https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=D._P._AgrawalD. P. Agrawal - Revision history2026-07-31T18:20:56ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=D._P._Agrawal&diff=165927&oldid=previmported>Monkbot at 06:47, 31 January 20212021-01-31T06:47:30Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{about|the science and technology historian|the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission|D.P. Agrawal (academic)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2013}}<br />
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[[File:Shri Dharampal Agrawal Jee with his Best Student Shri Rajiv Dixit Jee.jpg|thumb|Dharampal Agrawal with [[Rajiv Dixit]] ]]<br />
'''D. P. Agrawal''' ('''Dharmapal Agrawal''') is a [[historian]] of Indian science and technology, archaeologist,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1469206.ece|title=UPSC questions poorly framed, says Indian History Congress|date=19 February 2011|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=5 May 2011}}</ref> and author. He has published works on Indian [[archaeology]], [[metallurgy]], the history of science, and [[palaeoclimate]].<br />
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==Biography ==<br />
Dharma Pal Agrawal was born on 15 March 1933 at [[Almora]], [[United Provinces of British India]] (presently in [[Uttarakhand]]).<ref name=bio>[http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_ed/t_ed_agraw_cv_frameset.htm Dharma Pal Agrawal, Brief Bio-Data], Infinity Foundation, Retrieved 2015-08-27.</ref><br />
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== Career ==<br />
He has worked with the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] and [[Physical Research Laboratory]], all of which are All-India institutions. His researches were mainly done in the fields of [[palaeoenvironment]], [[prehistoric archaeology]], [[radiocarbon & TL dating]], [[archaeometallurgy]], India's contributions to the world of science and technology. At the Physical Research Laboratory, he was a Senior Professor and Area Chairman of the Quaternary Paleo-Climate Study Area, a large multi-disciplinary research group.<ref name=traditional/><ref name=NAS/> He has been a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and at the International Research Center at [[Kyoto]],<ref name=bio/><br />
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== Contribution ==<br />
Agrawal has made significant contributions to the fields of paleoenvironment, pre-historic archaeology, radiocarbon dating, the archaeology of metallurgy, and the history of science and technology in India. He has edited the journal ''Man and Environment'' for a number of years, and served on the advisory board of journals ''World Archaeology'' and ''Le anthropologie''. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.<ref name=NAS>[http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=A Fellows] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726040729/http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=A |date=26 July 2013 }}, National Academy of Sciences, India,</ref> and a member of the National Commission on the History of Science. During his academic career he has published 15 books and about 250 papers on different topics.<ref name=traditional>[https://www.amazon.in/Traditional-Knowledge-Systems-Archaeology-Agrawal/dp/8173053340/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452377052&sr=1-12 Traditional Knowledge Systems and Archaeology, About the Author], Amazon India.</ref><ref>[http://www.infinityfoundation.com/indic_colloq/persons/person_agrawal.htm Dharma Pal Agrawal], Participant detail, 2002 Indic Colloquium, Infinity Foundation.</ref><br />
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After retirement from the Physical Research Laboratory in 1993, he has been working as the Honorary Director of the ''Lok Vigyan Kendra'' in Almora, where he coordinates research on "traditional knowledge systems," codifying the accumulated folk knowledge on the crops, medicinal plants and biodiversity. He is also the chief editor of a multi-volume international project on the history of science and technology.<ref name=traditional/><br />
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His research contributions have spanned disciplines, mainly in the fields of archaeology, radiocarbon & TL dating, archaeometallurgy, Traditional Knowledge Systems and palaeoenvironment. Agrawal has done extensive work on archaeometallurgy of the Harappa Culture, the Copper Hoards Culture, and also in the Central Himalayan region. Agrawal has specialised in the use of scientific techniques for archaeological research. He has also made fundamental theoretical contributions in the fields of language and evolution, flaking mechanics, archaeological theories and concept of time. He retired as a senior professor and chairman of a large multidisciplinary group at Physical Research Laboratory. He has organised and attended numerous national and international symposia. He has given invited talks at the leading centres of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research both in India and abroad. He has published 15 books and about 250 papers. He was a member of the advisory board of World Archaeology, Le’Anthroplogie and has edited Man & Environment for a number of years. He has been the chairman of Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Research. He is a member of the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology, and has been associated with several other academic committees – both national and international.<br />
