->Tayi Arajakate at 07:18, 11 January 2022

2022-01-11T07:18:17Z

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{{short description|Indian historian}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Bipan Chander. Chandigarh. 1979.jpg
| name = Bipan Chandra
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1928|05|24}}
| birth_place = [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]], now [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]], [[Himachal Pradesh]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2014|08|30|1928|05|27}}
| death_place = [[Gurgaon]], [[Haryana]], India
| citizenship = Indian
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
*[[Forman Christian College]], [[Lahore]]
*[[Stanford University]]
*[[Delhi University]]
}}
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]] (2010),<ref>{{cite web |title=Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013) |publisher=[[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]] |page=153 |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |date=14 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref> Royal Asiatic Society of Bihar plaque
| works = ''[[India's Struggle for Independence]]''
}}

'''Bipan Chandra''' (24 May 1928 – 30 August 2014)<ref name="Bhushan1992">{{cite book|author=Ravi Bhushan|title=Reference India: biographical notes on men & women of achievement of today & tomorrow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZodmAAAAMAAJ|page=139|year=1992|publisher=Rifacimento International}}</ref> was an Indian [[historian]], specialising in [[Economic history of India#Republic of India|economic]] and [[Politics of India|political]] history of [[modern India]]. An emeritus professor of modern history at [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]], he specialized on the [[Indian independence movement]] and is considered a leading scholar on [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. He authored several books, including ''The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Rise_and_Growth_of_Economic_National.html?id=tjbZNJYmuTkC&redir_esc=y "Bipan Chandra, ''The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism''"] Googlebooks.com. Retrieved 2015-03-24.</ref>

==Early life and education==
Chandra was born in [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]] in [[Punjab, British India]] (now in [[Himachal Pradesh]]). As used to be the case in old Punjab, his early education was in Urdu, he was best at home in his early years with an Urdu novel by his side. He graduated from [[Forman Christian College]], Lahore in 1946 after which the Partition forced him to leave. Thereafter he went to the United States where he studied at the [[Stanford University]], California, [[United States]], to complete his graduation and post-graduation. He established contact with Communists there, and, caught in the net cast under Senator McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade, he was deported to India. Back in Delhi in the early 1950s, Bipan Chandra was appointed lecturer in History at the Hindu College, Delhi.<ref name=Release>[http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=23756 "Bipan Chandra and Andre Beteille Appointed as National Research Professors"]. Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2014.</ref> Later he completed his Ph.D. from Delhi University in 1963.

==Career==
Chandra taught for many years as [[lecturer]] and then as [[Reader (academic rank)|reader]] at [[Hindu College, University of Delhi|Hindu College, Delhi]].<ref name="kitaab1">[http://kitaab.org/2014/08/30/renowned-indian-historian-dr-bipin-chandra-passes-away/ "Renowned Indian Historian Dr. Bipan Chandra Passes Away - Kitaab"] Retrieved 2015-03-25.</ref> He became [[professor]] of History at [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru University]], [[New Delhi]], soon after the university was founded and after retirement was appointed as an emeritus professor there. He founded the journal ''Enquiry'' and was a member of its editorial board for a long time.<ref name=Release/>

Chandra was a sectional president and then the general president of the [[Indian History Congress]] in 1985.<ref>{{cite web
| title = Historian Bipan Chandra dies at the age of 86 | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Historian-Bipan-Chandra-dies-at-the-age-of-86/articleshow/41247631.cms |date=30 August 2014| access-date = 2014-08-31 | work = The Times of India}}</ref> He was chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies, [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru University]], New Delhi.<ref>[http://www.jnu.ac.in/sss/chs/aboutus.htm "Centre for Historical Studies, JNU"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913021314/http://www.jnu.ac.in/sss/chs/aboutus.htm |date=13 September 2013 }}. Jawaharlal Nehru University. Retrieved 14 February 2014.</ref> He became a member of the [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]] in 1993.<ref name="kitaab1"/> He was the [[chairman]] of the [[National Book Trust]], [[New Delhi]] from 2004 to 2012.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040830044259/http://www.hindu.com/2004/07/08/stories/2004070801591200.htm "Bipan Chandra appointed NBT chairman"]. ''The Hindu''. 8 July 2004. Retrieved 14 February 2014.</ref> As Chairman of National Book Trust, India, he started many new series such as Popular Social Science, Autobiography, Afro-Asian Countries series, Indian Diaspora Studies etc.<ref>Patnaik, Prabhat. [http://www.frontline.in/other/obituary/historian-of-courage/article6407882.ece Bipan Chandra: Historian of Courage], Frontline, 3 October 2014.</ref>

In his retirement years he was appointed as a national research professor in 2007.<ref name=Release/>

