A Two-Day Conservation Workshop was organized by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts for the students of History, Mata Sundri College of Women on the 13th and 14th June 2024 on the topic “Introduction to Conservation of Artefactsâ€. The workshop was attended by 27 students of 3rd year History Honours and BA Programme History Discipline. The programme was planned and coordinated by Ms Shivangi Naithani Devrani.
On 24th May 2024, the History Department accompanied Principal, Prof Harpreet Kaur to visit the Shaheed Memorial dedicated to Shaheed Bhagat Singh which is in university premises. The faculty members also had the pleasure of meeting Dr Vikas Gupta, Registrar of University of Delhi and Dr J L Gupta, Court Member of University of Delhi.
Department of History organised a farewell programme for its batch 2021-24 on 8th May 2024. On this day President of Gaatha (2023-24) Ms Kulwinder Kaur who had been selected as the Student of the Year 2024 was felicitated by the Principal, Prof Harpreet Kaur and the faculty members of the department. The Principal addressed the students with her enlightening words.
As a Gaatha initiative, a Guest lecture was organised on 18th March 2024 by Dr Maaz Bin Bilal on the topic `The Language, Poetry and Culture of Shahjahanabad in the 18th and 19th Centuries’. Dr Bilal is Associate Professor of Literary Studies at O.P. Jindal University, who enlightened about the city of Shahjahanabad where once resided the great poets and shayars who’s word’s echo through the sands of time. The assembled a collage of beautifully caricatured paintings of Shahjahanabad, reminding all that indeed art connects the dots to past, present and the future. Dr Ruchika Sharma was the convenor of the event.
Under the aegis of Dharohar Society of History Department an educational fieldtrip to Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandra was organised on 9th March 2024 for 3rd year History Honours students. The trip aimed to provide students with practical exposure to these sites and enhance their understanding of Indian history and architecture. Such initiatives not only supplement classroom learning but also foster a deeper appreciation for the heritage among students. Principal Prof. Harpreet Kaur also joined this fieldtrip along with the faculty members of the History Department to encourage the students.
Around 75 students of History Honours were taken for heritage walk to Firoz Shah Kotla on 5th February 2024, as a Dharohar Society initiative with a purpose to introduce them local history of the medieval city of Firozabad. The students were informed about the architectural features, and the intriguing stories associated with the fort, setting the stage for an insightful exploration. The programme was coordinated by Ms. Panchali Devi and Dr. Priyanka Chanana Sahni.
Six students of History Honours along with Ms Panchali Devi attended the workshop conducted by Indian National Trust for Cultural Heritage on 24th January 2024. The workshop helped the students understand the national and global discourses on heritage management and recognise the importance of documenting and conserving natural heritage.
A workshop on ‘PURSUING HISTORY IN HIGHER EDUCATION` was organised under the aegis of IQAC by the Motivation to Master Cell for the passing out batch of 3rd year History Honours on 8th December 2023. Dr Simmi Kapoor Mehta, Faculty Resource Person, addressed the students on their future academic progression and prospects along with two alumnae of History Department Ms Sadia Shakil and Ms Afia Malk and also Mr Raghu Bhatt.
On 24th November 2023, around 35 students from 3rd year History Honours were accompanied by Prof Daljit Kaur, Dr Simmi Kapoor Mehta, Ms Priyanka Chanana Sahni and Mr Satveer Singh to the Rashtrapati Bhawan Museum. The students learned about India's constitutional journey and its significance. Dr. Shubha Banerji, the Education Officer at Rashtrapati Bhawan Museum elucidated the intricate process of drafting the Indian Constitution, highlighting its historical significance and the incorporation of unique Indian cultural artwork in its design. Visual representations depicting various stages of the constitution-making process enriched the learning experience further.
The students of 2nd year History Honours decorated the notice board of History Department, mirroring not only their creative skill but also learning about different aspects of Indian history and heritage under the guidance of Ms Shivangi Naithani Devrani and Dr Priyanka Chanana Sahni on 23rd November 2023. The Principal, Prof Harpreet Kaur unveiled the notice board. The artefacts of clay had been made by the students.
On 10th October 2023 an annual visit to the National Museum was conducted by Ms Shabnam Suri, Ms Panchali Devi and Ms Shivangi Naithani Devrani. They accompanied 78 students of 1st year Honours to National Museum.
On 25th August 2023, the 8th volume of the History Department e-Newsletter ‘Chronicle’ was released by the Principal, Prof Harpreet Kaur on the theme of ‘Water Management Systems’ of ancient, medieval and modern periods. The students from History Honours Ms Lovely Gautam, Ms Bhagyashree and Ms Aarushi Rana were part of the editing team. Ms Kulwinder Kaur and Ms Pratishtha Pundir helped in Graphic Designing.
An Orientation Programme for the new batch of History Honours students admitted in 2023 was organised on 16th August 2023. The purpose of this programme was to introduce the students to the Delhi University system of education and evaluation along with the detailed description of their course and its different papers as well as value system of our college and its day to day working.
History Society, GAATHA had organised a lecture by Dr Lokesh Kumar of the Department of Hindi on the topic "Medieval 'Premakhayan' Historical Sources" on 21st September 2022 at Mata Gujri Hall.
The event titled ‘Historicizing Sports - An Interdisciplinary Perspective’ was successfully organized on 1st May 2023 by the Library Progression Committee in collaboration with the Department of History and the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science. The aim of the event was to explore the historical dimensions of sports from an interdisciplinary standpoint and provide students with valuable insights into the subject. The speakers of the event were Mr Satveer Singh who gave a lecture presentation on the topic ‘Historical Perspective in Sports’; Dr Gursharan Kaur spoke on ‘Scope of Research in Sports History’ and Dr Daljit Kaur gave lecture presentation on ‘Gatka Martial Arts’.
The Department of History bid adieu to Batch (2020-2023) on 26th April 2023 in room no. 111.
GAATHA had organised a painting competition with a theme “Monuments†on 14th February 2023. This competition was open to all the students of the college.
On 20th January 2023, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage had organised a Heritage Volunteer Training Workshop under their Heritage Education and Communication Services (HECS) Division which was attended by Dr Simmi Kapoor Mehta along with five students, Ms Jyotsana Chauhan, Ms Nishu Raghav, Ms Shrishty, Ms Kulwinder Kaur and Ms Himanshi Chauhan of History honours.
The first batch of History Honours under the New Education Policy 2020 was welcomed by their seniors of 2nd year and the faculty of the Department of History on 2nd November 2022 in R.No 111.
As a part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of independence), college celebrated Partition Remembrance Day on 12th August 2022 in Mata Gujri Hall. This programme was organised by History Society GAATHA along with Department of Urdu, Punjabi and IQAC team of the college. The Principal, Prof Harpreet Kaur shared partition experiences of her father. Dr Pallav Kumar Nandwana of Department of Hindi, Hindu College gave an account of his Gandhian grandfather service to the nation in working with the people of lower castes and guiding them towards a better life. Dr Iffat Zarrin impressed the gathering with her thought provoking shayari which was followed by songs, poetry and finally by the National Anthem by the students of History, Punjabi and Jhankar Society. The Department had also showcased the exhibition of the suffering of people during partition as curated by the Indian Council of Historical Research and The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
A National Webinar on the topic ‘Sikh Heritage and Conservation’ was organised on 24th July 2021 at 11 am under the aegis of Dharohar, the Heritage Society of Department of History. The Concept Note was presented by Dr Daljit Kaur and Prof. Harpreet Kaur, Principal of Mata Sundri College for Women, gave the Welcome Address. Professor Seema Bawa, Head of the History Department, Delhi University graced the webinar with her presence and spoke the need for preserving and conserving our heritage.
On 14th August, 2021 an online workshop titled, ‘Research Techniques in Social Science’, was held by the Department of History at 10.30 am through Google Meet platform and fifty students participated. The workshop was conducted by Mr Satveer Singh. The moderator, Ms Divya Surana, threw light on the aim of the workshop which were to acquaint the students with research techniques, sources and resources pertaining to research in History. Mr Satveer Singh had structured the workshop in four modules with a view to provide hands-on experience to the students.
