Ram Sharan Sharma
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Ram Sharan Sharma (born 1919[citation needed]) is Emeritus Professor, Department of History, Patna University and one of the leading historians of Ancient India. His work on ancient Indian administration is unparalleled and his books are accepted as most authentic and unbiased appraisal of Indian history. He was born into a Bhumihar Brahmin family.
He has taught at Delhi (1973-85) and Toronto Universities. He leads the team of historians who write the NCERT history textbooks and was involved in the NCERT controversy of 1977 to 1979.
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[edit] Political controversies
His 1977 'Ancient India' was banned by the Janata Party government in 1978, among other things for its criticism of the historicity of Krishna and the events of the Mahabharata epic, reporting the mainstream position that
- "Although Krishna plays an important role in the Mahabharata, inscriptions and sculptural pieces found in Mathura dating back to 200 BC and 300 AD do not attest to his presence. Because of this, ideas of an epic age based on the Ramayana and Mahabharata have to be discarded."
He has supported the controversial addition of the Ayodhya dispute and the 2002 Gujarat riots to school syllabus calling them 'socially relevant topics'.[1]
Sharma's opponents allege that he is of a "Marxist" persuasion.[2]
[edit] Criticism
Andre Wink, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin in In Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World (Vol. I) criticizes Sharma for drawing too close parallels between European and Indian feudalism.
[edit] Works
- Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 8120808983.
- Perspectives in Social and Economic History of Early India, ISBN 8121506727
- Urban Decay in India c. 300-c. 1000, ISBN 8121500451.
- Sudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order Down to Circa A D 600, ISBN 8120808738.
- Higher Education, ISBN 8171693202.
- Looking for the Aryans, ISBN 8125006311.
- India's Ancient Past, Oxford, 2005, ISBN 978-0195687859.
- Indian Feudalism, MacMillan India
