Modern India, 1885-1947

by Sumit Sarkar

Book by Sarkar, Sumit

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Asia

489 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Sumit Sarkar (born 1939) is an Indian historian of modern India. He is the author of Swadeshi Movement.

He studied at Presidency College, Calcutta and at the University of Calcutta. He taught for many years as a lecturer at the University of Calcutta, and later as a reader at the University of Burdwan. He was Professor of History at the University of Delhi.

He was born into a family of illustrious historians. His father Sushovan Sarkar was also a pioneering historian and his elder sister Sipra Sarkar, was also a reputed historian and educationalist. His mother was the cousin of legendary statistician P C Mahalanobis. His wife Tanika Sarkar is also a historian and daughter of renowned educationalists Sukumari and Amal Bhattacharya.

He was awarded the Rabindra Puraskar literary award by the West Bengal government in 2004. He returned the award in 2007 in protest against the expulsion of farmers from their land.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kaśyap · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic text on modern Indian history. Provides a comprehensive and objective account of the colonial period from 1885 to the tragedy of the partition and the coming of political independence.
The author manages to showcase the importance of the pressure from the bottom in the anti-imperialist movements by focussing on the tribal, peasant and the worker struggles, while placing all the movements in their proper social and economic contexts.
A valuable resource on a struggle that is still far from complete.

[Divyanshu Jha · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have read Bipan Chandra's book on the independence struggle, this book will give you a more holistic perspective with a bottoms up view of the movement- its local variations, phases and involvement of various sections - also its less Congress centric, and much more avowedly leftist, with(in my opinion) a little bit of an obsession about the bourgeoisie and the working class divide. Reading in conjunction with Bipan Chandra;s "Struggle for Independence" recommended

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent social history of the decades-long Indian Independence Movement, exploring the rise of capitalism, Gandhi's quasi-mystical influence and spigot politics, worker and peasant upsurges from below (very frequent, violent, and non-Gandhian!), and the splits and reconfigurations in the Congress, Muslim League, Communists, and others. This movement is full of legendary figures, awe-inspiring mass movements, and tragic communal massacres.

Underlying the explosions of communal violence in the final years of the independence movement was the gradual shift to the right by the Congress leadership (abandoning the Constituent Assembly aim, cracking down on the left and protest), which was thereby less and less able to channel social protests and actions against social and economic conditions into the anti-imperialist struggle against Britain. Communal violence erupted just as Britain was weakest, but also after the Communists had been formally expelled from the Congress in the late fall of 1945 and all Congress strategic calculations foreclosed the possibility of mass movements to change social or economic conditions. Where the left was an organized force independently, the same years witnessed incredible strike campaigns and cross-religious popular unity (Calcutta, Bombay), and systematic armed struggle (Hyderabad).

I wrote a detailed, 35-page summary of the book with citations, happy to share it for those interested!

[Becca w · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I read this way earlier. Not a perfect book but a really great historical and historiographical survey. If my friends ever want to learn the basics of Indian political and social history I think I will recommend this and maybe even use as a textbook type source for teaching

[Ajay Nawal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike Bipin Chandra book of India's struggle for freedom which is popular among UPSC aspirants, this book provide a holistic perspective by analysing history from bottoms to top. Contrary to Nationalist historian who have written modern Indian history by praising all its leaders, mass movements without critically analysing them, this book really do justice in observing different event, movement, changes, leaders. While great leaders do play important role in a history of a nation, socio-political awakening along with overall mindset of people and their movement defines the history.
Because of authors leftist political orientation, he has emphasised on role of CPI, Socialists, workers, peasants strikes etc.
Ending lines of the book, I will say is brilliant
" pondered how men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name".

[AskHistorians]

A comprehensive account of the modern Indian colonial period from the late 19th century until independence. Sarkar manages to weld the more nationalist-oriented historiography with an array of sources that highlight the popular, everyday nature of the anti-colonial struggle. A very good primer into the colonial history of the Indian subcontinent.

[Hrishikesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read parts of it before; now read it end-to-end. Very interesting read, but far too obsessed with class conflict

[Elise]

Written literature in a largely illiterate
country, however, can be a guide to the ideas and values only of a minority. A recent French historian has emphasized the need to study also the ‘songs, dances, proverbs, tales and pictures of the country folk to win an entry into the peasant mind* (Eugene Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen); such methods still await application in India.

(10) (29 of PDF)

→on that note, after completing text, try to find art historians in similar vein to Sarkar?

[Tanroop · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The six decades of India’s history that we have surveyed thus find meaning and relevance if considered as a complex process of change through struggle which is still far from complete. Perhaps the reflections of a British socialist writer on history and its contradictions can serve as an appropriate epitaph:
‘…pondered how men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for
comes about in spite of their defeat,
and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant,
and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name.’ (William Morris, A Dream of John Ball, 1887)"


Incredible. This feels like a 'definitive' text, although the sheer amount of information it contains means it was slightly slow-going for me, at times. Will be returning to this often.

[Doris Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LIKE THIS BOOK.🍿🤙

[DORIS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I WISH TO GO INDIA ONE DAY IS THERES A STATUS THERE . LIKE SITTING BULL CRAZY HORSE.MANY MORE CHIEFS IT WOULD BE AND HONOR

[Santosh Kashyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the detailed, well researched and a very well written book on Indian Freedom struggle. The book throws light on the changing political economic and social condition of Indian people during the period. Unlike other authors on Indian Freedom movement he has chosen the year of 1885 (When Indian national Congress was formed) to begin his intriguing tale of the turmoiling Indian masses fighting for their freedom which would end into a bloody massacre more-soever when they have been destined to celebrate their freedom.
The language is standard and formal. Sentences are usually large. Sarkar's style of using quotes in his sentences to bring about effect is remarkable. A must read for every Indian and anyone who has interest in Modern Indian History.

[Mohamed]

jhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Aratrika · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Selva Rama]

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