Ram Sharan Sharma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ram Sharan Sharma
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| Born | 26 November 1919 Barauni, Bihar and Orissa Province, British India
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| Died | 20 August 2011 (aged 91) Patna, Bihar, India
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| Alma mater | University of Patna, School of Oriental and African Studies |
| Known for | Indian Historiography |
| Awards | Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade Award, H. K. Barpujari Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Sudras in Ancient India (1956) |
| Doctoral advisor | A. L. Basham |
Ram Sharan Sharma (born November 26, 1919 – died August 20, 2011) was a very important Indian historian. He was an expert in the history of Ancient and early Medieval India. He taught history at Patna University and Delhi University. He also visited and taught at the University of Toronto in Canada.
Professor Sharma was a senior expert at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He was also the president of the Indian History Congress in 1975. He helped the History Department at Delhi University grow a lot in the 1970s. He was also the first Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). He wrote 115 books that were published in many different languages.
Contents
Early Life and Influences
Ram Sharan Sharma was born in Barauni, Begusarai, Bihar. His father worked hard to pay for his education up to high school. After that, Ram Sharan Sharma earned scholarships and tutored students to pay for his studies.
When he was young, he met important leaders like Karyanand Sharma and Sahajanand Saraswati. He also met scholars like Rahul Sankrityayan. These people taught him to care deeply about fairness for everyone. He learned to fight for people who were not treated well. This led him to support ideas that focused on helping all parts of society.
Later, he worked with Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, who was a social reformer and journalist. This helped him understand rural India better. It also made him a strong voice against unfair rule and against groups that caused division. He believed historians should not just study the past. They should also learn lessons from it to solve problems today.
Education and Key Achievements
Sharma finished high school in 1937. He then studied at Patna College for six years. He earned his PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. His main teacher there was Professor A. L. Basham.
His PhD study was about the history of Sudras in Ancient India. This work was later published as a book in 1958. He taught at colleges in Arrah and Bhagalpur before joining Patna University in 1946. From 1958 to 1973, he was the head of the History Department at Patna University.
Later, he became a professor and dean of the History Department at Delhi University from 1973 to 1978. He was also the first chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research from 1972 to 1977. He received many important awards and fellowships. These included the Jawaharlal Fellowship in 1969 and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award in 1989.
He was a visiting professor at the University of Toronto and a visiting fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He also served as president of the Indian History Congress in 1975. He was a member of the University Grants Commission.
Sharma received the Campbell Memorial Gold Medal in 1987 for being an outstanding expert on India. In 1992, he won the H. K. Barpujari Biennial National Award for his book Urban Decay in India. In 2001, he received the Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri Birth Centenary Gold Medal. In 2002, the Indian History Congress gave him the Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade Award for his lifetime work in Indian history. He also received honorary degrees from two universities. His books have been translated into many Indian and foreign languages.
Other historians like Professor Irfan Habib and Sumit Sarkar praised his work. They said he, along with D. D. Kosambi, helped bring the study of ordinary people, like farmers, into Indian history.
Building Important Institutions
Professor Sharma was very good at building and improving academic institutions. He wanted to make history studies better and more scientific. At Patna University, he changed the history courses. He made sure they moved away from old ideas that were not based on facts. He helped the department become a leader in studying history in a fair and scientific way.
At Delhi University, he also made big changes. He helped turn the History Department into a place where history was studied in a secular and scientific manner. He fought against ideas that divided people based on religion.
He also played a key role in the Indian History Congress. This is a large group of professional Indian historians. Under his leadership, the Congress became known for its scientific approach to history.
Personality and Character
Professor Sharma was known for being simple and humble. He was tall and fair, and always wore traditional Indian clothes (dhoti-kurta). His first PhD student, historian Suvira Jaiswal, remembered him teaching not just how to write well. He even taught small things, like how to put a pin in papers so it wouldn't hurt anyone.
His student, historian Dwijendra Narayan Jha, described him as a brave and humble person. He had a strong commitment to society. Professor Sharma was always kind and a great source of inspiration for his students. He was warm to his friends and generous even to those who disagreed with him.
Writing Style and Focus
In his writings, Professor Sharma focused on how Indian society was structured in early times. He also studied daily life, the economy, and how states were formed. He looked at political ideas and how religious beliefs were connected to society. He always highlighted how things changed and stayed the same over time in Indian culture.
His way of studying history involved carefully checking old writings and records. He also connected these writings with information from archaeology (studying old objects) and ethnography (studying cultures). This method helped him understand history deeply. His ideas and questions have led to many new studies in history.
Major Works and Ideas
- Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India (2005)
- Sudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order Down to Circa AD 600 (1990)
- India's Ancient Past (2005)
- Looking for the Aryans (1995)
- Indian Feudalism (2005)
- Early Medieval Indian Society: A Study in Feudalisation (2003)
- Perspectives in Social and Economic History of Ancient India (2003)
- Urban Decay in India c. 300- c. 1000 (1987)
Theory of Feudalism
One of his most famous books was Indian Feudalism, published in 1965. This book caused a lot of discussion among historians. It explored whether the idea of "feudalism" (a system where land is exchanged for service) could be used to understand ancient and medieval India.
Professor Sharma added a lot of detailed research to this idea. His book is considered a very important work. When some historians disagreed with him, he wrote another book, Urban Decay in India (c.300-1000). In this book, he used archaeological evidence to show that cities declined, which supported his ideas about feudalism. He also wrote Early Medieval Indian Society: A Study in Feudalisation to answer his critics.
Sharma used a method called historical materialism. This means he looked at how economic and social changes affected society and ideas. He explored how the "feudal mind" worked and the social reasons behind certain religious practices. He also studied the conditions that led to the birth of Buddhism. Many of his books have been translated into different languages.
Other Important Writings
Sharma wrote two books, Looking for the Aryans (1995) and Advent of the Aryans in India (1999). In these books, he challenged the idea that the Aryans were the first people in India. He also argued that the Indus Valley Civilization was not created by the Aryans.
He was also part of a government committee that looked into the history of Ram Sethu. Some people believed this bridge was built by the Hindu god Ram. Professor Sharma, as the historian on the committee, said in his report that it was a natural formation. This helped calm a big public debate.
Views on Communalism
Professor Sharma strongly spoke out against communalism, which is when groups cause division based on religion. In his booklet, Communal History and Rama's Ayodhya, he wrote that Ayodhya became a religious pilgrimage site later in history. He pointed out that an ancient text listing 52 pilgrimage places did not include Ayodhya. He also noted that Tulsidas, who wrote the Ramcharitmanas in 1574 in Ayodhya, did not mention it as a pilgrimage spot.
After the Babri Masjid was destroyed, he and other historians wrote a report. They explained that there was no evidence of a temple at the disputed site. They called the destruction of the mosque an act of vandalism.
Legacy and Influence
After his death, many famous historians gathered to honor Ram Sharan Sharma. Historians like Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, and Bipan Chandra spoke about his great influence. Professor Bipan Chandra called him "the greatest historian of India" after D.D. Kosambi. Irfan Habib repeated that Sharma, along with Kosambi, helped bring the study of ordinary people, like farmers, into Indian history for the first time.
See also
- NCERT controversy
- Marxist historiography
- List of Indian writers
