Srivastava, born 16 September 1899, in Andhana, Uttar Pradesh, died 12 July 1973, in Agra district, was an Indian historian specialising in medieval, early modern and modern history of India.
Besides English and his mother tongue Hindi, he mastered Persian, the language at court and of diplomats, and Urdu while commanding a working knowledge of Sanskrit, Marathi, Rajasthani and Punjabi.
[1] For reading Arabic sources he asked for advice from Muslim Maulwis.
In 1946, he was given additional charge of the professorship and head of history department, Panjab University, Lahore.
[2] Srivastava was a recipient of the Sir Jadunath Sarkar Gold Medal of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta (1953) for his research in medieval Indian history.