answer: M. K. Gandhi
Solution: "My Experiments with Truth" is the work of M. K. Gandhi.

Q10. Who wrote "Hind Swaraj"?
Answer: M. K. Gandhi
Solution: "Hind Swaraj" is the work of M. K. Gandhi.

Set 2: Modern Indian Books (Q11–Q20)

Q11. Who wrote "Gitanjali"?
Answer: Rabindranath Tagore
Solution: "Gitanjali" is the work of Rabindranath Tagore.

Q12. Who wrote "Anandamath"?
Answer: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Solution: "Anandamath" is the work of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

Q13. Who wrote "Godan"?
Answer: Premchand
Solution: "Godan" is the work of Premchand.

Q14. Who wrote "Madhushala"?
Answer: Harivansh Rai Bachchan
Solution: "Madhushala" is the work of Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

Q15. Who wrote "Wings of Fire"?
Answer: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Solution: "Wings of Fire" is the work of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

Q16. Who wrote "The God of Small Things"?
Answer: Arundhati Roy
Solution: "The God of Small Things" is the work of Arundhati Roy.

Q17. Who wrote "Train to Pakistan"?
Answer: Khushwant Singh
Solution: "Train to Pakistan" is the work of Khushwant Singh.

Q18. Who wrote "Malgudi Days"?
Answer: R. K. Narayan
Solution: "Malgudi Days" is the work of R. K. Narayan.

Q19. Who wrote "Annihilation of Caste"?
Answer: B. R. Ambedkar
Solution: "Annihilation of Caste" is the work of B. R. Ambedkar.

Q20. Who wrote "Ramcharitmanas"?
Answer: Tulsidas
Solution: "Ramcharitmanas" is the work of Tulsidas.

Set 3: World Books and Authors (Q21–Q30)

Q21. Who wrote "Das Kapital"?
Answer: Karl Marx
Solution: "Das Kapital" is the work of Karl Marx.

Q22. Who wrote "The Wealth of Nations"?
Answer: Adam Smith
Solution: "The Wealth of Nations" is the work of Adam Smith.

Q23. Who wrote "The Origin of Species"?
Answer: Charles Darwin
Solution: "The Origin of Species" is the work of Charles Darwin.

Q24. Who wrote "A Brief History of Time"?
Answer: Stephen Hawking
Solution: "A Brief History of Time" is the work of Stephen Hawking.

Q25. Who wrote "The Prince"?
Answer: Niccolo Machiavelli
Solution: "The Prince" is the work of Niccolo Machiavelli.

Q26. Who wrote "Animal Farm"?
Answer: George Orwell
Solution: "Animal Farm" is the work of George Orwell.

Q27. Who wrote "Paradise Lost"?
Answer: John Milton
Solution: "Paradise Lost" is the work of John Milton.

Q28. Who wrote "War and Peace"?
Answer: Leo Tolstoy
Solution: "War and Peace" is the work of Leo Tolstoy.

Q29. Who wrote "Mein Kampf"?
Answer: Adolf Hitler
Solution: "Mein Kampf" is the work of Adolf Hitler.

Q30. Who wrote "Gulliver's Travels"?
Answer: Jonathan Swift
Solution: "Gulliver's Travels" is the work of Jonathan Swift.

Common Mistakes in Books and Authors

• Mixing up Banabhatta (Harshacharita and Kadambari) with Kalhana (Rajatarangini).
• Confusing Abul Fazl (Akbarnama, Ain-i-Akbari) with Babur (Baburnama) or Jahangir (Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri).
• Attributing Hind Swaraj and The Discovery of India to the same author.
• Not knowing the difference between a writer's autobiography and the biography written about them.
• Memorising only the Indian list and ignoring world literature.
• Learning without revision, which leads to forgetting within a week.

How to Practice These 30 Questions

1. Read one table at a time and write the pairs in your notebook.
2. Cover the author column and test yourself.
3. Solve one set each day and mark the pairs you missed.
4. Revise the list once a week.
5. Use previous year questions to see which books repeat.

Related Topics to Study Next

• SSC Static GK Questions
• Important National and International Days
• Major Awards of India
• SSC Previous Year Papers

Frequently Asked Questions

Are books and authors asked in SSC exams?

Yes. One or two questions on books and authors are common in the General Awareness section of SSC CGL, CHSL, MTS and GD papers.

Which books are most frequently asked in SSC exams?

Arthashastra, Indica, Rajatarangini, Harshacharita, Ain-i-Akbari, My Experiments with Truth, The Discovery of India, Gitanjali, Wings of Fire and Das Kapital are asked repeatedly.

Who wrote Arthashastra?

The Arthashastra was written by Kautilya, also known as Chanakya or Vishnugupta.

Who wrote Rajatarangini?

Rajatarangini, the history of Kashmir, was written by Kalhana.

Who wrote Indica?

Indica was written by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador at the court of Chandragupta Maurya.

Who wrote Ain-i-Akbari and Akbarnama?

Both were written by Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar.

Who wrote Wings of Fire?

Wings of Fire is the autobiography of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, written with Arun Tiwari.

How can I remember so many books and authors?

Learn them in small groups, link the books by the same author, revise weekly and take quizzes.

Which author wrote Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four?

Both books were written by George Orwell.

How should I prepare books and authors for SSC exams?

Study the tables in this paper, solve questions on them every week and revise with previous year GK questions.