E-Paper
ICHR to come up with monographs on historic events, places, dynasties
This was decided during the council’s projects committee meeting held on Wednesday, ICHR chairperson Raghuvendra Tanwar
The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) will prepare short monographs covering different aspects of Indian history – including dynasties, people and significant events through ages – with an aim to present a “correct narrative” in the public domain, officials said.
This was decided during the council’s projects committee meeting held on Wednesday, ICHR chairperson Raghuvendra Tanwar.
Tanwar said that the monograph—detailed write up on a single specialised subject or an aspect of it— will be prepared to cater to both common readers and experts for a comprehensive understanding of different subjects.
“The committee discussed and realised that there is a need for working on short monographs, of 100-120 pages, covering different aspects of Indian History including important dynasties and people, significant events, and sages and saints and philosophers through the ages. Through these monographs, people will get a comprehensive understanding of various subjects in a brief reading rather than going through a whole volume,” he said.
Explaining the idea behind the project, he said, “The idea is to present factually correct history in the public domain. We are not trying to counter anyone here. We will just focus on providing a scientifically reviewed, correct narrative. We will also provide a reading list in these monographs for reference.”
Tanwar said that the whole country should know the composite culture and evolutionary process of political, social and cultural history of India. “The monographs will also be comprehensive for people who don’t have a background in history. For instance, if a science student wants to know who Ashoka was and who Chandragupta was they can just pick up a monograph and read about them in simple language,” he said.
Initially, the Council will prepare 50 such monographs in Hindi and English and will also translate them into different Indian languages. “We are starting with 50 such monographs. We are yet to finalize the topics that will be covered. The Council will be engaging historians to prepare them,” the ICHR chairperson said, adding that the first round of monographs will be completed in the next six months.
The move is in addition to the ICHR’s various other recent initiatives on existing Indian history. The Council had last year announced an elaborate project “Comprehensive history of India” under which it will release 12-14 volumes over the next three to four years, giving credits to those who have been missed out so far. Earlier this year, the Council also held an exhibition covering “unexplored dynasties” of India between the eighth and the 18th centuries.
