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Home / IAS Preparation / Sources Of Modern Indian History

Sources Of Modern Indian History: Archives, Newspapers, Forts, Paintings, Literature And More!

Last Updated on Feb 25, 2025
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The sources for modern Indian history are numerous. Aside from archives, the East India Company's records provide a complete description of trading conditions from 1600 to 1857. When the British monarchy took over the administration, it also kept a significant number of official records of varying types and volumes. The records of the other European East India companies (the Portuguese, Dutch, and French) are also useful for reconstructing 17th and 18th-century history. There are also many contemporary and semi-contemporary literature, such as diaries, biographies, and travel accounts, that provide intriguing and important insights into the history of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Other than literary sources, material culture like forts, buildings and paintings also serve as sources of modern Indian history.

In this article, we will learn about sources of modern Indian history. This forms a significant part of the UPSC IAS exam. UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains Paper I have many questions about this topic. It is also an important topic for UPSC History Optional and essential for the UGC NET History exam. Every year over 5-7 questions on political history are in the question paper.

Literary Sources Of Modern Indian History

Let us look at a few of the literary sources of modern Indian history.

Archives

The National Records of India, located in New Delhi, houses the majority of the Government of India's records. These offer legitimate and trustworthy source materials on various topics of modern Indian history.

  • With the appointment of James Rennell as the first Surveyor General of Bengal in 1767, the Survey of India began to systematically map the country and its neighbouring lands. The records of the Survey of India, as well as the surveyors' journals and memoirs, include vital information not only on geographical problems but also on contemporaneous socioeconomic conditions and other significant historical factors.
  • The proceedings of the public, judicial, and legislative departments give considerable data for evaluating the colonial government's social and religious policies. 
  • The central archives' educational documents discuss the government's education policy and the expansion of the school system during colonial control. 
  • The files concerning the rise of the nationalist movement were part of the public series of home department records, but in 1907, a new series of records, Home Political, was established to deal solely with political and communal concerns.
  • The records of Indian powers taken over by the British, such as the archives of the Kingdom of Lahore (popularly known as Khalsa Darbar records from 1800 to 1849), are valuable sources. The Peshwa Daftar, held in the Alienation Office in Pune, is another notable collection of pre-British public archives in India. It is the most important single source for the study of Maratha history for over a century before the fall of the Peshwas.
  • The Portuguese archives kept at Goa, primarily from 1700 to 1900, are other important sources of modern Indian history.
  • The most important historical material in the Portuguese archives are the orders and dispatches from Lisbon received in Goa, as well as the responses and reports made from India to Portugal. The Dutch records of Cochin and Malabar are kept at the Madras Record Office, whereas those of Chinsura are kept at the West Bengal state archives. Before relinquishing these settlements, the French authorities took the French archives of Chandernagore and Pondicherry to Paris. 
  • The Parliamentary Papers, which include many excerpts from the archives of the East India Company and the Government of India under the Crown, are the most important archival documents. The reports of select legislative committees, different royal commissions formed on specialised themes such as education, civil reforms, and famines, and parliamentary discussions on the Indian empire are all essential.

Aside from the archives of European nations, the records preserved in Pakistan are crucial. The West Pakistan Record Office in Lahore, the Record Office in Peshawar, records available in Sind, and so on provide information about the regional history of the Indian subcontinent as well as throw light on India's colonial relations with Afghanistan, Iran, and other adjacent countries.

Biographies, Memoirs And Travel Accounts

Many visitors to India, including traders, missionaries, and civil workers, have left reports of their experiences and impressions of various sections of the country. Some of these texts include, Baron Charles’ Travels in Kashmir and Punjab and Alexander Burnes’ Travels Into Bokhara.

Newspapers And Journals

Newspapers and journals from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, published in both English and several vernacular languages, are an essential and legitimate source of information for the building of modern India's history. The first attempts to create newspapers in India were made by the employees of the English East India Company themselves.

James Augustus Hickey established The Bengal Gazette. It was the first Indian newspaper. Because of his open criticism of government authorities, Hickey's press was confiscated within two years. Many journals, including The Calcutta Gazette (1784), The Madras Courier (1788), and The Bombay Herald (1789) are important sources of modern Indian history. The early newspapers and journals were largely concerned with providing intellectual amusement to Europeans and Anglo-Indians. Many significant newspapers developed in the second half of the nineteenth century, edited/published by prominent and daring journalists. Surprisingly, approximately one-third of the Indian National Congress's founding founders in 1885 were journalists.

