Narayani Gupta

Narayani Gupta (born 13 November 1942) is an Indian historian, author, and professor (retired) at Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. She taught at Indraprastha College from 1966 before joining Jamia Millia Islamia University in 1988. From 1991 to 1995, she taught at the TVB School of Habitat Studies.

Narayani Gupta
Born
Narayani Menon

(1942-11-13)13 November 1942
Patna, Bihar
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndian
OccupationHistorian
Known forHistory of Delhi
Board member ofMember, Delhi Urban Arts Commission under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
SpousePartha Sarathi Gupta
ChildrenHimadri Shikhar Gupta(Son), Niharika Gupta(Daughter)
RelativesAshoka Gupta (Mother-in-Law), MGK Menon (Uncle), Sarada Menon (Aunt)
AwardsHomi Bhabha Fellowship (1982), UGC Career Award (1992)
Academic background
EducationBA , MA, PhD
Alma materIndraprastha College for Women[1] (BA)
Somerville College, Oxford (MA) Delhi University (PhD)
Doctoral advisorProf B.B. Misra
Prof R.L. Shukla
InfluencesRichard Cobb
Janet Abu-Lughod
Academic work
DisciplineHistorian
Sub-disciplineUrban History
School or traditionLiberalism
Main interestsArchitectural Conservation
Notable worksDelhi between Two Empires 1803-1931: Society, Government and Urban Growth
The Painter's Eye: Egron Lundgren and India (Co-authored)
Beato's Delhi: 1857 and Beyond (Co-authored)
Delhi, Its Monuments and History (updated and annotated)

She is the author of works on urban history, particularly the history of Delhi.[2] Her book, Delhi between Two Empires, based on her doctoral thesis was recognised by reviewers as 'groundbreaking'. She is a founder-member and former president (1986–88) of the Conservation Society of Delhi[3] which emerged out of the Environment Group. She was a member of Delhi's Urban Art Commission from 1992 to 1995, and again from 2004 to 2007. From 2004 to 2012, she was associated with the Indian National Trust for Cultural Heritage,[4][5] as consultant on their Heritage Education programmes and their documentation centre.

Academic Contributions

Gupta has written history books for the National Book Trust and Orient Longman, and in 2019 edited a series of books[6][7] on UNESCO world heritage sites. She headed the committee on middle school social science textbooks for the Delhi SCERT in 2002-04, was a member of NCERT's National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Sciences,[8] and editor of the History textbook for Class 11 (2005).

Activism and writing

She is a columnist for newspapers and online magazines like Indian Express,[9] Hindu, Times of India[10] etc and writes about historical matters and contemporary history.

She remains actively engaged with the conservation of Delhi's monuments and urban landscape.[11][12] She is one of the people who took a stand on the issue of the redevelopment of Central Vista and filed a case in Supreme Court against it.

Biography

She is wife of noted historian Prof Partha Sarathi Gupta and the third daughter of Narayani Menon and VKR Menon, an Indian Civil Services officer in Bihar state of British India. Growing up in Delhi after 1946, she could observe the rapid changes in the social fabric post-Partition and the planning of Independent India. These were to feed into her recreation of urban pasts.

References
  1. "Indraprastha College for Women".
  2. "Changing Landscapes and Preservation of Delhi's Spaces: An Interview with Prof. Narayani Gupta". 31 March 2021.
  3. "The Conservation Society delhi, Delhi's heritage, architectural heritage delhi, history of delhi, delhi tour, delhi travel".
  4. Annual report 2015 Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
  5. "The Foundation School | TFS".
  6. "Qutb Minar".
  7. Gupta, Narayani (2018). Qutb Minar: Head in the Clouds. ISBN 978-9385360503.
  8. Teaching of Social Science
  9. "Narayani Gupta". 28 May 2016.
  10. "Students map Lodhi Estate heritage | Delhi News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  11. "Proposed reinvention of Delhi, ironically, bears affinity to colonial thinking". 19 September 2019.
  12. "The proposed Central Vista will destroy Delhi's cultural landscape". 19 February 2020.
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