Vidya Dhar Mahajan

Vidya Dhar Mahajan (1913 — July 10, 1990) was an Indian historian, political scientist, and advocate.

Vidya Dhar Mahajan
Born1913
Punjab, British India
DiedJuly 10, 1990
CitizenshipIndia[1]
OccupationHistorian
Political Scientist
Advocate
Spouse(s)Savitri Shori Mahajan
ChildrenMridula Mukherjee (daughter)
Sucheta Mahajan (daughter)
Academic background
EducationMaster of Arts (History and Political Science)
Doctor of Philosophy
Bachelor of Laws
Alma materD.A.V. College, Lahore
University of the Punjab
University of Delhi
ThesisExecutive Control Over Municipalities in the Punjab (Ph.D.)[2]
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Political Science
Law
InstitutionsFormer professor of "history and politics" at the Sanatan Dharma College in Lahore, British India (now in Pakistan)
Former professor of history at the Panjab University in Chandigarh, Independent India
Advocate at the Supreme Court of India

Biography

Mahajan was born in 1913 in Punjab, British India.[3][4] He did M.A. twice – in History at the D.A.V. College, Lahore and in Political Science at the University of the Punjab.[5] In 1945, he completed Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of the Punjab, and later did LL.B. from the University of Delhi.[2][5] He served as a professor of "history and politics" at the Sanatan Dharma College in Lahore, and later as a professor of history at the Pantas U. College in New Delhi and at the Panjab University in Chandigarh.[6][7][8] Mahajan was a member of the Indian History Congress Association.[9] He studied India's early, ancient, modern, and constitutional history. He also studied the Indian nationalist movement and international politics.[7] He was also an advocate at the Supreme Court of India.[3]

He was married to Savitri Shori Mahajan who was a historian. Their daughters Sucheta Mahajan and Mridula Mukherjee are also historians.[10] Sucheta and Mridula have been professors of history at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies.[10][11] Sucheta had been a visiting scholar at the College of Wooster in Ohio and Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (Foundation House of Human Sciences) in Paris.[10] Mahajan died on 10 July 1990 at the age of around 77 years.[3]

Written work

In The Constitution of India (1954), Mahajan presented an "analytical objective study" of India's constitution. In the book, he also briefly summarized the statements of India's Supreme Court and High Courts on 18 cases which declared the constitutional law on "important controversial matters". Assessing his work, Vidya Dhar Chaturvedi stated that he treated the subject matter in a "logical and lucid" manner. According to Chaturvedi, he was "not wedded to any political dogma, or party" and that his work was "free from doctrinaire or party bias".[12] Assessing Mahajan's International Law (1956), D. R. Bhandari stated that he provided a detailed study of the topics in International Law and presented opinions of various scholars on them. Bhandari, while noting the Joseph Gabriel Starke dismissed the Law of War "in a few pages", opined that Mahajan did "full justice to it". According to Bhandari, Mahajan gave "equal attention to both the aspects of the law of nations viz., the Law of Peace and the Law of War".[13]

Mahajan's Chief Justice Gajendragadkar (1966) was a legal biography of the former Chief Justice of India P. B. Gajendragadkar. K. M. Sharma noted that, along with other biographical details, Mahajan presented a "trend analysis" of his thoughts as unveiled through his judgements in the court and pronouncements outside the court but did not provide an in-depth analysis of his decisions and his other works.[14]

On Germany Between Two Wars

Mahajan described Lindley Fraser's Germany Between Two Wars (1944) as a propaganda work which was written to serve the BBC and was of the view that its excerpts were broadcast to the Germans with the motive of influencing the opinion of the Germans in favor of the Allies. Mahajan suggested that Fraser did a "good survey" of the history of Germany from 1918 to 1939 but presented the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the defence of settlements from Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) by the Allies, the factors responsible for Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933, the preparation for war by the Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939, and the circumstances which lead to Hitler's declaration of war against Britain in 1939 in "a lucid style". According to Mahajan, Fraser laid "no claim to originality and impartiality".[15]

Works

Books
  • Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (2016) [First published 1960]. Ancient India (revised ed.). S. Chand. ISBN 978-9352531325.
  • Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (2007). History of Medieval India (Sultanate Period Mughal Period) (11th, reprint ed.). S. Chand. ISBN 978-8121903646.
  • Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (1967). India Since 1526 (7th ed.). S. Chand.
  • Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (2009). Modern Indian History (17th ed.). S. Chand.
  • Mahajan, Vidya Dhar; Mahajan, Savitri (1964). Constitutional History of India: Including the Nationalist Movement (6th ed.). S. Chand.

