Ram Sharan Sharma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 26 November 1919 Barauni, Bihar and Orissa Province, British India |
| Died | 20 August 2011 (aged 91) Patna, Bihar, India |
| Known for | Indian Historiography |
| Awards | Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade Award, H. K. Barpujari Award |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Patna, School of Oriental and African Studies |
| Thesis | Sudras in Ancient India (1956) |
| Doctoral advisor | A. L. Basham |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Ancient India, Early Medieval India |
Ram Sharan Sharma (26 November 1919 – 20 August 2011[1]) was an Indian historian and Indologist[2] who specialised in the history of Ancient and early Medieval India.[3] He taught at Patna University and Delhi University (1973–85) and was visiting faculty at University of Toronto (1965–1966). He also was a senior fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was a University Grants Commission National Fellow (1958–81) and the president of Indian History Congress in 1975. It was during his tenure as the dean of Delhi University's History Department that major expansion of the department took place in the 1970s.[4] The creation of most of the positions in the department were the results of his efforts.[4] He was the founding Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and a historian of international repute.[5][6]
During his lifetime, he authored 115 books[7] published in fifteen languages. He influenced major decisions relating to historical research in India in his roles as head of the departments of History at Patna and Delhi University, as Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research, as an important member of the National Commission of the History of Sciences in India and UNESCO Commission on the history of Central Asian Civilizations and of the University Grants Commission and, above all, as a practising historian.[8] At the instance of Sachchidananda Sinha, when Professor Sharma was in Patna College, he worked as a special officer on deputation to the Political Department in 1948, where prepared a report on the Bihar-Bengal Boundary Dispute.[9][10][11] His pioneering effort resolved the border dispute forever as recorded by Sachchinand Sinha in a letter to Rajendra Prasad.[9][10][11]
- ^
- "Noted historian R S Sharma passes away". The Indian Express. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- Press Trust of India (21 August 2011). "Historian Sharma dead". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- "Historian Ram Sharan Sharma passes away in Patna". The Times of India. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011. [dead link]
- Akshaya Mukul (22 August 2011). "R S Sharma, authority on ancient India, dead". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "Marxist historian passes away". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ Thapar, Romila (17 September 2011), "Ram Sharan Sharma (1920–2011)", Economic and Political Weekly, 46 (38): 22–25, JSTOR 23047327
- ^ a b History Department (13 August 2008). "History of Department of History". University of Delhi. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
- ^ "The man who made history". The Times of India. 22 August 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
- ^ Rajalakshmi, T.K. (26 November 1999). "Agendas and appointments". Frontline. Vol. 16, no. 24. Archived from the original on 24 November 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Prashant K. Nanda (31 December 2007). "Ram lives beyond history: Historians". The Tribune. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
- ^ Jha, D.N. (1996). Society and Ideology in India: Essays in Honour of Prof. R.S. Sharma. New Delhi, India: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-8121506397.
- ^ a b Srivastava, N.M.P. (2005). Professor R.S. Sharma: The Man With Mission; Prajna-Bharati Vol XI, In honour of Professor Ram Sharan Sharma. Patna, India: K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute.
- ^ a b Chaudhary, Valmiki, ed. (1988). Dr. Rajendra Prasad Correspondence and Select Documents. Vol. XX. New Delhi, India. pp. 68–73.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b Suvira Jaiswal (23 September 2011). "Secular historian". Frontline. Vol. 28, no. 19. Retrieved 21 October 2011.