Dasharatha Sharma

Professor Dasharatha Sharma (1903–1976) was an Indologist and a noted expert in the history of the Rajasthan region in India. He was born in the Rajasthani city of Churu and studied at Churu, the city of Bikaner in Rajasthan and at the University of Delhi. Prof. Sharma had degrees of Master of Arts (M.A.) in History and Sanskrit and received a Doctor of Literature (D. Litt.) for his thesis Early Chauhan Dynasties.

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Academic appointments

Dr. Sharma was the Head, Department of History at Hindu College, Delhi and later was appointed Reader (equivalent of Associate Professor) in Ancient History at the University of Delhi. In 1966, he was appointed as Professor and Head, Department of History at the University of Jodhpur ( now renamed Jai Narain Vyas University ) and later became Dean, Faculty of Arts at the same institution. After retirement from the University of Jodhpur, Prof. Sharma served as Director of the Rajasthan Puratattva Mandir ( Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute ) in Jodhpur. He also presided over the Ancient History section of the Indian History Congress in 1967 and the General History section of the Rajasthan History Congress in 1969.

Prof. Sharma as a mentor

Several scholars were assigned to work under or sought the guidance of Dr. Sharma to complete their theses towards progression to Ph. D. degrees. Some of the volumes produced under Dr. Sharma's supervision are: A Socio-political study of the Valmiki Ramayana by Dr. Ramashraya Sharma, Sun worship in ancient India by Dr. Lalata Prasad Pandey, Social life in Northern India A.D. 600-1000 by Dr. Brij Narain Sharma, The Parmaras, C. 800-1305 A.D. by Dr. Pratipal Bhatia, Social and cultural history of Northern India C 1000-1200 A.D. by Dr. Brijendra Nath Sharma, Food and drinks in ancient India: from earliest times to C. 1200 A.D. by Dr. Om Prakash, Struggle for responsible government in Marwar by Dr. Sobhag Mathur and Raj Marwar during British paramountcy by Dr. Paras Raj Shah.

Authorship

During his career, Prof. Sharma published over four hundred research papers and notes on a wide range of subjects. His noted monograph Early Chauhan Dynasties was first published in 1959, a revised edition was published in 1975 and reprinted in 2002. The manuscript shows that the Agnikula myth of the origin of Rajputs was adapted from the Valmiki Ramayana and calculates the year of birth for Prithiviraj III using planetary positions described in the Prithvirajavijaya. It also attributes the success of Muhammad Ghori to the rivalry between the Chauhans of Sakambari and the Chalukyas of Gujarat. Amongst other subjects, Lectures on Rajput history and culture elaborates on the origin of the Rajputs, brings attention to the celebration in Kannauj after Prithviraj III was defeated (at the second battle of Tarain), follows the thirteenth century Rajput struggle of survival, and discusses the Rajput resurgence represented by Maharana Kumbha and Rav Jodha. In 1960, Dr. Sharma was appointed by the Rajasthan State Archives (an agency of the Government of Rajasthan) as General Editor of a comprehensive history of Rajasthan to be published by the Government of Rajasthan. This became the definitive work on the history of Rajasthan, a worthy successor to the previous works by James Tod and Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha. Titled Rajasthan through the ages this work was largely written by Dr. Sharma and published in 1966. Samrat Prithiviraj Chauhan tritiya aur unka yug (in Hindi) is an updated text on the last Hindu king of Delhi.

Monographs

Collected works

Chapters contributed to texts

A comprehensive history of India ( Vol.4 part I ) Published under the auspices of the Indian History Congress. Publisher: People's Publishing House, Delhi 1992. ISBN 8170071216.

Critically edited historical Manuscripts

Edited Commemorative Volumes

Critical introductions to the following historical Manuscripts

Further reading

External links