on romila thapar : an interdisciplinary dialogue · resource person dr. umesh bagade dept. of...
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National ConferenceOn
Pragatik Itihas Sanstha&
Dept. of Sociology & Dept. of Marathi Hislop College, Nagpur
- Venue -Hislop College
Temple Road, Civil Line, Nagpur
Reg. No. MH-352/19
Romila Thapar : An Interdisciplinary Dialogue
- Date -15 – 16 December, 2019
organise a
Pragatik Itihas Sanstha
Indian history is the history of varna-class-caste
struggles. Writing history from this point of view has been
the objective of Pragatik Itihas Sanstha, which is an
academic institution of professional historians from
Maharashtra. It is from this perspective that this Institution
has attempted to offer an alternative history by organising
various type of activities like Research Workshops, Seminars
and Conferences on History. The objective of this Institution
is primarily the training of researchers and teachers in new
research methodologies. At the same time it strives to
produce new knowledge in the field. Pragatik Itihas Sanstha
works with a view to generating transformative knowledge.
This Institution has so far organised workshops, seminars and
conferences on a variety of topics at Mumbai, Nasik,
Aurangabad, Wai, Panchgani, Satara, Jalgaon, Taloda,
Tarwadi etc.
Hislop College, Nagpur
The Hislop College is known to be the oldest and
renowned college in the region of Vidharbha. Established in
1883, this college has made an important contribution to the
field of higher education in Maharashtra. The said national
congress is being organised jointed by the departments of
sociology and Marathi of this college. Founded in 1952, the
department of sociology was the first one in the Central
province of India and the department of Marathi was founded
in 1926. These two departments have so far undertaken
many programmes. Open to new debates in the field of
knowledge, this college has sought to transcend the
conventional framework of learning and teaching and
responded to knowledge processes in various subjects.
Objective
What we are currently witnessing is the growing
interdisciplinary perspective in higher studies. In order to
understand in a comprehensive manner a particular issue and
present it coherently, it is proper to take into account its
various facets.
No theory and conceptual framework evolved in a
particular discipline can be limited to that domain as it can
be relevant in other domains as well. Drawing upon various
methodologies, social sciences and humanities can be
enriched. Keeping in mind this objective, the said Congress
has been proposed. The intellectual contribution and
conceptual categories of Romila Thapar, a preeminent
historian, certainly transcend the disciplinary boundaries.
Going beyond the established historical meanings, the nature
of her oeuvre equally includes a variety of disciplines. Along
with History, Thapar’s approach is instrumental in
comprehending Anthropology, Sociology, Indology,
Archeology, language, culture, polity and economy. Thus,
Thapar’s historical work is characterised by a broad context
of interdisciplinarity. And it is from this interdisciplinary
perspective that the proposed congress seeks to comprehend
her historical writings.
Romila Thapar
Romila Thapar is regarded to be one of the preeminent
and internationally acclaimed historian of India. She has
offered new ways of writing the history of ancient India. For
her contribution in the domain of history, she was honoured
in 2008 with Kluge Prize, which is considered to be
equivalent to Nobel Prize in social sciences. Moreover, she
has been honoured with honorary doctorates by many
universities to celebrate her writings in history.
With a new methodology in Indian historiography,
D.D. Kosambi offered its new understanding. Following the
perspective evolved by Kosambi, Thapar developed a new
historiographical perspective on ancient India. She put into
practice Marxist framework in her historical writings while
innovating it rather than following it mechanically. Kosambi
devised what is called ‘combined methods’ in order to
understand Indian history.
Romila Thapar developed a new methodology in the
field of Indian religious, cultural and historical studies. This
methodology consists in combining important insights in
sociology, anthropology, archaeology, Indology and other
social sciences. Thus, she established a scientific and
rational approach to historiography by taking into account
contemporary political contexts. This comprehensive
/holistic methodology to history characteristic of her
writings has been the vanguard since last few decades in
understanding the history of the oppressed and marginalised
in Ancient India.
In her works on ancient India, Romila Thapar
foregrounded the questions of caste and gender. She also
underscored the instrumentality of culture and religion in
the processes of exploitation, and their socio-economic
inter-relations. She has critiqued colonial, national and
Marxist historiographies. Thus, we come across in her
historical writings an insightful analysis of the making of
modern social consciousness with respect to history. For
instance, she brought forth a nuanced study of how the
colonisers shaped an epistemology in India while undertaking
their colonial/oriental project of hegemonic knowledge, and
how they played a role in reinforcing the hegemonic culture
in India. The manner in which she established a co-
relation/interrelation between the historiography of ancient
India and the evolution of the notions of nation and
nationalism is insightful/profound. Through her numerous
historical projects, she highlighted the politics of collective
consciousness which result from the above mentioned
historiography.