The Department of History, Mata Sundri College for Women, conducted a workshop on 27th August 2021, in order to familiarize students with the newly introduced paper “Historians’ Craft†(Skill Enhancement Course). The workshop was co-ordinated by Dr Navendu Shekhar and Ms Panchali Devi. The speakers for the workshop were Prof. Neerja Singh, Professor, Department of History, Satyawati College and Dr Srimanjari, Associate Professor, Department, of History Miranda House, University of Delhi. The workshop was divided into three segments.
A Webinar was organized under the aegis of Gaatha: The History Society of Mata Sundri College for Women on Saturday, 25th September 2021 at 10.30 am. Eminent historian Prof Mridula Mukherjee delivered a lecture on the topic “Gandhi and India’s Peasants: An Intimate Relationship.†The Teacher-in-Charge, Dr Daljit Kaur welcomed Prof Mukherjee.
Dharohar, the Heritage Society of Department of History, Mata Sundri College for Women conducted a webinar on ‘Weaves of India’ on 26th October 2021. Dr Daljit Kaur welcomed the Principal, Prof Harpreet Kaur and the Guest Speaker, Mr Moolchand K Shravanekar, a weaver and State Government awardee, who had been invited by Dr Navendu Shekhar. The programme was divided into three sections. In the first section 2 nd year Honours students gave a brief introduction on the variety of sarees of India. They also presented a video in which the 2 nd year students modelled varied variety of traditional Indian sarees. The second section dealt with a talk given by Mr Shravanekar about Maheshwari sarees. Being on the virtual mode, he showed his workshop where sarees were being woven. He told about history of the Maheshwari saree, its designs and use of thread in weaving. He also informed about the upkeep of these traditional sarees. This was followed by the third section in which students of 2 nd and 3 rd year conducted a quiz on sarees.
An International Webinar on ‘Sufism and Composite Culture in India’ was organised by Department of History and B A Programme Society, Mata Sundri College for Women in collaboration with Baba Farid Centre for Sufi Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala on 17th November 2021. The convenors of the programme were Prof Mohammad Habib, Director, Baba Farid Centre for Sufi Studies, Punjabi University and Dr Daljit Kaur from Department of History, Mata Sundri College for Women
To mark the beginning of new session (2021-24) for newcomers of the department, the History Society, GAATHA of the Department of History of Mata Sundri College for Women organised an Orientation Programme on 23rd November 2021 at 12 noon through Zoom platform. This programme helps facilitate the freshly admitted students to familiarize themselves with the College and gives them an opportunity to interact with their teachers, classmates and seniors.
Gaatha: The History Society, in collaboration with Central Alumnae Committee organised ‘Alumnae Meet 2022 – Reminiscences’ on 8th January 2022.
On 11th February 2022, Dr Simmi Kapoor Mehta presented a lecture-presentation on the topic ‘Temple Architecture of Vatapi and Hampi’ organised under a joint collaboration of Department of History and Department of Philosophy with Library Progression Committee (under Research Programme) of Mata Sundri College for Women.
On 2nd March 2022, Dr Simmi Kapoor Mehta presented a lecture-presentation on the topic ‘Monuments of Delhi in the Medieval Period’ under the aegis of B. El. Ed Department of Mata Sundri College for Women’s School Collaboration Programme called ‘Sahyog: A Community Outreach Initiative’.
As a part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a seminar was organised by the Gaatha, the History Society of Mata Sundri College for Women on the topic ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s Quest for Freedom’ on 25th March 2022. The speaker Dr Chanderpal Singh gave an enriching lecture. The 7th edition of the departmental e-Newsletter, Chronicle, was also released by principal Prof Harpreet Kaur. The programme was followed by paper presentation by four students of History Honours.
On 12th June 2020, a webinar was organised by our History Society, GAATHA, on the topic “History and Anthropology, Stigma: Past and Present†by eminent Anthropologist Prof Vinay Kumar Srivastava. The webinar dealt with extremely relevant issue of pandemic of Covid-19 and the issue of stigma attached to such pandemics, giving an anthropological perspective.
