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Manipal : Prof. Achuta Rao Memorial History Conference was inaugurated at Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities on the 27^th December by Dr. Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). The conference was held in honour of noted historian Prof. D S Achuta Rao, the professor from Mysore University, who unravelled the social and administrative history of Mysore through a study of contemporary materials available from the periods 1600 and 1800. The legacy of Professor Achuta Rao, who passed away at 47 in 1965, is resurrected through a series of events through 2017 under the aegis the DSA Memorial Endowment.

Prof. Rao had made a mark for himself through meticulous research which brought into the limelight much of Mysore’s forgotten history.The year 2017 has seen four significant events for serious historians of India. The events, conducted in this centennial year, have demonstrated a wide range of interests, and have brought together many internationally renowned historians from Cambridge to Japan to South-East Asia.

An exhibition on his Life and Works conceived by his granddaughter Surabhi Prasanna was opened by Dr. M.S. Valiathan, former Vice Chancellor of MAHE. Professor Upinder Singh, a noted Historian from Delhi University delivered the Keynote Address titled ‘Ancient India-Looking Beyond India into Asia’

The final eventof the three part series involved a re-imagination of ancient India as being part of a larger civilizational continuum that includes several ancient civilizations of AsiaSpeaking on the occasion Dr. Upinder Singh said ‘Understanding the travel of texts and political Ideas from India into Asia in the ancient times can enrich our understanding of this millennium. We need to reconstruct the movement of ideas in the ancient world’

Renowned scholars and historians also presented papers on megaliths and later monuments, Mushikavamsa of Atula and historical sense of Ancient Indians, early Chalukya landscapes etc.

Dr. Nikhil Govind Head of MCPH said, ‘Holding this history conference at Manipal has enhanced the reputation of MAHE in liberal arts, helping us to attract thought leaders in Humanities to come to Manipal to teach History.’

Speaking on the occasion,Mr. D A Prasanna Convener of Prof. Achuta Rao Centenary Programme said ‘The three conferences in the centenary year brought 35 leading history scholars who stimulated new thought in modern, medieval and ancient Indian history. These reflect research values Achuta Rao stood for’

About Professor D. S. Achuta Rao

Prof D S Achuta Rao (1917-1965) had his education in Mysore University and was an MA in History. He devoted 25 years of his career teaching History at the First Grade colleges in Bangalore, Tumkur, and Mysore and taught graduate students at the Maharaja’s College and Manasagangotri in Mysore University. He was a keen researcher and published a number of papers on Mysore history during the period 1500-1800CE.

He closely followed Indian National Movement, struggles of Sukarno, Ho Chi Min and Asian liberation movements. He travelled widely and was a passionate teacher of recent Asian History. He was a pioneer in the study of administrative documents, scripts, and letters to research post medieval social and administrative history of Mysore.

DSA was an exceptional lecturer and was very popular among his students. He was an affectionate, disciplined, and systematic teacher and a father.

About Manipal Center of Philosophy and Humanities, MAHE

Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities (MCPH) is a leading research and teaching institute and a constituent College of MAHE,based in Manipal, Karnataka. It offers an undergraduate program in the Humanities and postgraduate and doctoral degrees in English, Philosophy and Sociology. As one of the most exciting academic experiments in higher education in India, MCPH fosters a culture of innovative and reflexive pedagogy, intellectual freedom, student initiatives, and new directions in scholarship. Students come to MCPH from universities abroad and many of India’s premier undergraduate colleges. MCPH is deeply committed to encouraging critical and creative thinking across a wide variety of disciplines. One of its core aims is to foster original writing from India in the fields of humanities and social sciences.

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