R. Champakalakshmi Explained

R. Champakalakshmi
Occupation:Historian and social scientist
Alma Mater:University of Madras
Discipline:South Indian history
Workplaces:Jawaharlal Nehru University
Doctoral Advisor:T. V. Mahalingam
Relatives:R. Jayalakshmi (sister)
Birth Place:Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli, Madras Presidency, British India (present-day Tamil Nadu, India)

Rangachari Champakalakshmi (1932 – 28 January 2024) was an Indian historian and social scientist whose work focused on the study of early and pre-modern South Indian history. She served as a professor in the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In addition, Champakalakshmi was president of the Indian History Congress.

Early life

Champakalakshmi was born in 1932 to Pattammal (mother) and R. Rangachari (father) in a family from Srirangam in present day Tamil Nadu.[1] [2] Her father was an advocate.[3] [4] Champakalakshmi obtained a doctorate in history from the University of Madras. Her doctoral dissertation under historian T. V. Mahalingam, was on Vaishnava iconography in Tamil Nadu, a topic that she continued to research later into her career.[5]

Career

Champakalakshmi started her academic career teaching at the University of Madras from 1959 to 1972, after which she joined the Centre for Historical Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as an associate professor of ancient history, where she continued to teach for the next 25 years, until her retirement in 1997. She started her research studying religion, specifically Jainism and Vaishnava hinduism in ancient South India, and later expanded her research to include trade, economy, and emergence of urban centers in pre-medieval South India.[6] Some of her research was published in a book Vaishnava iconography (1981).[7] As a part of this work, she brought together evidence from Tamil Sangam literature, the Bhakti movement of the Alvars, the Agama traditions, and combined this with extensive fieldwork to bring out the distinct medieval period iconography of the Vaishnavism faith.[8]

Some of her later works studying the social, cultural, and economic history of early and medieval South India were published in Trade, Ideology and Urbanization (1996) and Religion, Tradition and Ideology (2011).[9] The latter was a collection of essays discussing the contribution of religious traditions to the social capital in pre-colonial south India.[10] [11] She wrote about growth of urban centers under the Pallavas and Cholas including Kumbakonam and Thanjavur in the Cauvery delta region, and Kanchipuram in the Palar valley among other centers.[12] [13]

In addition to serving as a professor at the JNU, Champakalakshmi also served as a president of the Indian History Congress.[14] She taught many famous students at her time at JNU, including Kesavan Veluthat, Rajan Gurukkal, Manu V. Devadevan, and . She was a script consultant for Bharat Ek Khoj, a 1980s Indian television series based on Jawaharlal Nehru's The Discovery of India.[15] Many of Champakalakshmi's collections are held at the Roja Muthiah Research Library in Chennai.[16]

Personal life

Champakalakshmi's sister R. Jayalakshmi was a carnatic musician and one half of the duo Radha Jayalakshmi with her cousin Radha.[17] Her other sister R. Vanaja was a numismatist with the National Museum of India in New Delhi.[18] [19] Champakalakshmi died on 28 January 2024.

Select works

Books and monographs

Other works

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kerala Council for Historical Research . 3 February 2024 . kchr.ac.in . 3 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203083141/https://kchr.ac.in/archive/359/Obituary-Professor-R-Champakalakshmi.html . live .
  2. Web site: Madras Music Academy – TTK Awards .
  3. Web site: S. SESHACHARI Vs. THE SRIRANGAM CO-OPERATIVE BUILDING SOCIETY . 4 February 2024 . www.the-laws.com.
  4. Web site: R RANGACHARI Vs. S SUPPIAH . 4 February 2024 . www.the-laws.com.
  5. Web site: An Era Called Champakalakshmi . 3 February 2024 . The Wire . 2 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240202022023/https://thewire.in/history/an-era-called-champakalakshmi . live .
  6. News: 30 January 2024 . Historian R. Champakalakshmi no more; former colleagues, students mourn death . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240131032215/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/former-colleagues-students-mourn-the-death-of-historian-r-champakalakshmi/article67792608.ece . 31 January 2024 . 31 January 2024 . The Hindu.
  7. Marr . John R. . 1985 . R. Champakalakshmi: Vaisnava iconography in the Tamil country. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1981. Rs. 175. [viii], 370 pp. ]. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . en . 48 . 1 . 160 . 10.1017/S0041977X00027415 . 161959104 . 1474-0699 . 3 February 2024 . 3 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203083108/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/r-champakalakshmi-vaisnava-iconography-in-the-tamil-country-new-delhi-orient-longman-1981-rs-175-viii-370-pp/E3F20F65E4354B46E4DEDA0B0A40CFAC . live .
  8. News: Mahalakshmi . R. . 2 February 2024 . R. Champakalakshmi's Abiding Legacy . 3 February 2024 . The Wire . With the passing of Professor Radha Champakalakshmi on January 28, 2024, we have lost a historian of JNU who helped to not only define historical scholarship in India but also painstakingly trained generations of students, who then went on to enrich their chosen fields..
  9. Comeau . Leah E. . 2014 . Review of Religion, Tradition, and Ideology: Pre-colonial South India . International Journal of Hindu Studies . 18 . 2 . 275–277 . 24713674 . 1022-4556.
  10. Web site: 28 August 2011 . The Hindu : Front Page : South India's cultural past not confined to one religion: Prof. Champakalakshmi . 3 February 2024 . 28 August 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110828054159/http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/06/stories/2011040662630900.htm . bot: unknown .
  11. Comeau . Leah E. . 2014 . Review of Religion, Tradition, and Ideology: Pre-colonial South India . International Journal of Hindu Studies . 18 . 2 . 275–277 . 24713674 . 1022-4556.
  12. Web site: Temple Towns of South India . 4 February 2024 . academic.oup.com . 2023 . 10.1093/oso/9780199468096.003.0003 . Shankar . Pratyush . 25–60 . 978-0-19-946809-6 .
  13. Book: Champakalakshmi, R. . Trade, Ideology And Urbanization . 1996.
  14. Bandopadhyay . Arun . Champakalakshmi . R. . 2009 . Appendix I: Indian History Congress 70 Th Session: Minutes of the Meeting of the Executive Committee . Proceedings of the Indian History Congress . 70 . 1273–1275 . 44147797 . 2249-1937.
  15. Book: Doordarshan . Bharat Ek Khoj, Contents . 1988.
  16. Web site: Roja Muthiah Research Library – Internet Archive: Digital Library . 3 February 2024 . archive.org.
  17. News: 28 May 2014 . Carnatic singer dead in Chennai . 3 February 2024 . The Hindu . en-IN . 0971-751X . 28 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221128110117/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/carnatic-singer-dead-in-chennai/article6054441.ece . live .
  18. Web site: The Hindu Images – Vijayanagara Coins Exhibition .
  19. Book: Champakalakshmi, Radha . Trade, Ideology, and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300 . 1996 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-563870-7 . en . 3 February 2024 . 3 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203083220/https://books.google.com/books?id=IGTaAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=Trade+ideology+and+urbanization&q=Trade+ideology+and+urbanization&hl=en . live .

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