CDS History · Modern India
Historians, Writers and Orientalists
The orientalist scholars, museums and colonial buildings of British India, the books, poems and art of the national movement, and the modern historians whose books CDS matches with their authors.
Why this matters
Sixteen CDS questions, ten of them HARD. Most are pure matching: a book with its author, a society with its founder. They cannot be reasoned out, so this page is a list to learn, with the traps where two people share a surname or a subject.
Concept 1 of 3: Orientalists, museums and colonial buildings
Some British officials in Calcutta set out to study India's languages, laws and past. They founded a society, taught Sanskrit to young officers and translated old texts. Later the government built museums, passed a law on found treasure and put up grand buildings in Bombay.
Definition
The scholars and the landmarks:
- Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784): founded by Sir William Jones, its first president. Warren Hastings declined the presidency and became its patron.
- Charles Wilkins translated the Bhagavad Gita into English (1785).
- Henry Thomas Colebrooke was Professor of Sanskrit at Fort William College (from 1801).
- Siyar-ul-Mutakherin: a Persian history of 18th-century Bengal, describing Plassey, by Ghulam Husain Tabatabai.
- Indian Museum, Calcutta (1814); Government Museum, Madras (1851); Indian Treasure Trove Act (1878).
- Bombay Secretariat (1870s, Venetian Gothic): designed by H. St Clair Wilkins of the Royal Engineers.
| Name | Year | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Asiatic Society of Bengal | 1784 | Founded by William Jones; Hastings its patron |
| Bhagavad Gita in English | 1785 | Translated by Charles Wilkins |
| Henry Thomas Colebrooke | 1801 | Professor of Sanskrit, Fort William CollegeQ |
| Siyar-ul-Mutakherin | 1780s | Ghulam Husain TabatabaiQ |
| Indian Museum, Calcutta | 1814 | Oldest museum in India |
| Government Museum, Madras | 1851 | Museum founded at Madras |
| Bombay Secretariat | 1870s | Designed by H. St Clair WilkinsQ |
| Indian Treasure Trove Act | 1878 | Law on treasure found in the ground |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (II) 2026 — General Knowledge · Q90Moderate
Example 1 · Modern India · Historians, Writers and Orientalists
Who among the following was the founder president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal ?
Two Wilkinses
Charles Wilkins was the orientalist who translated the Gita. H. St Clair Wilkins was the engineer who designed the Bombay Secretariat.
Colebrooke taught; he did not found
Colebrooke's chair was at Fort William College. He was a member and later president of the Asiatic Society, but its founder was William Jones.
Concept 2 of 3: Books, poems and art of the national movement
Writers and artists carried the national movement as much as speeches did. A play exposed the indigo planters, a novel gave India a song, a poem made a heroine of the Rani of Jhansi, and revolutionaries wrote about their prisons.
Definition
The works in time order:
- Neel Darpan (1860): a Bengali play by Dinabandhu Mitra on the cruelty of the indigo planters. Michael Madhusudan Dutt translated it into English; Rev. James Long, who published it, was fined.
- Anandamath (1882): by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay; it contains Vande Mataram.
- Indian Society of Oriental Art (1907): founded by Abanindranath Tagore, with Gaganendranath Tagore and E.B. Havell, to revive Indian painting.
- Amar Katha (1910 to 1913): the autobiography of the actress Binodini Dasi. Amar Jiban is the earlier autobiography of Rashsundari Debi.
- Bandi Jivan: the prison memoir of Sachindranath Sanyal, founder of the Hindustan Republican Association.
- Jhansi ki Rani ("Khoob ladi mardani woh to Jhansi wali rani thi"): by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.
- The Indian Struggle: Subhas Chandra Bose's account of the movement, carried to 1942.
- Maze Vidyapeeth (My University): a Marathi poem by Narayan Surve on the working class of Bombay.
| Work or body | Kind | By |
|---|---|---|
| Neel Darpan | Bengali play, 1860 | Dinabandhu Mitra; English by Michael Madhusudan DuttQ |
| Anandamath | Bengali novel, 1882 | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay |
| Indian Society of Oriental Art | Art society, 1907 | Abanindranath Tagore and othersQ |
| Amar Katha | Autobiography, 1910 to 1913 | Binodini DasiQ |
| Bandi Jivan | Prison memoir | Sachindranath SanyalQ |
| Jhansi ki Rani | Hindi poem | Subhadra Kumari ChauhanQ |
| The Indian Struggle | History of the movement | Subhas Chandra BoseQ |
| Maze Vidyapeeth | Marathi poem | Narayan SurveQ |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2025 · CDS (II) 2025 — General Knowledge · Q65Moderate
Example 2 · Modern India · Historians, Writers and Orientalists
Which of the following books portrays three images of the Mother Goddess : "Mother as she was", "Mother as she is" and "Mother as she will be" ?
Written by one, translated by another
Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neel Darpan. The question about its English translation wants Michael Madhusudan Dutt. James Long only published it.
Abanindranath, not Rabindranath
The Indian Society of Oriental Art was founded by Abanindranath Tagore, the painter. Rabindranath and Dwarakanath are the Tagore distractors.
Amar Katha and Amar Jiban
Amar Katha is Binodini Dasi's. The similar title Amar Jiban belongs to Rashsundari Debi.
