Bareilly: Dr Priya Saxena of the Department of Ancient History and Culture at Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University (MJPRU), Bareilly, was honoured for her academic contribution at the 10th Young Historians’ two-day National Seminar organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana at Gopal Narayan Singh University, Jamuhar, Sasaram, Bihar.
Held on October 3 and 4, the seminar focused on “Indian Tradition of History Writing.” Dr Saxena, participating under the guidance and inspiration of Vice-Chancellor Acharya Dr Anil Kumar Rai, chaired an academic session on “Indian Tradition of Tribal Historiography” and was felicitated for her contribution.
The session featured research papers by teachers and scholars from different parts of the country on the social, religious and folk traditions of tribal communities, with particular focus on the Bhil community of Rajasthan, tribal communities of Odisha and those residing in Bihar’s Rohtas district.
The inaugural session was addressed by Gopal Narayan Singh, Chancellor and former MP; Dr Bal Mukund Pandey, National Organising Secretary of the Itihas Sankalan Yojana; Sanjay Shriharsh, Joint Organising Secretary; Bihar Basic Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari; Bihar Higher Education Minister Sanjay Tiger; and other scholars. Speakers highlighted the role of historians across the country in documenting and re-examining India’s historical traditions through the Itihas Sankalan Yojana.
During the academic sessions, researchers examined tribal history and social life through folk traditions, oral narratives, folk deities, nature worship, totemic symbols and cave paintings. Discussions also covered the concept of Jana in the Vedic period, references in the Puranas and historical texts, forest-dwelling communities during the Ramayana period and figures such as Nishad Raj.
The deliberations highlighted the importance of studying traditional tribal life and its continuity with India’s social and cultural heritage. The organisers said the research presented at the seminar could help open new avenues for understanding and documenting the country’s diverse folk traditions and tribal history.
Report from Bareilly by Akhilesh Chandra Saxena.
