The focus of the department are on the following :

• Indian History and Culture
• Historiography and Historical Methods
• Regional History
• Ethnohistory
• Gender History
• Environmental History 

  The research areas in which the department is actively involved are

• Traditional Institutions and Customary Laws
• Religious Ideas and Traditional Beliefs
• Tribal and Ethnic Identity
• Art and Archaeology
• Indigenous Knowledge Systems
• Social and Economic History
• Indian National Movement and Northeast India
• Peasant Struggles
• Women and Gender History
• Environmental History
• Missionaries in Colonial Assam
• Urban History
• Toponymy
• Partition Studies

MA in History (Two Years)

• Semesters: 4
• Duration: 2 years
• Intake: 72

The MA Programme in History aims at an integrated approach to understanding history 
in the global, national and regional contexts. The Syllabus offers 29 Courses over four 
semesters that includes 04 Value Added Courses (VAC), 02 Open Elective Courses (OEC) 
and 01 Course on Dissertation.  
The syllabus seeks to acquaint the student with concepts, theories and methods of history 
and historiography. Apart from political and socio-economic issues it incorporates various 
aspects of history such as gender, ethnic communities, environmental issues as well as 
peasants’ struggles. Social, Economic and Cultural history forms an important component 
of the Programme. The courses on Art and Architecture history of India helps develop 
knowledge and the skill of art appreciation in the learners. The course (HIS 204A6) on 
historical connections between India and Southeast Asia would help draw the importance 
of the contemporary economic and geo-strategic policies of India. Emphasis on regional 
history is reflected with the inclusion of three courses on Northeast India and one 
exclusively on Assam.  
A learner gets the opportunity to engage in the creation of knowledge through writing a 
Dissertation (Course HIS 4046) under assigned mentors with practical application of 
historical concepts, tools and techniques. The students are encouraged to focus on research 
of local histories and communities. This is expected to build the community engagement 
of students and help document lesser known or unknown facets of regional and micro
histories.

Syllabus may be sourced from :

http://web.gauhati.ac.in/syllabus/home/postgraduate-cbcs/history

Five Years Integrated Masters Programme

Minor in 2023-2024 session

Major and Minor from 2024-2025 session

Intake : Major : 25: Minor : 30

M.Phil: (Discontinued since 2022 as per NEP, 2020)

Ph.D.: 3-5 years

• Coursework: 6 months

Intake: Variable as per available vacancy

2024 : 11 (eleven)

Department of History Gauhati University, 
GNB Nagar 
P.O. Jalukbari  Guwahati - 781014,  
Assam, INDIA  

Email : history@gauhati.ac.in 

Visit the Department:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bskXmY15NHfAiLRk7?g_st=ig

Vision:

• To further knowledge of Indian history, culture and heritage
• Create responsible citizens capable of facing challenges in contemporary times
• Foster academic excellence in historical research through interaction with other institutions

Mission :

• Maintain a balance between Teaching and Research
• To impart historical education that caters to contemporary demands through inter/multi-disciplinary approach
• To expose students to new ideas and trends in history-writing through lectures and interaction with renowned scholars, discussions, seminars, and study tours

The Department of History considers education as a continuous learning process and puts emphasis on experiential learning. The Programme Outcomes and Course Outcomes are achieved through use of one or more of the following tools of pedagogy :

• Lecture
• Seminar presentation
• Group discussion
• Field trip
• Interaction with invited scholars
• Dissertation writing

Evaluation :

In-semester assessment : sessional, seminar presentation, home assignment, quiz, etc..

End-semester examination : Conducted by the Controller of Examinations along with the affiliated colleges.

