Radha Kant Varma

Dr. Radha Kant Varma, M.A., D. Phil., was formerly Professor and Head, Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, A.P.S. University, Rewa (M.P.); Vice-Chancellor, A.P.S. University, Rewa (M.P.); Chairman, Allahabad Museum Society (under Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India), Allahabad. He is an alumnus of Allahabad University. He learnt the methods of field archaeology at the site of Kausambi near Allahabad from Prof. G.R. Sharma. Prof H.D. Sankalia initiated him in the methods of Prehistoric Archaeology at the Deccan College, Pune. He served in the University of Allahabad for nearly 25 years before he was invited to join as Professor at the A.P.S. University, Rewa in 1985, for setting up a Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology there. In the University of Allahabad, he was the first scholar to take up research in Prehistoric Archaeology. He obtained D. Phil. in Prehistory on his dissertation ?Stone Age Cultures of Mirzapur? in 1965 which included a detailed chapter on rock art. He explored the entire undivided district of Mirzapur and the adjoining places, revisited and documented all the sites earlier discovered by Carlleyle and Cockburn and discovered a large number of new sites located in the densely wooded Vindhyan hill ranges and river valleys. He excavated the painted rock shelters of Morahana Pahar and Baghahi Khor near Bhainsore village on the Great Deccan Road on the tri-junction of Allahabad, Mirzapur and Rewa in order to understand the antiquity and authorship of the prehistoric painters. He was the first scholar to initiate scientific archaeological methods for interpreting rock art. He tried to stratify each painted canvas in order to understand the evolutionary sequence in the paintings which covered a very long duration of time. Dr. Varma has written nine books and a large number of papers on different aspects of archaeology, art and culture. He has presented papers and keynote addresses in a number of important s