Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade (12 July 1863 – 31 December 1926), popularly known as ''Itihasacharya'' Rajwade, was a historian, scholar, writer, commentator and orator from

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. He is considered to be the first in real sense to undertake an immense research of

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

history by visiting hundreds of villages and historical places all over India and gathering thousands of historical papers. He was also a commentator on various aspects of world history. He was the founder member of Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, Pune. His students include historians like

Datto Vaman Potdar Dattatray Vaman Potdar (5 August 1890 – 6 October 1979), better known as Datto Vaman Potdar, was an Indian historian, writer, and orator. He was the Vice-Chancellor of University of Pune during 1961 - 1964. The British colonial Government of ...

Vasudeo Sitaram Bendrey Vasudeo Sitaram Bendrey (13 February 1894 to 16 July 1986) was born in Raigad. His early education took place in Pen and he completed his matriculation at Wilson high school in Mumbai. In those days you were required to be 16 years old to t ...

and G. H. Khare. The historian,

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 f ...

says: "With his unadulterated passion for research, V.K.Rajwade went from village to village in

in search of

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 ...

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

and sources of

history; which were published in twenty-two volumes." Rajwade should not be confused with "Ahitagni" Shankar Ramchandra Rajwade, the Vedic scholar. 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 ...

has constituted the Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade Award for lifelong service and contribution to Indian history.

Early life

Rajwade was born in a

Chitpavan Brahmin The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the communi ...

family on 24 June 1863. Rajwade's grandfather was the ''Killedar'' of fort Lohagad in the province of

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. He was born in Varsai village, in

Raigad district Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad fort, Raigad after the fort that ...

, Maharashtra. His father died while he was a child and from then he was brought up by his uncle at Vadgaon near Pune. He matriculated in January 1882 and graduated in 1890 from Deccan College, Pune. During his degree course he came into close contact with eminent historian Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, who was then a professor at the college. He was also inspired by the works of Essayist

Vishnushastri Krushnashastri Chiplunkar Vishnushastri Chiplunkar (20 May 1850 – 17 March 1882) ( Marathi : विष्णुशास्त्री कृष्णाशास्त्री चिपळूणकर) was a Marathi writer, whose writings have had a decisive influ ...

, lexicographer

Parshuram Tatya Godbole Parshuram Ballal Godbole (1799 – 3 September 1874) was a Marathi lexicographer, editor, and translator. He was one of the editors of Panditi Kosha, a dictionary prepared by Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a cla ...

and Kavyeitihas Sangrahakar Sane.

Later life

Rajwade married after graduating college but his wife died young. Thereafter he chose to remain single and dedicate his life to history and research. In 1895 he started a Marathi magazine called ''Bhashantar'' (meaning ‘translation’) through which he brought works of Western historians and scholars such as

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

, and

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...

, and also Indian scholars like

Shankaracharya Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , "Adi Shankara, Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi ...

in Marathi. Simultaneously, by writing articles and delivering speeches he also started educating Marathi people on several subjects like history of Marathas, history of world, history of Marathi literature, grammar of Marathi and Sanskrit languages. In 1910, he founded

Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, popularly known as Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal or just ‘Mandal’, is an Indian institute providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is located at Pune in Maharashtra state. The institute wa ...

at Pune and kept all his works and historical papers gathered by him in the custody of the Mandal. After his sudden death in 1926, ‘Rajwade Sanshodhak Mandal’ was founded at

Dhule Dhule is a city located in the Dhule District in the northwestern part of Maharashtra state, India known as West Khandesh. Situated on the banks of Panzara River, Dhule is the regional headquarters of MIDC, RTO, and MTDC. The city is mainly kn ...

and his works and collection of his later life was kept there. Both institutions have been contributing in the field of history and culture of India to this date.

Works in Marathi as a researcher / historian / editor

*Marathyanchya Itihasachi Sadhane (Sources of the History of Marathas) – 22 Volumes. He wrote the preface of each of 22 volume very scholarly. *Radha Madhav Vilas Champu (Biography of

Shahaji Shahaji Bhonsale (Pronunciation: �əɦad͡ʒiː c. 1594 – 1664) was a military leader of India in the 17th century, who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a membe ...

) *Aitihasik Prastavana (Historical Prefaces) *Rajwade Lekhsangraha (Collection of essays) – 3 Volumes *Bharatiya Vivah Sansthecha Itihas (History of Indian matrimony) *

Dnyaneshwari The ''Dnyaneshwari'' ( mr, ज्ञानेश्वरी) (IAST: Jñānēśvarī), also referred to as ''Jnanesvari'', ''Jnaneshwari'' or ''Bhavartha Deepika'' is a commentary on the ''Bhagavad Gita'' written by the Marathi saint and poet Sa ...

(Editor) * Mahikavatichi Bakhar (chronicle of Mahikavati aka Mahim in present-day Mumbai)-detailed analysis & publication.

References

External links

Historian V K Rajawade's works to hit the stands
at www.indianexpress.com