Biography
His听 academic career spans 45 years (1963-2008)听 in Calcutta (1963-1977), Delhi (1977-1990), Visvabharati (1980-81), Jahangirnagar (1988-1990) and Cambridge (1990-2008) Universities, and also other institutions ( Allahabad, Banaras, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Tehran, USA, Paris and 听Armidale) where he received short-term fellowships and awards. His independent archaeological field-research has encompassed the Kangra valley, the whole of the Chhotanagpur plateau, the entire alluvial belt between Bengal and Panjab,听 the routes which linked the Ganga plain with the Deccan, the routes which covered the听 Deccan and the southern peninsula up to Cape Comorin, Rajasthan, and southern Uttarakhand. 听It 听is 听doubtful 听if 听听anybody 听听after Alexander Cunningham听 in the 19th century has so far been more familiar with India鈥檚 archaeological landscape than him. He has authored 31 books ( 2 in Bengali) and edited 18 more volumes听 (4 in press), in addition to 200-odd articles and reviews. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2019. He received V S Wakankar 听rashtriya samman of Madhya Pradesh government, Gurudev Ranade award of the Indian Archaeological Society, S.N.Chakrabarti medal of the听 Asiatic Society of Bengal and Senerath Paranavitana award of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. He also received D.Litt (Honoris causa) of M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, Bareilly.