Selected papers
  • Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (July–September 1944). Prasad, Beni (ed.). "Some Aspects of Gokhale's Political Thought". The Indian Journal of Political Science. Indian Political Science Association. 6 (1): 18–27. JSTOR 42753605.
  • Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (July–September 1943). Prasad, Beni (ed.). "The Working of the Punjab and North–West Frontier Province Joint Public Service Commission". The Indian Journal of Political Science. Indian Political Science Association. 5 (1): 84–93. JSTOR 42743055.

References
  1. "Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (1913–1990)". Bibliothèque nationale de France (in French). Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  2. "Report on Research Theses in Political Science, Completed or Under Preparation in Indian Universities". The Indian Journal of Political Science. Indian Political Science Association. 4 (2): 225. October–December 1942. JSTOR 42743746.
  3. "Mahajan, Vidya Dhar". Library of Congress. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  4. Mukherjee, Mridula (2005). Chandra, Bipan; Mukherjee, Mridula; Mukherjee, Aditya (eds.). Colonializing Agriculture: The Myth of Punjab Exceptionalism. Modern Indian History, Volume 9. SAGE. p. xxii. ISBN 978-8132102632.
  5. "Obituary: Dr. Vidya Dhar Mahajan Passes Away". Publisher's Monthly. 32. New Delhi: Publishers and Publishing. 1990. p. 5. OCLC 1774412.
  6. Appadorai, A., ed. (January 1946). "Contributors to the Issue". India Quarterly. Indian Council of World Affairs. 2 (1): 2. JSTOR 45072142 – via SAGE.
  7. Association of College and Research Libraries (1966). Choice: Publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a Division of the American Library Association. Volume 3, Issues 7–12. American Library Association. p. 1163. ASSISTANT EDITOR: DR. V. D. MAHAJAN. M. A. (Hons); LL.B.: Ph.D.: Formerly Professor of History, Pantas U. College, New Delhi. Author of Ancient India, Early History of India, India Since 1562, 2 vols.; Delhi Sultanate, Constitutional History of India, Nationalist Movement in India, International Politics, etc.
  8. Mahajan, Vidya Dhar. Fifty Years of Modern India: 1919–1969. S. Chand. ISBN 9780842601245. ...VIDYA DHAR MAHAJAN, M.A. (Hons.), Ph.D. Formerly Professor of History, Panjab University...
  9. "Vallabh Vidyanagar Session, 1957: List of Members". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Indian History Congress. 20: 346. 1957. JSTOR 44304494.
  10. Khan, Zaman (April 5, 2015). "India and Pakistan Have a Shared History". The News on Sunday. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  11. Pathak, Vikas (February 28, 2016). "JNU and the school lessons in Indian nationalism". The Hindu. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  12. Chaturvedi, Vidya Dhar (January–March 1955). Gahrana, G. K. (ed.). "Reviewed Work: THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA by Vidya Dhar Mahajan". The Indian Journal of Political Science. Indian Political Science Association. 16 (1): 100–101. JSTOR 42742693.
  13. Bhandari, D. R. (October–December 1956). "Reviewed Work: International Law by VIDYA DHAR MAHAJAN". The Indian Journal of Political Science. Indian Political Science Association. 17 (4): 390–391. JSTOR 42744056.
  14. Sharma, K. M. (October–December 1966). "Reviewed Work: Chief Justice Gajendragadkar by Vidya Dhar Mahajan". Journal of the Indian Law Institute. New Delhi, India: Indian Law Institute. 8 (4): 662–664. JSTOR 43949928.
  15. Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (January 1946). "Reviewed Work: GERMANY BETWEEN TWO WARS by Lindley Fraser". India Quarterly. Indian Council of World Affairs. 2 (1): 87–88. JSTOR 45072163 – via SAGE.
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