Raghuvendra Tanwar

Raghuvendra Tanwar is a historian, professor emeritus at Kurukshetra University and, at the time of the award, chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research. He is best known for his work on the partition of India, especially in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of literature and education, from Haryana ^[1].

Thirty-eight years at Kurukshetra

Tanwar was born on 20 February 1955 in Lukhi village, Kurukshetra district ^[2]. He won two gold medals at Kurukshetra University in 1977, for topping the MA in history and for the highest marks in the social sciences faculty ^[2]. He taught at the university from August 1977 for more than 38 years and was made professor emeritus ^[2]. From 2016 to 2021 he directed the Haryana Academy of History and Culture ^[2].

Partition, day by day

His Reporting the Partition of Punjab 1947: Press, Public and Other Opinions (2006) was the first study to trace the partition of Punjab day by day, and remains a key reference ^[2]. In 2021 he published The Story of India’s Partition in English and Hindi, with about 240 rare photographs ^[2]. His 2019 study of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1953, drawn almost entirely from unpublished sources, set out to record the views of ordinary Kashmiris of the time ^[2].

At the Haryana Academy he edited five volumes of the speeches and writings of the peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram, and two of the political leader Mangal Sein ^[2]. He has been a UGC National Fellow ^[2].