About Us

The Department of History is heir to the tradition established by the founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who edited important historical texts like Abu’l Fazl’s Ain-i Akbari, Ziya Barani’s Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi and Jahangir’s memoirs. He himself wrote a historical memoir on Delhi monuments and a narrative of incidents of 1857-58 in a district affected by the Rebellion. He was also notable in adopting a critical attitude towards past rulers. In the M.A.O. College, which preceded the University, careful attention was paid to the teaching of History. Sardar K.M. Panikkar, the famous historian and statesman, was appointed Professor in History at the College and held that position when the College was converted into the Aligarh Muslim University by the Act of 1920.

 

Professor Panikkar left soon afterwards. The Department now progressed mainly under the stewardship of Professor Mohammad Habib. He and his colleagues, notably Professor S.A. Rashid, built up a reputation for teaching and research. The Department initiated courses in Political Science, but in its research concentrated on Medieval Indian History, seeking to study it from original sources and illumine various aspects of life and culture. Many publications of considerable influence within nationalist historiography appeared during this period.

 

After Independence the Department of Political Science was separated from that of History in 1948. In 1953 the Government of India instituted a very well-funded scheme of Research and Publications in Medieval Indian History. Dr. Nurul Hasan, the eminent historian and future Union Minister of Education, was appointed Professor, and Dr. Satish Chandra, a future Chairman of the University Grants Commission, joined as Reader, under this scheme.

 

A new publication programme was initiated under which books by Professor K.A. Nizami, Satish Chandra, Irfan Habib and M. Athar Ali were published among others. There was also an attempt to make available Persian and Arabic sources to the Hindi reading public, and Dr. Athar Abbas Rizvi’s translations of these sources, issued in several volumes, won considerable recognition. A journal Medieval India Quarterly was also issued. In recognition of its work, the Department was given the status of a Centre of Advanced Study in Medieval History by the UGC in 1968-69.

 

The Centre continued the scheme of publications and an annual journal Medieval India- a Miscellany was issued (4 volumes published). The list of all these publications is given separately.

 

The Centre has a teaching programme which encompasses at the master’s level specializations in Ancient India, Medieval India, Modern India, European History and Islamic History. Though these divisions may appear rather conventional, the Centre has sought constantly to update the syllabus and courses on history of technology, history and gender history have been incorporated.

 

The list of current members of the faculty of the Department / Centre and their published work, as also the work of the past members of the faculty, are given in the following pages. It will be seen that although Medieval India has been the focus of attention, work has also been undertaken in archaeology, modern India and varied aspects of our country’s history.