The hegemonic socio-economic structure in history
and its philosophical critique have been the central concern
of Romila Thapar. Therefore, her writing is instrumental in
understanding systematically the historical relations of
ancient India. Some of the important topics that she covered
are Indus civilisation, arya-anarya debate, varna, gana
society, vedic-late vedic society, caste, gender, religion,
race, philosophy, history of Somnath, Asoka and Maurya
empire, Buddhism, Shakuntala, language, shramana-
brahmana traditions, social conflict in ancient India, modern
nationalism etc. From the point of view of research, it is
necessary to take into account these issues that she
broached in her writings. In order to understand the position
of public intellectuals, she situates the consciousness of the
contemporary intellectuals within the historical ambit.
Thus, she offers a historical standpoint necessary for the
comprehension of the contemporary reality. Her central
objective has been to posit a rational and scientific society
for the future.
Call for Papers
Scholars, academicians, researchers, teachers from universities and colleges, social scientists, students from various discipline and activist are invited to participate and present a paper on the topics related to Romila Thapar’s overall contribution in the field of history and Indology. Some of the themes could be as follows:
Ÿ Critique of different trends of historiography, theories
and methods of history writing.
Ÿ Interpreting Early India
Ÿ Writing ancient Indian social history
Ÿ Aryan debate
Ÿ Ancient Indian Religion and Society
Ÿ History of Buddhism, Asoka and Mouryan empire.
Ÿ History of Hindu religion, Varna, Caste, Untouchability,
Feudalism and Slavery.
Ÿ Critique of patriarchy and women enslavement.
Ÿ Nation and Nationalism
Ÿ Against communalism and distortion of history
Ÿ Historian and the role of public intellectual.
Ÿ Romila Thapar’s writings and her contributions to
historical methodology.
Ÿ Social, religious and cultural conflict and processes of
assimilation in Indian history.
Note: Other Related themes and topics on Romila Thapar’s work are also welcome.
- Contact -Dr. Dhanraj Mane
Organizing Secretary, Nagpur
Mb. No. 7757057414
Important Deadlines
Submission of abstract: 20 November, 2019
Intimation of acceptance: 23 November, 2019
Submission of Paper: 10 December, 2019
Registration: 10 December, 2019
Abstracts and papers are to be mailed to following email:
Registration & Accommodation Fees
Ÿ UG and PG students : Rs. 500/-
Ÿ Teachers, Researchers and Professionals : Rs. 1500/-
Keynote Address
Dr. Kumkum RoyCenter for Historical Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Dr. V. GeethaHistorian and Faminist Scholar
Chennai
Valedictory Address
Resource Person
Dr. Umesh Bagade
Dept. of History
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University , Aurangabad
Dr. Kishor Gaykwad
Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh
Dr. Shraddha Kumbhojakar
Head of the Dept. History, Savitribai Phule Pune University , Pune
Prof. Devendra Ingle
Dept. of History, M.J. College, Jalgaon
Dr. Dilip Chavan
Dept. of English, Swami Ramanand Marathwada University, Nanded
Prof. Jayant Agrawal
Secretary
Hislop Education Society, Nagpur
Dr. Prashant Shelke
Vice-Principal
Hislop College, Nagpur
Dr. Narayan Bhosale
President
Pragatik Itihas Sanstha
Dr. Santosh Suradkar
Conference coordinator
Gadchiroli, Mb. 9953516144
Prof. Renukadas Ubale
Co-convener of the Conference
Tumsar, Mb. 9423217738
Prof. Manohar Kumar
Dept. of Hindi, Hislop College
Nagpur
Prof. Milind Ghate
Dept. of Sociology
Hislop College, Nagpur
Dr. D. R. Christian
Principal, Hislop College
Nagpur
Dr. R. R. Sinha
HOD, Dept. of Sociology
Hislop College, Nagpur
Dr. Jagdish Sonawane
Secretary
Pragatik Itihas Sanstha
Prof. Ajay Choudhary
Chief Convener of the Conference
Nagpur, Mb. 7757057414
Dr. Rashmi Band
HOD, Dept. of History
Gondwana University, Gadchiroli
Dr. Vijay Kumar
Dept. of Sociology
Hislop College, Nagpur
Dr. Anil Premala
Dept. of Sociology
Hislop College, Nagpur
Dr. Abhilasha Raut
Dept. of History, Hislop College, Nagpur