https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Satish_Chandra_%28historian%29Satish Chandra (historian) - Revision history2026-11-14T19:20:00ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Satish_Chandra_(historian)&diff=193722&oldid=prev>Chris the speller: replaced: D.Phil → D.Phil., typo(s) fixed: Centre → centre, etc.2021-07-21T04:32:40Z<p>replaced: D.Phil → D.Phil., <a href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/BP:AWB/T" class="extiw" title="wp:AWB/T">typo(s) fixed</a>: Centre → centre, etc.</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian historian}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Satish Chandra<br />
| image = Satish Chandra.jpg<br />
| caption = Chandra in 2016<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|11|20|df=y}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Meerut]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|10|13|1922|11|20|df=yes}}<br />
| death_place = <br />
| other_names = <br />
| known_for = Authoring books about medieval Indian history<br />
| occupation = Historian<br />
| nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]<br />
| alma_mater = [[Allahabad University]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Satish Chandra''' (20 November 1922 – 13 October 2017)<ref name="TOI">{{cite news|title=Historian Satish Chandra passes away|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/historian-satish-chandra-passes-away/articleshow/61071836.cms|accessdate=13 October 2017|work=The Times of India}}</ref> was an [[India]]n historian whose main area of specialisation was medieval [[Indian history]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1809/18090880.htm |title=Targeting history |last=T.K. Rajalakshmi |date=28 April – 11 May 2001 |work=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] |access-date=21 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504042106/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1809/18090880.htm |archivedate=4 May 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><br />
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==Personal life==<br />
Satish Chandra was born in [[Meerut]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] (then the [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]]) to Sir Sita Ram, India's first High Commissioner to [[Pakistan]],<ref name="herald">{{cite book|last1=Batabyal|first1=Rakesh|title=Prof Satish Chandra: Historian and academic ambassador|publisher=National Herald|url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/obituary/prof-satish-chandra-historian-and-academic-ambassador|language=en}}</ref> and his wife, Basudevi. <br />
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He attended [[Allahabad University]] where he earned his B.A. (1942), M.A. (1944), and D.Phil. (1948) under the supervision of R.P. Tripathi.<ref name="WWII">{{cite book|title=Who's who in India|date=1986|publisher=Guide Publications.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoNmAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Chandra,+Satish%22+1922|page=81|language=en}}</ref><ref name="WWIP">{{cite book|last1=Sagar|first1=H. L.|title=Who's Who, Indian Personages|date=1986|publisher=Crystal Ship Pub.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nLYZAAAAYAAJ|page=60|language=en}}</ref> His doctoral thesis was on the ''Parties and Politics in 18th century India''.<ref name="herald" /><br />
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He was married to Savitri and had three sons.<ref>{{cite book|title=India Who's who|date=1990|publisher=INFA Publications.|page=470|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLAZAAAAYAAJ|language=en}}</ref><br />
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==Career==<br />
He taught at [[Allahabad University]], [[Aligarh Muslim University]], [[Delhi University]], and [[Rajasthan University]] and was the Smuts' Visiting Professor at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] in 1971. He was Professor of History at [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru University]] (JNU) in [[New Delhi]].<ref name="outlook">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Guru-Tegh-Bahadurs-Martyrdom/214551 | title=Guru Tegh Bahadur's Martyrdom | date=13 February 2002 | magazine=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] | accessdate=25 September 2014 | author=Chandra, Satish}}</ref> Along with [[Sarvepalli Gopal|S. Gopal]], [[Bipan Chandra]], and [[Romila Thapar]], he co-founded the Centre for Historical Studies at the School of Social Sciences in JNU.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/historian-bipan-chandra-passes-away/article6364874.ece | title=Historian Bipan Chandra passes away | date=30 August 2014 | newspaper=The Hindu | accessdate=25 September 2014}}</ref> He was chairperson of the centre for a few years. He was the Secretary and President of the [[Indian History Congress]].<ref name="flap">{{cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=Satish|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II|date=2005|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|location=Back-flap|isbn=9788124110669|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&pg=PP4|language=en}}</ref><br />
