“His history books are read across India”: a profile in Jain Janvani

In October 2023 Jain Janvani gave a full page to Dr. Hukam Chand Jain. The writer, Dr. Prabhat Kumar Singhal, a journalist from Kota, opened by placing him among the country’s historians as one whose books are read not only all over India but by civil-services aspirants everywhere, and by candidates for every RPSC exam.

He reports Dr. Jain’s own observation that his books reach readers as far away as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and readers of Indian history abroad.

Singhal calls his devotion to history a passion: he is always studying or writing. As a supervisor he has guided 19 M.Phil. and 10 Ph.D. scholars. He has written 18 original research papers for national journals, on subjects such as the Bhattarak tradition and Jain society, and has presented papers at more than 25 seminars.

One idea from his research stands out: that the account books (bahi) of medieval Rajasthan can be used to piece together the region’s economic history. He has also been invited as a resource person to training and refresher courses for teachers of history.

The profile credits him with nearly four decades of standard reference books for competitive-exam candidates across India. At the time of writing, A History of the Modern World 1500–2000 was about to reach its 29th Hindi edition; its English edition had run to 17 editions and its Marathi translation to 10, a Gujarati translation was being prepared, and several universities recommended it for M.A. and B.A. (Honours).

His Rajasthan history for the Rajasthan Hindi Granth Academy, written with Dr. Narayan Lal Mali, had then run to 32 editions, and was the first Academy book printed 21,000 copies at a time. The profile also lists Bharat ka Itihas (13 editions, recommended for B.A. by the University of Rajasthan), the two-volume political and cultural history of India for B.A. students, the dictionary of Indian historical places, the encyclopaedia of Indian history and culture, Rise of Modern West (Dibrugarh, Assam, 2020), and course material he wrote for the Vardhman Mahaveer Open University.

The profile lists the Maharana Kumbha Award (2009) from the Maharana Mewar Foundation; an honour in Kanpur in 2009 from Pt. Naval Kishore Sharma, former Governor of Gujarat, for his contribution to education; an honour from Rajendra Singh, the ‘Waterman of India’; the inclusion of his works in the US Library of Congress in 2013, which it calls a rare honour; and Jain Dharma Ratna International from Jain World Mission in New Delhi in 2022. Kota’s Jain community and other institutions have honoured him many times.

Singhal traces his career from Vijaynagar College, Ajmer (1978–1982), to Government College, Kota, after the RPSC selected him first in merit in 1982. He became head of the History department in 1997, served at the college in Bundi from 2002 to 2005, and later became a principal. Along the way he was a National Service Scheme officer, attended a workshop on medieval history at Aligarh, and was a history counsellor for the Vardhman Mahaveer Open University for 23 years.

He was convener of the University of Kota’s Board of Studies in History for 13 years and served on its management board, sat on the Board of Studies of MDS University, Ajmer, and on the Rajasthan board’s textbook review committee. Since 2022 he has been a member of the University of Rajasthan’s Academic Council, and he coordinates the Board of Studies in History at Jai Minesh Adivasi University and at Sophia Girls’ PG College, Ajmer. He has spoken on Swami Vivekananda, Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi, gave keynote talks in university webinars during the Covid years, and has led the Aklank Shodh Sansthan for 14 years.

The profile ends on what may matter most: over the years he has taught hundreds of competitive-exam students free of charge, and his students are found all over India.