Honourable President Professor Gautam Sengupta, Outgoing President Aditya Mukherjee, Vice Presidents, Professor Kesavan Veluthat and Professor Shireen Moosvi, Members of the Executive Committee and the esteemed General Body of the IHC,

I feel honoured to to be here before you a second time as the Secretary of this august body after the 82nd session held at Kakatiya University, Warangal exactly a year ago. I start my report for the year 2023-24 by giving thanks to all those from whom I not only benefitted, but who ensured that this 83rd session at Punjabi University, Patiala is held with success.

When I had stood before you last year on 30th December 2023 as the Secretary of this august body of professional historians, I had laid before you all certain resolves which the EC of the Indian History Congress had promised to implement. I had also shared with you the financial difficulties faced by the IHC in the face of drying up of all our financial resources, with no grants in aid forthcoming from any government or non-governmental agency. As last year, this year too, we were totally dependent on our memberships, our corpus funds created through endowments in the past, and the annual payment which we receive from JSTOR.

Howsoever, I am quite happy to announce that the resolutions which we made last year, were not just empty words. We have been successful in implementing most of them to a large extent, while others are on way of fulfilment.

Our Proceedings is listed under UGC accepted journals, and this year we have to implement and tighten the robust 3-tier review system through which we choose papers to be included in it. As a result, out of around 1100 presentations last year, only 134 could successfully make it to the final print. As you know, the first screening is done by the Sectional President, followed by two stages of checking by the editors, and finally, the paper is then subjected to Plagiarism check before being finally accepted to find place between the covers of the Proceedings. We still need a full version of a plagiarism check software to run all our papers through. We need to purchase a software like Ithenticate (used for bulk checks), or Turnitin (used for individual paper check), or some other similar software to do away with the ever-growing menace of ‘copy-cut-paste’ or simply reproducing someone else’s work. Incidentally even in our limited attempt this year, many such papers were ‘discovered’, and summarily removed. This year we did not shame the authors by naming them, but from next year, if this continues, one may think of doing so.

Problems of language and grammar still remain an issue in a volume as bulky as ours. The limited period of time at the disposal of the editors hinders sincere efforts at rectification. The need of the hour is to have proper professional editorial tools to help us have a professionally edited volume in our hands. We resolve to do this in the coming years.

So far, we had a very basic web page, with minimum and basic information being made available to the visitor. We are the largest body of professional historians, but our web page did not reflect our status, as those who would visit it, were left high and dry. Even our members too depended on getting relevant information only by sending us emails or making desperate calls. Most called it an ‘unprofessional and deficient website’.

We set out to make a change to this unhappy situation. In the past year we have tried to redesign our website so that all type of relevant information becomes accessible to any visitor. It now has a verified portal to accept membership after online filling of the relevant google forms. We have tied up with Razorpay and PhonePe through which members can directly make membership payments. A distinct Paper Submission portal is also available through which the members can submit their papers and download an acceptance letter, after the upload is complete. A member does not have to independently request the Secretary to issued them Acceptance letters. We also have a provision that any attempt at multiple upload by a single member will result in its rejection. The members can also find (a) eligibility criteria for each type of membership; (b) rules of paper submission and (c) format of the paper to be uploaded etc.

This time we also uploaded the list of papers included in this year’s Proceedings, so that those who missed in getting letters informing them about the publication of their respective papers may confirm the publication of their respective paper. The List of Papers to be presented this year along with their session was also uploaded.

Our website now also contains a Visual Section with certain select video lectures. This year’s important lectures will also be hopefully uploaded. You may hear these lectures at your convenience and leisure. A Help Centre (FAQs) is also available on our website.

Last year at Warangal we had resolved two more things: a) to hold a panel on the region in which our annual session is being held; and b) to come out with some publications of the IHC which we may sell to gain some income, howsoever paltry. Thus, if last year a two-day panel had been held on Deccan, in which many eminent scholars were invited, this year we held a panel on Punjab. I would like to thank Professor Sanjay Subodh, and the University of Hyderabad for help in organising the Deccan panel. Thanks are due to Professor Muhammad Idris, Dr Karamjit K Malhotra, and Punjabi University, Patiala for successfully organising this year’s panel on Punjab.

I am happy to inform that a volume based on select papers presented in last year’s panel, along with select important papers presented and published in earlier Proceedings and a few invited contributions, is being printed by Primus on behalf of the IHC. We hope to make it available in the market before our next session is held. A similar volume with a judicious mix of papers, new and old on Punjab will also be published. So those who presented papers in our Punjab panel, but have not submitted the full version of their paper, should do so at the earliest. Another volume comprising papers on Art and Architecture presented and published in our Proceedings over the few decades, is also, I am told almost ready.

I would also like to inform that last year, one of our members, Dr Utpla Nayak had donated us Rs. 1 lakh for instituting an annual prize for a paper on Modern/ Contemporary India. This award is in the name of her late husband (also a member) and it was given to a scholar this year. Recently the family of Late Professor Syed Hasan Askar Sahib has also expressed its desire to institute a similar award in the name of the great historian. The EC in its meeting yesterday accepted the proposal.