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Currently{{when|date=May 2012}} he is the Director (hon.) of Lok Vigyan Kendra (LVK), an organisation devoted to the study of Traditional Knowledge Systems, especially in Uttaranchal, and History of Science and Technology. LVK is also addressing the problems related to the use of traditional technologies for the economic betterment of the Uttarakhand people.<br />
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At Almora, his native place, Agrawal also runs a Trust, Bratpalji Pannalalji Smriti Nyas. Through this trust he is able to provide some modest help to the needy and bright students of his home town..he also guide the civil service aspirants by the attending various seminars<br />
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==Works==<br />
; Books<br />
* ''The Copper Bronze Age in India'', Munshiram Manoharlal, 1971. <br />
* ''Prehistoric Chronology and Radiocarbon Dating in India'' (with S. Kusumgar) Munshiram Manoharlal, 1974. {{ISBN|8121503167}}.<br />
* ''Protohistoric Archaeology of India'' (in Hindi, with P. L. Agrawal), U.P. Granth Akademi, Lucknow, 1975.<br />
* ''Essays in Indian Protohistory'' (with [[D. K. Chakrabarti]]). B.R.Publishers, 1978. {{ISBN|8170180430}}.<br />
* ''The Archaeology of India''. London : Curzon Press, 1981.<br />
* ''Man and Environment in India through Ages'', New Delhi: Books and Books, 1992.<br />
* ''Dating the Human Past'' (with M. G. Vadava), Poona: Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, 1995. <br />
* ''Central Himalayas: An Archaeological, Linguistic and Cultural Synthesis'' (with J.S. Kharakwal). Aryan Books International, 1998. {{ISBN|8173051321}}.<br />
* ''Ancient Metal Technology and Archaeology of South Asia: A Pan-Asian Perspective''. Aryan Books International, 2000. {{ISBN|8173051771}}.<br />
* ''South Asian Prehistory: A Multidisciplinary Study'' (with J.S. Kharakwal), Aryan Books International, 2002. {{ISBN|8173052360}}.<br />
* ''Bronze and Iron Ages in South Asia'' (with J.S. Kharakwal), Aryan Books International, 2003. {{ISBN|8173052522}}.<br />
* ''The Indus Civilization: An Interdisciplinary Perspective'', Aryan Books International, 2007. {{ISBN|8173053103}}.<br />
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* Agrawal, D.P., Mainkant Shah and Lalit Tiwari. In press. ''A Multidisciplinary Study of Traditional Knowledge Systems of Uttaranchal''. IGNCA.<br />
* Agrawal, D.P. In prep. ''The Concepts of Time and Cultural Conditioning''.<br />
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; Edited works<br />
* ''Palaeoclimatic and Palaeoenvironmental Changes in Asia'' (with S. K. Gupta and P. Sharma).. New Delhi : Indian National Science Academy, 1988.<br />
* ''Radiocarbon and Indian Archaeology'' (with A. Ghosh). Bombay: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1973. <br />
* ''Ecology and Archaeology of Western India'' (with Agrawal, D.P. and B.M. Pande). New Delhi: Concept Publishers, 1977.<br />
* ''Climate and Geology of Kashmir and Central India : The Last 4 Million years'' (with R. V. Krishnamurthy and S. Kusumgar). T.T. Publishers (New Delhi), 1985.<br />
* ''Traditional Knowledge and Archaeology'', (with Sameer Jamal and Manikant Shah). Aryan Books International, 2007. {{ISBN|8173053340}}.<br />
* ''The Harappan Technology and its Legacy'', Rupa and Co, 2009 (with Infinity Foundation). {{ISBN|8129115328}}.<br />
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== Views and reception ==<br />
The 1971 book ''Copper Bronze Age in India'' reports an integrated study of the Copper-Bronze Age carried out at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, covering its chronology, technology and ecology.<ref>{{citation|title=Aspects of Ancient Indian Technology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLqo5bu_q_sC&pg=PR7|year=1979|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-3040-0|pages=7–}}</ref><br />
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== References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{Wikiquote}}<br />
*[http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/tks_essays.htm Some publications online]<br />
*[http://reflections-shivanand.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/interview-dr-d-p-agrawal-history-of.html Interview: Dr D P Agrawal; History of Indian Science and Technology], Shivanand Kanavi Blog.<br />
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[[Category:20th-century Indian archaeologists]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Scientists from Uttarakhand]]<br />
[[Category:Indian social sciences writers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian metallurgists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian technology writers]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]</div>imported>Monkbot