Ram Sharan Sharma
Ram Sharan Sharma (26 November 1919 – 20 August 2011, commonly referred to as R. S. Sharma, was an eminent historian and academic of Ancient and early Medieval India. In some quarters, he is called a 'secular' and/or 'leftist ideology' historian.
Sharma was born in Barauni, Begusarai, Bihar. 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.
A paragraph from an article in Frontline magazine
In the field of Indian historiography, Sharma was a trailblazer. His first major work, Sudras in Ancient India, substantially his thesis for the degree of PhD, approved at the University of London, came out in 1958. It was a pioneering work focussing on the history of the labouring classes from early beginnings to the end of the Gupta period. He studied the relationship between the changes in the nature of their subordination and disabilities and developments in the means and organisation of production processes. The second edition of this book, brought out in 1980, is a much larger and modified version that takes note of new evidence and investigations in archaeological and anthropological studies during the intervening period. Meanwhile, his Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India was published in 1959, analysing the origin, growth and nature of the state in ancient India in the light of historical materialism. The work has gone into several editions and each edition is richer with new insights, arguments and additional material.[1]
External Links
- Page at Wikipedia]
- Ram Sharan Sharma at the website of Communist Party of India (Marxist)(CPI-M)
- Marxist historian passes away - Article at The Hindu newspaper's website
- Secular historian R.S. Sharma - A tribute
References
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