Kashi Prasad Jayaswal (27 November 1881 – 4 August 1937) was an Indian historian and lawyer. Jayaswal's works ''Hindu Polity'' (1918) and ''History of India, 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.'' (1933) are classics of ancient Indian historical literature. Among other things, he is credited with showing that Indian republics, based on principles of representation and collective decision-making, were among the most democratic polities of the ancient world.

Biography

K. P. Jayaswal was born in Mirzapur,

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an Presidencies and provinces of British India, administrative region in British Raj, British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Cede ...

(now in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

), and graduated from Allahabad University. He went on to Jesus College, Oxford University, where he was awarded the Davis Scholarship in Chinese and graduated with a M.A. in Ancient Indian History in 1909. He was called to the Bar of

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in London in 1910. After returning to India, Jayaswal set up practice at the Calcutta High Court, where he came into contact with Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, who inspired Jayaswal to undertake further research in ancient Indian history. Jayaswal moved to

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

in 1916, and remained there. A prolific scholar, Jayaswal wrote more than 120 research papers in addition to 11 books and numerous commentaries and translations. He also played a pioneering role in excavating and restoring ancient sites, including the university of

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

in modern

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. He was also an expert in

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

, and his discovery of several coins of the Maurya and Gupta periods led to his being the first Indian to be invited to speak at the Royal Asiatic Society of London in 1931. Historian R. C. Majumdar criticized his theories about the Gupta history as "too conjectural and full of wild guesses to be seriously considered". He was twice elected president of the Numismatic Society of India, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) by Benares Hindu University and Patna University. Jayaswal is the grandfather of Oxford economist Sanjaya Lall.

Influence on Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'

Jayaswal loved Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' like a son and assisted him during the early days of his poetic career. Jayaswal's death in 1937 was a blow to the young poet. Much later, he wrote in ''Kalpna'', a magazine published from

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

: Actually Jaiswalji was the first person to appreciate the historical sense in the poetry of Dinkar.

K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute

The K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute in

was established by the

Government of Bihar Bihar Government is the State governments of India, state government of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Bihar and its nine Divisions of Bihar, divisions which consist of Districts of Bihar, districts. It consists of an execut ...

in 1950 with the object of promoting "historical research, archaeological excavation and investigations and publication of works of permanent value to scholars". The institute is currently based out of Patna Museum.

References

External links

Official website

Patna University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayaswal, K. P. 1881 births 1937 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Historians of India Scholars from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian historians People from Mirzapur district