Tapan Raychaudhuri
Encyclopedia
Tapan Raychaudhuri is an India
n historian
specialising in British Indian history
, Indian economic history
and the History of Bengal
.
of Kirtipasha in Barisal, Bengal
and a leader of the Congress
party there before 1947. His uncle was Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
, Charmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta
, and a son of the Zamindar of Ponabalia in Bengal. Another uncle of his was the prominent Congress politician, Kiran Shankar Ray, Home Minister of West Bengal from 1947-1948, and the Zamindar of Teota in Bengal.
, Calcutta and then finally at Barisal Zilla School
, Barisal, where he was transferred after his family had to move back to their family seat at Kirtipasha for purposes of rent collection, during a lean period in Bengal's agrarian economy. In the early 1940s he returned to Calcutta to join Scottish Church College for his I.A. and stayed at Duff Hostel, the college's hall of residence. Later he moved to Presidency College
to complete his B.A. (Honours) and M.A. in History, with First Class Second in both the examinations. In his B.A. (Hons.) class he was a student of Professor
Susobhan Sarkar
, who greatly influenced his thought. He completed his first Ph.D.
entitled "Bengal under Akbar and Jahangir" at Calcutta University as the last doctoral student of Sir
Jadunath Sarkar
, the eminent historian of medieval and modern India and himself the son of the Zamindar of Karchamaria in Bengal.
After a few years of teaching at Calcutta University, when he stayed with his uncle, Kiran Shankar Ray's family, at their Calcutta residence on European Asylum Lane, in 1957 he went to Balliol College, Oxford
on a Government of West Bengal scholarship to complete his second Ph.D. (D.Phil.) under the supervision of Dr. C.C. Davies entitled "The Dutch in Coromandel, 1605-1690". Davies was then the Reader in Indian History at Oxford University, the post that Raychaudhuri later came to occupy. In the sequel to his Bangalnama he writes that on the first day of his arrival at Balliol, he was befriended by the eminent British Marxist historian, Christopher Hill
. Initially, his research did not find favour with his internal evaluators, who stopped him and wanted him to revise the work he had already done on his thesis, in spite of having completed a full doctoral thesis in Calcutta which had already been published as a book, but his own insistence and acceptance of the criticisms eventually helped him complete his thesis.
in the Department of Islamic History and Culture, at the University of Calcutta
. After his return to India, he was appointed as the Deputy and then Acting-Director of the National Archives of India
, New Delhi
. Soon after he became Reader
and then Professor
of History at University of Delhi
. Later, he was appointed Professor of Economic History
and Director of the Delhi School of Economics
under Delhi University, at a time when his colleagues at the Delhi School included Amartya Sen
, Manmohan Singh
, Sukhomoy Chakravarty, Jagdish Bhagwati
and Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri. He was also the Founder-editor
of Indian Social and Economic History Review a leading Indian history journal. In 1972 he succeeded Sarvepalli Gopal
as the Reader
of South Asian History, St. Antony's College, Oxford. In 1991 he was appointed as the Ad Hominem
Professor of Indian History and Civilisation, St. Antony's College, Oxford. He is very well known for supervising generations of Indian history students at Oxford. Presently he is Emeritus
Fellow, St Antony's College, Oxford
and was until recently the Editor-in-Chief of Autumn Annual, the scholarly journal published by the Alumni Association of Presidency College, Calcutta.
He has been a Guest Professor at numerous universities: they include the University of California, Berkeley
, University of Pennsylvania
, Harvard University
, Yale University
Collegio de Maxico, Ecole Pratique de Hautes Etudes, University of Sydney
and University of Perth and a Visiting Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.
He has also been a Founding-Member of the Indian Council of Historical Research
, New Delhi.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
specialising in British Indian history
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, Indian economic history
Economic history of India
The known Economic history of India begins with the Indus Valley civilization. The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by advances in transport. Around 600 BC, the Mahajanapadas minted punch-marked silver coins. The period was marked...
and the History of Bengal
History of Bengal
The history of Bengal includes modern day Bangladesh and West Bengal, dates back four millennia. To some extent, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers separated it from the mainland of India, though at times, Bengal has played an important role in the history of India.- Etymology :The exact origin...
.
Background
He is the second son of Amiya Kumar Raychaudhuri, the ZamindarZamindar
A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...
of Kirtipasha in Barisal, Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
and a leader of the Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
party there before 1947. His uncle was Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri was an Indian historian, known for his studies on ancient India.-Early life and education:...
, Charmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
, and a son of the Zamindar of Ponabalia in Bengal. Another uncle of his was the prominent Congress politician, Kiran Shankar Ray, Home Minister of West Bengal from 1947-1948, and the Zamindar of Teota in Bengal.
Education
He studied at Jagabandhu Institution and Ballygunge Government High SchoolBallygunge Government High School
Ballygunge Government High School, , is one of the oldest and best schools in West Bengal, India. The school is adjacent to Kolkata RTO/Beltala police station.The school is Bengali medium, with Bengali taught as main language...
, Calcutta and then finally at Barisal Zilla School
Barisal Zilla School
Barisal Zilla School is a boys school located in Barisal, Bangladesh. One of the oldest schools in Bangladesh, it has more than two thousand students. Beside the school playground, Barisal Zilla School owns famous ground called Poreshagor. The school celebrated its 175th anniversary on 9-10...
, Barisal, where he was transferred after his family had to move back to their family seat at Kirtipasha for purposes of rent collection, during a lean period in Bengal's agrarian economy. In the early 1940s he returned to Calcutta to join Scottish Church College for his I.A. and stayed at Duff Hostel, the college's hall of residence. Later he moved to Presidency College
Presidency College, Kolkata
Presidency University, Kolkata, formerly Hindu College and Presidency College, is a unitary, state aided university, located in Kolkata, West Bengal. and one of the premier institutes of learning of liberal arts and sciences in India. In 2002 it was ranked number one by the weekly news magazine...
to complete his B.A. (Honours) and M.A. in History, with First Class Second in both the examinations. In his B.A. (Hons.) class he was a student of Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Susobhan Sarkar
Susobhan Sarkar
-Background and education:Sarkar was born into a Brahmo family of Dhaka. After attending Dhaka Collegiate School and then studying history at Presidency College, Calcutta, he continued his studies at Jesus College, Oxford from 1923 to 1925. His daughter was Sipra Sarkar, a brilliant student of...
, who greatly influenced his thought. He completed his first Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
entitled "Bengal under Akbar and Jahangir" at Calcutta University as the last doctoral student of Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Jadunath Sarkar
Jadunath Sarkar
Sir Jadunath Sarkar was a prominent Indian Bengali aristocrat and historian.-Background:Born in Singra, Natore. He was the son of Rajkumar Sarkar, the Zamindar of Karchamaria in Natore in Bengal.-Education:...
, the eminent historian of medieval and modern India and himself the son of the Zamindar of Karchamaria in Bengal.
After a few years of teaching at Calcutta University, when he stayed with his uncle, Kiran Shankar Ray's family, at their Calcutta residence on European Asylum Lane, in 1957 he went to Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
on a Government of West Bengal scholarship to complete his second Ph.D. (D.Phil.) under the supervision of Dr. C.C. Davies entitled "The Dutch in Coromandel, 1605-1690". Davies was then the Reader in Indian History at Oxford University, the post that Raychaudhuri later came to occupy. In the sequel to his Bangalnama he writes that on the first day of his arrival at Balliol, he was befriended by the eminent British Marxist historian, Christopher Hill
Christopher Hill
Christopher Hill may refer to:*Christopher Hill , English bishop*Christopher J. Hill, International Relations scholar, Professor and Director of the Cambridge Centre of International Studies*Christopher R. Hill, U.S. Ambassador in Iraq...
. Initially, his research did not find favour with his internal evaluators, who stopped him and wanted him to revise the work he had already done on his thesis, in spite of having completed a full doctoral thesis in Calcutta which had already been published as a book, but his own insistence and acceptance of the criticisms eventually helped him complete his thesis.
Academic
In his long and illustrious career he has held several important academic posts: he started his career, before leaving for Oxford, as a LecturerLecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in the Department of Islamic History and Culture, at the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
. After his return to India, he was appointed as the Deputy and then Acting-Director of the National Archives of India
National Archives of India
The National Archives of India is a repository of the non-current records of the Government of India and is holding them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars. Originally established as the 'Imperial Record Department' in 1891, in Calcutta, the then capital of British India...
, New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. Soon after he became Reader
Reader (academic rank)
The title of Reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth nations like Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship...
and then Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of History at University of Delhi
University of Delhi
The University of Delhi is a central university situated in Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the Chancellor of the university...
