"History should be written based on sound proof and reasoning and not focused around famous personalities" Prof. R. C. Majumdar...
Commemorating the 135th Birthday of Eminent Historian Prof. R. C. Majumdar...
Join us at 3 pm on The History Forum 2022 commemorating the 135th Birthday of Prof. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar on https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcO6tqDItHtaP5yFTXoGttObzO22KdO4-
Meet the Recipients of Prof. R. C. Majumdar Honor 2022 for History Educators
Prof. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (known as R. C. Majumdar; 4 December 1888 – 11 February 1980) was a historian and professor of Indian history.
Majumdar is a noted historian of modern India. He was a former Sheriff of Kolkata.
Coming from a Baidya family, Majumdar was born in Khandarpara, Gopalganj, Bengal Presidency, British India (now in Bangladesh) on 4 December 1888, to Haladhara Majumdar and Bidhumukhi.
In 1905, he passed his Entrance Examination from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. In 1907, he passed F.A. with first class scholarship from Surendranath College and joined Presidency College, Calcutta. Graduating in B.A.(Honours) and M.A. from Calcutta University in 1909 and 1911, respectively, he won the Premchand Roychand scholarship from the University of Calcutta for his research work in 1913.
Majumdar started his teaching career as a lecturer at Dacca Government Training College. Since 1914, he spent seven years as a professor of history at the University of Calcutta. He got his doctorate for his thesis "Corporate Life in Ancient India".
In 1921 he became professor of history in newly established University of Dacca. He also served, until he became its Vice Chancellor, as the head of the Department of History as well as the dean of the Faculty of Arts. Between 1924 and 1936 he was Provost of Jagannath Hall. Then he became the Vice Chancellor of that University, for five years from 1937 to 1942.
From 1950, he was Principal of the College of Indology, Benares Hindu University. He was elected the general president of the Indian History Congress and also became the vice president of the International Commission set up by the UNESCO for the history of mankind.
Majumdar started his research on ancient India. After extensive travels to Southeast Asia and research, he wrote detailed histories of Champa (1927), Suvarnadvipa (1938) and Kambuja Desa (1944).
On the initiative of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, he took up the mantle of editing a multi-volume tome on Indian history. Starting in 1951, he toiled for twenty-six long years to describe the history of the Indian people from the Vedic Period until the Independence of India in eleven volumes. In 1955, Majumdar established the College of Indology of Nagpur University and joined as Principal. In 1958–59, he taught Indian history in the University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania. He was also the president of the Asiatic Society (1966–68) and the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad (1968–69), and also the Sheriff of Calcutta (1967–68).
When the final volume of "The History and Culture of the Indian People" was published in 1977, he had turned eighty-eight. He also edited the three-volume history of Bengal published by Dacca University. His last book was "Jivaner Smritidvipe".
The proposal to write on "Freedom movement" with Government sponsorship was put forth by in 1948 by R. C. Majumdar. In 1952 the ministry of education appointed Board of Editors for the compilation of the History. Professor Majumdar was appointed by the Board as the Director and entrusted with the work of sifting and collecting materials and preparing the draft of the history. However, the Board as consisting of politicians and scholars, was least likely to function harmoniously. Perhaps this was the reason why it was dissolved at the end of 1955. The scheme remained in balance for a year until the government decided to transfer the work on to a single scholar.
To the disappointment of Professor Majumdar the choice of the ministry of education fell on one Tara Chand, a historian but also an ex-secretary of the Ministry of Education. Professor Majumdar then decided to write independently The History of the Freedom movement in India in three volumes.
When the Government of India set up an editorial Committee to author a history of the freedom struggle of India, he was its principal member. But, following a conflict with the then Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on the Sepoy Mutiny, he left the government job and published his own book, The Sepoy Mutiny & Revolt of 1857.
According to him the origins of India's freedom struggle lie in the English-educated Indian middle-class and the freedom struggle started with the Banga Bhanga movement in 1905.
