Introduction

The Department of Post-graduate Studies in History came into existence in 1981and from the very beginning has applied itself to the matter of teaching and research.  This department offers Ph.D programme also.  At present there are 04 faculty members  (03 Professors and 1 Associate Professor. Prof. Nirmal Raju is on deputation to Tumkur University as Registrar Evaluation).  It can legitimately take pride in teaching very innovative courses, bringing in the utmost advances in the discipline at the level of post-graduate teaching.  So also, it has given leadership in the improvement of the syllabi and teaching at the undergraduate levels as well as distant mode of education.  

The members of the faculty are engaged in quality research, which is recognized at the national level.  Some of their publications are rated very high.  All take part in national and international seminars and conferences.  A few had taken up major research projects funded by various agencies such as ICHR, New Delhi; UGC, etc. and submitted reports.   Some of them have visited UK and worked in different Universities under Commonwealth Fellowship and Scholarship Plan (CFSP) on their post-doctoral projects.  The Department has organized a session of the Karnataka History Congress, at least a dozen national seminars, two refresher courses and a couple of workshops.  Many scholars of repute such asShaik  Ali. B, R.S. Sharma, B.D. Chattopadhyaya, Rajan Gurukkal, Bipan Chandra, Romila Thapar, M.G.S. Narayanan, Champakalaxmi, Subbarayalu, Gopalan Kutty, Upinder Singh, Dilip Chakravarthy, David Washbrook, Gunnel Cederlof, Kumkum Roy, Shirin Ratnagar and others have visited the Department, given invited lectures, and some of them have served as visiting Professors for a short term.

The syllabus is being regularly revised to incorporate the latest developments and understanding in the subjects.Some of the papers which are included in it are Historiographical Traditions in Pre-Modern India; Colonialism and Nationalism in East Asia; Colonial Processes in India, Art and Architecture in Karnataka; Modern Karnataka (c.1750-1956); Modern Indian Historiography; Colonialism and Nationalism in West Asia; Making of the Indian Nation; Social Formations in Early India; Society and Economy in Early Karnataka to A.D.1000; India’s Struggle for Freedom 1857 – 1947 (under Choice based credit system); Philosophy and Methods of History; Theories of Colonialism and Imperialism; etc.

The department is in the process of creating department library for the benefit of students and research scholars. It is also in the process of acquiring old records, documents pertaining to the history, culture, events, social change etc to create an archive. Ithas a computer lab with internet connectivity to enable students to access information on the latest developments in the subject.  The major contribution of the department is that eversince its inception, it has encouraged studies and research in the history and culture of this region and has succeeded to a great extent in constructing / reconstructing the history since the earliest times to the post-colonial period. The Department is looking forward to introduce a fewnew courses as well as to establish a Centre for the Study of Indigenous Cultures under RUSA.