Dasharatha Sharma (1903–1976) was an

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') i ...

with particular interest in the history of the

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 ...

region of India. Born in the Rajasthani city of Churu, he studied in the city of

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital o ...

and at the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...

. He had degrees of Master of Arts (M.A.) in History and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and received a Doctor of Literature (D. Litt.) for his thesis, ''Early Chauhan Dynasties''.

Academic appointments

Sharma was the head of the Department of History at Hindu College, University of Delhi, and later was appointed Reader (equivalent of Associate Professor) in Ancient History at the

. In 1966, he was appointed as Professor and Head, Department of History at the University of Jodhpur (now renamed

Jai Narain Vyas University Jai Narain Vyas University (JNVU, formerly known as University of Jodhpur) is an educational institution in Jodhpur city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Established in 1962, the university took over the four colleges of Jodhpur run by the sta ...

) and later became Dean, Faculty of Arts at the same institution. After retirement from the University of Jodhpur, Prof. Sharma served as Director of the Rajasthan Puratattva Mandir near the

Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute is an organisation established by Government of Rajasthan to promote Rajasthani culture and heritage and to accumulate and maintain the old Rajansthani folk art work and folk literature. It was established in ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

. He also presided over the Ancient History section of the Indian History Congress in 1967 and the General History section of the Rajasthan History Congress in 1969.

Authorship

Sharma published over 400 research papers and notes on a wide range of subjects. His ''Early Chauhan Dynasties'' was first published in 1959, a revised edition was published in 1975 and reprinted in 2002. The manuscript argues that the Agnikula myth of the origin of

Rajputs Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

was adapted from

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributio ...

and calculates the year of birth for Prithiviraj III using planetary positions described in the ''Prithvirajavijaya''. It also attributes the success of Muhammad Ghori to the rivalry between the Chauhans of Shakhambari and the

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extende ...

s (Solanki) of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. Amongst other subjects, ''Lectures on Rajput history and culture'' elaborates on the origin of the Rajputs, brings attention to the celebration in Kannauj after Prithviraj III was defeated at the Second Battle of Tarain, follows the 13th-century Rajput struggle for survival, and discusses the Rajput resurgence represented by Maharana Kumbha and Rao Jodha. In 1960, Sharma was appointed by the Rajasthan State Archives as General Editor of a comprehensive history of Rajasthan to be published by the

Government of Rajasthan The Government of Rajasthan is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Rajasthan and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Rajasthan, a judiciary and a legislative. Jaipur is the capital of Raja ...

. This became the definitive work on the history of Rajasthan. Titled ''Rajasthan through the Ages'' this work was largely written by Sharma and was published in 1966. ''Samrat Prithiviraj Chauhan tritiya aur unka yug'' (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 ...

) is an updated text on Prithviraja III.

Monographs

*''Early Chauhan Dynasties:'' a study of Chauhan political history, Chauhan political institutions, and life in the Chauhan dominions, from 800 to 1316 A D :Dasharatha Sharma; with a foreword by K.M. Panikkar. *''Rajasthan through the ages'': a comprehensive and authentic history of Rajasthan, prepared under the orders of the Government of Rajasthan (Volume I) General Editor: Dasharatha Sharma. Publisher: Rajasthan State Archives, Bikaner, 1966. *''Lectures on Rajput history and culture'' (Raghunath Prosad Nopany Lectures 1966), Motilal Banarsidass, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi, 1970. .

Academic appointments

Authorship

Monographs

References

Further reading