Writing history-based fiction (also called historical fiction) has gained immense popularity in our times. It is observed that various literary theories of Postcolonialism and New Historicism and to some extent, the cultural theory of postmodernism have played an important role in opening up new vistas for the writers. The objective of this paper is to study the impact of these theories on the writing of contemporary history-based Indian English fiction. The paper analyzes the typologies based on period and personages as advanced by theorists like Fleishman and Turner and notes that these relate to the historical fiction of olden type. To judge contemporary fiction, much of which relates to recent history and is also molded by changes in form and style, the paper suggests an alternative typology based on the insights provided by current practices in the writing of history-based fiction.