Centre For Himalayan Studies, North Bengal University, Darjeeling



The Centre for Himalayan Studies (CHS) is often regarded as the brainchild of Professor Amlan Datta, the then Vice Chancellor of North Bengal University, Darjeeling. The idea was to initiate a social research centre covering North Bengal and Sikkim and other adjoining territories on both sides of the border including Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim. The Registrar of the University in his letter to the UGC dated 20.2.76 subsequently elaborated the proposal:

“The proposed Centre for Himalayan studies will have the eastern sector of the Himalayas and more particularly the territory adjacent to Darjeeling and Sikkim for its area of research…The proposed Center can study the eastern sector of the Himalayas from the point of view of the social scientist and the historian for research in cultural anthropology, history, economics, political science and international relations.”

Finally, an inter-disciplinary research centre under the Area Studies Programme of University Grant Commission, India was established. It was established in December 1978 under the Area Studies Programme of the UGC and thus the centre completed twenty-five years in December 2003. The Centre for Himalayan Studies is treaded as a full-fledged department of the University of North Bengal under the P.G. Faculty Council of Arts, Commerce and Law.

Since its inception, the Center’s research strategy has been aimed mainly at studying the problems of development and change over time in the assigned region and it’s surrounding. People belonging to various ethnic groups and linguistic communities inhabit the region. Their culture and language form an important area of studies at the Centre. The geopolitics of the region provides the backdrop against which all such studies become relevant and meaningful points out the Dr. Karubaki Datta, Director of the Centre.

The centre pursues a number of academic activities, which includes; teaching, research, and documentation. The academic activities of the faculty members, which consist of the experts from various disciplines like Geography, Economics, History, Sociology, are basically- Research Projects, M.Phil teaching, PhD guidance, Publications and Seminars.

The faculty members take up regular research projects on the Eastern Himalayas and parts of it. So far the Center has completed over 23 major research projects since it started in the late 1970s. The reports are either published as occasional papers or in the Himalayan Miscellany-the in-house journal of the Centre or presented in the seminars organized by the Centre. The faculties of the Centre also undertake field trips or visit various libraries or offices outside the University for data collection as and when necessary.

The Centre started its M.Phil programme in 1991. The syllabus is designed for students with specialization in history, geography, economics, political science, sociology and social anthropology. So far 19 students have been awarded M.Phil degree by the Center. The Faculties of the Centre also supervise PhD works either independently or jointly with the faculties of other Departments. The Centre has awarded 14 PhD degrees to the students registered so far and some 11- dedicated research scholars are conducting research in various aspects of the region and it’s surrounding.

In the last 25 years the centre has organized 10 National and International seminars. The Centre also from time to time organizes Departmental seminars by the Center’s Research Scholars and Faculty members. Besides, special lectures by outside scholars are also organized and published by the Centre at regular intervals. The publications of the Centre include Journal, Occasional Papers, and Area Reports. The House Journal of the Centre is the Himalayan Miscellany. It contains research papers written by faculty members, research scholars and reports prepared by the Documentation staffs. Further, the Documentation Cell of the Centre brings out its publications at regular intervals under the different heads of Documentation list, Current Awareness list, and Bibliographies. The Documentation Cell of the Centre at present possesses 1300 books and 950 reprints of articles and seminar papers relevant to the area under study apart from the books purchased by the centre with UGC grants. The centre subscribes to and also receives various research journals and daily newspapers from and across the Himalayas. About 156 precious maps of the Eastern Himalayas and the North Eastern States of India has been preserved and maintained by the Centre. Research scholars frequently visit the Centre and its Documentation Cell from both within and outside the University Campus for consulting documents on the Himalayan region and the North Eastern States of India. The students and the faculties enjoy internet facilities for research purposes.

Source: Annual reports of the Centre and discussion with the Director.

Contact Address:
Centre For Himalayan Studies,
NBU, Raja Ram Mohanpur,
Distt. Darjeeling, West Bengal, India