History can be a good teacher

Hyderabad: “Many raise the issue of usefulness of history. History, if one may put it, is the collective memory of a nation. An individual needs to know his past in order to conduct himself in the present. So is the case with respect to a nation.

We need to know the past in order to understand better the present and deal with it better” said Dr. C. Rangarajan, former Governor of RBI and Chancellor of University of Hyderabad (UoH) while inaugurating the Joint Conference of Archaeologists, Anthropologists and Historians on December 17 in the DST Auditorium on the University campus in Gachibowli.

More than 300 participants from India and abroad are taking part in this four-day joint conference organized by the Department of History, University of Hyderabad. Leading archaeologists, anthropologists and historians will present their latest findings, including information on the explorations and excavations. There will be 160 papers presented during these four days. The presented material is published by the three societies in their biannual journals like Puratattva, Man and Environment and History Today.

Dr. Rangarajan further added, “All the same, people need to have a sense of history. With all the qualifications, history can be a good teacher. Only we must learn to draw appropriate lessons. It must however be understood that the value system that we must cherish and live by in the Twenty First century must conform to contemporary needs and concepts of what is just and fair”.

History needs to be founded on facts, hard or soft as they may be. There should however be no deliberate attempt to distort facts to prove a theory or a stand. If a historian is true to himself or herself, then good histories can be produced. Of the three disciplines of Archeology, Anthropology and History, perhaps the only discipline with which I have some contact is History, he added.

Further Dr. Rangarajan said, “Even though, I am not a historian by training, History is closely related to Economics, a discipline to which I belong. Economic theory has more often used historical experience to prove or disprove propositions rather than using historical experience itself for generating theories”.

It gives me great pleasure to be in your midst and to inaugurate this Conference of Archeologists, Anthropologists and Historians. These are three independent disciplines and their confluence plays a crucial role in understanding our distant past. I am happy that the University of Hyderabad is hosting this important Joint Conference, said Dr. Rangarajan.

On this occasion, Dr. Rangarajan also inaugurated the Exhibitions put up by the Archaeological Survey of India and the Department of Archaeology and Museums. Prof. P Appa Rao, Vice-Chancellor of UoH presided.

The President of the Indian Archaeological Society, K.N. Dikshit, the General Secretary of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, Prof. P.P. Joglekar and the President of Indian History and Culture Society reflected upon the main objectives and works of the Societies.

Dr. Balasubramanian, distinguished scientist, now with L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, while giving the Keynote Address for the International Seminar on Culture and Cognition in Reconstructing the Past spoke about interface between the natural and the social sciences.

Prof. Peddayya, Emeritus Professor, Deccan College Research Institute, a Padma Bhushan awardee, gave the Presidential Address for the Indian Archaeological Society. Dr. Rangarajan also released Puratattva, Man and Environment and Purapravah, published by the three societies. He also presented R.K. Sharma award for excellence in Archaeology to Prof. M.L.K. Murthy who was a faculty at the UoH.