The fifth edition of the e-newsletter, Chronicle was released on 29th July 2020. This event was combined with the farewell of the 2017-20 batch of History Honours students. This event was very well planned and was organised by their juniors. Our two alumnae, Ms Aarushi Mehra and Ms Jasmeet Kaur, who had contributed in the e-newsletter also graced the occasion.
To provide a broader knowledge to the students on their curricular topic of the French Revolution, Aks organised the documentary screening on the topic on 27 th August 2020.
Revisiting Indian National Movement’, a programme organised by students of 2nd and 3rd Year on 29th August 2020. They presented a very heart touching programme based on videos of people who had faced partition trauma. It was followed by a quiz on the women heroes of the national movement of India.
A documentary on Napoleon Bonaparte was screened on 1st October 2020 for 3rd year honours students.
In a first of its own kind, an online ‘Orientation Programme’ for the First Year Students on 18th November 2020 by the students of 2nd year and 3rd year of B A History Honours.
A two-day International Webinar on the topic ‘Histories and Heritage - A Journey through Archives, Museums and Arts’ was organised by our Heritage Society, Dharohar, on 27th and 28th November 2020 under the convenorship of Dr Daljit Kaur. The session was truly an enriching experience graced by various national and international scholars and the intellectual interaction kept all the participants thoroughly engaged. The Seminar was inaugurated on 27th November 2020. Dr Harpreet Kaur, Principal, Mata Sundri College for Women gave the welcome address. Dr Daljit Kaur, introduced the themes of the seminar. The Keynote Address was given by Dr Meena Gautam who is Former Director of National Mission of Monuments and Antiquities. She explained what heritage means and the different types of heritage. She successfully attempted in establishing relation of heritage with tourism, culture and history. Mr Satveer Singh was the moderator and Ms Priyanka Kaushik coordinated the question-answer session
The Academic Committee of the Department of History along with Ms Shabnam Suri, convenor and Dr Rupali Bhalla Mathur, co-convenor organised a lecture presentation by Mr Vikramjit Singh Rooprai on the topic ‘Baolis of Delhi’ on 9th January 2021 under the aegis of Dharohar. The lecture was followed a Heritage Quiz for the participants.
Dharohar, Heritage Society of Department of History and Kala Society, the All Arts Society of Mata Sundri College for Women organised a workshop on Madhubani Paintings. It was conducted by Mrs Bimla Dutta, an International Craft Awardee 2017 on 30th January 2021 through Zoom platform. This workshop was attended by around 250 participants. Dr Daljit Kaur was the convenor and Dr Iffat Zarrin, Associate Professor, Department of Urdu, Mata Sundri College for Women was the co-convenor of the programme.
A 30 hours Short Term Online Course which spanned about 15 days was organised on the topic ‘Dynamics of Heritology’ from 8th February 2021 to 23rd February 2021 by the Dharohar, the Heritage Society of Department of History in collaboration with Rath NGO (Recognize, Avail and Transform Heritage). It was the combined efforts of programme co-ordinator Dr Daljit Kaur, IQAC co-ordinator Dr Lokesh Kumar and Rath NGO Secretary Mr Gaurav KumarPal. Dr Navendu Shekhar was the organising secretary and Ms Aarushi was the Rath co-ordinator. This course had around 120 participants. A line of eminent scholars gave enriching lecture presentations and also interacted with students online during the question answer sessions. The students were accessed by two test and qualifying students will be given e-certificates. Dr Shalini Awasthi was day one speakers and she set the right tone and mood of the course. On The last day speakers were Mr Shravan Kumar, ex-DG of Archives and Mr Rohit Jigyasu, Programme Officer, ICCROM Sharjah. The programme ended with a counselling session for the students.
On 28 th April 2021, the 6th edition of the Chronicle was released online.
On 27th August 2019, first year students went for a visit to National Museum. This has been a tradition of the department to make youth realise the importance of museums for better understanding of the academic text.