I am also happy to report that during the period April 2023 to 30 November 2024, when we closed our Membership portal, 565 new Annual members, 7 Life members, and 802 renewals were made. This year, a total of around papers were presented in the six sections of the Congress. This Session also saw the holding of 4 panels, viz., the IHC Panel ‘Punjab: Past & Present’, the Aligarh Historians Society Panel ‘Studying Social History’, the Urban History Panel ‘Revisiting the Urban Past’, and the Dalit Panel ‘Subaltern Caste Associations: 19th-20th Centuries’. The Professor SC Misra Memorial Lecture this year was on ‘Religious Encounters and Sufi Saint Shrines in the Longue Duree of Punjab’, while the IHC Symposium was on ‘Creative Visions of the Past: Sculptures, Miniatures and Cartoons as Sources for Reconstruction History’.

As all Book Awards had been given last year at Warangal, this year we gave only 12 awards and prizes on the papers presented in various IHC Sections.

Let me come to the last of my duties. I am extremely beholden to Professor Seema Bawa of the department of history, University of Delhi who managed not only to convince the civil servants manning the Punjab administration and the Government of Punjab to request the Punjabi University, Patiala to hold this session. She also was quite helpful in managing funding to the host University from the Punjab government and even certain influential individuals. Without her help this session definitely would not have happened.

At Patiala, I must thank the entire administration of the Punjabi University for undertaking the difficult task of organizing and holding this Congress even when there was no permanent Vice Chancellor in place. In spite of provocations from a section which wanted to de-stabilise our session by circulating false letters and accusations, they remained focused on making our session a success. I must thank, amongst many others, the Dean (Academics), the various in charges of food, transport and accommodation committees for all the help they rendered. And of course, profuse thanks are due to our very efficient and resourceful Local Secretary, Professor Muhammad Idris for giving his full time and energy. This time most of the delegates were allotted rooms much before their arrival and intimations were sent to all accordingly so that they can reach their accommodation directly on arrival. We have to thank him and his colleagues for this. He and his team of volunteers made our session a success.

In the end, it is my duty to thank all who helped me function in the last one year. The first to thank is Professor Shireen Moosvi, who for more than a decade remained our Publication Incharge. Unfortunately, this year her health did not allow her to undertake that task. My utmost and profuse thanks are due to Professor Irfan Habib, who in spite of his advanced age kept on coming to the Department to select, edit and shape the volume which is now in your hands. He readily agreed to be our Chief Editor for the Proceeding. I also thank our typist, Mr Fahimuddin who carried out all the work of re-typing, typing and making a press-ready copy to be sent to the press. To Mr Ajay of Aligarh Litho Printers thanks are due for timely printing (some addresses on real short notice) and delivering them on time to Patiala for distribution.

Primus Books, like previous years, gave us sponsorship in the form of a grant of Rs. 10,000/- and also contributed an advertisement to sponsor our Proceedings. Professor Raj Sekhar like last year, feeling our desperate needs arranged an advertisement. The Aligarh Society of History and Archaeology (ASHA) opened its offices for the IHC and it is from there that we worked the entire year. We are using its premises free of charge to store our papers, volumes and whatever material we have at Aligarh in the name of ‘Permanent Office’.

My young team members (all research scholars, and only one registered under my supervision) Sidhant, Asra Alavi, Zainab Naqvi, Sahrish Hilal, Muhammad Mujtaba Ahmad and Anait Khan, let their research work suffer (and their respective supervisors fume for a second consecutive year) to look after the Secretary’s Office. Amongst then, I am most grateful to Sidhant and Asra who have worked virtually 24×7 in the last few months. Dr Salim Zaweed (Assistant Professor, Presidency University, Kolkata) and Dr Enayatullah Khan (Assistant Professor, Aliah University) remained available to make this session a success. Arghya Protim Bala and Paromita Adhikary, who are students of Dr Saleem Zaweed at Presidency University, Kolkata have also put in much labour. All these youngsters need special thanks. Friends like Professor Ishrat Alam (a former Secretary himself) and Professor Farhat Hasan too were a constant support. And how can I forget my friend, the Treasurer Professor Syed Jabir Raza who was a constant through it all. Professor Manvendra K Pundhir, our Joint Secretary Permanent Office, deserves my thanks and gratitude. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart. I also once again thank Professor Muhammad Idris, our Local Secretary, and his colleague Dr. Karamjit Malhotra for everything they did for us at Patiala. In the end, I thank our Auditors, Mehta & Associates, Chartered Accountants in Delhi for all help rendered.

I thank the General Body for all your support and encouragement. Hope you will overlook my failings and forgive me for all the faults and inconvenience suffered at my hands.

                                                                                           Professor Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi

                                                                                          Secretary, Indian History Congress