History Study Circle is a students' forum that undertakes activities to enhance knowledge and skill of the students. The Study Circle undertakes the following activities:

• Talks by and interaction with renowned historians & other social scientists
• Book Discussion
• Inter-Departmental Quiz
• All Assam Debate Competition
• Study Tour to local places of historical importance
• Archival Experience
• Museum Visits

LECTURES DELIVERED :

• Prof. Kumkum Roy, Department of History ,JNU, Women in Ancient India, 22.1 .2013
• Prof. Gautam Sengupta, Director, ASI, Archaeology in NE India  05.04.13
• Jishnu Barua, Director, ASA, Dispur, on Assam State Archives ,23.05.14
• Prof. Priyam Goswami, GU, on Sadar Bhallabhai Patel ,02.11.14
• William Logan, Auburn University, USA, History of Technology: A Case Study of  the Brahmaputra Bridge,  14.05.2015
• Dr. Pahi Saikia, Assoc. Prof. Department of Humanities, IIT-G, on Negotiating Multidisciplinary Approach to Ethnic Strife and Implications on State Security,8.09.2015
•  Prof. Amit Bhattacharyya, Department of History, Jadavpur University :The   Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, on 21.01.2016
• Prof. Projit Palit, Head, Department of History, Assam University, Silchar : Pilak of Tripura: A Religous Route with Mainamati of Bangladesh on 17.02. 2016
• Dr. Alessandra Massili, IUAV University of Venice,  Italy : The Novels Of Emile Salgari on 29.02.2016
• Dr. Birubala Rabha, Menace Of Witchcraft And The Work Of Mission Birubala on 23.08.2016
• Hasina Kharbih, Chairperson Impulse: Human Trafficking  in Assam on 06.09.2016
• Prof.  Indira Choudhury, Centre for Public History, Bengaluru: What is Oral History  on 10.11.2016
• Prof. Amarendra Kumar Thakur, Head -Department of History, NEHU: Technologies in Pre-Colonial and Colonial Northeast India , on 17.02.2017
• Arsh Ali, an Egyptologist and the youngest archaeologist to work with the Archaeological Survey of India, a 16-year-old child prodigy: The Process of Mummification in Ancient Egypt on 05.05.2017.
• Prof. Manorama Sharma, Department of History, NEHU :Recent Trends in Historical Research on 01.09.2017
• Prof. Suchandra Ghosh, Department of  Ancient History and Culture, University of Calcutta : Land Boundaries of Kamarupa: A Study based on Inscriptions on 12.10.2017
• Dr. Sajal Nag, Professor, Department of History, Assam University : Construction of a “Savage”: Politics of representation, Native internalization and History through campaign in North East India on 15.02.2018
• Dr. Ranjita Dutta, Associate Professor, Centre for Historical Studies JNU, : Early Modern:A Perspective from the History of Peninsular India on 28.06.2018
• Camilla Cibele,  Doctoral Research Scholar, University of Turin : The Making of a Gruesome Goddess : Emergence and Spread of Chinnamasta (The Goddess with the Severed Head) on 03.02.2020.
• Jennifer Huiping Liang, Co-founder, Action Northeast Trust, Kokrajhar : Doing Empowerment : Stories of Changing Gender Inequality in Bodoland on 10.05.2022.
• Mehdi Jahan, Independent Filmmaker, Storytellers of Hajo  on 12.05.2022.
• Prof. Sukhendu Debbarma, Professor, Department of History, Tripura Unuversity : Tripura Merger and its Aftermath on 09.08.2022.
• Dr. Dharitry Narzary, School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi : The 'Ainu' in Japanese History on 02.03.2023, 
• Mr. Avinibesh Sharma, Indpendent Researcher and Proprietor, Vintage Assam Publications : The Assam Type House : A Brief History on 30.03.2023.
• Dr. Gitanjali Ghosh, Assistant Professor, National Law University and Judicial Academy Assam : Sexual Harassment : A Socio-Legal Perspective on 15.09.2023.

