Studying History Without Evidence is Like Shifting Ground Beneath Your Feet: Shraddha Kumbhojkar
Pune, 28th July 2025: “History is a branch of knowledge that works in conjunction with other sciences. Therefore, it is not that a historian can do everything alone”. Senior historian and Head of the Department of History at Savitribai Phule Pune University Shraddha Kumbhojkar expressed the view that history and science have an interdependent relationship in the flow of knowledge. She was speaking at the Historian Award ceremony held at Deccan College, Yerawada. Writing history on the basis of casteist thinking harms history. Therefore, Kumbhojkar in her remarks expressed regret and said that she fears that history is being sacrificed in the politics of identity.
The Historian Award ceremony was organized in collaboration with Quantum Foundation and Deccan College. This year’s Late Shri Prakashchandra Surana Historian Award was presented to Shraddha Kumbhojkar and the Digital Historian Award was presented (virtually) to Kevin Standage of the United Kingdom, who digitally documented his research on forts, ancient temples and hidden archaeological sites in and around Pune. This was the fourth year of the award. Dr. Pratik
Surana, founder of Quantum Foundation, gave information about the activities of the Foundation in the introduction. On this occasion, Vice Chancellor of Deccan College Prasad Joshi, Eminent Indian archaeologist and Padmashree awardee Dr. K. Paddayya, Head of Linguistics Department of Deccan College Prof. Sonal Kulkarni and Head of Archaeology Department Prof. Shahida Ansari were present.
