Sources of Modern Indian History

1. Archival Material consists of public, private and foreign repositories

2. Public Archives of GoI, state govt.s, presidencies, judicial records
3. Private archives papers and docs of indiv.s and notable families
4. Foreign repositories Indian office records in London, Record Office (Lahore), etc
5. Biographies and Memoirs Accounts of travelers, traders, missionaries and civil
servants during the 18 th-19th centuries as well as memoirs written by Indian leaders
during independence movement
6. Newspapers and Journals- both India and abroad
7. Others Oral tradition, creative literature, painting
Major Approaches to History of Modern India
1. Colonial approach: Infld. By colonial ideology of domination. Focus on criticism of
indigenous society and praising W culture. E.g. James Mill, Vincent Smith, etc
2. Nationalist Approach: as a response to and in confrontation with the colonial
approach.
a. Pre-indep: focus on ancient and medieval period
b. Post-indep.: focus on modern India
e.g.: RC Majumdar, Tara Chand
3. Marxist Approach: focus on primary contradiction between the interests of the
colonial masters and the native subjects; notices inner contradictions between the
different contradictions with the Indian society. E.g.: RP Dutta, AR Desai
4. Subaltern Approach: Role of the common masses; Ranajit Guha
5. Communalist Approach: Muslims and Hindu are fundamentally hostile groups with
antagonistic interests
6. Cambridge School: Indian nationalism as a product of conflicts among the Indian
nationalists themselves for getting benefits from colonial rulers. Indian nationalist
leaders inspired by the greed of power and material benefits
7. Liberal and Neo-liberal interpretations: economic exploitation of the colonies was
not beneficial to the Brits as it delayed the development of the ‘new’ industries in
Britain
8. Feminist Historiography
Advent of the Europeans in India
1. The Portuguese in India
a. The quest for and Discovery of a Sea Route of a Sea Route in India
i. Roman decline in 7th  Arab domination in Egypt+ Persia  Direct
contact between Europeans and Indians    access to spices, silk,
precious stones  high demand
ii. Why?
- Renaissance eco progress  demand for oriental goods Aid (N
Euro) + Ships (Genoese)+ Christianity ag. Islam (Portuguese)Quest
-
1453: Constantinople fell to Ottoman Turks

Indian goods ----- Arab intermediaries ---European mkts

Arab state monopoly (high revenue)- 2 routes: Red Sea and land route
