Taskin Ahmed Kayum at 05:18, 18 December 2025

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{{Short description|Indian historian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] [[Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|FRAS]]
| name = Jadunath Sarkar
| image = Jadunath Sarkar 1927.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Sarkar, 1927{{sfn|Chakrabarty|2015|p=ii}}
| birth_date = 10 December 1870
| birth_place = [[Singra Upazila|Karachmaria]], [[Bengal Presidency]], British India
| death_date = 19 May 1958 (aged 87)
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], West Bengal, India
| occupation = Historian
| spouse = Lady Kadambini Sarkar
}}

'''Sir Jadunath Sarkar''', {{Post-nominals|list=[[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]], [[Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|FRAS]]}} (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the [[Mughal dynasty]].

Sarkar was educated in English literature and worked as a teacher for some time but later shifted his focus to history research writing.
He had vast knowledge of the [[Persian language]], and he wrote all his books in English. He was vice-chancellor (VC) of the [[University of Calcutta]] from 1926 to 1928 and a member of the [[British Bengal Legislative Council|Bengal Legislative Council]] between 1929 and 1932. In 1929 the British knighted him.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Jadunath Sarkar |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jadunath-Sarkar |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=11 May 2024 |access-date=28 February 2023 |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606194703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jadunath-Sarkar |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Sarkar was born on 10 December 1870 in the village of Karachmaria in [[Singra Upazila|Chhatardighi, Singra]], [[Rajshahi Division|Rajshahi district]], [[Bengal Presidency]] (now in [[Natore District]], [[Bangladesh]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bellenoit |first1=Hayden J. |title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760-1860 |date=17 February 2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-134-49429-3 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ&dq=Jadunath+Sarkar+kayastha&pg=PA14 |access-date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=15 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715165354/https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ&dq=Jadunath+Sarkar+kayastha&pg=PA14#v=onepage&q=Jadunath%20Sarkar%20kayastha&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Dr R. K. Bhatt & Mr Manish |title=Development of Social Sciences: A Librarians Companion |date=10 September 2021 |publisher=K.K. Publications |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGJCEAAAQBAJ&dq=Jadunath+Sarkar+kayastha&pg=PA152 |access-date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=15 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715165351/https://books.google.com/books?id=YGJCEAAAQBAJ&dq=Jadunath+Sarkar+kayastha&pg=PA152#v=onepage&q=Jadunath%20Sarkar%20kayastha&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> His father, Rajkumar Sarkar, was a local [[zamindar]] and owned a large library. His mother, Harisundari Devi, had seven sons and three daughters, with Jadunath being the fifth child and third son.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=19 March 2015 |title=Sarkar, Jadunath |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sarkar,_Jadunath |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608164517/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sarkar,_Jadunath |archive-date=8 June 2020 |access-date=30 November 2019 |website=[[Banglapedia]]}}</ref> In 1891, he graduated in English from [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College, Calcutta]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1892, he topped the [[Master of Arts|Master of Arts examination]] in English at [[Calcutta University]], and in 1897, he received the [[Premchand Roychand|Premchand-Roychand Scholarship]].<ref name=":0" />

== Academic career ==
[[File:Jadunath Sircar.jpg|thumb|c. 1926]]
In 1893, he was inducted as a faculty member of English literature at Ripon College, [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] (later renamed [[Surendranath College]]).<ref name=":0" /> In 1898, he was appointed to [[Presidency College, Calcutta]], after getting selected in the Provincial Education Services.<ref name=":0" /> In between, from 1917 to 1919, he taught modern Indian history at [[Benaras Hindu University]], and from 1919 to 1923, both English and history at [[Ravenshaw College]], Cuttack.<ref name=":0" /> In 1923, he became an honorary member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society]] of London. In August 1926, he was appointed as the vice-chancellor of [[Calcutta University]]. In 1928, he joined as Sir W. Meyer Lecturer in [[Madras University]].

