School of Social Sciences

Department of History

Welcome to the Department of History at Bharathidasan University.

The present Department was established in 1995 as the Center for History and it was elevated as the Department in 2006. The department has been offering Post Graduation, PhD and M.Phil from 1995 and Five Year Integrated Masters from 2008. In the past twenty-nine years, the Department has received national professional attention. The faculties of the department have made visible contributions as teachers, researchers, and supervisors. With good exposure to the national and international academic environment, the faculties of the department have been excelling in teaching as well as research in their field of expertise. So far, the Department of History completed 1 Major and 5 UGC Minor Research Projects and currently working on the RUSA 2.0 Thematic Projects entitled “WASH (Water, Hygiene and Sanitation)” by Dr. T. Asokan and Dr. Y. Srinivasa Rao. Established historians like Prof. B. Sheik Ali, Prof. M.G.S. Narayanan, Prof. R. Champakalakshmi, Prof. Y. Subbarayalu, and Prof. Rajan Gurukkal, Ramachandra Guha, Prof. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Prof. M.S.S. Pandiyan, Prof. A. Venkatachapathi and Prof. Surendra Rao, Prof. Shiren Moosvi, Prof. Ishrat Alam, Prof. Vaikundam, and Prof. John Bosco Lourdusamy, and many more distinguished scholars in various capacities as Chairpersons of ICHR, Member Secretaries of ICHR, Vice-Chancellors, heads of social science research institutions, and as established scholars in their field of research, have visited the department and directly and indirectly contributed to the growth of the department.

Our former faculty Prof. N. Rajendran had made an immense contribution to the department by being a long-serving faculty member. He served as the Head of the Department of History for 21 years. Prof. Rajendran was selected as a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) twice which is an apex body in historical research, and also served as a Vice-Chancellor of Alagappa University, Karaikudi. He is also a well-known figure in the southern region and has served as an expert in various capacities in professional academic bodies and as well as academic institutions. In 2008, Dr. T. Asokan (PhD, Bharathidasan University) and Dr. Y. Srinivasa Rao (PhD, IIT Madras) joined the department. They are the life members of the Indian History Congress (IHC), South Indian History Congress, Tamil Nadu History Congress, and Indian Social Science Academy. Dr. Y. Srinivasa Rao is also a member of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT). Similarly, Dr. T. Asokan served as an Executive Council member of the Tamil Nadu History Congress.

Since its inception, the present department has been conducting various academic programs such as national and state-level seminars, workshops, training programmes, and refresher courses on history and themes of interdisciplinary nature. The department has so far conducted 50 seminars, 14 workshops, 5 training programmes on human rights, 22 Refresher Courses, 1 Symposium, 10 Endowment Lectures and 60 lectures on Jawaharlal Nehru, as the Centre for Nehru Studies (CNS) has been with the department since the inception of the centre. Similarly, the department successfully hosted the Eighth Session of the Tamil Nadu History Congress in 1993. The department has produced 40 PhDs and 260 M.Phil scholars. Our alumni contributed to the society with commitment and dedication. They are serving as school teachers, college faculties and University faculties. Apart from that, our alumni members are playing prominent role in Tamil Nadu Government administrative activities.

The faculty and research scholars of the Department of History have been regularly publishing articles in Scopus Indexed Journals, Web of Science, UGC-CARE-listed journals, and other impact-oriented journals, both national and international levels. Few books and nearly 130 articles have been published so far. Former Prof. N. Rajendran’s book on “National Movement in Tamil Nadu was published by Oxford University Press. His other book, “Nationalism and Swadeshism in Tamil Nadu” (Tamil), published by Clio Publications, Tiruchi has been given the best book award by the Collector of Tiruchirappalli District. His monograph, “Shifting Paradigms of Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Language in Tamil Nadu,” has been published by the Indian Council of Historical Research, Southern Centre, Bangalore. He edited a book entitled “Sources: Construction and Reconstruction of History,” published by the Indian Council of Historical Research. Southern Centre, Bangalore. More than 45 articles have been published, which include, “Uprising in the South (1857),” published as a part of the cover story in the Front Line on the 29th June 2007 issue, and in Rethinking 1857 “The Revolt of 1857: Rebellions Prelude and Nationalist Response in Tamil Nadu, edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Chairman, ICHR, and published by the Orient Longman. Moreover, Prof. Rajendran has served as the editor of Tamil Nadu History Congress Proceedings for six continuous years, from 2002 to 2007. He also acted as a sectional president of the 74th Session of the Indian History Congress (Modern Indian History) in 2014.

Dr. T. Asokan, Professor and Head whose area of research focused on History of Indian Space Research. He published various research articles in different Journals such as Scopus, UGC Care List and Peer reviewed and other impact-oriented journals. In addition, he published two books. Dr. Asokan along with his Ph.D. Research Scholar, Mr. Prasanna P, published a research article in the national newspaper The New Indian Express entitled “Weavers must give new spin to capture imagination” on 26th August 2023. Further, he delivered invited lectures on All India Radio, Tiruchirappalli, in different titles, such as Marudhu Brothers, Samasthanagalum Samathanagalum, Onrinaintha Uyarsakthi, Vasantha Azhaipppu: Athuvaa? Ithuvaa? – Sudhanthira Poraatta Varalaatrai Ninaithirukiroma? Maranthirukiroma? Aside from that, he had delivered 82 invited lectures in different universities and colleges on various topics and also served as an external examiner for 35 Ph.D. Viva-voce examinations in several universities. Moreover, he is a regular contributor to MMTTC (Formerly HRDC), BDU as a resource person for Faculty Induction Programmes, and Refresher Courses in History and Social Sciences.

Some of the notable publications of Dr. Y. Srinivasa Rao are ‘Electricity, Politics, and Regional Economic Imbalance in Madras Presidency, 1900-1947’ in Economic and Political Weekly, ‘Colonialism and the Development of Electricity: The Case of Madras Presidency, 1900-1947’ Science, Technology & Society, ‘Electrification of Madras Presidency, 1900-1947’, Review of Development and Change,‘Asura: Myth into Cultural Reality’, Aakash Singh Rathore (ed.) B.R.Ambedkar: Quest for Justice, 5 Volumes. Oxford University Press, 2021, Electricity and Urbanization in Madras, 1895-1930’, in Suvobrata Sarkar (ed.) History of Science, Technology, Environment and Medicine in India, Routledge Publication November 2021, K Viswanath’s Telugu Films- Tools of Gandhian Reform of Caste and Culture and Revival of Classicism and Brahminism, Quarterly Review of Film and Video (2022), Indigenous poison healing traditions in Kerala, Indian Journal of History of Science, (2022)Srinivasa Rao, Polygamy and the Lives of Malabar Muslim Women: Reading of BM Suhara’sAkashabhookaludeThakkol, Issue 41, Proceedings of South Indian History Congress, 2023and Emergence of Dalit in the contemporary Tamil Cinema, Indian History Congress Proceedings, 2022. He has delivered 148 invited lectures and visited the United States and the United Kingdom to participate in international academic gatherings.

Dr. V. Raju, Assistant Professor (on foreign service from Annamalai University) joined the Department in 2018. His research specialization concentrates on the temple architecture in Ancient Tamil Nadu. Furthermore, he motivates his students to pursue their research in art and architecture.