Bipan Chandra (24 May 1928 – 30 August 2014) was an Indian

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 st ...

, specialising in

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

and

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

history of modern India. An emeritus professor of modern history at

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties an ...

, he specialized on the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal ...

and is considered a leading scholar on

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. He authored several books, including ''The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism''.

Early life and education

Chandra was born in Kangra in

Punjab, British India Punjab was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company in 2 April 1849, and declared a province of British Rule, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British ...

(now in

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

). As used to be the case in old Punjab, his early education was in Urdu, he was best at home in his early years with an Urdu novel by his side. He graduated from

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by America ...

, Lahore in 1946 after which the Partition forced him to leave. Thereafter he went to the United States where he studied at the

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

, California,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, to complete his graduation and post-graduation. He established contact with Communists there, and, caught in the net cast under Senator McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade, he was deported to India. Back in Delhi in the early 1950s, Bipan Chandra was appointed lecturer in history at the Hindu College, Delhi."Bipan Chandra and Andre Beteille Appointed as National Research Professors"
Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2014. Later he completed his Ph.D. from Delhi University in 1963.

Career

Chandra taught for many years as

lecturer Lecturer is an 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. They may also conduct re ...

and then as

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 ...

Hindu College, Delhi Hindu College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi in New Delhi, India. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sciences, humanities, social sciences and commerce. In 2022, it is ranked 2nd nationally by Nat ...

."Renowned Indian Historian Dr. Bipan Chandra Passes Away - Kitaab"
Retrieved 2015-03-25. He became

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

of History at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

, soon after the university was founded and after retirement was appointed as an emeritus professor there. He founded the journal ''Enquiry'' and was a member of its editorial board for a long time. Chandra was a sectional president and then the general president of the

Indian History Congress Indian History Congress is the largest professional and academic body of Indian historians with over 35,000 members. It was established in 1935. The name of any new applicant for membership needs to be proposed and seconded by existing Ordinary or L ...

in 1985. He was chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies,

, New Delhi. He became a member of the University Grants Commission in 1993. He was the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the

National Book Trust National Book Trust (NBT) is an Indian publishing house, which was founded in 1957 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. The activities of the Trust include publishing, promotion of books and reading, ...

from 2004 to 2012. As Chairman of National Book Trust, India, he started many new series such as Popular Social Science, Autobiography, Afro-Asian Countries series, Indian Diaspora Studies etc. In his retirement years he was appointed as a national research professor in 2007.

Research

Chandra was at the forefront of the communist movement in India since independence. His co-authored book, ''Freedom Struggle'', was censored by the new central government that came to power in India in 1977. He collaborated with historians such

Nurul Hasan Saiyid Nurul Hasan (26 December 1921 – 12 July 1993) was an Indian historian and an elder statesman in the Government of India. A member of the Rajya Sabha, he was the Union Minister of State (with Independent Charges) of Education, So ...

Ram Sharan Sharma Ram Sharan Sharma (26 November 1919 – 20 August 2011) was an Indian historian and Indologist who specialised in the history of Ancient and early Medieval India. He taught at Patna University and Delhi University (1973–85) and was visiting ...

, Sarvapalli Gopal,

Satish Chandra Satish Chandra is a given name of Hindu origin, and may refer to, * Satish Chandra (politician), Indian National Congress leader * Satish Chandra (historian), Indian academic * Satish Chandra Agarwal, Indian politician * Satish Chandra Basumata ...

, Romila Thapar,

Irfan Habib Irfan Habib (born August 10, 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient and medieval India, following the methodology of Marxist historiography in his contributions to economic history. He identifies as a Marxist and is well known for his strong ...

Barun De Barun De (30 October 1932 – 16 July 2013) was an Indian historian. He served as the first professor of social and economic history of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, founder-director of the Centre for Studies in Social Sci ...

and Arjun Dev and some of his students, such as

Mridula Mukherjee Mridula Mukherjee (née Mahajan) is an Indian historian known for her work on the role of peasants in the Indian independence movement. She is an ex-chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, a ...

, Aditya Mukherjee, Sucheta Mahajan and Vishalakshi Menon, some of whose textbooks have previously been prescribed in the history syllabi of schools in India.

Controversy

In April 2016, right-wing activist

Dinanath Batra Dinanath Batra (also spelled Dina Nath Batra) is the former general secretary of Vidya Bharati, the school network run by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He has also founded the educational activist organisations ''Shiksha Bachao Andola ...

sought a ban on Chandra's bestselling '' India's Struggle for Independence'' because of a misunderstanding of the terminology used in it.Vikas Pathak, 'Ban Sought on Bipan Chandra's book' in ''The Hindu'', 29 April 2016
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Death

Chandra died on 30 August 2014, at his home in Gurgaon, after prolonged illness, aged 86. JNU organised a commemorative event on his birth anniversary.

Publications

*''The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi'', Orient Blackswan, 2000 *''History of Modern India'', Orient Blackswan, 1990 *''Communalism: A Primer'', (New Delhi, 2008) *''In the Name of Democracy: The JP Movement and the Emergency'', (New Delhi, 2003) *''Essays on Colonialism'', (New Delhi, 1999) *''India Since Independence'', (jointly with

and Aditya Mukherjee), (New Delhi, 1999) *''Ideology and Politics in Modern India'', (New Delhi, 1994) *''Essays on Indian Nationalism'', (New Delhi, 1993) *''Essays on Contemporary India'', (New Delhi, 1993) *''The Epic Struggle'', (New Delhi, 1992) *''India's Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947'', (New Delhi, 1989) *''Indian National Movement: The Long Term Dynamics'', (New Delhi, 1988) *''Communalism in Modern India'', (New Delhi, 1984) *''The Indian Left: Critical Appraisal'', (New Delhi, 1983) *''Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India'', (New Delhi, 1979) *''Freedom Struggle'', (jointly with Amalesh Tripathi and Barun De), (New Delhi, 1972)) *''The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India: Economic Policies of Indian National Leadership, 1880-1905'' (New Delhi, 1966)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Bipan 1928 births 2014 deaths Emeritus Professors in India Historians of South Asia Historians of India Writers about Hindu nationalism Stanford University alumni Delhi University alumni Delhi University faculty Jawaharlal Nehru University faculty Forman Christian College alumni Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Indian Marxist historians Indian political writers Writers from Himachal Pradesh 20th-century Indian historians People from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh Scholars from Himachal Pradesh