With the establishment of the Gorakhpur
University (1957) Department of Ancient History, Archaeology and Culture, was
started in 'Pant Bhawan'. Afterwards it shifted to majithia Bhawan then to Arts
Faculty and at last it had its own building "Purvayatam" in 1981. "Purvayatam"
generally means "Ancient History Bhawan" but its subtle meaning is "Prachya
Vidya Mandir" which truly a destination in its maxim , "Purvavishwasamvad
bhuwanmadbodhi" this was the concept of Prof. Vishambha Sharan Pathak, The
Head of Department and the learned scholar of Prachya Vidya 'antiquity'. Now Purvayatam
has its fascinating and charming environment and is decked with a highly rich
library and reading room along with a museum well equipped with invaluable materials
of antiquity beside the academic background of this department has been glorious
and commendable. Well reputed historian and learned scholar Prof. Govind Chandra
Pandey was its first head. High class educational tradition instituted by him
has been ceaselessly followed. Prof. Pandey is himself in the rank of great Indian
Scholars, Poet - Thinker, Philosopher, Culture-Analyst and revered Historian.
In his five year tenure (1957-62) the department wheeled ceaselessly on the paved
way.
It is a matter of great pride and good luck that on the eve of the
25th convocation of the university (January 15, 2003) through the Honorable Vice
Chancellor Prof. Rewati Raman Pandey's resolution, The university paid its homage
to 'Prachya Vidya Ratna' Prof. Govind Chandra Pandey by conferring on him the
honorary D.Litt Degree.
After Prof. Pandey Prof. C.D. Chatterji became
the head of the department, though for a short period yet his work on "Purabhilakshmi"
and "Numismatic" has a place among the Indian Historian.
The
glorious period of Purvayatan (1965-87) fully blossomed under the guardianship
of such a unique learned scholar, later on occupied the prestigious chair of the
Vice Chancellor of the D.D.U. Gorakhpur University. The credit of the conception
of Purvayatan and its meaningfulness goes to Prof. Pathak. When being inspired
by Gurkul Tradition, he made the conception of purvayatan, his aim was the growth
of the metaphysical intellectual consciousness and also the all round development
of the personality of the members of the staff. Well equipped with the knowledge
of deductive and inductive Theology, Puranic Tradition, not only Sanskrit but
Chhandas (Veda-Awasta) Prakrit - Pali Apbhransha and Greek, Latin and other languages,
he gave a new direction to the study and teaching of Ancient Indian History.
In the widest context he gave the academics a novel vision along with the ancient
linguistic technology for the research purpose of prachya vidya. Archaeological-Scientific-Survey-Excavation
work at Sohgaum (Gorakhpur) and Fazilnagar-Sathiyawn (Kushinagar) and then in
Birbhari was done. This work threw light not on the region of the Himalayan belt
(Jerai) and the historical stream of Vindhya-Ganga Valley but also of Pre-historic
Pre-Vedic cultural streams. Prof. Pathak was an eminent scholar of "Knowledge
of History", "Writing History" and "Historical Philosophy".
The untaught many knotty problems belonging to Indo-Historic-Sanskrit. Many national
and international seminars were organized during his tenure of office. Consequently
this department became a commendable centre for Prachya Vidya.
Prof. Shail
Nath Chaturvedi, who was attached with this department as the first teacher and
was an expert , in archaeology, kala shashtra and numismatic, prachya vidya and
other streams of knowledge and was the worthy successor of Prof. Pathak, head
of the department. Later on Prof. Shiva Ji Singh became its head for a short time,
then Prof. Daya Nath Tripathi succeeded him under his noteworthy leadership a
huge joint national and international conferences of many Vidwat Parishad were
simultaneously held. Prof. Vijai Bahadur Rao maintained the tradition and reputation
of his predecessor as head of department.
The present head is Dr. Sachchida
Nand Srivastava. Prof. Mata Prasad Tripathi had been the taught and the teacher
of this department. He is not only a historian but also a kind hearted, sensitive
and constructive writer. He has many published work to his credit. The manuscript
of "Shabd aur Dharti" was rewarded by the U.P. Hindi Sansthan in 1977-78.
He traveled to Canada - America in 1984 (June - August) to take part in the international
conference. Working in a major research project assigned by U.G.C, Prof. Tripathi
is the witness and watchful sentry of the Purvayatan glorious and commendable
tradition. Purvayatan commemorates the service of its former professor Dr. Ram
Briksha Singh, Dr. Smt. Kalyani Joardai, Prof. Jaimal Rai and Prof. Sachidanand
Mishra, with great respect.
Some learned members of the staff of the department
have migrated to other places viz. Late Prof. Upendra Thakur (Magadh University)
Prof. Smt. Sandhya Mukherjee (Allahabad University) Prof. Shri Ram Goel (Jodhpur
University) Prof. Lalta Prasad Pandey (Himmachal University) and Late Lal Mani
Joshi (Punjab University Patiyala).
