V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar
| Vishnampet Ramachandra Dikshitar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
April 16, 1896 Vishnampet, Madras Presidency |
| Died | November 24, 1953 (aged 57) Madras, India |
| Occupation | Historian, Academician, Professor, Author |
Vishnampet R. Ramachandra Dikshitar (April 16, 1896 – November 24, 1953) was a historian, Indologist and Dravidologist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was a professor of history and archaeology in the University of Madras and is the author of standard text books on Indian history.
Ramachandra Dikshitar was born in the village of Vishnampettai or Vishnampet in Madras Presidency in an orthodox Brahmin family on April 16, 1896. He did his schooling at Sir P S Sivaswami Iyer High School at Thirukkattupalli and earned his bachelor of arts in history with distinction from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli in 1920. He completed his master's in history in 1923 along with a diploma in economics and obtained his PhD from Madras University in 1927.
Ramachandra Dikshitar joined as a lecturer in history at St.Joseph College, Trichy. In 1928, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Madras. He was promoted to reader in 1946 and made Professor in 1947.
Ramachandra Dikshitar specialized in Indian history in general, and Tamil history, in particular. He was a renowned Sanskrit scholar of his time.
Ramachandra Dikshitar authored a number of books on history. He was the general editor of the Madras University Historical Series. Some of his prominent works are:
Ramachandra Dikshitar died on November 24, 1953.
Dr. Nagaswamy, former director of Archaeology, Government of India, once said of Ramachandra Dikshitar:
Prof. V R Ramachandra Dikshitar, was a shining luminary in the horizon of South Indian History and Culture. Deeply rooted in Vedic and Sanskrit tradition—his ancestors were eminent Vedic Scholars and performers of Vedic Yagas—he took it as his life's mission, to expound the history and culture of the soil to which he belonged—the Tamil region and worked tirelessly in that direction till his death. Very early in his life, he started studying ancient Tamil literature, which he soon mastered…. His intimate understanding of Tamil texts enabled him to translate the immortal Tamil works—Silapathikaram and Tirukurral into English. These two Tamil translations, classics by themselves, reflect truly the inner meaning of the classical texts and remain closest to the original among many that have appeared to this day. His studies in Mauryan and Gupta Polity, and also Wars in Ancient India are pioneering works in the field. He realised the importance of the study of Puranas and brought out three volumes of ‘PURANA INDEX’ under the auspices of the University of Madras. His work, Hindu Administrative System, is indeed a landmark in administrative history
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