Dasharatha Sharma - Authorship

Authorship

During his career, Prof. Sharma published over four hundred research papers and notes on a wide range of subjects. His noted monograph Early Chauhan Dynasties was first published in 1959, a revised edition was published in 1975 and reprinted in 2002. The manuscript shows that the Agnikula myth of the origin of Rajputs was adapted from the Valmiki Ramayana and calculates the year of birth for Prithiviraj III using planetary positions described in the Prithvirajavijaya. It also attributes the success of Muhammad Ghori to the rivalry between the Chauhans of Sakambari and the Chalukyas of Gujarat. Amongst other subjects, Lectures on Rajput history and culture elaborates on the origin of the Rajputs, brings attention to the celebration in Kannauj after Prithviraj III was defeated (at the second battle of Tarain), follows the thirteenth century Rajput struggle of survival, and discusses the Rajput resurgence represented by Maharana Kumbha and Rav Jodha. In 1960, Dr. Sharma was appointed by the Rajasthan State Archives (an agency of the Government of Rajasthan) as General Editor of a comprehensive history of Rajasthan to be published by the Government of Rajasthan. This became the definitive work on the history of Rajasthan, a worthy successor to the previous works by James Tod and Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha. Titled Rajasthan through the ages this work was largely written by Dr. Sharma and published in 1966. Samrat Prithiviraj Chauhan tritiya aur unka yug (in Hindi) is an updated text on the last Hindu king of Delhi.