My Professional Goal

History is what interests me the most and I have been into learning the same since my school days. I’ve always had a passion towards getting to know the past including people, culture, geography and above all human civilization. This passion for the past has brought me up to the M.Phil stage in History. Down the line, I see myself as an academician; for teaching is the chosen profession for me and getting into the same field best helps me to work for and contribute to the upliftment of society. Also I sustain a strong interest in academic research which is of crucial importance in the growth of a student with academic excellence.

My Area of Specialised Interest of Research

Global environmental concerns have of late led some historians to study the environmental aspect of human societies thus making environmental history a developing field of historical enquiry. Improvement in the quality and quantity of data documenting along with established techniques, such as geomorphology and chemical and physical dating have enabled researchers to ask complex questions regarding how nature changes human life and activity, and how human beings alter environment. Environmental history also leads the subject closer to disciplines like Economics, Anthropology, Art, Religion, Literature and Geography. I find this new multi-disciplinary field of study extremely interesting and stimulating. My area of interest for research is the environmental history of Assam. Situated in the north-eastern part of India, Assam has always been known for her nature. The hills, rivers, and forests, besides enhancing the beauty of the land, contain diverse flora and fauna, some of which are rare in the world. Also, Assam is inhabited by people of different tribes/races. It is called a mini-museum of ethnic groups. A critical study of man-nature relationship not only for knowing different aspects of Assam’s medieval past, but also to understand those in contemporary Assam seems promising. I believe my researches on the environmental history of Assam will surely open doors for many further research/endeavours in this newly emerging critical filed. Moreover, it will enable us to know about the conservation method of our ancestors and their prudence for nature.

Me...in an International Seminar on " Environmental History of North East India" organised by the Dept. of History, Assam University, Silchar. Topic of my paper was "Man, Nature, and State in Pre-Colonial Cachar"

Medieval rulers and their religions

There has been lot of debate weather the Muslim rulers of medieval India were communal or not. Being a student of history I have the feeling for long time to share my knowledge with fellow citizens and clarify their doubts. We have very wrong notion about historicity. We very often tend to affiliate the religion of the rulers with nature of the state. In this write up I will place some examples about the neutral stand of the medieval rulers. 1. Sultan Jalauddin Khilji (1290-96)was a pious Muslim. But he never mistreated his non Muslim subjects. He considered as unrealistic a policy of forcible conversion of the Hindus or their humiliation, as demanded by theologians. In a discussion with his close associate, Ahmed Chap, he defended the policy of allowing Hindus to worship idols, preach their beliefs, and observe practices which were the hall-mark of infidelity. Thus, they were not, hindered in passing in processions outside his palace, beating drums, and to go to the Jamuna for immersing their images. Likewise, the Hindus were allowed to live a life of ease and splendour and honour even at Delhi, the centre of Islam. According to him, while by a policy of terror, fear of the government and its prestige could be established in the hearts of the people for a short time, it would mean discarding (true) Islam, or, as was said, "it would mean "discarding Islam from the hearts of the people like discarding hair while kneading dough" (p. 76 Satish Chandra)