The Department of History was established in 1948 along with the very inception of Gauhati University. This department, the pioneer in the subject in Northeast India aims at academic excellence and fosters higher education and research through interaction with other institutions of higher learning and the society at large as the way forward to world development. The courses offered have implications and challenges for an active future contribution to an understanding of the current social reality entrenched in historical roots. The programmes seek to connect the learners with the collective history of various communities. The main thrust is on historiography, regional history, Ethnohistory, environmental history, and history of marginalized voices, which includes gender studies. Attempts are made to expose the students to new ideas and trends in history- writing through lectures and interaction with renowned scholars, discussions, seminars, and study tours. The Faculty has been actively engaged in research and projects funded by UGC, ICHR, and ICSSR with particular emphasis on the Northeastern region.
The Department of History began with about thirty students in 1948 at the Cotton College premises in Pan Bazar, Guwahati. The first academic session started in 1949-50. A decade later, in 1959, the Department shifted, along with the other departments, to the newly constructed buildings of the present University Campus at Jalukbari. The strength of the students and teachers gradually increased within the next few years and in 1962, there were around a hundred students and five teachers. With the introduction of the Semester System and a new syllabus in 2003, revised every three years, the Department now has an intake capacity of 72 students and a faculty of nine members. Eminent historians like K. K. Handiqui, H.K. Barpujari, S. K. Bhuyan, D. P. Barooah, P.C. Chowdhury and Professor M. M. Sharma are associated with the department. Prominent alumni include Prof. J .B. Bhattacharjee, Prof. Imdad Hussain, Mr. Shankar Barua (IPS), Prof. Manorama Sharma, Prof. Shiela Bora, Prof. S. D. Goswami and others.
The Department publishes an Annual Journal Journal of History and Culture
One of the former faculty member Professor Jogendra Nath Phukan has been awarded the Padma Shree, the notable Civilian Award of the Republic of India for the year 2020.
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
- Semesters: 4
- Duration: 2 years
- Intake: 71
Syllabus may be sourced from :
http://web.gauhati.ac.in/syllabus/home/postgraduate-cbcs/history
M.Phil: (Discontinued)
Ph.D.: 3-5 years
Intake: As per UGC guidelines
Five Years Integrated Masters Programme.
Minor in 2023-2024 session
Major from 2024-2025 session
Department of History Gauhati University,
GNB Nagar
P.O. Jalukbari Guwahati - 781014,
Assam, INDIA
Phone : +91-361-2570239
Email : history@gauhati.ac.in
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 process. 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
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
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 & ï½Chair, 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
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The following Seminars, Conferences and Workshops have been held since 2013
- 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
- ICHR and Gauhati University Sponsored National Seminar Current Researches in History, 21-22 February, 2019
- International Workshop on Historical Research Methodology, 25 February to March 2, 2020
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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 : www.jhc.co.in
The Department of History, Gauhati University has an Alumni Association that held its first meet on February 05, 2017.