Grigory Maksimovich Bongard-Levin (russian: Григорий Максимович Бонгард-Левин) (1933–2008) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

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 ...

specializing on

Ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...

and the

history of Central Asia The history of Central Asia concerns the history of the various peoples that have inhabited Central Asia. The lifestyle of such people has been determined primarily by the area's climate and geography. The aridity of the region makes agriculture ...

. He also published on the history of Russian emigration. He was a member of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

and was awarded the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

in 1988. In 2006 he was awarded India's third highest civilian award

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

which ranked below

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...

and

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

for his contribution in the field of Ancient India history

Works

* 1981, ''The Origin of the Aryans'', Prometheus Books, * 1985, ''Ancient Indian Civilization'' Древнеиндийская цивилизация, Humanities Press, * 1986, ''Complex Study of Ancient India: A Multi Disciplinary Approach'', South Asia Books * 1986, ''Mauryan India'', Stosius Inc/Advent Books Division, * 2001, Древняя Индия, История и культура (Ancient India, history and culture), Aletejya,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bongard-Levin, Grigory Maksimovich 20th-century Russian historians 1933 births 2008 deaths Russian Indologists Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery Academic staff of Moscow State University