== Historiography ==

=== Reception ===
He has been called the "greatest Indian historian of his time" and one of the greatest in the world, whose erudite works "have established a tradition of honest and scholarly historiography" by E. Sreedharan.<ref name="Historiography 2000, p. 448">A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000, E. Sreedharan, p. 448</ref> He has also been compared with [[Theodor Mommsen]] and [[Leopold von Ranke]].<ref name="Historiography 2000, p. 448" /> [[Arthur Llewellyn Basham]] calls him "the greatest Indian historian of his generation."<ref>Basham, A. L. "Sir Jadunath Sarkar, C.I.E." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 3/4, 1958, pp. 222–24. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25202199 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417121317/https://www.jstor.org/stable/25202199 |date=17 April 2022 }}. Retrieved 17 Feb. 2024.</ref> He has also been described as "a star historian of modern India on medieval Indian history, who brilliantly caught the spirit of the age and devoted himself to the neglected field of Indian historiography."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jha |first=Ajay Kumar |year=2004 |title=Profile of a Historian: Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1870-1958) |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=65 |pages=880–890 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44144800}}</ref> He has also been appreciated as "unquestionably the greatest Indian historian of his time and one of the greatest in the world".<ref>{{cite book |title=Sir Jadunath Sarkar |author=Moumita Datta |page=11 [https://www.elearning.panchakotmv.ac.in/files/EA15973715968162540.pdf] |quote="Sir Jadunath was unquestionably the greatest Indian historian of his time and one of the greatest in the world, Naturally, therefore, his powerful personality and erudite works could not fail to exert great influence on contemporary scholars and historians. There was hardly any sensitive an honest worker in the field of medieval Indian history who could remain immune from this healthy influence in some way or other, directly or indirectly."}}</ref>

Sarkar's historiography was inclined towards [[Nationalism|nationalist]] elements.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sabyasachi |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Comprehensive_History_of_Modern_Bengal.html?id=Z3GxzQEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description |title=A Comprehensive History of Modern Bengal, 1700-1950 |date=2020 |publisher=Asiatic Society |isbn=978-93-89901-95-5 |pages=52 |language=en |quote=Nationalist historian Jadunath Sarkar blames Murshid Quli Khan for the demise of nawabi rule.}}</ref> His works faded out of public memory with the increasing advent of [[Marxist historiography|Marxist]] and [[Postcolonialism|postcolonial]] schools of historiography.<ref name="Roy2004">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpXijlqeRpIC&pg=PR10 |title=India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil |author=Kaushik Roy |publisher=Orient Blackswan |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-7824-109-8 |pages=10}}</ref>

Academically, [[Jos J. L. Gommans]] compares Sarkar's work with those of the [[Aligarh Muslim University|Aligarh historians]], noting that while the historians from the Aligarh worked mainly on the [[mansabdar]]i system and [[gunpowder]] technology in the [[Mughal Empire]], Sarkar concentrated on [[military tactics]] and [[siege]]s.<ref name="Gommans2002">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vA3YVOt9QZUC&pg=PA1|title=Mughal Warfare: Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-1700|author=Jos J. L. Gommans|author-link=Jos Gommans|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-415-23989-9|pages=1}}</ref> In a letter dated 25 November 1945 to historian Dr. Raghubir Sinh of [[Sitamau]], Sarkar says, "Aurangzib is my life's work; Shivaji is only an incidental off-shoot of it."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiQdAAAAMAAJ |title=Making of a Princely Historian: Letters of Sir J. N. Sarkar to Dr. Raghubir Sinh of Sitamau |publisher=Maharashtra State Board for Archives and Archaeology |year=1975 |pages=203}}</ref>
[[File:Jadunath sarkar.jpg|thumb|Jadunath Sarkar]]

== Honours ==

In 1904, Sarkar was given the Griffith Prize by the [[University of Calcutta]] ([[Kolkata, Bengal]]). He was elected as a member of the Indian Historical Records Commission in 1919. In 1923, he was made an Honorary Member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland]] (Hon. MRAS) and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (Hon. FRASB).<ref name="JBM">[https://jbmrc.cssscal.org/about/jadunath-sarkar/ About Jadunath Sarkar] - website of the Jadunath Bhavan Museum of the [[Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta|CSSSC]]</ref>

Sarkar was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] (CIE) in the [[1926 New Year Honours]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33119 |date=29 December 1925 |pages=1–12 |supp=y }}</ref> and [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1929 Birthday Honours]] by King [[George V]], then also [[Emperor of India]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33501 |date=31 May 1929 |pages=3665–3682 |supp=y |nolink=yes }}</ref> On 22 August 1929, he was invested with his knighthood at Simla by the acting Viceroy of India, [[George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33539|date=1 October 1929 |page=6245 |supp=}}</ref>

In 1935, he became a corresponding member of the [[Royal Historical Society]] (London, England) and an honorary member of the [[American Historical Association]] (Washington, D.C., US). In 1936 he received an honorary [[Doctor of Letters|D.Litt.]] degree from the [[University of Dhaka]] and in 1944 from the [[University of Patna]]. When he reached his eightieth year, he was honoured in 1949 and 1950 by the literary associations [[Bangiya Sahitya Parishat]] and the Bangiya Itihas Parishad (both in [[Kolkata, West Bengal]]) for his lifetime achievements.<ref name="JBM" />