COMPETITIONS ORGANISED :

All Assam Inter-Institution Debate Competition 2013-14, 2014-15

All Assam Quiz Competition 2013-14, 2014-15

The Popular Lecture series has been initiated in the department to enhance the learing experience of the students and scholars and expose them to new areas of historical inquiry.The following scholars have spoken in the Popular Lecture Series:

• Vidya Nadkarni, Professor & Chair, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of San Diego, USA : Strategic Partnerships in Asia, 25 March 2013
• Indira Chowdhury, Director, Centre for Public History, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru : Folk Performances, Oral History and Forms of Cultural Memory on 23 September, 2013
• Alok Tripathi, Professor Head, Department of History, Assam University, Silchar : Recent Land and Underwater Archaeological Excavations at Dwarka on 25 November 2013
• Geraldine Forbes, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita in the Department of History at the State University of Oswego, New York American Baptist Missionaries: On Way to China , on 7 February , 2014
• Rila Mukherjee, Professor and Head Department of History, University of Hyderabad Director, Institut de Chandernagor, India : Approaching a Water History on 4 September 2014
• Diego Holstein, Professor, Dept of History, Pittsburgh University, Associate Director of World History Center : Thinking History Globally ,June 2015.
• Imdad Hussain, Former Head & Dean, of School of Social Sciences, NEHU : The India- China Border: Revisiting the 1960 New Delhi Summit, Nov 2015
• Dr.Lopita Nath, Chair, Department of History, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.: Is this my Shangri-la: Life in a Bhutanese Refugee Camp in the U.S.A. on 03.02.2016
•  Prof Icchamuddin Sarkar ,Department of History, University of North Bengal : History Writing, Historians and the Nation on 22.04.2016
•  Dr. Milan  Kumar Chauley, Superintendent Archaeologist, Gauhati Circle, Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati : Archaeology and its Methods of Investigations in April 2016
•  Prof Rekha Pande , Department of History, Hyderabad University: Representation of Women in Bhakti Literature on 28.09.2016
• Prof Arun Bandopadhyay,, Department of History, University of Calcutta:  Towards an Environmental Reading of History of Water in Modern India on 31.01.2017
• Dr Coline Lefrancq, Associate Researcher to the University of Libre de Bruxellers, Belgium:  Ancient Bengal from 6th century CE to 4th century CE : Cartography Of The Cultural And Trading Areas on 06.04.2017
• Prof Sristhidhar Dutta, Rajiv Gandhi University : A Critique of the Look East Policy of the Government of India on 07.09.2017
• Prof Nupur Dasgupta, Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata : Landscapes in Nature: Forests, Flora and Gardens in Ancient India on 23.11.2017
• Prof Shahnaj Husne Jahan, Director of Centre for Archaeological Studies, University of Liberal Arts, Dacca, Bangladesh : Archaeology of Panchagarh District, Bangladesh on 23.11.2017
• Samiran Barua, former curator of the Assam State Museum, Guwahati and an international artist presently based in Paris, France : The Making of Contemporary Art on 29.1.2018
• Priyam Goswami, retired Professor and former head of the Department of History, Gauhati University delivered the Pratibha Devi Memorial Lecture on Women in 19^th and 20^th Century Assam: Overcoming Challenges on 20.03.2018
• Dr. Alka Michael Saikia, Associate Professor, Department of History, Gargi College, University of Delhi : Role of Gender in Traditional Knowledge Syatems in Northeast India on 30.01.2023 (in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts).
• Dr. Joram Begi,  Chairperson, Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati : Indigenous Knowledge Syatem with Special Reference to Arunachal Pradesh on 02.03.2023.
• Dr. Binayak Dutta,  Associate Professor, North - Eastern Hill University, Shillong: Partition and India's North East, Special Lecture on "Partition Horror Remembrance Day", on 14.08.2023
• Prof. Aditya Mukherjee, Professor (Retd.), Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Political History of Colonial and Post Colonial India, as part of Amalendu Guha Birth Centenary Commemoration on 13.05.2024.
• Prof. Sanghamitra Misra, Professor, Department of History, Delhi University : The Long Conquest : Territorialisation, Rebellion and the 'Tribe' in Eastern India,  on 21.06.2024

