Kumar Suresh Singh (1935–2006) commonly known as K. S. Singh, was an Indian Administrative Service officer, who served as a Commissioner of Chotanagpur (1978–80) and Director-General of the Anthropological Survey of India. He is known principally for his oversight and editorship of the People of India survey and for his studies of tribal history.
Life
Kumar Suresh Singh was the son of the zamindar of Nayagaon in Munger district in Bihar and a son-in-law of the Maharaja of Chotanagpur. He studied history, coming first in the first-class in the BA (Hons.) examination of Patna University. He subsequently obtained a master's degree, and finally a PhD which he wrote on the revolutionary, Birsa Munda.[1]
He joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1958. He worked among the Santhals[1] and then spent the period 1965–1968 as Deputy Commissioner at Palamu, in the Chhotanagpur area. This posting coincided with the Bihar famine, for which he helped to organise relief and which introduced some innovative approaches that have subsequently been adopted elsewhere.[2]
His posts in the government of Bihar included being Secretary in various departments: Industries (1973–1974), Rural Development (1974–1975, and 1980–1981), and Forest and Environment (1982–1984). A. K. Sinha has noted that "Because of his honesty, integrity and adherence to the norms of administration, he was not allowed to complete his term in any department in Bihar."[2]
In between these various government posts, Singh returned to Chhotanagpur as Commissioner for the period 1978–1980. In 1984 he was appointed Director-General of the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) and also Director of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (National Museum of Mankind) in Bhopal.[2]
Although Singh retired from the ASI in 1993, he remained General Editor of the People of India series until his death on 20 May 2006. He completed the final volume just before dying, having previously suffering partial paralysis from a stroke. He was a National Fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research at the time of his death.[1][2] Muchkund Dubey subsequently commented that Template:Quote
Tribal studies
Singh wrote a PhD thesis on Birsa Munda, the leader of an insurgency campaign against British rule. To do this he had to rely significantly on folk-lore and other forms of oral history practised by the tribal inhabitants of the Jharkhand area of Bihar, where in total he spent 15 years conducting fieldwork. Although Singh considered Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi to be the first mainstream subaltern historian, Sinha notes that Singh himself may have been. He went on to produce other works on tribal history.[2]
People of India
Singh had responsibility for the organisation, compilation and oversight of the People of India survey, which was intended to be an anthropological study of the differences and linkages between all of the communities in India.The survey involved 470 scholars and identified 4694 communities during its period of fieldwork between October 1985 and 1994. Sinha notes a total of 3000 scholars, which figure appears to include those involved at various seminars and workshops. The full results of the survey fill 43 published volumes, of which 12 had been produced at the time of Singh's death.[1][2]
The purpose and methodology of the survey has received criticism. Laura Dudley Jenkins, for example, has said that Template:Quote
A review of the first volume of the series over Contributions to Indian Sociology, noted:- Template:Quote
Another opinion favourably contrasts the project with colonial ethnography, with Sinha saying that Template:Quote
Publications
Aside from his writing, as author and as editor, in volumes related to the People of India survey, Singh also wrote and edited other works, a selection of which are:
- The Dust-Storm and the Hanging Mist: A Study of Birsa Munda and his Movement in Chhotanagpur, 1874–1901{{#if:Singh|, Singh}. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay(1966) – published version of Singh's PhD dissertation
- The Indian Famine, 1967: A Study in Crisis and Change{{#if:Singh|, Singh}. People's Publishing House(1975)
- Tribal Movements in India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Manohar(1982)
- Birsa Munda and his Movement, 1872–1901: A study of a Millenarian Movement in Chotanagpur{{#if:Singh|, Singh}. Oxford University Press(1983). ISBN 978-81-7046-205-7
- Tribal Society in India: An Anthropo-historical Perspective{{#if:Singh|, Singh}. Manohar(1985)
- Anthropology, Development, and Nation Building{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Concept Publishing Company(1987). ISBN 9788170220015
- Tribal Ethnography, Customary Law, and Change{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Concept Publishing Company(1993). ISBN 978-81-7022-471-6
- Antiquity to Modernity in Tribal India: Tribal Movements in India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Inter-India Publications(1998). ISBN 978-81-210-0385-8
- The Tribal Situation in India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Indian Institute of Advanced Study(2002). ISBN 978-81-7986-008-3
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Scholar of society. Frontline(30 June 2006). Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Obituary: Kumar Suresh Singh (1935–2006). Indian Historical Review({Template:Date).Template:Subscription required
Further reading
- The one from the tribe(17 June 2006). Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- People of India and Indian Anthropology: K S Singh: A Tribute. Economic and Political Weekly({Template:Year).