Shankar Goyal Marching with History

About the Authors Shankar Goyal (b.1959) is amongst the most prolific historians of ancient and early medieval Indian history of his generation. His major interests have been in issues of historiography, as well as in the reconstruction of political history, but he has written a lot on various other branches of Indological studies. By the sheer volume of his profuse writings, numbering nearly 40 books and over 150 research articles, and the wide breadth of their coverage, not to speak of their high quality and great originality, he has carved a niche for himself among Indian historians in the field of historical studies. In his work Goyal has always demonstrated zeal, perseverance and scholarly insight in investigating and presenting his conclusions lucidly. In this volume, on the completion of his sixtieth year of life, his peers, colleagues and friends pay tribute to his contribution, and acknowledge his skill in handling diverse themes, periods and sources. Goyal retired recently after a long and distinguished stint as Professor of History, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan).

Radhika Seshan recently retired as Professor, Department of History, Savitribai Phule Pune University (formerly University of Pune), where she had been working since 1996. After completing her M.A. and M.Phil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, she completed her Ph.D. from the University of Pune. Her work has primarily been on medieval Indian history, particularly on maritime and urban history. Apart from publishing numerous research articles in reputed journals and edited works she has authored three monographs and edited six works.

Foreword Born in 1959, Shankar Goyal, son of the famous historian S.R. Goyal and Kusum Goyal, has contributed significantly to our understanding of early and early medieval history. The contributors to this volume have presented and discussed his voluminous work in detail and at length.

Shankar Goyal's publications, focusing on issues of historiography in general, the period of Harshavardhana in particular, and Rajasthan, where he has lived and worked for decades, have been prolific. Apart from his long-standing engagement with the history of Harsha, Goyal has also investigated other major dynasties such as the Guptas and the Vakatakas. Many of the volumes that he has edited contain contributions from scholars representing diverse points of view. In combining and collating these, Goyal has demonstrated his diligence, empathy and understanding, standing for an open-ended tradition of scholarship that is valuable in situations where academic discourse occasionally tends to be unnecessarily and fruitlessly polarized.

As important, Shankar Goyal has demonstrated a commitment toward developing a detailed understanding of a wide range of themes and issues, scrutinizing sources with care and throughness. He displays an ability to analyze a range of textual, inscriptional and numismatic material and combine these to arrive at his conclusions. This is a distinctive hallmark of his scholarship that is particularly valuable in a situation where we often tend to jump to rapid conclusions, and lack the patience required for painstaking investigations. Further, methodologically, Goyal consistently contextualizes his discussion on political events, processes, personalities and institutions in terms of the wider political, economic, and cultural worlds within which these are located.

Introduction This volume is a tribute to a prolific writer and a serious scholar of history, whose contribution to the discipline is truly remarkable. His many years of research and writing - and, of course, teaching - have influenced many researchers, young and old, and his works will continue to carry great weight among future generations of researchers as well.

Shankar Goyal retired in 2019 from his position as Professor of the Department of History, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur. An alumnus of the Deccan College, Pune, his work has primarily focussed on early Indian history, and on the early medieval period of India's past. His works on Harsha are seminal and will undoubtedly be the standard reference point for many years to come.

However, what I think is particularly important, is that Shankar Goyal places the study of history in the context of time and space as well as of historiography. The relevance of historiography, and the need to have a thorough grounding in the works of earlier scholars and of the sources, is something that underpins everything that he has written. History, well studied, requires a clear and objective understanding not only of the time being studied, but also the later time in which an earlier period is being written about. Historiography, as he has constantly said, is the base of understanding processes of historical continuity and change. It is this aspect that this volume seeks to highlight, through studies of what Shankar Goyal has written. This volume is therefore both, a study of the historiography of Shankar Goyal, and the relevance of such writing to the study of history as a whole.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages