Historian Ranajit Guha passes away

One of the most influential South Asian historians, famous for his epoch-making work on subaltern studies, Ranajit Guha, who would have turned 100 this May, passed away yesterday.

The Indian historian breathed his last at his home in Austria's Vienna Woods, where he lived with his wife Mechthild Guha, after retiring from Australian National University in 1988, fellow historian Dipesh Chakrabarty said.

Ranajit was ill for a long time due to various old age complications, he said.

He is one of the most influential scholars in the Subaltern Studies group and was the editor of several of the group's early anthologies. His book "Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India" is considered a classic.

In her condolence message, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said Ranajit's numerous writings on Indian peasant uprisings not only became a trend-setter, but also inspired a group of powerful historians whose work on the subaltern had an impact across the world.

"The world of knowledge suffered a great loss in the death of Ranajit Guha," she added.

He was born on May 23, 1923, at Siddhakati village of Bakerganj upazila of Barishal to a family of owners of talukas. His father shifted with his family to Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1934.

Ranajit completed his post-graduate studies in history from Calcutta University, becoming deeply influenced by the teaching and scholarship of the legendary historian Susobhan Sarkar (1900-1982).

By the mid-1940s, Ranajit became a full-time political activist and as a representative of the Communist Party of India, he joined the World Federation of Democratic Youth which was established in London in 1945.

He returned to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1953 with an aim to concentrate on research.

Ranajit taught at Chandannagore College in West Bengal before joining what is now Maulana Azad College and the Jadavpur University in Kolkata. From 1960 to 1980, Ranjit taught at the University of Sussex before he migrated to Australian National University where he continued to mentor scholars until his retirement in 1988.

He wrote extensively on peasant uprisings and is best known for his book, Subaltern Studies VI.

His other notable books are A Rule of Property for Bengal (1963), Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India (1983) and Dominance without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India (1997).

Ranajit influenced famous scholars like Dipesh Chakraborty, Partha Chatterjee, Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak.

Binayak Sen said Ranajit introduced the study of history of subalterns. The main point Subaltern studies is that history should not be written on kings and their men, regime changes. Rather, similar importance should be given on the perspective and narratives of peasants and the working class.

He was pivotal in creating Subaltern historiography.

Prof Abdul Momin Chowdhury, a leading historian of the country, said that his biggest contribution is the creation of subaltern studies historians.