Ajay Mitra Shastri (5 March 1934 – 11 January 2002) was an Indian academic, historian and numismatist associated with the

Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as th ...

Early life and education

A. M. Shastri was born on 5 March 1934 at Guna in Central India Agency,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

). Originally named Mahendra Kumar, he spent four years at

gurukul Education in India is primarily managed by state-run public education system, which fall under the command of the government at three levels: central, state and local. Under various articles of the Indian Constitution and the Right of Childre ...

s (residential schools) at Rajor (Faizabad) and

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

, where he chose the name "Ajay Mitra" from a list of names suggested by his ''

acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a preceptor and expert instructor in matters such as religion, or any other subject. An acharya is a highly learned person with a tit ...

'' (teacher). He subsequently joined a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

school at Baran in present-day

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, where he passed the ''Madhyama'' examination. He also passed the ''Visharad'' and ''Sahitya Ratna'' exams in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

language. Subsequently, he passed the Shastri examination from the Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi, and adopted "Shastri" as his last name. During this period, he also passed Matriculation and Intermediate examinations. In 1953, he obtained the ''

Shastri Shastri or Shastry is a Brahmin surname. The word ''shastri'' translates to 'scholar'. It is derived from Sanskrit and means one who is proficient in the Shastras (Ancient Indian Texts). Notable people with the surname include: Shastri * Anant M ...

'' degree (equivalent to

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

) with Sociology, History and Political Science specializations from the

Kashi Vidyapith Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith is a public university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established in 10 February 1921 as Kashi Vidyapith and later renamed, it is administered under the state legislature of the government of Uttar Pra ...

. In 1957, he obtained a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in Ancient Indian History and Culture from the Banaras Hindu University.

Career

In 1957, Shastri became a lecturer at the Department of Ancient History and Culture at the

. There, he completed

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

on ''Brhat-samhita'' of Varahamihira in 1962. He held various posts at the Nagpur University until his retirement, including

Lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

(1957–1965),

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

(1965–1977) and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

(1977–1994). In 1980, Shastri suffered a

retinal detachment Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...

, and underwent multiple operations. Dr. Ishwarchandra, an eye specialist of Nagpur, and Dr.

S. S. Badrinath Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath (24 February 1940 – 21 November 2023) was an Indian ophthalmologist who was the founder and chairman emeritus of Sankara Nethralaya, one of India's largest charitable eye hospitals. He was an elected fellow of the ...

, an eye surgeon of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, advised him to stop reading and writing completely in order to save his vision. However, Shastri continued to engage in these activities, and wrote several books and articles, besides editing multiple journals. He died on 11 January 2002.

Early life and education

Career

Works

References

Bibliography

Further reading