CONTENTS Section Subject Page No . General 1 II Income 2 Ill Funding H istorica I Research 3 IV National Fellowship 4 · v Pub I ications 5 VI Special Project (Towards Freedom) 10 VII International Collaboration and Foreign Travel Grants 10 VIII Seminars, Workshops and Conferences 13 IX The Indian Historical Review 15 X Documentation Cum Library Centre 16 INDIAN COUNCIL OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH 35, Ferozesbab Road, New Delbi-llCOOl. ANNUAl REPORT 1988-89 General The Council was established by the Government of India in 1972. It has a Chairman and 27 members of whom 18 are historians apoointed for three years by the Government of India, and 7 ex­ officio members; the Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Devel­ opment; Secretary~ Department of Culture; Financial Adv1ser of the Ministry of HRD, Government of India; Director, National Archives of India; Director, Archaeological Survey of India; and Chairman of the UGC. The composition of the Council as on 31 March 1989 is given in Appendix-I. The strength of the Council as on 31 March 1989 is given in Appendix~!!. The Indian Council of Historical Research has been pursuing the objective of encouraging a scientific, secular and comprehensive study of history in accordance with its original purposes It has extended grant-in-aid to research projects. theses, monographs and journals, and has awarded fellowships to a number of scholars and given travel-cum-contingent grants for conducting historical research within and outside the country. Financial assistance has also been extended to professional organisations of historians for organising seminars and symposia and holding academic conferences. The Council brings out its own journal The Indian Historical Review, which contains articles, notes, review articles and reviews. As a part of the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of India's Independence Movement and the Birth Centenary of Jawsharlal Nehru the Council brought out an issue devoted to the freedom struggle. As part of the same celebration it also organised a number of 15-day Workshops on the National Movement in different parts of the country for university and college teachers. other of the Council have been the Encyc/op- of Indian Archaeology, in two volumes, and Labour Movement in India docun:,ents of which one volume has been published. During the period under review the Council has expanded the Library for the use of historians and researchers and continues to provide documentation services to the scholars. ouring 1988-89 the Council continued to place emphasis on the fulfilment of its aims and objects by focusing attention on the less explored areas of historical research which include study of socio--economic formations; history of ideas; history of peasantry; agrarian relations; urban studies and demography pertaining to all periods of Indian History. Different aspects of freedom struggle covering all regions of the countrY and history of science and technc­ logy also received attention, The work on the special project Towards Freedom, 1937-47 continued. Documents collected for Volume II were examined with a view to assessing its feasibility for publication. Eight editors for eight volumes of documents with the General Editor held two meet· ings and worked out a plan in order to complete the project by 1990. The Advisory Committee constituted for the project met in March 1989 and framed suggestions for the collection and selection of documents. n INCOME During the year 1988-89 the council received a total sum of Rs. 129.19 lakhs from the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Government of India. This comprised Rs. 39.90 lakhs for plan, Rs. 74.70 Jakhs for non-plan, Rs. 13.59 fakhs for the special project, Towards Freedom and As. 1.00 lakh for Indo-French Seminar. As on 1 .4.89 the Council had Rs. 45/- as cash in hand and Rs. 17,103/­ in the Bank .. Thus the total opening balance was Rs. 17,148/-. The Council also realised a sum of Rs. 43,107/- from the sale of booksf journals and royalties. A detailed account for the year 1988-89 and the Annua\ Audit Report may be seen at Appendices 1H & lV respec­ tively. 