RS Sharma passed away

Historian R.S. Sharma passes away

Shoumojit Banerjee   

Eminent Marxist historian and Indologist Ram Sharan Sharma, known for his trenchant observations on institutions in ancient Indian society and his report on the Bihar-Bengal boundary dispute, passed away late Saturday night. He was 92.

The end came at a private nursing home here.

He was a tireless fighter against communalism of all hues.

A stalwart among the Delhi Group of Historians, the much feted Dr. Sharma graced the faculty at universities in Patna, New Delhi and Toronto, where he taught courses in Ancient and Early Medieval Indian history in an eventful career spanning more than four decades.

He was a senior fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, where he completed his doctorate studies under the tutelage of A.L. Basham.

Dr. Sharma was the founding Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research in 1972 and he served as President of the Indian History Congress in 1975.

The end came at a private nursing home here.

He was a tireless fighter against communalism of all hues.

A stalwart among the Delhi Group of Historians, the much feted Dr. Sharma graced the faculty at universities in Patna, New Delhi and Toronto, where he taught courses in Ancient and Early Medieval Indian history in an eventful career spanning more than four decades.

He was a senior fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, where he completed his doctorate studies under the tutelage of A.L. Basham.

Dr. Sharma was the founding Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research in 1972 and he served as President of the Indian History Congress in 1975.