Historian Sumit Sarkar Dies at 87

Professor Sumit Sarkar, a Marxist historian of modern Indian history, died in New Delhi on 13 August 2026 at the age of 87 after prolonged age-related illness. He was born in 1939 in Calcutta into a Bengali Brahmo family and belonged to an academic family associated with historian Susobhan Chandra Sarkar and statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

Academic Work on Modern Indian History

Sumit Sarkar became known for research on nationalism, colonialism, and social history in India. His book The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903-1908, published in 1973, is a major study of the anti-partition Swadeshi movement in Bengal.

History from Below

His textbook Modern India: 1885–1947, published in 1983, is associated with the approach called “history from below”. This method studies peasants, workers, tribal communities, and other non-elite groups in historical writing.

Teaching Career and Literary Recognition

Sarkar taught history at the University of Delhi from 1974 to 2004. He also taught at the University of Calcutta and the University of Burdwan before joining Delhi University.

He received the Rabindra Puraskar in 2004 from the West Bengal government. He returned the award in 2007 in protest against the expulsion of farmers in Singur and Nandigram.

Important Facts for Exams

• Sumit Sarkar was born in 1939 and died in 2026 at the age of 87.
• The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903-1908 was published in 1973.
• Modern India: 1885–1947 was published in 1983.
• He co-edited Women and Social Reform in Modern India in 2007 and Caste in Modern India in 2013 with Tanika Sarkar.

Family and Scholarly Associations

Sumit Sarkar was married to historian Tanika Sarkar, with whom he co-edited major historical volumes in 2007 and 2013. His work remained central to the study of modern Indian historiography in universities and competitive examinations.