His views on the freedom struggle are found in his book History of the Freedom Movement in India. He was an admirer of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
Bibliography
The Early History of Bengal, Dacca, 1924.
Champa, Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, Vol.I, Lahore, 1927. ISBN 0-8364-2802-1.
Suvarnadvipa, Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, Vol.II, Calcutta, 1938.
The History of Bengal, 1943. ISBN 81-7646-237-3.
Kambuja Desa Or An Ancient Hindu Colony In Cambodia, Madras, 1944.
An Advanced History of India. London, 1960. ISBN 0-333-90298-X.
The History and Culture of the Indian People, Bombay, 1951–1977 (in eleven volumes).
Ancient India, 1977. ISBN 81-208-0436-8.
History of the Freedom movement in India (in three volumes), Calcutta, ISBN 81-7102-099-2.
Vakataka – Gupta Age Circa 200–550 A.D., ISBN 81-208-0026-5.
Main currents of Indian history, ISBN 81-207-1654-X.
Classical accounts of India
Hindu Colonies in the Far East, Calcutta, 1944, ISBN 99910-0-001-1.
India and South-East Asia, I.S.P.Q.S. History and Archaeology Series Vol. 6, 1979, ISBN 81-7018-046-5.
The History of Ancient Lakshadweep, Calcutta, 1979.
Corporate Life in Ancient India, Calcutta.
Interview conducted by Jyotsana Kamat on April 29, 1979
First Published: May 1980 in Mallige Monthly
“The history may repeat itself but great historians like Dr. R.C. Mazumdar are rarely born again. Just before he passed away in 1980, I met with him at his residence in Calcutta. Excerpts from the interview.”
Ramesh Chandra Majumdar was born in 1888 in East Bengal (present day Bangladesh) in the village of Khandarapara of Faridapur District. His talent knew no bounds, like the Padma (Podda) river that flows there. The story of this famous historian is also interesting. In East Bengal, there are rivers, lakes, and streams everywhere, and children grow up with water. In Majumdar's house, even to go from one room to another, he had to walk in ankleful of water! When it poured, the whole house was flooded. When he was an infant, one day he was about to be swept away in the floods in the night. "Somehow my aunt was woken up, and I am alive today to tell you my story." -- He laughed.
Childhood Memoirs
"In those days, there were neither buses nor trains; there were not even the roads. So learning swimming was inevitable. No need for fuel, no need to stand in the line (in 1980 when this interview was held, there was fuel shortage in India and it was common to stand in a queue for hours to purchase kerosene or petrol), just jump into the water and swim to the destination! When we went to school we used to make rafts from the banana tree stamps or hollow palm logs to stay dry. There were palm leaves to write upon, but in my school, we preferred banana leaves as they were available in plenty. We used sharp bamboo sticks to write on them. There were no girls in my class. Probably helping boys to focus on learning." He winked and laughed.
"The girls were married when very young. It was believed that an educated woman is bad for husband's longevity and education was not offered to them. They taught us using textbooks written by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. When I graduated after learning in Dhaka and Calcutta, I did not know if I was a good student or others were bad students!" He laughed.
I went to his house on Bipin Pal Road near Lancedown Highway which was as big as his personality and fame. I was told that he did not accept visitors but when I rang the bell, the doorman (darawan) welcomed me and said that he would get the big boss (bodo babu). A grand oil painting of smiling Swami Vivekananda welcomed me into the drawing room and another of the Taj Mahal proclaimed the historian's taste and stature. The furniture was museum quality antique and very comfortable. It was hard for me to believe the tall, fair and graceful man who came out was actually Professor Majumdar who was past his 90.
Vice-Chancellor
"I was encouraged by Ashutosh Mukherji to take up graduate studies and was ranked 1st to the university. In those days, the most attractive job was that of a deputy magistrate. I had gotten through the preliminary interviews, but just as I was to leave for the final interview to complete the process, my wife fell ill, and I could not go. My life changed completely because of this. I became a teacher instead. I took to research, and got a doctorate. When the University of Dhaka was started in 1921, I became its first professor. Even in those days, they paid me 1000 Rupees of salary a month with servants, house, and a car. Eventually I became the vice-chancellor of the university.