2 Ill FUNDING HISTORICAl RESEARCH The most important objective of the Council has been to extend financial assistance to scholars/institutions for historical research and publications. The grants-in-aid schemes of the Council include funds for (1) Research Projects; (2) Fellowships; (3) Study-cum~trave I -grants to researchers pursuing M. Phil, Ph. D. and Post-doctoral­ work; (4) financial assistance to the publication of historical works; (5) grants-in-aid to various organisations of historians for holding seminars, symposia and academic conferences as well as work­ shops and (6) implementing cultural exchange programmes under the aegis of the Council. The detailed information about the grants- in-aid provided to scholarsjorganizations since the inception of the Council till 31 March 1989 given below ; Year Research Fellowships Study/Travel/ Total of Projects Contingent Col. 2 .. Grant 3&4 1 2 3 4 5 1972-73 19 8 1 28 1973-74 8 1 1 2 21 1974-75 7 14 3 24 1975-76 13 12 15 45 1976-77 21 37 82 140 1977-78 5 21 159 185 1978-79 22 31 115 168 1979-80 18 44 138 200 1980-81 17 94 106 217 1981-82 49 86 183 318 1982-83 15 135 180 330 1983-84 10 76 59 145 1984·85 30 141 199 370 1985-86 30 88 166 284 1986-87 23 63 137 223 1987-88 32 134 198 364 1988-89 20 104 73 197 3 , A detailed list or research , fellowships and study-cum- travel grants shows a large increase during the year 1 988-89. The number of Fellowships, Projects~ etc., that can be funded is restricted - by limitation of research. In order to utilise our resources best, we have improved our mechanism of assessment. Each proposal received for financial assistance in the Council is carefully examined by experts and then placed before the Research Projects Committee of the Council for consideration. Attention has been paid to ensure that the Council's funds are properly utilised and evenly distributed throughout the country. A detailed list of the projects, fellowships and study-cum-travel grants may be seen in Appendices V, VI & VII. lV NATIONAL FEllOWSHIP The lCHR has instituted National Fellowships to a maximum of six at any time, to assist very eminent historians in undertaking researches on fundamental aspects of Indian History, During the year 1988-89. the following scholars accepted offers of National Fellowships and joined from dates recorded against their names:- Professor G.C. Pande 30 April 1988 Professor Satish Chandra 1 May 1988 Professor R.S. Sharma 1 June 1988 Professor B.S. Lai 1 August 1988 Professor Amales Tripathi 7 November 1988 Professor K.A. N izami's term of National Fellowship ended on 31 December 1988. Volume I of his major work on medieval sources is being made ready for the press. Professor A.R. Kulkarni continued as National Fellow through the year. 4 v PUBLICATIONS A. Under the own publication programme the Council brought out the following books during the year 1988.. 89 :- BOOKS English 1. A Topographical List of Inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala States, Vol. ll, by T.V. Mahalingam. 2. Planter Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam 1826-7947 by Amalendu Guha (Second Reprint Edition). 3. Economic History of Bengal, Vol. II by A.K. Singh. Tamil 4. Bengal Renaissance and other Essays by S.C. Sircar. Kannada 5. History of Tipu Sultan by Mohibul Hasan Khan. Journal 6. The Indian Historical Review, Vol. XII Nos. 1-2, edited by V. Jha. B. BOOKS UNDER PRINT English 1. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology {two volumes) by A. Ghosh (published). 2. A Topographical List of Arabic, Persian and Urdu inscrip~ tions in South India by Z. A. Desai. 3. Agrarian Structure and Peasant Revolts in Malabar by K.N. Panikkar. 4. Aftermath of Non-cooperation and the Emergence of Swaraj Party by M.P. Sreekumaran Nair (Under Sources on National Movement}. 5 5. Labout lVIovement in India : Documents 1850-1918- Vols. J & II by A.R. Desai. 6. Labour Movement in India :Documents 1918-1920- Vol. Ill by A.R. Desai (published). 7. The Role of Madras Legislature in the Freedom Struggle 1861-1947 by S. Krishnaswamy. 8. A Topographical List of Inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala States- Vol. Ill by T.V Mahalingam (since pub- lished}. 9. A Topographical List of Inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala States-Vol. IV by T.V. Mahalingam. 10. Curzonian Policies and the Great Debates: January 1899 to 1902 (Under Sources on National Movement) compiled and edited by B.L. Grover. 11. The Inscriptions of the Sarabhapuriyas, Panduvamsins and Somavamsins by A M. Shastri in two parts. 12. Ghuniyat-ul Munia by Shahab Sarmadee. 13. A Source-book of Indian Civilization by Niharranjan Ray. 14. Sirat-1-Firozeshahi by S. Hasan Askari. 15. A Descriptive Catalogue of Central Asian Documents by A. Subhan. 16. Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts and Records in the Sri Raghbir Library, Sitamau by A.H. Nizami. '1 7. Studies in the History of Indian Philosophy- An Anthology of Articles by Scholars Eastern and Western - Vol I, II and Ill by D.P. Chattopadhyaya, Persian 18. Tarikh·i-Saurath by H.P. Desai. Hindi 19. The Age of Imperial Unity- Vol. II by K.M. Munshi. 6 Tamil 20. The Cholas by K.A.N. Sastri. 21. The Origin and Development of Vaishnavism by Suvira Jaiswal. 22, Economic Life in the Vijayanagar Empire by T.V.