Department of History, Sardar Patel University

Welcome to the Department of History! Ours is one of the oldest departments in Gujarat. It was established in 1958 as Dr. Arya Ramchandra G. Tiwari as its founder Head and Reader. At present there are five teachers in the Department. Well-qualifie are five teachers in the Department. Well-qualified, experienced, dedicated faculty (all teachers hold Ph.D. degree) is a strong point of the Department.Though small, the Department is vibrant with academic programmes, seminars, conferences, outreach programmes, expert lecturers, and research publications.The Department offers M.A. and Ph.D. programmes. Keeping in view the vision of the University, the Department offers courses on Agrarian, Rural, Tribal, and Village history (emphasis on local history): the only Department to offer such courses. It is also the only Department in Gujarat that offers courses in contemporary Indian history (till CE 2000) and in ancient Indian history. The course is designed in such a way that the students at the very least have a fair idea of history of modern world, a good idea of history of India, and thorough knowledge of recent times of their own region. More than 80% of our students come from socially and economically unprivileged classes and the Department is proud to caters to the needs of these disadvantageous groups. The Department insists on fieldwork: visit to historical monuments, archaeological sites, historical places and archives to strengthen classroom teaching of history. The Department also runs इतिह (‘Itih’) wall-magazine to publicise latest discoveries related to history. Students enthusiastically participate in it. I strongly recommend you to be part of this Department. The Department has established a Research and Extension Programme Unit in the year 2002. The aim of the Unit is to conduct research programmes on “Grassroots and Village History”; to collect source material for the research programme; to disseminate the knowledge of the subject in distant, mofussil and tribal areas of Gujarat. The Unit also conducts workshops and organised seminars and symposia for the benefits of history teachers and students. The Department has completed a number of research projects on village and local history; a series of projects on women’s history in collaboration with the UGC Centre for Womens’ Studies of Sardar Patel University. Lately, a UGC-funded Major Research Project on the Nineteenth Century Gujarat was completed. The Department has currently an ICHR-funded research project on ‘Integration of Princely State: Sardar Patel and The Bhavnagar Princely State.