NEW DELHI: In what could be described as the biggest historical initiative since Independence, scholars of the country’s premier historical body ICHR along with students of history will be channelling all their resources in preparing a historical encyclopedia of villages and towns across India.
The aim would be to collate information of a town or a place through its historical past, through the monuments, the legion associated with the place, any mythological association, the role of the historical figures of kings and prince in shaping the future of the place and putting them together on a web-based encyclopedia for reference.
“Ancient archeological data will also be taken into account in preparing the history of the place. It would be a microscopic exercise covering thousands of villages and towns,” said Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) chairman Y S Sudarshan Rao. He said an expert committee will be constituted for screening the data collected. The panel will have a careful study of them especially in the context of the legions associated with the place. Legions cannot be vouched for their authenticity and therefore the exercise the committee would be crucial, he said. History students would be taken as apprentices as ‘barefoot’ historians for the task. They will be paid some remuneration and encouraged to collect information of the villages and write their brief reports.
“Every inch of place in India is said to have its own remarkable place either in history or spirituality. Therefore, Indians hold every piece of land in a very high esteem. The project endeavours to give peoples’ true history to them without disturbing their cultural ethos,” he added.