. Later, he was appointed Professor of Economic History
Economic history
Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...
and Director of the Delhi School of Economics
Delhi School of Economics
Delhi School of Economics , commonly referred to as DSE or D School, is a centre of post graduate learning of the University of Delhi. The centre is situated in the university's North Campus in Maurice Nagar, and is surrounded by a host of other prestigious academic institutions of the country...
under Delhi University, at a time when his colleagues at the Delhi School included Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
, Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
, Sukhomoy Chakravarty, Jagdish Bhagwati
Jagdish Bhagwati
Jagdish Natwarlal Bhagwati is an Indian-American economist and professor of economics and law at Columbia University. He is well known for his research in international trade and for his advocacy of free trade....
and Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri. He was also the Founder-editor
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
of Indian Social and Economic History Review a leading Indian history journal. In 1972 he succeeded Sarvepalli Gopal
Sarvepalli Gopal
-Background and education:He was born in a Niyogi Telugu Brahmin family. He was the son of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, India's first Vice-President [1952-1962] and second President [1962-1967].He completed his graduation at Presidency College, Madras, and D.Phil...
as the Reader
Reader (academic rank)
The title of Reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth nations like Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship...
of South Asian History, St. Antony's College, Oxford. In 1991 he was appointed as the Ad Hominem
Ad hominem
An ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
Professor of Indian History and Civilisation, St. Antony's College, Oxford. He is very well known for supervising generations of Indian history students at Oxford. Presently he is Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
Fellow, St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
and was until recently the Editor-in-Chief of Autumn Annual, the scholarly journal published by the Alumni Association of Presidency College, Calcutta.
He has been a Guest Professor at numerous universities: they include the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Collegio de Maxico, Ecole Pratique de Hautes Etudes, University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
and University of Perth and a Visiting Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.
He has also been a Founding-Member of the Indian Council of Historical Research
Indian Council of Historical Research
The Indian Council of Historical Research is a Society . The ICHR is registered under Societies registration Act 1860 with the Department of Industries of Delhi Government, Delhi.Role...
, New Delhi.
Political views
He was active in the national movement in the 1940s. As a college and university student living in Calcutta in that decade, and like other freedom fighters and patriots of his generation, he participated in the Quit India Movement (1942) and was sent to jail for one year along with his father and elder brother. In the initial years of his career he was closely associated with the right wing, given his family background. From the sequel to his Bangalnama it emerges that he was never close to the left-wing history estblishment that had the backing of the Indian National Congress in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Even though he accepted a membership of the ICHR, he soon fell out with the dominant group there and migrated to the United Kingdom where he has remained since. In history he has sought to be identified with the nationalist school, and has supervised generations of Indian scholars working on Indian history of nineteenth and twentieth centuries' India. The political and intellectual orientations of the works completed under his guidance clear demonstrate of the influence of a centre-right historian with clear sympathies for certain segments of the national movement, notably not the Congress. Marginalised political parties opposed to the Congress and led or represented by declining middle class bhadralok interests have mostly been approved off in these works. Since the early 1990s he has, ironically, gravitated towards certain vested interests of the left, especially of the CPI (M) in West Bengal, his home-state. This happened especially after the left made a conscious decision to disassociate itself with communism and adopt a pro-liberalisation policy after 1991. The Padma Bhushan followed in 2007.Awards and honours
- Watumull Prize awarded by the American Historical AssociationAmerican Historical AssociationThe American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
, 1982. (jointly with Irfan HabibIrfan HabibIrfan Habib is an Indian Marxist historian, a former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Padma Bhushan awardee. He is a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University. He has served in the Indian History Congress for many years. Irfan Habib and R.S...
) for the Cambridge Economic History of India. - Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
- Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the University of CalcuttaUniversity of CalcuttaThe University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
- Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the University of Burdwan
- Padma BhushanPadma BhushanThe Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
in 2007 in recognition to his contributions to history.
Books
- Perceptions, Emotions, Sensibilities: Essays on India's Colonial and Post-colonial Experiences (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005),
- The Cambridge Economic History of India, Vol. I, (Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2004), (jointly edited with Irfan HabibIrfan HabibIrfan Habib is an Indian Marxist historian, a former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Padma Bhushan awardee. He is a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University. He has served in the Indian History Congress for many years. Irfan Habib and R.S...
), - Romanthan Athoba Bhimrotiprapter Paracharitcharcha, (Calcutta: Ananda Publishers, 1992) (in Bengali)
- Europe Reconsidered: Perception of the West in Nineteenth Century Bengal, (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1988)
- Bengal Under Akbar & Jahangir: An Introductory Study in Social History, (1969),
- Jan Company in Coromandel, (Martinus Nijhoff, 1962),
- Bangalnama, (Ananda Publishers, Calcutta, 2007)