"Who wrote this book?" is one of the most common question types in the General Knowledge section of the AISSEE (Sainik School) and RMS entrance exams. This guide covers classic Indian literature, devotional and religious texts, and the latest award-winning books of 2025–2026, with a revision table at the end.
1. Classic Indian Literature, Epics & Freedom Struggle Works
C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji)
Famous Works: Statesman, writer and freedom fighter known for his simple retellings of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Sahitya Akademi Award: Won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 for his Tamil retelling of the Ramayana, Chakravarti Thirumagan.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Famous Novel: Wrote the historical novel Anandamath (1882).
National Song: Wrote Vande Mataram in Sanskritised Bengali; it appeared in Anandamath and inspired freedom fighters during the independence movement.
Saratchandra Chattopadhyay (1876–1938)
Literary Legacy: Legendary Bengali novelist whose works showed social realism, poverty, women's rights and national feeling.
Famous Novels: Devdas, Parineeta, Pather Dabi, Srikanta, Charitraheen and Palli Samaj.
Essays on Women's Rights: Narir Mulya and Swaraj Sadhonay Nari.
Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das (1877–1928)
Writer & Educationist: Leading Odia poet, educationist and founder of the Satyabadi literary group.
Newspaper: Founded the Odia newspaper The Samaj in 1919 to promote social reform and nationalist ideas.
Pandit Raghunath Murmu
First Ol Chiki Book: Created the Ol Chiki script for the Santhali language in 1925 and wrote Hor Seren (1936), the first book written in Ol Chiki.
2. Religious Scriptures, Devotional Poetry & Ethical Texts
Bhagwan Swaminarayan
Ethical Scripture: Wrote the Shikshapatri in 1826 — a short Sanskrit text of 212 verses giving moral, social and spiritual guidelines.
Saint Thirumangai Alvar
Bhakti Poet: 8th–9th century CE Tamil poet-saint and the last of the 12 Alvars devoted to Lord Vishnu.
Devotional Hymns: Wrote Periya Tirumoli (1,084 hymns), along with Tirunetuntantakam, Siriya Tirumadal and Periya Tirumadal. His works are part of the Divya Prabandham (4,000 Tamil hymns).
G. Sankara Kurup
First Jnanpith Winner: Malayalam poet who won the first Jnanpith Award in 1965 for his poetry collection Odakkuzhal (The Bamboo Flute).
Core Religious Texts
Buddhism: The Tripitakas (Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma) and the Jataka Tales (stories of the Buddha's previous births).
Hinduism: The 4 Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
Sikhism: The Guru Granth Sahib (Adi Granth), with compositions of the Sikh Gurus, Bhakti saints such as Sant Ravidas, and Sufi poets.
3. Award-Winning Books & Modern Authors (2025–2026)
Navtej Sarna: Won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2025 (English) for his historical novel Crimson Spring.
Mamta Kalia: Won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2025 (Hindi) for her memoir Jeete Jee Allahabad.
Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay: Selected for the Saraswati Samman 2025 for his Bengali novel Hara Parbati Katha.
R. Vairamuthu: Selected for the Jnanpith Award 2025 — the first author to win it specifically for Tamil poetry.
Yáng Shuāng-zi (translated by Lin King): Her Taiwan Travelogue won the International Booker Prize 2026, the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win it.
4. Investigative Reporting in the News
Anand RK & Suparna Sharma (with Natalie Obiko Pearson): Won the Pulitzer Prize 2026 in Illustrated Reporting and Commentary for "traPPed", a series exposing cybercrime networks.
5. Quick Revision Summary Table
Book / Work | Author | Category / Significance |
|---|---|---|
Chakravarti Thirumagan | C. Rajagopalachari | Tamil Ramayana retelling (Sahitya Akademi 1958) |
Anandamath | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay | Historical novel (source of Vande Mataram) |
Devdas & Parineeta | Saratchandra Chattopadhyay | Classic Bengali novels |
Hor Seren | Pandit Raghunath Murmu | First book in Ol Chiki script (Santhali) |
Shikshapatri | Bhagwan Swaminarayan | Sanskrit ethical text (212 verses, 1826) |
Periya Tirumoli | Saint Thirumangai Alvar | Tamil Vaishnava hymns (Divya Prabandham) |
Odakkuzhal | G. Sankara Kurup | Malayalam poetry (first Jnanpith, 1965) |
Crimson Spring | Navtej Sarna | English novel (Sahitya Akademi 2025) |
Jeete Jee Allahabad | Mamta Kalia | Hindi memoir (Sahitya Akademi 2025) |
Hara Parbati Katha | Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay | Bengali novel (Saraswati Samman 2025) |
Taiwan Travelogue | Yáng Shuāng-zi (tr. Lin King) | Novel (International Booker Prize 2026) |
"traPPed" | Anand RK & Suparna Sharma | Investigative series (Pulitzer Prize 2026) |
Practise with MCQs
Test yourself with our Books and Authors MCQs and read the Indian Literary and Cultural Awards guide.
Free AISSEE Mock Test
Enunciate Academy runs online coaching for Sainik School, RMS, Navodaya and RIMC entrance exams for Class 6 and 9 students across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Message us on WhatsApp (94924 44498) to get a free mock test, or see the Spark batch details.
