Vivekanand Jha

The late Vivekanand Jha was Director, Indian Council of Historical Research, and editor of the Indian Historical Review (20 vols, 1974-94), making it India's most substantive historical journal. He also edited Itihas (Hindi), Vols I-III (1992-94), and co-edited Indian Society: Historical Probings (1974), as well as the Journal of Studies on Ancient India (1998) of the World Association for Vedic Studies. One area of his scholarly interest was the early history of the Untouchables (the theme of his doctoral thesis, 1972), on which he published several papers. He also published studies of the Bhagavadgita. In 1990 he presided over the Ancient India section of the Indian History Congress.