Pandurangrao Bhimrao Desai (1910–1974) was an Indian epigraphist,

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 species; as well as the ...

, and archaeologist.

Early years

Desai was born in Gurmitkal village Gulbarga District 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 of Hyderabad, he was fortunate to get formal education in his early years. He was a polyglot, being well versed in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

, Marathi and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

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

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

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 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 The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta Indian inscriptions, inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing th ...

and Western Chalukyas 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 northwestern 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 merged ...

in 1935 and an M.A. degree from

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

University. His first book ''History of

Vijayanagar empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belonging to ...

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

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belonging to ...

never belonged to the Telugu 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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

is false. He further asserts that epigraphal evidence proves that the area around Hampi 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 ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

region as well as Tamil and Telugu 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''. 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 Writers from the Kingdom of Mysore