Events in the year 1938 in India. Indian independence – Government of India Act gives Indians a role in governing their provinces.

Incumbents

Emperor of India Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 22 ...

–

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

* Viceroy of India –

Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, (24 September 1887 – 5 January 1952) was a British Unionist politician, agriculturalist, and colonial administrator. He served as Governor-General and Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943 ...

Events

* National income - 29,799 million * Minor engagements on the North West Frontier throughout the year.

Law

* December – Announcement that the Ottawa trade agreement would not be continued after 31 March 1939. *Good Conduct Prisoners' Probational Release Act *Insurance Act *Manoeuvres, Field Firing and Artillery Practice Act *Cutchi Memons Act

Births

*7 January –

B. Saroja Devi Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films in over six decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" (Saraswathi of ...

, actress. *13 January **

Shivkumar Sharma Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Ha ...

, musician. (died

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

) **

Nabaneeta Dev Sen Nabaneeta Dev Sen ( bn, নবনীতা দেব সেন, Nôbonita Deb Sen; 13 January 1938 – 7 November 2019) was an Indian writer and academic. After studying arts and comparative literature, she moved to the United States, USA where ...

, novelist, children's author and poet. (died

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) *18 March – Shashi Kapoor,

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

actor. (died

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

) *31 March –

Sheila Dikshit Sheila Dikshit () (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. The longest-serving Chief Minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister of any Indian state, she served for a period of 15 ye ...

, politician and

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. (died 2019) *9 April –

Ahmad Kamal Ahmed Kamal (born 9 April 1938) is a retired Pakistani diplomat, most noted for his work at the United Nations. He served as a professional diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan for close to forty years until his retirement i ...

, Pakistani diplomat (died 2023). *23 April –

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, playback singer. *5 May – Chandrama Santha, politician (died

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) *19 May –

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

, writer, playwright, actor and director. (died 2019) *10 June –

Rahul Bajaj Rahul is a popular male name in India and has a variety of meanings. The earliest meaning found in the Upanishads is "conqueror of all miseries." Later use of the word is attributed to the Buddha, who named his son '' Rahula'' as he felt that fa ...

, businessman (died 2022) *12 June – Yesudasan, political cartoonist (died 2021) *1 July **

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the I ...

, classical flutist **

Durai Murugan Durai Murugan (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian politician and lawyer. He is the Minister for Water Resources under the government of M. K. Stalin since 2021. He is the general secretary of the DMK party since 9 September 2020. He graduated in ...

, lawyer and politician *9 July –

Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrille ...

, actor (died

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

). *13 July –

Thomas Savundaranayagam Right Reverend Emmanuel Thomas Savundaranayagam ( ta, இம்மானுவேல் தோமசு சௌந்தரநாயகம், si, තෝමස් සවුන්ද්‍රනායගම්; born 13 July 1938) is a Sri Lankan T ...

, Sri Lanka Tamil priest, former Roman Catholic Bishop of Jaffna *15 July – Pilot Baba, Indian Air Force fighter pilot, later guru *19 July –

Dom Moraes Dominic Francis Moraes (19 July 1938 – 2 June 2004) was an Indian writer and poet who published nearly 30 books in English. He is widely seen as a foundational figure in Indian English literature. His poems are a meaningful and substantial c ...

, poet, writer and columnist (died 2004). *19 July –

Jayant Narlikar Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (born 19 July 1938) is an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). He developed with Sir Fred Hoyle the conformal gravity theory, known as Hoyl ...

, astrophysicist. *25 July – Sudhir Kakar, psychoanalyst and writer."A book of Memory: Confessions and Reflections" Sudhir Kakar, Viking Press *8 September –

Poornachandra Tejaswi Kuppali Puttappa Poornachandra Tejaswi (8 September 1938 – 5 April 2007) was a prominent Indian writer and novelist in Kannada. He also worked as a photographer, publisher, painter, naturalist, and environmentalist. He made a great impress ...

, writer and novelist (died 2007). *17 November – Shamim Hanafi, Urdu scholar (died

) *11 December –

T. S. R. Subramanian Thirumanilaiyur Sitapati Ramana Subramanian (11 December 1938 – 26 February 2018) was an Indian bureaucrat who served as the cabinet secretary of India from August 1996 to March 1998. He was a 1961 batch Indian Administrative Service officer ...

, politician (died

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

)

Full date unknown

Shashi Deshpande Shashi Deshpande (born 1938) is an Indian novelist. She is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri Award in 1990 and 2009 respectively. Biography She was born in Dharwad, Karnataka, the second daughter of the Kannada dramati ...

, novelist. * R. K. Krishna Kumar, business executive. (died 2022) *

Manohar Singh Manohar Singh (12 April 1938 – 14 November 2002) was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films. He is best known for his performances in films such as ''Party'' (1984) and '' Daddy'' (1989). Starting his acting career ...

, theatre director and actor. (died 2002)

Deaths

*16 January –

Sharat Chandra Chatterji Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ � ...

, novelist (born

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...

). *14 November – Mahatma Hansraj, educationist, Arya Samaj leader (born 1864)

References

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Years of the 20th century in India {{India-year-stub