The following Seminars, Conferences and Workshops have been held since 2013

• National Seminar on Current Researches in History: Issues and Challenges, on March 20-21, 2024
• National Seminar on Northeast in India's Freedom Struggle : History, Research and New Narratives  held on 11th August, 2022, to commemorating "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" and Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Gauhati University
• International Workshop on Historical Research Methodology, 25 February to March 2, 2020
• ICHR and Gauhati University Sponsored National Seminar Current Researches in History, 21-22 February, 2019
• International Seminar on India and South East Asia – Mapping Connections, 27-28 April 2018
•  Annual Conference (International ) on Oral History and Public Memory in collaboration with OHAI, 13-14 Nov 2017 Sponsor: ICHR -GU
• National Seminar on History, Art and Archaeology of Eastern and Northeastern India in collaboration with the Indian Art History Congress (IAHC) to mark Silver Jubilee Year, 21 April 2017 Sponsor: ICHR
• National Seminar on Religion and Culture in Northeast India, 3-4 Nov 2016 Sponsor: UGC
• National Seminar on Understanding Urban History, 4-5 Sept 2014 Sponsor : ICHR
• Department Seminar on Current Researches in History: 2013,2014,2015,2016,2017

The Department of History, Gauhati University publishes the JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND CULTURE, an annual peer-reviewed international journal.

This journal is an interdisciplinary academic exposition of research publications focussing broadly on History and Culture intersecting over time and space with ethnology, gender, ecology, cultural rights, anthropology, geography, etc.

The papers are double-blind peer reviewed.

Word limit (approximate): Research Article : 2500-7000; Research Report : 2000-5000; Review Essay – 1500-3000; Book Review: 1000-2000

Papers may be mailed to : history@gauhati.ac.in

For more details and for back volumes, VISIT US AT :

https://journals.gauhati.ac.in/jhc

The Department of History, Gauhati University has an Alumni Association that held its first Alumni Meet Past in the Present on February 05, 2017. A total of 72 alumni participated in the meet. Notable alumni including distinguished historian and intellectual Udayaditya Bharali, Professor Shiela Bora, Prof. Sunil Pabon Baruah administrator Dhirendranath Saikia (retd. IAS), Mrinal Kumar Baruah (retd. IAS), film persoality Bobbeeta Sharma, among others participated in the meet. The  Alumni meet had a General Open session as well as a cultural programme.

The History Department Alumni Association, Gauhati University, in collaboration with the Department of History organized an All India bi-lingual (in English and Assamese language) Essay Competition commemorating the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, on the topic "India at 75 : Challenges and Prospects".

The following were the prize money offered from the Alumni Association :

First Prize (one) : Rs. 5000/-

Second Prize (one) : Rs. 3000/-

Third Prize (one) : Rs 1000/-

Fourth and Fifth prizes : Rs 500/- each

Cash reward was accompanied by a certificate.

More than fifty entries were recieved from all over the country. After careful evaluation and scrutiny, the following winners were selected for the prizes :

First Prize : Mr. Bejoy Sebastian, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala

Second Prize : Ms. Anushka Sharma, Gauhati University, Assam

Third Prize : Mr. Prabal Kalita, Gauhati University, Assam

Fourth Prize : Abhilash Goswami, Cotton University, Assam

Fifth Prize : Priya Barua, North Lakhimpur College (Autonomous), Assam.

The History Department Alumni Association, Gauhati University held its second Alumni Meet on 26th February, 2023 with the title, Pasts in the Present. It was attended by several notable alumni that included among others,  Prof. Manorama Sharma, former Professor and Head, Department of History, North-Eastern Hill University, Shri Dharma Kanta Mili, Director of Higher Education, Assam and Mr. Bhobon Pegu, the MLA of Jonai. The meet had a vibrant interactive session which also was accompanied by cultural programme.