ICHR proposes two new centres

Scholarships for researchers likely to be increased

According to ICHR Chairman Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, who was in the City to inaugurate an exhibition on the Vijayanagara empire on Tuesday, a proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) for  two more regional centres in Srinagar and Mumbai.

“At present, there are two regional centres – the Southern Regional Centre in Bangalore and North Eastern Regional Centre in Guwahati,” he said.

A proposal has also been sent to the HRD Ministry to increase the scholarships for research purposes on a par with UGC scale. Fellowships are also likely to be awarded to senior historians. The scale of these fellowships are also likely to be increased in a month’s time.

The organisation is also planning to expand its activities by organising a regular series of lectures about books on history.

The exhibition of pictures, rare archival documents and maps showcases temples, tombs, forts, bazaar, water management systems and inscriptions during the era between AD 1336 and 1684. Visitors can also enjoy old photographs, rare maps and sketches drawn by the Portuguese and the English.

There are inscriptions in Persian, Dutch and Kannada languages on display along with a set of photographs of Hanuman, Veerabhadra and Mailara Narasimha in Hampi sculpted to enthuse warriors.

The ICHR chairman said the collection was intended to bring out the cultural variety during these periods.

“Some people claimed that the Vijayanagara kings were of Karnataka origin, while others claimed they were Telugu rulers. This kind of ambiguity is interesting and we wanted it reflected in the  multi-cultural nature of the period,” he said. He also said they were attempting to reach out to the general public rather than focus on academics and scholars.

There are about 15 documents and 125 pictures of various monuments of Hampi, Bijapur, Bidar, Gulbarga, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Mangalore, Bangalore, Mysore, Kannur and Tiruchirapally.

The exhibition also highlights the syncretic culture comprising Sufis, Sharanas, and Dasas.

The period of Vijayanagara promoted languages like Persian, Dutch, Arabic, Kannada Telugu, Tamil and Marathi. Sultanate states like Bahamani, Adil Shahi, Qutub Shahis, Barid Shahis and Nizam Shahis were also influenced by the indigenous culture and promoted the regional literature in their respective states.

ICHR is located on Palace Road, near Mysore Bank Circle and the exhibition is on till March 10 between 10 am and 5.30 pm.