Concept 3 of 3: Historians of modern India and their books
CDS sometimes asks you to match modern historians with their books. The trick is to tie each book to its subject: a historian of Swadeshi, of Chauri Chaura, of the Permanent Settlement, of the Congress in one province.
Definition
Historian and book:
- Sumit Sarkar: The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903 to 1908.
- Shahid Amin: Event, Metaphor, Memory: Chauri Chaura, 1922 to 1992.
- Ranajit Guha: A Rule of Property for Bengal (on the Permanent Settlement).
- Bipan Chandra: The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India.
- Sekhar Bandyopadhyay: From Plassey to Partition.
- Sarvepalli Gopal: Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography.
- David Hardiman: Gandhi in His Time and Ours.
- Gyanendra Pandey: The Ascendancy of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, 1926 to 1934.
- Ashis Nandy argued that a single, homogenised Hinduism was a modern idea built by the cultural arrogance of post-Enlightenment Europe.
| Historian | Book or idea | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Sumit Sarkar | The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal | Swadeshi, 1903 to 1908Q CDS 2016 (II) matched these first four. |
| Shahid Amin | Event, Metaphor, Memory | Chauri Chaura |
| Ranajit Guha | A Rule of Property for Bengal | The Permanent Settlement |
| Bipan Chandra | The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India | Early Congress economics |
| Sekhar Bandyopadhyay | From Plassey to Partition | Survey of modern India |
| Sarvepalli Gopal | Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography | Nehru's life |
| David Hardiman | Gandhi in His Time and Ours | Gandhi's ideas |
| Gyanendra Pandey | The Ascendancy of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh | Congress in UP, 1926 to 1934 |
| Ashis Nandy | Homogenised Hinduism built by post-Enlightenment Europe | Religion and colonialismQ |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2019 · CDS (I) 2019 — General Knowledge · Q109Hard
Example 3 · Modern India · Historians, Writers and Orientalists
Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists :
Code :
| List-I (Author) | List-II (Book) |
|---|---|
| A. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay | 1. Jawaharlal Nehru : A Biography, Vol-I, 1889-1947 |
| B. Sarvepalli Gopal | 2. From Plassey to Partition : A History of Modern India |
| C. David Hardiman | 3. The Ascendancy of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, 1926-1934 |
| D. Gyanendra Pandey | 4. Gandhi in His Time and Ours |
Sarkar wrote on Swadeshi
Sumit Sarkar's book is on the Swadeshi movement. Economic nationalism is Bipan Chandra's subject. The wrong codes swap these two.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Orientalists, museums and colonial buildings8 rows
| Name | Year | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Asiatic Society of Bengal | 1784 | Founded by William Jones; Hastings its patron |
| Bhagavad Gita in English | 1785 | Translated by Charles Wilkins |
| Henry Thomas Colebrooke | 1801 | Professor of Sanskrit, Fort William CollegeQ |
| Siyar-ul-Mutakherin | 1780s | Ghulam Husain TabatabaiQ |
| Indian Museum, Calcutta | 1814 | Oldest museum in India |
| Government Museum, Madras | 1851 | Museum founded at Madras |
| Bombay Secretariat | 1870s | Designed by H. St Clair WilkinsQ |
| Indian Treasure Trove Act | 1878 | Law on treasure found in the ground |
Books, poems and art of the national movement8 rows
| Work or body | Kind | By |
|---|---|---|
| Neel Darpan | Bengali play, 1860 | Dinabandhu Mitra; English by Michael Madhusudan DuttQ |
| Anandamath | Bengali novel, 1882 | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay |
| Indian Society of Oriental Art | Art society, 1907 | Abanindranath Tagore and othersQ |
| Amar Katha | Autobiography, 1910 to 1913 | Binodini DasiQ |
| Bandi Jivan | Prison memoir | Sachindranath SanyalQ |
| Jhansi ki Rani | Hindi poem | Subhadra Kumari ChauhanQ |
| The Indian Struggle | History of the movement | Subhas Chandra BoseQ |
| Maze Vidyapeeth | Marathi poem | Narayan SurveQ |
Historians of modern India and their books9 rows
| Historian | Book or idea | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Sumit Sarkar | The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal | Swadeshi, 1903 to 1908Q CDS 2016 (II) matched these first four. |
| Shahid Amin | Event, Metaphor, Memory | Chauri Chaura |
| Ranajit Guha | A Rule of Property for Bengal | The Permanent Settlement |
| Bipan Chandra | The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India | Early Congress economics |
| Sekhar Bandyopadhyay | From Plassey to Partition | Survey of modern India |
| Sarvepalli Gopal | Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography | Nehru's life |
| David Hardiman | Gandhi in His Time and Ours | Gandhi's ideas |
| Gyanendra Pandey | The Ascendancy of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh | Congress in UP, 1926 to 1934 |
| Ashis Nandy | Homogenised Hinduism built by post-Enlightenment Europe | Religion and colonialismQ |
Watch out for (6)
- Two Wilkinses→ Orientalists, museums and colonial buildings
- Colebrooke taught; he did not found→ Orientalists, museums and colonial buildings
- Written by one, translated by another→ Books, poems and art of the national movement
- Abanindranath, not Rabindranath→ Books, poems and art of the national movement
- Amar Katha and Amar Jiban→ Books, poems and art of the national movement
- Sarkar wrote on Swadeshi→ Historians of modern India and their books
Test yourself on Modern India
20 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 20 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.