R. Champakalakshmi
{{Short description|Indian historian and social scientist (1932–2024)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox historian
| name = R. Champakalakshmi
| occupation = Historian and social scientist
| alma_mater = University of Madras
| discipline = South Indian history
| workplaces = Jawaharlal Nehru University
| doctoral_advisor = T. V. Mahalingam
| birth_date = {{birth year|1932}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|1|28|1932|df=yes}}
| relatives = R. Jayalakshmi (sister)
| image = Kalakshetra Foundation - R. Champakalakshmi, Romila Thapar, and N. Gopalaswami.png
| caption = Champakalakshmi (left) at the Kalakshetra Foundation (2014)
| birth_place = Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli, Madras Presidency, British India (present-day Tamil Nadu, India)
}}
Rangachari Champakalakshmi{{Efn|Though many of the bibliographic sources indicate Champakalakshmi's first name as Radha, her first name is most likely Rangachari (alternately spelled as Rangachary), a patronymic reference to her father's name.}} (1932 – 28 January 2024) was an Indian historian and social scientist whose work focused on the study of early and pre-modern South Indian history. She served as a professor in the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In addition, Champakalakshmi was president of the Indian History Congress.
Early life
Champakalakshmi was born in 1932 to Pattammal (mother) and R. Rangachari (father) in a family from Srirangam in present day Tamil Nadu.{{Cite web |title=Kerala Council for Historical Research |url=https://kchr.ac.in/archive/359/Obituary-Professor-R-Champakalakshmi.html |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=kchr.ac.in |archive-date=3 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203083141/https://kchr.ac.in/archive/359/Obituary-Professor-R-Champakalakshmi.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Madras Music Academy – TTK Awards |url=https://musicacademymadras.in/catalogue/files/journals/Vol.71_2000.pdf}} Her father was an advocate.{{Cite web |title=S. SESHACHARI Vs. THE SRIRANGAM CO-OPERATIVE BUILDING SOCIETY |url=https://www.the-laws.com/Encyclopedia/Browse/Case?caseId=217691523000&title=s-seshachari-vs-the-srirangam-co-operative-building-society |access-date=4 February 2024 |website=www.the-laws.com}}{{Cite web |title=R RANGACHARI Vs. S SUPPIAH |url=https://www.the-laws.com/Encyclopedia/Browse/Case?caseId=005791443000&title=r-rangachari-vs-s-suppiah |access-date=4 February 2024 |website=www.the-laws.com}} Champakalakshmi obtained a doctorate in history from the University of Madras. Her doctoral dissertation under historian T. V. Mahalingam, was on Vaishnava iconography in Tamil Nadu, a topic that she continued to research later into her career.{{Cite web |title=An Era Called Champakalakshmi |url=https://thewire.in/history/an-era-called-champakalakshmi |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=The Wire |archive-date=2 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202022023/https://thewire.in/history/an-era-called-champakalakshmi |url-status=live }}
Career
Champakalakshmi started her academic career teaching at the University of Madras from 1959 to 1972, after which she joined the Centre for Historical Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as an associate professor of ancient history, where she continued to teach for the next 25 years, until her retirement in 1997. She started her research studying religion, specifically Jainism and Vaishnava hinduism in ancient South India, and later expanded her research to include trade, economy, and emergence of urban centers in pre-medieval South India.{{cite news |date=30 January 2024 |title=Historian R. Champakalakshmi no more; former colleagues, students mourn death |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/former-colleagues-students-mourn-the-death-of-historian-r-champakalakshmi/article67792608.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131032215/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/former-colleagues-students-mourn-the-death-of-historian-r-champakalakshmi/article67792608.ece |archive-date=31 January 2024 |access-date=31 January 2024 |work=The Hindu}} Some of her research was published in a book Vaishnava iconography (1981).{{Cite journal |last=Marr |first=John R. |date=1985 |title=R. Champakalakshmi: Vaisnava iconography in the Tamil country. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1981. Rs. 175. [viii], 370 pp. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/r-champakalakshmi-vaisnava-iconography-in-the-tamil-country-new-delhi-orient-longman-1981-rs-175-viii-370-pp/E3F20F65E4354B46E4DEDA0B0A40CFAC |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |language=en |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=160 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00027415 |s2cid=161959104 |issn=1474-0699 |access-date=3 February 2024 |archive-date=3 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203083108/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/r-champakalakshmi-vaisnava-iconography-in-the-tamil-country-new-delhi-orient-longman-1981-rs-175-viii-370-pp/E3F20F65E4354B46E4DEDA0B0A40CFAC |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} As a part of this work, she brought together evidence from Tamil Sangam literature, the Bhakti movement of the Alvars, the Agama traditions, and combined this with extensive fieldwork to bring out the distinct medieval period iconography of the Vaishnavism faith.{{cite news |last1=Mahalakshmi |first1=R. |date=2 February 2024 |title=R. Champakalakshmi's Abiding Legacy |url=https://thewire.in/history/r-champakalakshmis-abiding-legacy |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=The Wire |quote=With the passing of Professor Radha Champakalakshmi on January 28, 2024, we have lost a historian of JNU who helped to not only define historical scholarship in India but also painstakingly trained generations of students, who then went on to enrich their chosen fields.}}
