Historian and Former Delhi University Professor Sumit Sarkar Passes Away at 87

Professor Sumit Sarkar, one of the country's most influential historians of modern India and a leading Marxist scholar, passed away on Thursday in New Delhi. He was 87 years old.

Sarkar was closely associated with the study of modern Indian history for generations of students and researchers. Across his academic career, his scholarship shifted historical inquiry away from elite narratives and toward socio-economic processes, popular struggles, and the agency of working-class people.

As a professor of history at the University of Delhi, Sarkar authored landmark texts that became foundational to the study of modern Indian history. Among his best-known publications were 'The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903-1908' and 'Modern India, 1885-1947'.

His other major publications included 'Writing Social History', 'Beyond Nationalist Frames', 'A Critique of Colonial India', 'Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags', and 'Essays of a Lifetime: Reformers, Nationalists, Subalterns'. Through these volumes, Sarkar explored themes spanning anti-colonial resistance, communalism, and subaltern histories.

The Delhi University Teachers' Association mourned his passing, describing his death as a profound loss for historical scholarship and the wider democratic movement. The association noted that Sarkar leaves behind an extraordinary scientific legacy rooted in theoretical rigour and unwavering political convictions.