Mapping Histories: Essays Presented to Ravinder Kumar

Ravinder Kumar, an outstanding historian, is well known for his pioneering work on the social consequences of colonial rule in India. His seminal essays on the Rowlatt satyagraha and on politics in the city of Bombay in the 1920s and 30s; his work as editor of documents relating to events in 1947 for a volume in the Towards Freedom series; his conceptualization of India as a ‘civilization state’ to better understand its plurality and cultural diversity—all these reflect his sustained interest in the complex processes of colonial and contemporary Indian society. Ravinder Kumar headed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) at New Delhi as Director for almost seventeen years, and is widely known and respected as an institution builder. He founded the Centre for Contemporary Studies at the NMML which, under his guidance, developed into a prestigious research center attracting scholars from a variety of disciplines. Professor Kumar not only provided Fellows at the centre with felicitous conditions for independent research work, he personally directed the building up of a lively atmosphere for academic discussion and engagement. It is therefore but fitting that several Fellows of the Centre should come together to pay their tribute to Ravinder Kumar through this volume of essays.