IHC Concludes its 83rd Session
(December 28-30, 2024)

The three day 83rd Session of the Indian History Congress was held successfully at Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab. The inaugural session of the IHC was attended by Mr Harjot Singh Bains, the Education Minister, Mr Jagdish Goldie, Legislator, Jalalabad, Mr Gurlal Ghanaur and some other politicians. The Punjabi University, Patiala was represented by Professor Narinder Kaur Multani, Dean Academic Affairs and the Acting Vice Dr Sanjiv Puri.

Professor Richard Eaton attended the IHC as a Guest of Honour.

Professor Gautam Sengupta, the former DG ASI and a reknowned Archaeologist, took charge as the General President from Professor Aditya Mukherjee.

Spread over three days the IHC session was not only marked by six simultaneous sessions dealing with Ancient, Medieval and Modern Indian History, but also Contemporary Indian History, History of Countries Other than India and Archaeology, but also four specialised two day panels on Punjab Past and Present (organised by IHC); the Aligarh Historians Society Panel on Studying Social History; the Urban History Panel; and the Dalit History Panel.

On the evening of the first day Professor SC Misra Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor Yogesh Snehi. The second evening saw the holding of the IHC Symposium with three speakers, viz Professor Seema Bawa, Dr Anjali Guhan Gulia and Professor Urvi Mukhopadhyay. This was followed by a Cultural performance comprising of a dance and Qawwali dedicated to the memory of the Martyred sons of the Tenth Guru.

The last day after the academic sessions were over with more paper presentations were made than any previous session, a Business Meeting was held in the main Auditorium where all the decisions taken in the EC meeting held a night earlier were passed. Around 1300 plus delegates participated over the three days sessions of the IHC.
The Local Host of the concluded session was Professor Muhammad Idris whom the host University had appointed as the Local Secretary. He along with a team of young and enthusiastic volunteers comprising of boys, girls and a large number of senior teachers looked after the guests who had assembled at the campus.

For the coming session Professor Rajan Gurukkal will be the General President.

The others selected to preside the various sections are:

Professor Nupur Dasgupta, Sectional President Ancient India

Professor Sunita Sharma, Sectional President Medieval India

Professor Rakesh Batabyal, Sectional President Modern India

Professor AK Ramakrishnan, Sectional President Countries Other Than India

Professor Shubhrat Kumar Acharya, Sectional President Archaeology

Professor Prabhat Shukla, Sectional President Contemporary India

The Secretary Indian History Congress Professor Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi has been authorised to decide the next venue in consultation with the President IHC.