Pandurangrao Bhimrao Desai (1910–1974) was an Indian

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, and archaeologist.

Early years

Desai was born in Gurmitkal village

Gulbarga District Kalaburagi district, formerly known as Gulbarga district, is one of the 31 districts of Karnataka state in southern India. Kalaburagi city is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district is the headquarters of Kalaburagi divi ...

on 24 December 1910. Panduranga was the youngest among five sons and faced some early hardships due to the loss of his father when he was still young. Coming from an economically backward area which came under the domains of the

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

of Hyderabad, he was fortunate to get formal education in his early years. He was a polyglot, being well versed in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

, Marathi and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

besides

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. His schooling was interrupted for a couple of years due to illness but he went on to graduation and master's degree

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

Curiosity in history

During his days as a young man, he developed an interest in collecting ancient

inscriptions and epigraphs. He started his work at Kuknur, now located in

Koppal ''Koppal'' is a district headquarters of Koppal district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Koppal is surrounded on three sides by hills. It was known as Kopana Nagara. The town has historical landmarks such as the Koppal Fort, Gavimath (a ...

district in north Karnataka. He collected over 200 Kannada inscriptions from here. In medieval times, Kuknur had been a great center of learning and many monuments built by the

Rashtrakutas Rashtrakuta ( IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing the ...

and

Western Chalukyas The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in th ...

are found here, including the famous ''navalinga'' temples. He also undertook the study of temple architecture, sculptures and memorial stones.

Further studies

Desai restarted his education again and got a B.A. degree from Karnatak college

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

in 1935 and an M.A. degree from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

University. His first book ''History of

Vijayanagar empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and ...

'' 1936 established him as a historian of repute. In his book Desai asserts that the founders of

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and ...

never belonged to the

region and the story of their captivity and conversion to Islam by the Sultan of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

is false. He further asserts that epigraphal evidence proves that the area around

Hampi Hampi or Hampe, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Hampi town, Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th&n ...

was the home of the Sangama brothers, the founding kings of the empire.

Epigraphist

He joined the ''Department of Archeology'', of Government of India in 1939 and deciphered over a thousand inscriptions from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

region as well as

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

and

inscriptions. Desai went on to become ''Head of Department'', ''Ancient Indian History and Culture'', Karnatak University.

Contributions

As an epigraphist, his knowledge and command over several south Indian languages as well as Sanskrit made his analysis unquestionable and he made many a contribution to local journals as well as international journals like ''

Epigraphia Indica ''Epigraphia Indica'' was the official publication of Archaeological Survey of India from 1882 to 1977. The first volume was edited by James Burgess in the year 1882. Between 1892 and 1920 it was published as a quarterly supplement to '' The Ind ...

''. Some of his famous works are, * ''History of Vijayanagar empire'' * ''Corpus of Kannada inscriptions'' from Hyderabad * ''Jainism in South India and some Jaina Inscriptions'' * ''Basaveshvara and his times'' * ''Shasanaparichaya'' * ''History of Ancient India'' in Kannada As an archaeologist and historian, his lasting contributions are * Discovery of Buddhist centers in Karnataka * Works on Shakti cult * Panduranga of Pandharpur and history of place names He brought out glory of Karnataka beyond the region and the country and created awareness, through several literary works. He was a prolific writer in Kannada. Desai wrote thirty books in Kannada, ten books in English, one in Marathi and published four hundred and twenty articles in English and Kannada.

References

External links

Tribute to Archaeologist P. B. Desai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, P. B. 1910 births 1974 deaths People from Kalaburagi district People from Koppal district 20th-century Indian archaeologists Scientists from Karnataka Indian social sciences writers Writers from Karnataka English-language writers from India Indian epigraphers 20th-century Indian linguists Historians of India