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REVIEWS
N. M. Kansara
Prof. K. D. Bajpai Commemoration Volume 2, edited by Dr. A. L. Shrivastav. Pañchāla Shodh Samsthāna Kanpur, 1993. Rs. 501
This is the sixth issue of 'Pañchāla', a bi-lingual journal journal of the Panchāla Shodh Samsthāna, Kanpur, published in commemoration of the Late Professor Krishnadatt Bajpai, in the passing away of whom the indological world has suffered an irreparable loss in the field of archaeological and epigraphical studies and research. Born in Raipur in the Raibarely District in the Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Bajpai had established a high standard by his knowledge in the field of archaeology, history and epigraphy. He had developed his deep interest in this field from the Kashi Hindu Vishvavidya, where he came to study under veteran scholars like Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Prof. A. S. Altekar, Dr. Ramashankar Tripathi, Dr. Ramchandra Shukla and Pandit Baldev Upadhyay. He learned the secrets and technic of archaelogical excavations by working at Taxila excavations under the guidance of Sir Mortimer Wheelr. For fifteen years he proved his mettle in the Luknow and Mathura Museums and at the instance of Pandit Dwarika Prasad Mishra and Acharya Nandadulare Bajpai, he joined the Sagar University, where he stayed to the last, though during his last years he was invited by the Shantiniketan. It is said that if there had not been Dr. K. D. Bajpai, there would not have developed a scholar like Dr. Vakankar. Similarly, if Prof. Bajpai had not taken initiative in discovering the Karumaru caves, his contemporary Dr. Vakankar would not have revealed the mysteries of the prehistorical sites and Bhimabetika and hundreds of other caves in the same district of the Narmada region. In fact these two scholars were complementary to each other and were the forerunners of the prehistorical studies with the Indian insight. Besides historical and archaeological research which was his main field, he often composed Sanskrit stanzas on the spur of the moment. He guided more than sixty scholors in their doctoral researches.
The volume is divided into three parts, viz., articles of reminiscences, research papers and miscellenea. Scholoars like Prof. Govindchandra Pandey, Dr. A. L. Shrivastav, Prof. Balram Shrivastav, Prof. Chandrabhushan Trivedi, Dr. Raghavendra Bajpai, and others have contributed eleven articles in which they have touched upon various aspects of the personality of Prof. K. D. Bajpai. In the research section, twenty-six scholors, like Dr. A. L. Shrivastav, Dr. K. K. Tripathi, Dr. K. P. Sinha, Dr. Surendrasinh Chauhan, Dr. S. K. Jaiswal, Dr. U. N. Upadhyaya, Prof. A. M. Shastri, and others have contributed learned articles on archaeological and allied topics pertaining to the Kanauj Art, Behta, Buxar and Dandiyakheda, Ruhelkhand, Pañcāla history, Suka-krīdā sculptures, humanistic impressions on the Pancāla coins, chronology of Harsa Samvat, Varāhamihira, epigraphs of Bundelkhand, history of Ekacakrā, Siva, Nagapura Siva
