Remembering Dr Jaysingrao Pawar: Stalwart Historian Passes Away At 84

• Dr Jaysingrao Pawar transformed Maratha history through rigorous, evidence-based research and a strong Bahujan perspective.

• His landmark works on figures like Sambhaji Maharaj and Maharani Tarabai challenged caste-biased interpretations and foregrounded archival evidence over myths. 

• Beyond writing, he nurtured generations of scholars and built platforms like Rayat Prabodhini, leaving behind a lasting intellectual legacy. 

Dr Jaysingrao Pawar, a stalwart historian who dedicated his life to research and established Bahujan scholarship in the arena of history, passed away at the age of 84, on March 26 after cardiac arrest. He would proudly identify himself as being from the Shahu Maharaj school of thought, remembers Dr Shraddha Kumbhojkar, head of the history department of Pune University. 

Pawar was based in Kolhapur and had been hospitalised for more than a month. He is survived by his partner Vasudha Pawar who is also a writer and two daughters Dr. Manjushri and Arundhati. 

Born in Tadsargaon village in Sangli district of Maharashtra, Pawar shifted to Kolhapur for higher education. With adverse financial conditions, he studied at Shivaji University in Kolhapur, and lived in hostels built by Shahu Maharaj.

“Pawar Sir was very humble and grounded. He deeply remembered the contribution of Shahu Maharaj, Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil, Dr Appasaheb Pawar in his life. Therefore, he worked with Shahu Adhyasan Kendra for many years, publishing 17 books; all this with just a 1-rupee honorarium,” said history scholar and writer Sadanand Kadam.

For Kadam Pawar’s demise is a personal and huge loss. “It was 1984. After reading his books, I used to write him a postcard, back then there was no mobile etc. He used to reply to me via postcard. Later, I met him around the same year. I was interested in writing and was studying to become a teacher. But after meeting him, the course of my life changed. He inspired me to pursue research in history. There was no option but to be drawn to his advice due to his expertise, knowledge and his encouragement. I started working with him for various books. The edited book on Sambhaji Maharaj is one of them.” says Kadam, who was associated with Dr Pawar for 42 years. 

Many history scholars, writers, academics remember Pawar as an institution of history research and knowledge. He used to dedicate all his time and energy for research and didn’t feel pressured by any political regime. Rather than myths and hearsay accounts, he would emphasise on original historic documents such as original correspondence between historic rulers and other stakeholders. Multiple types of evidence gathering, unbiased and thorough interpretation backed by the evidence formed the core of his research and writings.

Pawar spent his life researching and writing on historical figures such as Sambhaji Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj, Queen Tarabai and Maratha warrior Santaji Ghorpade Krantisinh Nana Patil etc.

‘Maratheshahicha Itihas (History of the Maratha dynasty) and the text on Sambhaji Maharaj with critical lens are his two biggest contributions among many others. These books challenged the narratives created by Brahmin historians and he did it with a scientific approach. The depiction of Sambhaji Maharaj (Shivaji Maharaj’s son and the king of Maratha empire in the 1700 century) appearing in books written by many Brahmin historians was highly prejudiced, most importantly misleading on various accounts without historic evidence. Writers like Ram Ganesh Gadkari wrote play on Sambhaji Maharaj on the basis of these books. The dramatisation was highly problematic and untruthful to the history. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s writings on Sambhaji Maharaj also fit into this category. But these books and plays tarnished the image of Sambhaji Maharaj.

V.S. Bendre, Kamal Gokhale and Dr Jaysingrao Pawar changed the narrative completely with evidence-based research and writing. 

Pawar’s profound critical book on Sambhaji Maharaj dissects the prejudiced narratives and does justice to the life and work of Sambhaji Maharaj.

Maratha queen Tarabai fought against Aurangzeb after losing her husband, King Rajaram. She led a military of 5 lakh persons, yet there wasn’t much written about her. Dr Jaysinghrao Pawar researched her life, work and contemporary history and wrote a biography named ‘Mogalmardini Maharani Tarabai’. 

“Recently there was a conference in Kolhapur on Maharani Tarabai. Even at the age of 84, Pawar attended the entire conference with rigor and encouraged young researchers. He was honoured with the lifetime achievement award for his work by the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal. He donated that money to our organisation that works on history research,” says Deepak Pawar, president of Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal.

Dr Pawar was always immersed in his research and writing, he didn’t deliver many guest lectures. “He was fully committed and gave his life to research and write about history. He so kind and well-connected with people that the autowalas, pan-shop owners and and wiremen paid tribute to him through their WhatsApp status yesterday. They may not have necessarily read his books, but they know that this man has written the history of Bahujan idols that we can relate to," says Kadam. 

Everybody, from Sharad Pawar to Maharashtra’s former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, among many other leaders and top bureaucrats, respected Dr Pawar. His warm smile and warmth were infectious. He inspired many generations and encouraged hundreds of scholars to pursue history research, guided them, and did handholding for the publications of young history scholars. He built Rayat Prabodhini, an organisation founded by him with his professor daughter Manjushri.

He published the biography of Shahu Maharaj in 12 languages. In his last days, he was working on the biography of the Shivaji Maharaj on the basis of new historical documents.

Pawar’s daughter Manjushri is translating his texts in English. The father-daughter duo had an exceptional relationship bound by their scholarship in history. “Pawar never promoted his daughter anywhere in the field of academics, writing etc,” says Deepak Pawar of the Itihas Sanshodhan Mandal. 

Not only academics, the common people like Auto drivers, wiremen etc paid tribute to Dr Jaysingrao Pawar through social media, shows how important and mass influential figure he was.