Some of her later works studying the social, cultural, and economic history of early and medieval South India were published in Trade, Ideology and Urbanization (1996) and Religion, Tradition and Ideology (2011).{{Cite journal |last=Comeau |first=Leah E. |date=2014 |title=Review of Religion, Tradition, and Ideology: Pre-colonial South India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24713674 |journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=275–277 |jstor=24713674 |issn=1022-4556}} The latter was a collection of essays discussing the contribution of religious traditions to the social capital in pre-colonial south India.{{Cite web |date=28 August 2011 |title=The Hindu : Front Page : South India's cultural past not confined to one religion: Prof. Champakalakshmi |url=http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/06/stories/2011040662630900.htm |access-date=3 February 2024 |archive-date=28 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828054159/http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/06/stories/2011040662630900.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}{{Cite journal |last=Comeau |first=Leah E. |date=2014 |title=Review of Religion, Tradition, and Ideology: Pre-colonial South India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24713674 |journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=275–277 |jstor=24713674 |issn=1022-4556}} She wrote about growth of urban centers under the Pallavas and Cholas including Kumbakonam and Thanjavur in the Cauvery delta region, and Kanchipuram in the Palar valley among other centers.{{Cite web |title=Temple Towns of South India |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/55258/chapter/428631356 |access-date=4 February 2024 |website=academic.oup.com |date=2023 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780199468096.003.0003 |last1=Shankar |first1=Pratyush |pages=25–60 |isbn=978-0-19-946809-6 }}{{Cite book |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.532800 |title=Trade, Ideology And Urbanization |date=1996}}
In addition to serving as a professor at the JNU, Champakalakshmi also served as a president of the Indian History Congress.{{Cite journal |last1=Bandopadhyay |first1=Arun |last2=Champakalakshmi |first2=R. |date=2009 |title=Appendix I: Indian History Congress 70 Th Session: Minutes of the Meeting of the Executive Committee |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44147797 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=70 |pages=1273–1275 |jstor=44147797 |issn=2249-1937}} She taught many famous students at her time at JNU, including Kesavan Veluthat, Rajan Gurukkal, Manu V. Devadevan, and {{Ill|K. N. Ganesh (historian)|lt=K. N. Ganesh|ml|കെ.എൻ._ഗണേശ്}}. She was a script consultant for Bharat Ek Khoj, a 1980s Indian television series based on Jawaharlal Nehru's The Discovery of India.{{Cite book |last=Doordarshan |url=http://archive.org/details/HindSwaraj-BEK-00 |title=Bharat Ek Khoj, Contents |date=1988}} Many of Champakalakshmi's collections are held at the Roja Muthiah Research Library in Chennai.{{Cite web |title=Roja Muthiah Research Library – Internet Archive: Digital Library |url=https://archive.org/details/RojaMuthiah |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=archive.org}}
Personal life
Champakalakshmi's sister R. Jayalakshmi was a carnatic musician and one half of the duo Radha Jayalakshmi with her cousin Radha.{{Cite news |date=28 May 2014 |title=Carnatic singer dead in Chennai |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/carnatic-singer-dead-in-chennai/article6054441.ece |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128110117/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/carnatic-singer-dead-in-chennai/article6054441.ece |url-status=live }} Her other sister R. Vanaja was a numismatist with the National Museum of India in New Delhi.{{Cite web |title=The Hindu Images – Vijayanagara Coins Exhibition |url=https://thehinduimages.com/details-page.php?id=110096134}}{{Cite book |last=Champakalakshmi |first=Radha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGTaAAAAMAAJ&q=Trade+ideology+and+urbanization |title=Trade, Ideology, and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300 |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-563870-7 |language=en |access-date=3 February 2024 |archive-date=3 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203083220/https://books.google.com/books?id=IGTaAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=Trade+ideology+and+urbanization&q=Trade+ideology+and+urbanization&hl=en |url-status=live }} Champakalakshmi died on 28 January 2024.
Select works
= Books and monographs =
- {{Cite book |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qOxX3N6lbqkC |title=Vaiṣṇava Iconography in the Tamil Country |date=1981 |publisher=Orient Longman |isbn=978-0-86131-216-0 |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGTaAAAAMAAJ |title=Trade, Ideology, and Urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300 |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-563870-7 |language=en |author-mask=}}
- {{cite book |last1=Champakalakshmi |first1=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43ozPAAACAAJ |title=Tradition, Dissent and Ideology: Essays in Honour of Romila Thapar |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New Delhi |isbn=9780195654424 |ol=9869061M}}
- {{Cite book |last1=Champakalakshmi |first1=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9e5OAAAAMAAJ |title=The Hindu Temple |last2=Kris |first2=Usha |date=2001 |publisher=Roli Books |isbn=978-81-7436-094-6 |ol=18662304M |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWluAAAAMAAJ |title=State and Society in Pre-modern South India |date=2002 |publisher=Cosmobooks |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8hsmkgAACAAJ |title=Religion, Tradition, and Ideology: Pre-colonial South India |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-807059-7 |location=New Delhi |language=en}}
= Other works =
- {{Cite journal |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |date=1987 |title=Urbanisation in South India: The Role of Ideology and Polity |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3520287 |journal=Social Scientist |volume=15 |issue=8/9 |pages=67–117 |doi=10.2307/3520287 |jstor=3520287 |issn=0970-0293|url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite journal |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |date=1994 |title=Patikam Pātuvār: Ritual Singing as a Means of Communication in Early Medieval South India |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/025764309401000203 |journal=Studies in History |language=en |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=199–215 |doi=10.1177/025764309401000203 |s2cid=163010468 |issn=0257-6430|url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite journal |last=Champakalakshmi |first=R. |date=2009 |title=The Making of a Religious Tradition: Perspectives from Pre-Colonial South India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44147652 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=70 |pages=1–24 |jstor=44147652 |issn=2249-1937}}
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|id=filYJjCmHx8|title=Urbanization: Pre Vijayanagara South India {{!}} Prof. R. Champakalakshmi}}
- {{YouTube|id=MTJ5ZQp07ps|title=Built Spaces: Thanjavur as Temple Town {{!}} Prof. R. Champakalakshmi}}
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