Movie Gandhi was screened on 4th October 2019 commemorating 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Principal Prof Harpreet Kaur delivered a lecture and some students sang bhajans loved by Bapu
On 23rd October 2019, in a Guest Lecture organised by GAATHA, Dr Santosh Kumar Rai Associate Professor from Department of History, University of Delhi spoke on ‘Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and Indian National Movement’. The highlight of his lecture how he weaved the complete topic with generous use of literary sources.
On 19th February 2020, GAATHA invited Dr M V Shobna Warrier, Associate Professor, Kamla Nehru College, to deliver a lecture on the topic ‘Gender and Reforms in Modern India’. She explained to students not only what Gender meant but what had been the issues faced by women in India and threw light on the effort done for their reforms in Modern India.
On 26th September 2018, a College Heritage Volunteer Workshop Session was organised by ‘Gaatha’ the History Society of Mata Sundri College and INTACH HECS in the college premises. It was attended by 143 college students and eight faculty members from the institution. The students received a glimpse of heritage activities undertaken by INTACH and examined heritage in its varied dimensions (natural, built, material and living) in a detailed presentation by Ms Purnima Datt (Principal Director, INTACH HECS). The interactions encouraged participants to think about heritage and explore the rich heritage of their region, in addition to, ways in which they could engage with it constructively. The programme concluded with a discussion about ways to contribute as a ‘heritage volunteer’ by Ms Shivaa Rawat and the HECS pledge to involve young people in a movement to protect heritage Speakers: Ms Purnima Datt (Principal Director, INTACH HECS)
On 1st November 2018, GAATHA had invited Dr Bharti Jagannathan, Associate Professor, Miranda House, to deliver a lecture on the topic ‘Perspectives on Bhakti’ in which she discussed about Shaiva and Vaishnava bhakti sects in South India with primary focus on Tamil Nadu.
On 16th February 2019, GAATHA organised a lecture by Dr Ruchika Sharma, Assistant Professor, Gargi College, on “Looking into the Household and Family Mughal Women in 16th and 17th centuryâ€. She enlightened the students about different achievements and talents of many Mughal women, and how some of them were sought for their advice in both personal and administrative issues
Students of History Honours were taken for heritage walk to Firoz Shah Kotla on 12 th January, 2019 as a GAATHA initiative with a purpose to introduce them local history of the medieval city of Firozabad.
On 1st March 2019, a Symposium on Mirza Ghalib was organised not only to make students understand the origin of Urdu language and how it flourished during Ghalib’s period but the true essence of our ganga-jamuni tehzeeb. This symposium was organised in collaboration with Department of Urdu. Dr Iffat Zarin, an Associate Professor of Urdu, Mata Sundri College for Women and a renowned poetess of Delhi gave a literary point of view of Ghalib’s life and Dr Sumail Singh Sidhu presented the historical perspective on the life of the poet. Ghazals written by the poet were sung and his letters were read out by the students.
The 4th volume of the Chronicle was released on 26th April 2019.
History Department gave a farewell to Dr Amarjeet Kaur on 30th June 2017.
An Orientation Programme was conducted by Mr Satveer Singh for the new students admitted in the first year on 21st July 2017. The purpose of this programme was to introduce the students to the Delhi University system of education and evaluation along with the detailed description of their course and its different papers as well as value system of our college and its day to day working.
To commemorate the 75th year of the Quit India Movement our department had organized a Quiz Programme on 25th August 2017. Students from B A Honours as well as B A Programme courses participated in it. There were eight teams. Shikha and Priyanka Gupta of History Honours III year stood first. The teams who stood first, second and third were given cash prizes.
On 15th September 2017 the students and faculty experienced a Sufi extravaganza. We had invited Dr Kumkum Srivastava and Dr Sumel Singh Sidhu for lectures entitled Alternative Narratives – `Qalandars - An Antinomian Sufi Cult’ and `A Vernacular Approach – Bhagat Singh’, respectively.
Students of I and III year on a visit with faculty members as part of their practicum.
The second issue of the History e-newsletter was released on 27th October 2017 by Dr Kawarjit Kaur. The Editorial team includes Dr Daljit Kaur, Mr Satveer Singh and Dr Simmi Kapoor Mehta along with four student members Vaishnavi, Swati Chaudhary, Vandana Gauhar, Vishwa Preeti. Pranavi Jha helped the team in Hindi typing work.