==Research==
Chandra was at the forefront of the communist movement in India since independence.<ref name="targetinghistory">{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080504042106/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1809/18090880.htm T.K.Rajalakshmi, Targeting History, in ''Frontline'', Vol. 18, Issue 09, 28 April – 11 May 2001]}}</ref> His co-authored book, ''Freedom Struggle'', was censored by the new central government that came to power in India in 1977.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4DlMSrtOGLIC&pg=PA272&lpg=PA272&dq=Barun+De+-+ICHR&source=bl&ots=hmRlRiPqav&sig=6MUM5_sRlcbIUsBEKy6tnvpR3r0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ULXoVKPXJcHguQTupYCoAg&ved=0CBwQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=Barun%20De%20-%20ICHR&f=false "Censorship of Historical Thought: A World Guide" - Antoon de Baets] Books.google.com Retrieved 2015-03-25.</ref> He collaborated with historians such [[S. Nurul Hasan|Nurul Hasan]], [[Ram Sharan Sharma]], [[S. Gopal|Sarvapalli Gopal]], [[Satish Chandra]], [[Romila Thapar]], [[Irfan Habib]], [[Barun De]] and Arjun Dev and some of his students, such as [[Mridula Mukherjee]], Aditya Mukherjee, Sucheta Mahajan and Vishalakshi Menon, some of whose textbooks have previously been prescribed in the history syllabi of schools in India.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020428/spectrum/book6.htm | title = Critiques galore! | author = D.R. Chaudhry | work = [[The Tribune (Chandigarh)]] | date = 2002-04-28 | access-date = 2009-03-06}}</ref><ref>[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140831/jsp/nation/story_18783081.jsp#.VKIaQvkA `Call me Bipan, not prof'], The Telegraph, 31 August 2014.</ref>

==Controversy==
In April 2016, right-wing activist [[Dinanath Batra]] sought a ban on Chandra's bestselling ''[[India's Struggle for Independence]]'' because of a misunderstanding of the terminology used in it.<ref name="thehindu">[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ban-sought-on-bipan-chandras-book/article8533688.ece Vikas Pathak, 'Ban Sought on Bipan Chandra's book' in ''The Hindu'', 29 April 2016]</ref><ref name="indiatoday">[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bipan-chandras-book-on-indias-free-struggle-raises-controversy/1/652815.html Siddhartha Rai, 'Bipan Chandra's book on India's freedom struggle raises controversy, calls Bhagat Singh a terrorist' in ''India Today'', 28 April 2016]</ref>

==Death==
Chandra died on 30 August 2014, at his home in Gurgaon, after prolonged illness, aged 86.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/historian-bipan-chandra-dies-at-the-age-of-86-584031?curl=1409377862 |title=Historian Bipan Chandra Dies At The Age of 86 |date=30 August 2014 |publisher=NDTV }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/news/latest-news/historian-bipan-chandra-is-dead-151195.html | title=Historian Bipan Chandra is dead | date=30 August 2014 | access-date=30 August 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830181515/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/news/latest-news/historian-bipan-chandra-is-dead-151195.html | archive-date=30 August 2014 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|JNU]] organised a commemorative event on his birth anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jnu-to-organize-jashn-e-azadi-event-to-celebrate-birth-anniversary-of-bipan-chandra/1/628526.html|title=JNU to organize Jashn-e-Azadi on historian Bipan Chandras birth anniversary|website=indiatoday.intoday.in|access-date=2016-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/idea-of-bharat-mata-is-european-import-irfan-habib/article8406275.ece|title=Idea of Bharat Mata is European import: Irfan Habib|date=2016-03-29|newspaper=The Hindu|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref>

==Publications==
*''The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi'', Orient Blackswan, 2000
*''History of Modern India'', Orient Blackswan, 1990
*''Communalism: A Primer'', (New Delhi, 2008)
*''In the Name of Democracy: The JP Movement and the Emergency'', (New Delhi, 2003)
*''Essays on Colonialism'', (New Delhi, 1999)
*''India Since Independence'', (jointly with [[Mridula Mukherjee]] and Aditya Mukherjee), (New Delhi, 1999)<ref>{{cite book|last=Mukherjee|first=Bipan Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee, Aditya|title=India since independence|date=2008|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New Delhi|isbn=9780143104094|pages=771|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dE9qEg-NgHMC|edition=Rev.}}</ref>
*''Ideology and Politics in Modern India'', (New Delhi, 1994)
*''Essays on Indian Nationalism'', (New Delhi, 1993)
*''Essays on Contemporary India'', (New Delhi, 1993)
*''The Epic Struggle'', (New Delhi, 1992)
*''India's Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947'', (New Delhi, 1989)
*''Indian National Movement: The Long Term Dynamics'', (New Delhi, 1988)
*''Communalism in Modern India'', (New Delhi, 1984)
*''The Indian Left: Critical Appraisal'', (New Delhi, 1983)
*''Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India'', (New Delhi, 1979)
*''Freedom Struggle'', (jointly with Amalesh Tripathi and Barun De), (New Delhi, 1972))
*''The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India: Economic Policies of Indian National Leadership, 1880-1905'' (New Delhi, 1966)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2010–19}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Bipan}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Emeritus Professors in India]]
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]
[[Category:Historians of India]]
[[Category:Writers about Hindu nationalism]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:University of Delhi faculty]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru University faculty]]
[[Category:Forman Christian College alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist historians]]
[[Category:Indian political writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:People from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Scholars from Himachal Pradesh]]

Bipan Chandra - Revision history

->Tayi Arajakate at 07:18, 11 January 2022