Physics and physicists at Banaras Hindu University: circa 1916–1960

Abstract

Banaras also known as Varanasi and Kashi is one of the greatest centres of education and learning since ancient times. The city has been called as ‘The city of temples’, ‘The religious capital of India’, ‘The cultural capital of India’, ‘The city of light’, and ‘The city of learning’. Philosophers, men of science and educationalists have lived and worked here, making Banaras a leading seat of learning. Long before the advent of the modern age, Banaras enthusiastically embraced the learning of mathematics, astronomy and medicine. In this lineage of a tradition of knowledge of the city, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya established Banaras Hindu University in 1916. Among many departments of knowledge at BHU, modern physics was greatly encouraged and promoted by its founder. Malaviya himself exerted to bring many scientists to BHU to enthuse the cultivation of science. Here we will see the story of the physicists appointed in the early years of BHU, who contributed to the world of physics in their own humble right. They did their own small part in physics that helped develop the discipline in India. The paper attempts to unearth a very important and formative slice of India’s history in modern science, exemplified by Banaras Hindu University as a single campus university with both teaching and research in physics.