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Through the 1970s, he served as the vice chairman and chairman of the [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]] of India.<ref name="outlook" /> Among his various other appointments, he served in the council of the [[United Nations University]], Tokyo between 1980 and 1986. He was an associated director of research at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme as well as an executive board member at the International Congress of Historical Sciences, both in [[Paris]].<ref name="flap" /> In 1988, he was asked by [[Union Public Service Commission]] to head a committee to review the system of appointments to the higher civil services.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Arora|first1=Ramesh|last2=Goyal|first2=Rajni|title=Indian Public Administration|date=1996|publisher=Wishwa Prakashan|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-7328-068-1|page=363|edition=Revised Second|language=English}}</ref><br />
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==Research and ideology==<br />
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Chandra has been described as one of India's leading scholars of the [[Mughal empire|Mughal]] period and one of India's most influential historians.<ref name="soas">{{cite journal |last=Avril |first=Powell |date=October 1995 |title=Reviews: Satish Chandra: Mughal religious policies: the Rajputs and the Deccan |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3667792 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=58 |issue=3 |publisher=School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |page=582 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X0001332X |accessdate=6 March 2016}}</ref> His book, ''Medieval India'', has been widely used as a textbook in schools and colleges around India.<ref name="soas" /><ref name="outlook" /><br />
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He belonged to the group of historians, along with [[Romila Thapar]], [[Ram Sharan Sharma|R. S. Sharma]], [[Bipan Chandra]] and Arjun Dev, who are sometimes referred to as "left-leaning" or "influenced by Marxist approach to history."<ref>{{citation |first=Sylvie |last=Guichard |title=The Construction of History and Nationalism in India |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |isbn=978-1136949319 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0RZBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87}}</ref> In 2004 his textbook was reintroduced in the national curriculum after a hiatus of six years.<ref name="D.R. Chaudhry">{{Cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020428/spectrum/book6.htm |title=Critiques galore! |last=D.R. Chaudhry |date=28 April 2002 |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |access-date=6 March 2009 |location=Chandigarh}}</ref><br />
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==Selected books==<br />
; Books authored<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=1986 |title=The 18th Century in India: Its Economy and the Role of the Marathas, the Jats, the Sikhs, and the Afghans |location=Calcutta |publisher=Centre for Studies in Social Sciences |oclc=17970100}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=1987 |title=Essays in Medieval Indian Economic History |location=New Delhi |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |isbn=978-8121500852}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=1993 |title=Mughal Religious Policies, the Rajputs & the Deccan |location=New Delhi |publisher=Vikas Pub. House |isbn=978-0-7069-6385-4}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=1996 |title=Historiography, religion, and state in medieval India |location=New Delhi |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-8124100356}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|author-mask=0|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals|volume=2 volumes|location=New Delhi|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|year=1997|isbn=978-8124105221}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=2002 |title=Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court, 1707-1740 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-565444-8}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=2003 |title=Essays on Medieval Indian History |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-566336-5}}<br />
*{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=History of Medieval India|publisher=Orient Blackswan|year=2007|isbn=978-93-5287-457-6|location=New Delhi}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=2008 |title=State, Pluralism, and the Indian Historical Tradition |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-569621-9}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-mask=0 |date=2012 |title=State, Society, and Culture in Indian History |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-807739-8}}<br />
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;Books edited<br />
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Chandra |editor-first1=Satish |editor-mask=0 |date=1987 |title=The Indian Ocean: Explorations in History, Commerce and Politics |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-81-7036-059-9}}<br />
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Chandra |editor-first1=Satish |editor-last2=Arunalacham |editor-first2=B. |editor-last3=Suryanarayan |editor-first3=V. |date=1993 |title=The Indian Ocean and its Islands: Strategic, Scientific, and Historical Perspectives |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-0-8039-9455-3 |editor-mask=With |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/indianoceanits00newd }}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Satish}}<br />
[[Category:1922 births]]<br />
[[Category:2017 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Aligarh Muslim University faculty]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]<br />
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian historians]]<br />
[[Category:People from Meerut]]<br />
[[Category:Scholars from Uttar Pradesh]]</div>>Chris the speller