Guwahati, Aug. 14 -- Sumit Sarkar, the renowned Marxist historian known for his scholarship on modern Indian history, died in New Delhi on Thursday at the age of 87. He had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital for a prolonged illness.

Sarkar was a leading academic in modern Indian history and taught at the University of Delhi. He was also a Fellow of Wolfson College, London.

His 1973 work The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903-1908 is regarded as an important study of Bengal's nationalist movement. His other major books include A Critique of Colonial India (1985), Modern India (1989), Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags: A Critique of the Hindu Right (1993), Writing Social History (1998) and Beyond Nationalist Frames: Postmodernism...