In those days, the teachers and professors earned that position through merit and the students respected them as well as loved them. However, there were problems. It was the time when Gandhi's ideology was taking the country by storm. During the Saraswati pooja (campus festivities) in the campus, some students and faculty wanted to involve the Harijans (low caste Indians a.k.a. the untouchables). But another student body opposed the move and ambushed me in my office. I patiently waited till their anger subsided, and quietly said that I was ashamed of my students for opposing such a novel idea. This did the trick, and the students now wanted to go one step ahead, and wanted to share a meal with the untouchables! I wonder how many educationists wield this type of influence today."
Comprehensive History of India
"Dr. K M Munshi liked my work on ancient Bengal and asked me to work on a comprehensive volume on Indian history. He introduced me to many great scholars. In my seventy years of career that work was to become a great achievement. Dr. Munshi was also a great researcher and historian, and I truly enjoyed working with him. We did have our differences, but he always let me prevail. Since I could not ignore his opinion, I had to include both view points often contradicting each other, in several places. It took 35 years to complete all the volumes! I was happy that it was completed before Munshiji breathed his last."
"Munshi believed that a government sponsored institution can never document history in a honest manner. I realized this truth in the later years. The federal government built an editorial board to document India's freedom struggle with me as the chief editor. I discovered that other fellow historians were so eager to write history glorifying their friends in politics that I had to get out. We should not write corrupted history, however bitter the proceedings may be. Many countries have the tradition of changing history as their leaders change. We should not let India become one of those. History should be written based on sound proof and reasoning and not focused around famous personalities."
Unambiguous Roots
"As new and more information is becoming available about Indian history, do you think we can expect some changes in what we have believed as our history?" -- I asked pointing to advances in carbon dating technology, satellite imagery and new findings during excavations.
"Indian history is based on strong foundation and I do not think its fundamentals will ever be altered. New information will only confirm what we have believed" -- said he.
"I have been greatly influenced by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. I distinctly remember seeing Swami Vivekananda in a public meeting. Two of my best friends became Sanyasis. The first one Madhanand went on to become the president of the Ramakrishna mission and another, became its vice president. When I went to Chicago in 1968, I went to the library where Vivekananda had spoken and retrieved his lectures. They gave me all kinds of cooperation. Even The Chicago Daily Tribune helped me by retrieving their archival microfilms. I do not know when such a day will come in our country where libraries assist the researchers."
Is Netaji Alive?
"Do you think Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is still alive?" -- I asked him.
"It is true that I have a great admiration for Netaji , but my admiration has not blinded the historian in me. Many people still think he is alive and the tabloids published his pictures, but there is no reason for the great man not to surface. The investigation committee concluded that he died in an accident, but due to political reasons it was not made public. In 1977 the prime minister of India (Morarji Desai) invited me for my opinion on the matter and I told him that there is no way that Netaji is alive today. He may not have died in the plane crash, but may have been unfortunately eliminated by the Japanese or the Russian forces."
Lonely
"Professor Majumdar is a temperamental man. He may humiliate you"-- my friends had warned me. I mentioned this to Dr. Majumdar. He smiled it aside and said --"I thank you for visiting an old man. From my personal experience, I tell you that no one should live for too long. I have everything one needs. Huge house, cars, servants around the house.. but no one close to me. My son lives far away and I have a daughter who visits me twice a week I lost a daughter sixteen years ago -- to whom my book on Vivekananda is dedicated -- soon followed by my wife. I look forward to my day."
Epilogue
Few months after this interview, On February 11, 1980 Dr. R. C. Majumdar passed away. He was 92. He was great scholar and a genius. His contribution to our nation and Indian history is unparalleled.