Professor O.P.Jaiswal, former Professor in the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, Patna University, visited the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Department of History, Dibrugarh University, and delivered a series of lectures from 7th March, 2016 onwards. Professor O.P.Jaiswal was a scholar of repute in both Archaeology and Ancient Indian History. Known for his scholarship also in Pali, Professor Jaiswal was the President of the Indian History Congress (Ancient History Section) at the 2005 Session held at Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, and a member of the ICHR, New Delhi. As a young scholar Prof. Jaiswal was also associated with the excavation work at the site at Vikramsila during 1959.
Welcoming the Professor to the Department of History and the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Professor D.Nath, Chair Professor, Shri Shri Aniruddhadeva Chair, expressed that the Centre was a result of the longstanding desire and persistent attempt on part of the Department of History through which it expected that much of the history of Buddhism would be learnt and discovered, particularly when we remember that this part of India was the last stronghold of Buddhism before it became extinct in the country. Even now it is the only known region where we have Communities practicing Buddhism mainly in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Professor Jaiswal talked mainly on the philosophical and institutional aspects of Buddhism besides dealing with the relevance of Buddhism in the context of our present society.