P. B. Desai
P. B. Desai | |
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Epigraphist , historian, archaeologist |
Pandurangrao Bhimrao Desai (1910–1974) was an Indian
Early years
Desai was born in Gurmitkal village
Curiosity in history
During his days as a young man, he developed an interest in collecting ancient
Further studies
Desai restarted his education again and got a B.A. degree from Karnatak college
Epigraphist
He joined the Department of Archeology, of Government of India in 1939 and deciphered over a thousand inscriptions from Mumbai-Karnataka region as well as Tamil and Telugu inscriptions. Desai went on to become Head of Department, Ancient Indian History and Culture, Karnatak University.
Contributions
As an epigraphist, his knowledge and command over several south Indian languages as well as Sanskrit made his analysis unquestionable and he made many a contribution to local journals as well as international journals like Epigraphia Indica. Some of his famous works are,
- History of Vijayanagar empire
- Corpus of Kannada inscriptions from Hyderabad
- Jainism in South India and some Jaina Inscriptions
- Basaveshvara and his times
- Shasanaparichaya
- History of Ancient India in Kannada
As an archaeologist and historian, his lasting contributions are
- Discovery of Buddhist centers in Karnataka
- Works on Shakti cult
- Panduranga of Pandharpur and history of place names
He brought out glory of Karnataka beyond the region and the country and created awareness, through several literary works. He was a prolific writer in Kannada.
Desai wrote thirty books in Kannada, ten books in English, one in Marathi and published four hundred and twenty articles in English and Kannada.