Other Source of Information

Sources of information of Modern Indian History: Of the three periods of history, modern history has the most abundant sources of information to draw on. Sources of information can be — primary and secondary.

Primary source of information bare those that are originated, or created at the time of the event by the people who witnessed the event. Artefacts from archeological sites, coins, monuments, inscriptions, travelogues and autobiographies are all primary source of information. For modern Indian history, primary source of information also include government reports, letters, photographs, maps, newspapers, magazines and films. A lot of this material has been preserved in government museums and archives, from which they can be accessed when needed.

Secondary sources of information are secondhand accounts of events. They are usually collected and put together by people who study the primary sources. Secondary sources include textbooks, biographies, magazines, newspapers and movies about historical events.

British Documents: The British ruled over India for almost two hundred years . The records of reforms- Morley - Minto Reforms (1909), Government of India Act (1935) and the reports of Simon Commission (1929),etc.,are important source of information . Similarly , we get a lot of information from the various bills like the Llbert Bill, the Arms Bill , etc., that were passed by the British parliament.

Many books: were written and printed during this period which are preserved in public and private libraries. Most books are available even now , as they have been reprinted from time to time. They are an important source of information of the modern period . The poetry/prose/drama/stories/autobiographies/biographies written in this duration , give us an insight into the condition of that time.

Letters, writings, speeches, etc., provide information about the developments that take place during a particular period . for example, the collection of Gandhi's writings at the Gandhi Smriti near Rajghat, which is one of the biggest museum on Gandhiji ,has a library with around 60,000 books. It also has about 6,000 original photographs of Gandhi ji.

Newspaper: like London Times, and vernacular papers (Bal Gangadhar tilak's Kesari in Marathi ) are the important sources of history of modern period.

Administrative reports of the Government : on tribes , castes and land revenue settlements also very important source of information . for example, report on the survey and settlement operations in the District of Champaran( 1913- 1919)

Internet or database like digital south Asia library and the British Library 's oriental and Indian office collection provide us a lot of information.

Old buildings and artifacts and people of that period also tell us the tales of past . Many people who participated in the freedom struggle and saw the important changes , share their experiences which throw light on the life of the people and conditions that existed.

In the modern period of Indian history , we are going to take a look at India's suffering at the hands of the British imperialism and the subsequent achievement of independence from the foreign powers.

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