Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian,

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

, known particularly in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief Epigraphist of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

(1949–1962),

Carmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture The Carmichael Chair of Ancient Indian History and Culture is a history professorship in the University of Calcutta, India; its holder is known as Carmichael Professor. The post was created by Ashutosh Mukherjee in 1912 after Baron Carmichael th ...

at the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

(1962–1972) and the General President of the Indian History Congress. In 1972, Sircar was awarded the

Sir William Jones Sir William Jones (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794) was a British philologist, orientalist, Indologist and judge. Born in Westminster, London to Welsh mathematician William Jones, he moved to the Bengal Presidency where Jones served as ...

Memorial Plaque.

Early life and education

Sircar was born in Krishnanagar in 1907, which is in present day West Bengal (India).

Selected bibliography

He authored more than forty books both in Bengali and English. Some of his best known books include: * ''Pala-purva Yuger Vamsanucarita'' ("Genealogy of Pre-Pala Age" in Bengali) * ''Pala-Sena Yuger Vamsanucarita'' ("Genealogy of Pala-Sena Age" in Bengali) * ''Asoker Vani'' ("Sermons of

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

" in Bengali) * ''Silalekha-Tamrasasanadir Prasanga'' ("On Stone and Copperplate Inscriptions" in Bengali) * ''Prachin Itihaser Kahini'' ("Story of Ancient History" in Bengali) * ''Sanskritik Itihaser Prasanga'' ("On Cultural History", two volumes in Bengali) * ''Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and Civilisation'' (two volumes) * ''Indian Epigraphy'' (1965) * ''Indian Epigraphical Glossary'' * ''Inscriptions of Asoka'', * ''Epigraphical Discoveries in East Pakistan'' * ''Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India'' * ''Some Epigraphical Records of the Mediaeval Period from Eastern India'' * ''Studies in Indian Coins'' * ''Journal of Ancient Indian History'' Ed. * ''The Early Pallavas'' (1935) * ''The Successors of the Satvahana in Lower Deccan'' (1939) * ''Successors of the Satvahana in the eastern Deccan'' (1935) * ''Social Life in Ancient India'' (1971) He edited ''

Epigraphia Indica ''Epigraphia Indica'' was the official publication of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) 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 ...

'' volumes XXVIII to XXXVI, three of them jointly and the others independently.Prominent Epigraphists, Archaeological Survey of India, http://asi.nic.in/asi_epigraphical_sans_epigraphists.asp

References

External links

*
Prominent epigraphists
at

. 1907 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Indian historians Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Scholars from West Bengal Bengali historians Bengali writers Bengali Hindus 20th-century Bengalis Indian epigraphers Indian Marxist historians West Bengal academics {{India-historian-stub

Early life and education

Selected bibliography

References

Further reading

External links