Eminent historian D.N. Jha passes away

Feb. 4: Eminent historian Dwijendra Narayan Jha (DN Jha) died on Thursday at 81 after prolonged illness.  Trained under the legendary historian R.S. Sharma – who himself was among the first to venture into socio-economic analyses in history writing in India – Jha broke free from a set understanding of Indian history until then and was among many who opened up new pathways for historical research in India.

He was a professor of history at Delhi University and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research. A people’s historian, staunch practitioner of scientific and secular history writing, Jha always insisted that stating facts is not just enough, a historian must take a position. Fighting the communal and majoritarian propaganda had been his life long occupation as a historian. Busting myths and getting drawn into controversy was never new to him, but he always stood his ground. Jha wrote many books, which are:

• 1980, Studies in early Indian economic history, Anupama Publications
• 1993, Economy and Society in Early India: Issues and Paradigms,
• 1997, Society and Ideology in India
• 1997, Ancient India: In Historical Outline,
• 2002, Holy Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Traditions; paperback (2004)
• 2004, Early India: A Concise History
• 2009, Myth of the Holy Cow
• 2009, Rethinking Hindu Identity, Routledge

As editor:

• 1988, Feudal Social Formation in Early India
• 1996, Society and Ideology in India: Essays in Honour of Professor R.S. Sharma (Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1996).
• 2000, The Feudal Order: State, Society, and Ideology in Early Medieval India, a collection of critical essays by 20 specialists on medieval Indian society, politics, ideology and religion.