Let us have a look at the important newspapers and journals of the time:

Name

Founder

Place

Year of Founding

The Bengal Gazette

James Augustus Hickey

Calcutta (now Kolkata)

1780

The Indian Mirror

Devendra Nath Tagore

Calcutta (now Kolkata)

1861

The Statesman

Robert Knight

Calcutta (now Kolkata)

1875

The Hindu

G. Subramania Iyer

Madras (now Chennai)

1878

The Pioneer

George Allen

Allahabad

1865

The Bombay Gazette

British Government

Bombay (now Mumbai)

1789

The Madras Courier

Gantz and Alexander

Madras (now Chennai)

1785

The Rangoon Times

Dr. Thomas Rae

Rangoon (now Yangon)

1853

The Ceylon Observer

Samuel William Silver

Colombo

1834

The Lahore Chronicle

Lala Kanshi Ram

Lahore

1881

Literature

The novel, which arose in the later part of the nineteenth century, was the major result of the Indo-European encounter. Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1838-94), a Bengali novelist, was the first significant writer of the period. His works are largely historical, with Anandamath (1882) being the most well-known for its strong lyric 'Vandemataram' and account of the Sanyasi Revolt (1760s). Rajasimha, his final novel, can be considered the ultimate finish to his spectacular career. Icharam Suryaram Desai (1853-1912) was a brilliant mediaeval Gujarati literary historian. Hind and Britannia, his first work, was one of the first Indian novels to have political implications.

Archaeological Sources Of Modern Indian History

Let us look at some of the archaeological sources of modern Indian history.

Paintings

Paintings from the colonial period can provide insight into the socioeconomic, political, and cultural life of the time. The East India Company commissioned the Company Paintings, commonly known as 'Patna Kalam'. They depict the people and scenes as they were at the time. These works depict trades, festivals, dances, and people's clothing. Company paintings were popular in the nineteenth century until the arrival of photography in India in the 1840s.

  • Paintings, pencil drawings, etchings, posters, cartoons, and bazaar prints created by the British and Indians are particularly valuable records of the great insurrection of 1857. 
  • Some of them honour British heroes who saved the English and crushed the insurgents. One such example is Thomas Jones Barker's 1859 relief of Lucknow. Another artwork from this time period, In Memoriam by Joseph Noel Paton, depicted the insurrection of 1857 in painting. 
  • In the final decades of the nineteenth century, a new art movement evolved, fueled mostly by India's increasing nationalism. This new movement was represented by artists such as Nandalal Bose and Raja Ravi Varma. E.B. Havell and Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy were instrumental in the rise of the Bengal School led by Abanindranath Tagore.

Forts

Forts stand as symbols of military power and control. Many British forts were constructed across India during this period. They served as strongholds, strategic bases, and administrative centers. For instance, Fort St. George in Chennai served as the British East India Company's headquarters in southern India.

Colonial Buildings

Colonial buildings reflect the architectural styles of the time. They were constructed to accommodate the growing British presence in India. The Victoria Memorial in Kolkata is a prime example. This magnificent structure, built in memory of Queen Victoria, showcases the blend of British and Indian architectural influences.

Coins

Coins serve as tangible evidence of trade and economic transactions. British Indian coins reflect the integration of British currency systems into the Indian subcontinent. The "Bombay Presidency One Rupee" coin, minted in 1858, is an illustration of this colonial monetary system.

Trade Warehouses

Trade warehouses played a crucial role in the British Indian economy. They served as storage facilities for goods traded between Britain and India. The Cotton Exchange Building in Mumbai, formerly known as the Bombay Cotton Exchange, is a notable example. It served as a hub for the cotton trade during the colonial period.

These material sources of modern indian history provide a window into various aspects of British India. They reveal the military, architectural, economic, and cultural dimensions of the colonial period. By studying and preserving these remnants, we gain a deeper understanding of this significant era.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the sources of modern Indian history, such as official records, newspapers, memoirs, and photographs, provide valuable insights. These diverse sources offer a multifaceted understanding of India's journey during the modern era. 

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Sources Of Modern Indian History FAQs

Newspapers and other sources of modern Indian history offer valuable insights into events, opinions, and perspectives of the time.

Memoirs provide personal accounts and perspectives, giving a glimpse into individual experiences during significant historical periods.

Government documents reveal policies, decisions, and actions taken by the authorities, providing a deeper understanding of the political landscape.

Photographs offer visual evidence of societal changes, capturing moments, people, and places of historical significance.

Primary sources of modern Indian history include official records, letters, diaries, and photographs.
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