Office of the Head of the Department Academic & Non-academic Staff of the Department 1 A. History of Geography Department In 1836, the college was started as a high school in the Sagar city of the then Central Provinces and later on it was shifted to Jabalpur and gained its name as ‘Jabalpur College’ in 1873 and ‘Robertson College’ in 1916. This nomenclature was done in honour of the inaugurator of the new college, the then Chief Commissioner Sir Benjamin Robertson. The study of geography in high education began in 1950 in Central India. Prior to the creation of Madhya Pradesh state, the study of geography was restricted to only Nagpur, Jabalpur and Amravati. From the formation of Madhya Pradesh, two colleges where geography was taught, went to Maharashtra. It is to note that at this time there was no such university in Madhya Pradesh, where the teaching of geography was being done. The Government College, Jabalpur, also known as Robertson College, has its own golden academic history. After the foundation of this college, the Department of Geography became the first department to award the title of the Masters in this subject. From the very beginning, it has been able to fulfil the requirements of the geography subject, just like an independent department. This department has a rich collection of geography literature. The department has always been loaded with expert scholars and teachers of Geography, geography lab, instrument storeroom, and departmental library. At the beginning of the department, Prof. S. N. Malhotra was its head and he embellished the designation with his outstanding prudence and work. Some important educators of this department have been, like Mr. Dev Mishra, Mr. M.L. Gupta, Mr. J.P. Saxena, Mr. J.P. Srivastava, Mr. A. A. Abbasi, Mr. B.L. Agrawal, Mr. D.P. Saxena, and Mr. S.P. Tiwari, who contributed significantly to making the department academically successful. Out of these educators, Mr. Dev Mishra and Mr. J.P. Srivastava, after teaching in the department for a few months, 2 became the head of the department in Madhav College, Ujjain and Maharaja University, Rewa respectively. In the year 1963, after the transfer of Dr. S. N. Malhotra, Prof. M.L. Gupta took on the charge of the head of the Department and remained in the chair for two more decades. The majority of educators of this department graced the chairmanship of the Department of Geography in different colleges of Madhya Pradesh. 1. It has been the first department of Madhya Pradesh, in which the research journal ‘Journals of Geography’ was published smoothly for years. The inscription work of major geographers of India was published in this English language journal. 2. It has been the first department of Madhya Pradesh, where the writing of standard textbooks started after the start of teaching-learning through Hindi medium in higher education. ‘Human Geography’ written by Dr. S.N. Mehrotra and Mr. J.P. Saxena has been popular and academically admired for years in undergraduate and postgraduate classes in the Hindi speaking belt of the country. 3. This is the first department of the state, where Prof. Shankar Prasad Tiwari completed world-class research work in the field of geomorphology. He also made remarkable and exceptional contributions in other fields. 4. It is the first geographical department of the colleges of Madhya Pradesh, where the PhD research work has been carried out positively. Dr. Shiv Kumar Tiwari finished his inspection work from this department and he was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Jabalpur. 5. Compared to other colleges in the state, so far, the highest number of PhD holders in the subject of geography was given to the intellectuals of this department. By the year 1970, the Geography Department was acknowledged as the leading institution of postgraduate colleges in the state. In 1992, under the autonomous scheme, postgraduate examinations began in Geography. 3 At the time of the commencement of postgraduate classes, Dr. K. N. Verma was head of the department. After him, Dr. S.N. Malhotra, Prof. M.L. Gupta, Dr. D.P. Sharma, Prof. Shankar Tiwari, Prof. B.L. Agarwal, Prof. A.K. Abbasi, Dr. S.S. Katare and Dr. A.K. Tiwari respectively took on the charge of head of the department and worked smoothly to give their incomparable creative contribution in maintaining the glorious tradition of the department with the fame and achievements of the department. Dr. A.C. Tiwari, the present Head of the department, is a dynamic mentor and educator holding various responsibilities. He is the Chairman of Board of Studies, in the Dept. of Geography, Rani Durgavati University, Jabalpur and he is also a Member of Board of Studies, in the Dept. of Geography, GMKB, Jabalpur. Department of Geography Head of Department 1956 to Present S. No. Name