Identifying the pattern of natural climate variability is of immense importance to delineate the effects of anthropogenic climate changes. Global and regional climates are suspected to vary, in unison or with delays, with the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) at decadal to centennial timescales. Here we show that the Indian summer monsoon rainfall correlates well with the temporal derivative of TSI on multi-decadal timescales. This linkage between the temporal derivative of TSI and the Indian summer monsoon is tested and corroborated both for the instrumental period (1871–2006) and for the last approx. 300 years using a speleothem delta sup(18)O record representing rainfall in southwestern India. Our analyses indicate that anomalous dry periods of the Indian monsoon are mostly coincident with negative TSI derivative. This study thus demonstrates the potential of 'TSI derivative' as an important indicator of natural monsoon variability on an interdecadal timescale.