wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
Zahir Raihan
August 19, 1935 – January 30, 1972
Bangladeshi novelist, writer & filmmaker (1935-1972)
Modern era
Altaf Mahmud
December 23, 1933 – 1971
Bangladeshi musician and freedom fighter (1933 – 1971)
Modern era
Dhirendranath Datta
November 2, 1886 – March 21, 1971
Bengali activist (1886-1971)
Modern era
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
January 21, 1908 – July 5, 1994
Indian author (1908–1994)
Modern era
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
April 17, 1912 – April 10, 1999
Novelist and short story writer of Malayalam language (1912–1999)
Modern era
Kumaran Asan
April 12, 1873 – January 16, 1924
Indian writer (1873–1924)
Modern era
Vallathol Narayana Menon
October 16, 1878 – March 13, 1958
Indian poet (1878-1958)
Modern era
Kalki Krishnamurthy
September 9, 1899 – December 5, 1954
Indian writer, journalist, freedom fighter and Tamil novelist (1899–1954)
Modern era
Bharathidasan
April 29, 1891 – April 21, 1964
Tamil poet, rationalist writer and Dravidian movement activist
Modern era
Fakir Mohan Senapati
January 13, 1843 – June 14, 1918
Indian Odia author (1843–1918)
Modern era
D. R. Bendre
January 31, 1896 – October 21, 1981
Kannada poet (1896–1981)
Modern era
Gurram Jashuva
September 28, 1895 – July 24, 1971
Indian Telugu poet (1895-1971), Padma Bhushan recipient
Modern era
Makhdoom Mohiuddin
February 4, 1908 – February 15, 1969
Indian activist and writer (1908–1969)
Modern era
Lakshminath Bezbaroa
1868 – 1938
Assamese writer (1868–1938)
Modern era
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala
June 17, 1903 – January 17, 1951
Playwright, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker (1903–1951)
Modern era
Dadasaheb Phalke
April 30, 1870 – February 16, 1944
Indian film producer, director and screenwriter (1870–1944)
Modern era
Ardeshir Irani
December 5, 1886 – October 14, 1969
Indian film director (1886–1969)
Modern era
Himansu Rai
1892 – May 19, 1940
Indian filmmaker (1892–1940)
Modern era
Devika Rani
March 30, 1908 – March 9, 1994
Indian actress (1908-1994)
Modern era
Fatma Begum
1892 – 1983
Indian actress and director
Modern era
Ruby Myers
1907 – October 10, 1983
Indian actress (1907–1983)
Modern era
Kanan Devi
April 22, 1916 – July 17, 1992
Indian actress (1916–1992)
Modern era
Pramathesh Barua
October 24, 1903 – November 29, 1951
Indian actor (1903–1951)
Modern era
Sohrab Modi
November 2, 1897 – January 28, 1984
Indian film actor, director, producer (1897-1984)
Modern era
V. Shantaram
November 18, 1901 – October 30, 1990
Indian film director and actor (1901–1990)
Modern era
Baburao Painter
June 3, 1890 – January 16, 1954
Indian film maker and artist (1890-1954)
Modern era
Prithviraj Kapoor
November 3, 1906 – May 29, 1972
Indian actor (1906-1972)
Modern era
Bal Gandharva
June 26, 1888 – July 15, 1967
Indian Marathi singer and stage actor (1888–1967)
Modern era
Jamshedji Framji Madan
April 27, 1857 – June 28, 1923
Indian film producer
Modern era
A. R. Kardar
October 2, 1904 – November 22, 1989
Indian actor and director
Modern era
W. Z. Ahmed
December 20, 1916 – April 15, 2007
Pakistani filmmaker
Modern era
Swaran Lata
December 20, 1924 – February 8, 2008
Pakistani actress (1924–2008)
Modern era
Shamim Ara
March 22, 1938 – August 5, 2016
Pakistani actor and film director
Modern era
Uday Shankar
December 8, 1900 – September 26, 1977
Indian dancer, choreographer, and actor (1900-1977)
Modern era
Rukmini Devi Arundale
February 29, 1904 – February 24, 1986
Indian dancer and choreographer (1904–1986)
Modern era
Balasaraswati
May 13, 1918 – February 9, 1984
Indian dancer (1918-1984)
Modern era
Sitara Devi
November 8, 1920 – November 25, 2014
Indian dancer (1920-2014)
Modern era
Bulbul Chowdhury
January 1, 1919 – May 17, 1954
Bengali dancer
Modern era
Abanindranath Tagore
August 7, 1871 – December 5, 1951
Indian painter and writer (1871–1951)
Modern era
Gaganendranath Tagore
September 18, 1867 – February 14, 1938
Indian painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school (1867-1938)
Modern era
Nandalal Bose
December 3, 1882 – April 16, 1966
Indian artist (1882-1966)
Modern era
Jamini Roy
April 11, 1887 – April 24, 1972
Indian artist (1887-1972)
Modern era
Ram Kinker Baij
May 25, 1906 – August 2, 1980
Indian sculptor and painter, 1906-1980
Modern era
Benode Behari Mukherjee
February 7, 1904 – November 11, 1980
Indian artist (1904-1980)
Modern era
Chittaprosad Bhattacharya
June 21, 1915 – November 13, 1978
Indian leftist political artist and writer
Modern era
S. M. Sultan
August 10, 1923 – October 10, 1994
Bangladeshi artist (1923-1994)
Modern era
Quamrul Hassan
December 2, 1921 – 1988
Bangladeshi artist (1921-1988)
Modern era
Abdur Rahman Chughtai
September 21, 1894 – 1975
Painter (1894-1975)
Modern era
Anna Molka Ahmed
August 13, 1917 – April 20, 1994
Pakistani artist (1917-1994)
Modern era
Zubeida Agha
1922 – October 31, 1997
Artist (1922-1997)
Modern era
Zahoor ul Akhlaq
February 4, 1941 – January 18, 1999
Artist (1941-1999)
Modern era
Jamil Naqsh
December 25, 1939 – May 16, 2019
Pakistani painter
Modern era
Begum Akhtar
October 7, 1914 – October 30, 1974
Indian musician
Modern era
Gauhar Jaan
June 26, 1873 – January 17, 1930
Indian singer and dancer (1873-1930)
Modern era
Faiyaz Khan
1886 – 1950
Indian singer
Modern era
Abdul Karim Khan
November 11, 1872 – October 27, 1937
Indian singer (1872–1937)
Modern era
Kesarbai Kerkar
July 13, 1892 – September 16, 1977
Indian singer (1892–1977)
Modern era
Iqbal Bahu
September 4, 1944 – March 24, 2012
Pakistani singer (1944–2012)
Modern era
Surinder Kaur
November 25, 1929 – June 14, 2006
Indian singer (1929-2006)
Modern era
Asa Singh Mastana
August 22, 1927 – 1999
Punjabi singer