of the Head Tenure 1- Dr. K.N. Verma 1956-1957 2- Dr. S.N. Malhotra 1958-1962 3- Prof. M.L. Gupta 1962-1965 4- Prof. D.P. Sharma 1965-1966 5- Prof. M.L. Gupta 1967-1969 6- Prof. Shankar P. Tiwari 1969-1970 7- Prof. A.A. Abbasi 1970-1971 8- Prof. M.L. Gupta 1971-1983 9- Prof. S.S. Katare 1984-1988 10- Prof. A.K. Tiwari 1988-1993 11- Prof. P.S. Dubey 1993-1994 12- Prof. A.K. Tiwari 1994-2003 13- Prof. A.K. Shukla 2003-2006 14- Dr. A.L. Mahobiya 2006-2010 15- Dr. A.K. Shukla 2010-2013 16- Dr. Kamlini Shrivastava 2013-2015 17- Dr. A.C. Tiwari From 2015 to till date 4 B. Assistant staff The number of assistant staffs in the Department of Geography is 03, who contribute to the maintenance of the department. S. No. Assistant staff Number Tenure 1- Lab Technician 01 Sri Ram Manohar Maravi 2- Gardener 01 Sri Tati Ram Jhariya 3- Cleaner 01 Smt. Sunita Bai C. Library ❖ The library of the department is from the very beginning since when the department has come into existence, which has 2,915 books at present. The books available in the library are in both Hindi and English medium, some books belong to foreign authors and are rare. The books are maintained by the department in a well-planned manner. In addition to books, there are about 1,000 research journals, which are used by researchers and students. ❖ The books available in the library include Physical Geography, Geomorphology, Geology, Oceanography, Climatology, Bio-Geography, Photography, Seismology, Geography of India, Urban Geography, Population Geography, Resource Geography, Agricultural Geography, Geographical Thought, Research Methodology, Economic Geography, Soil Science, Tourism Geography, Computer, Practical Geography and Atlas of the World and India etc. ❖ In the departmental library, 81 books were purchased in 2011 and the total number of books was 2565. In the year 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively, 25, 80, 90, 80 and 75 books were purchased. Thus, after the purchase of new books, the total number of books reached a new height the and figure of the books was 2,915. 5 Year Purchased Books Total number of books 2013 80 2670 2014 90 2760 2015 80 2840 2016 75 2915 2017 Nil 2915 2018 Nil 2915 Year Wise Purchased Books 90 80 80 75 Books Purchased Books 0 0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Year Total Number of Books 2950 2915 2915 2915 2900 2840 2850 2800 2760 2750 2700 2670 Total Books 2650 2600 2550 2500 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Year 6 D. Reading room There is a reading room along with the departmental library, in which students/ scholars and professors spend time as per their schedule to enhance their knowledge using various books. Rare Books of Departmental Library S. Publication Book name Author No. Year J.F. Unstead 1- General and Regional Geography 1910 E.G. R. Toiler 2- World Wide Geography Jesper H. Stembridge 1935 3- The World of General Regional Geography Jesper H. Stembridge 1939 General Sir Osborne, 4- International C. Rispetto 1945 Manse 5- Accessible Geography Transport W. G. Moree 1958 6- Sixth Continent Akure Sutulence 1958 7- A Hundred Years of Geography T. W. Kirkman 1965 Richard J. Chorley, 8- Models in Geography 1967 Peter Huggett John P. Colley 9- Quantitative Geography 1968 A.M. King 10- The Market of Modern Geography Robert E. Dickinson 1969 11- Geography Regional Concept Harm J. Give. Belize 1971 Christopher Board Processes of Geography Richard 12- Volume- I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, & VIII 1974 Richard J. Chorley, Peter Huggett 13- A History of Ancient Geography H. of Tojer 1975 14- The Scope of Geography Mathieu 1982 15- Tourism Development Principles M.K. Bhatia 1983 16- Explanation in Geography David Harvey 1984 E. Other Resources The department has a rich archive of learning resources i.e. various models of rare and unusual maps, charts, various types of rocks and minerals, and many models of geological structure. These all have been beautifully preserved and displayed in the museum. 7 This rare museum of Madhya Pradesh was inaugurated on February 11, 1971, by the then Education Minister of Madhya Pradesh Late Jagadish Narayan Awasthi. The inauguration was presided by the then Principal of Mahakoshal College Late Prof. Rameshwar Shukla ‘Anchal’. The development of this rare geographical museum of Madhya Pradesh was possible only through the tireless efforts of the then head Late Prof. Shankar Tiwari. F. The museum In the museum rare maps, models of geological structure and samples of minerals etc. have been exhibited for the students to observe it and time to time students visit the museum and learn from it. Apart from this, the overhead projector, slide projector in the museum is used to explain geographical concepts and theories through slides and animated films.