Darj college seminar to talk Hill history dating back to 6000 yrs

SNS, DARJEELING: The Hills had people living here around 6,000 years ago, as suggested by findings of tools and utensils of the Neolithic age at some places in Kalimpong and Darjeeling. are so me interesting facts that will be part of a three-day seminar to be held at Southfield College here from 5 September.

Organised by the Southfield College Department of History (SCDH), the national seminar titled "Darjeeling: In Search of People's History of the Hills" is being sponsored by the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), and will see speakers from not only the hills and the plains here, but also from Sikkim and Mumbai who have completed their thesis and research on the history of this area.

"Many people do not know the history of this place, with there being books mostly written by outsiders. The history of this place was documented only from around 1835, which is not the entire history. There have been evidences that people lived here during the Neolithic Age, also around 6,000 years back, with there being gradual evolution of the people. Though thesis and research have been done on these things, along with post-Independence history, they have not been published. In the seminar, speakers will be talking on their findings." said Dinesh Chandra Ray, the convener of the SCDH. According to the history department, such things like tools and utensils of the Neolithic Period have been found in Tashiding in Kalimpong and Badamtam in Darjeeling in the past.

"There is a need for deconstruction of history of this place and have a history which is chronological and we plan to accumulate whatever research has been done and publish it later on. We also hope that later on, the University that is coming up in the Hills makes it a part of their syllabus," he added.

The different topics that will be taken up in the seminar include colonial forest policy and forest dwellers in the Darjeeling Hills in the 19th Century, the unwritten history of Balmiki Community in Darjeeling Hills, a study of the Viswakarmas and their contribution in the transition of Darjeeling, exploring the early history and its people, role of Christian missionaries in spreading education in the hills during the colonial period, the demand for Gorrkhaland, and retelling the history of tea gardens of Darjeeling hills, among others.