== Legacy ==
The [[Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta]], an autonomous research center, has been established in his house, which was donated to the state government by Sarkar's wife. CSSC also houses the Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre, a museum-cum-archive of primary sources.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/in-the-memory-of-jadunath-sarkar/cid/1610057 |title=In the memory of Jadunath Sarkar |work=The Telegraph |language=en |access-date=30 November 2019 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316093352/https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/in-the-memory-of-jadunath-sarkar/cid/1610057 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== List of works ==
Published works by Sarkar include:
* ''Economics of British India'' (1900)
* ''The India of Aurangzib'' (1901)
* ''Anecdotes of Aurangzib'' (1912)
* ''[[History of Aurangzib]]'' (in 5 volumes), (1912–24)
* ''Chaitanya's pilgrimages and teachings, from his contemporary Bengali biography, the Chaitanya-charit-amrita: Madhya-lila'' (translation from the Bengali original by [[Krishnadasa Kaviraja]], 1913)
* ''Shivāji and his times'' (1919)
* ''Studies in Mughal India'' (1919)<ref name="Moreland1921">{{cite journal |last=Moreland |first=W. H. |date=July 1921 |title=Studies in Mughal India by Jadunath Sarkar; Mughal Administration by Jadunath Sarkar |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=438–439 |jstor=25209765}}</ref>
* ''Mughal Administration'' (1920)<ref name="Moreland1921"/>
* ''Nadir Shah in India'' (1922)
* ''Later Mughals'' by [[William Irvine (historian)|William Irvine]] (in 2 volumes), (edited by Jadunath Sarkar, 1922)
* ''India through the ages'' (1928)
* ''A Short History of Aurangzib'' (1930)
* ''The Fall of the Mughal Empire'' (in 4 volumes), (1932–38)
* ''Studies in Aurangzib's reign'' (1933)
* ''The House of Shivaji'' (1940)
* ''The History of Bengal'' (in 2 volumes), (1943–1948)
* ''Maāsir-i-ʻĀlamgiri: a history of the emperor Aurangzib-ʻl̀amgir'' (translation from the Persian original by Muḥammad Sāqī Mustaʻidd Khān, 1947)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Davies |first=C. Collin |date=April 1949 |title=Maāsir-i-'Ālamgīrī of Sāqī Must'ad Khān by Jadunath Sarkar |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=104–106 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00102692 |jstor=25222314}}</ref>
* ''Military History of India'' (1960)
* ''A History of Jaipur, c. 1503–1938'' (1984)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Smith |year=1985 |title=Jadunath Sarkar: A History of Jaipur, c. 1503-1938 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=48 |issue=3 |page=620 |jstor=618587 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00039343 |s2cid=161804789}}</ref>
* ''A History Of Dasnami Naga Sanyasis''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book|title=The Calling of History: Sir Jadunath Sarkar and His Empire of Truth|last=Chakrabarty|first=Dipesh|year=2015|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-10044-9|location=Chicago and London|url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo8607679.html}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLE5AQAAIAAJ|title=Sir Jadunath Sarkar Commemoration Volume.|publisher=Department of History, Panjab University|year=1957|editor-last=Gupta|editor-first=Hari Ram|editor-link=Hari Ram Gupta|volume=I|location=Hoshiarpur|oclc=251228572}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sr85AQAAIAAJ|title=Sir Jadunath Sarkar Commemoration Volume.|date=1958|publisher=Department of History, Panjab University|editor1-last=Gupta|editor1-first=Hari Ram|editor-mask=8|volume=II|location=Hoshiarpur|oclc=470654377|editor2-last=Kaushal|editor2-first=Paras Ram|editor3-last=Talwar|editor3-first=Shanti Swarup}}
* {{Cite book |title=Sir Jadunath Sarkar: A Profile in Historiography |last=Pawar |first=Kiram |year=1985 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Books & Books}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Jadunath Sarkar}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Aniruddha |year=2012 |chapter=Sarkar, Jadunath |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sarkar,_Jadunath |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/524365/Sir-Jadunath-Sarkar Sir Sarkar at Britannica Encyclopedia]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=39200| name=Jadunath Sarkar}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jadunath Sarkar}}

{{University of Calcutta Vice chancellors}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkar, Jadunath}}
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:Bengali historians]]
[[Category:Bengali zamindars]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata]]
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:People from Natore District]]
[[Category:Rajshahi College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1958 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Indian Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Scholars from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Historians from British India]]
[[Category:Bengali knights]]

Jadunath Sarkar - Revision history

Taskin Ahmed Kayum at 05:18, 18 December 2025