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:

progressivehistory2019@gmail.com

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