The department organized an Alumnae Meet in the Mata Gujri Hall of the college on January 11, 2018. A lecture was to mark the occasion on ‘Archives, Libraries and Museums’ was delivered by Dr. Rajmani Srivastava, Rtd. Assistant Director of National Archives of india.
The annual educational visit to National Museum with students of 1st year was conducted on 30th January 2018.
`Aks’, our departmental cinema/documentary club had screened `Sikander’ (1941) and `Pyaasa’ (1957). `Aks’ tries to feature renowned black and white classics. The movie ‘Pyaasa’ ranks in the list of top 100 movies of all times by the Time Magazine. ‘Sikandar’ is a classic movie about Alexander and Porus, whereas ` Pyaasa’ had portrayed the nature of society and gender issues in early years of independent India.
The Department organised a one day seminar on Kabir entitled ‘Kabir: Symbol of Syncretic India’ on Mach 16, 2018. The seminar by inaugurated with a lighting of lamps by the guest. The Presidential address was delivered by Prof. Jaspal Singh, former Vice Chancellor of Panjabi University. This was followed by the keynote address by Dr. Harbans Mukhia. The seminar was divided into two technical sessions. The first session was chaired by Dr. Tripta Verma, former Associate Professor of the department of history, Mata Sundri College. Three speakers namely Dr. Chandan Kumar Srivastava, Dr. Bajrang Bihari, Dr. Sumail Singh Sidhu spoke on various aspects of the life and work Kabir. The second session was the student session. A documentary on the life of Kabir, a small skit, a quiz and Doha recitation highlighting various important facets of Kabir was organised in this session. Students and academicians from other colleges also participated in the seminar in large number.
On 10th February 2018, the students of history department were taken to the excavation site at Purana Qila by Ms Shabnam Suri and other faculty members of the department to learn the method and process of excavation. They were able to interact with the team there and were shown the artifacts that had been excavated recently.
The 3rd volume of the History department e-newsletter, Chronicle was released in 5th May 2018.
Our college stepped into the 50th year beginning with the session 2016-17 in July 2016. A special orientation was organized by inviting the senior-most retired faculty of the department, Mrs Anita Narayan, to address the students. She highlighted on how various activities that the department had conducted over the last 50 years
On 21st August 2016 the documentary on the French Revolution was screened under the aegis of Aks, Film Society of Department of History.
On 27th January the classical movie `Pyasa’ was screened to make students aware of socio-gender situation in post-independence India.
As part of the GAATHA initiative, on 1st September 2016, we were lucky to invite Dr. K.K. Muhammad to speak on the topic ‘Archaeology: Early Buddhist sites in Bihar and UP’.
A lecture by Dr Firdos Anwar on `Indo-Persian Historiography of Medieval India’ was organized by GAATHA, our History Society, on 14th February 2017.
On 6th and 7th October 2016, the Department of History had organized a National Seminar on `18th Century Punjab’. The seminar was inaugurated on 6th October 2016 with the inaugural session presided by Prof. Sukhdial Singh, Department of History, Punjabi University, Patiala. Key note address was given by renowned historian Prof. Indu Banga, Professor Emeritus, Punjab University, Chandigarh. Prof. Sukhdial Singh covered History of the 18th century Punjab in his presidential address and emphasized the glory of the 18th century Punjab against the notion of darkness related to that century.
On 21st January 2017, our Principal Dr Kawarjit Kaur released its first e-Newsletter titled `Chronicle’ on the first Alumnae Meet organized by the department. Our retired faculty members like Dr Tripta Verma, Mrs Anita Narayan and Mrs Meenakshi Sahai also graced the occasion.
On 4th February 2017 the 1st year students had gone for their mandatory visit to the National Museum.
The faculty of the department had planned a `Food Walk to Purani Dilli’ on 22nd February 2017 with an intention to explore the chances of getting students for a similar experience later.
As part of GAATHA initiative an educational fieldtrip was undertaken on 7th March 2017 to Humayun’s Tomb.