British-Indian broadcaster and journalist Sir Mark Tully, better known as the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) 'Voice of India', breathed his last at the Max Hospital in Delhi's Saket area.
The 90-year-old had been admitted to the hospital a week ago due to illness.
Goodbye, Sir William Mark Tully
— YusufJameelیوسف جمیل (@jameelyusuf) January 25, 2026
Mark Tully Sahab — the guru of broadcast journalism, an institution in himself, an acclaimed author, and a rare embodiment of integrity, warmth, and deep human compassion — passed away a short while ago in a New Delhi hospital. His departure marks… pic.twitter.com/9bSyMXV8NV
He leaves behind a legacy as a renowned journalist, author and Indophile, who has played a part in reporting major events in the Indian subcontinent's storied history, such as Bangladesh war (1971), the Emergency years (1975-77), the execution of former Pakistan president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1979), and the anti-Sikh riots (1984), the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi (1991), and the demolition of the Babri Masjid (1992).
A lifetime beside India
Born in 1935 to British parents in West Bengal's Tollygunge, Tully's initial life seemed miles away from the figure he later became.
After spending a decade of his life in India, he was sent to the UK for further studies, where it seemed he would go onto to become a priest, for which he joined the Lincoln Theological College.
However, fate had other plans, as he had been "rather rebellious" and a "good beer drinker" in his youth, according to Tully's own recollections in a 2020 interview with The UNESCO Courier.
Tully resumed his time in India when he joined the BBC as a New Delhi correspondent in 1964—a position he held for 30 years. However, a few years later, he was forced to return to the UK when the Indian government banned the BBC for airing a French documentary named 'Phantom India', which had been critical of the country.
Yet, he was back by 1971, after which he was made the BBC's Chief of Bureau for South Asia. His association with the British broadcaster partially ended in 1994 over an internal dispute, and completely in 2019, when his BBC Radio 4 programme Something Understood was discontinued.
Yet, he remained a chronicler of India at heart, going on to become an accomplished freelance journalist and author.
Tully was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992, knighted during the New Year Honours in 2002, and received the Padma Bhushan in 2005, as per a PTI report.
He has also written 10 books, which includes No Full Stops in India, India in Slow Motion and The Heart of India, in addition to starring in a number of documentaries on India and the British Raj.
