Eminent historian Professor Basudev Chatterji, former Chairperson of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) passed away on June 8, 2017, Thursday in Guwahati, Assam. An erudite scholar Professor Chatterji is well known for his books ‘Trade, Tariffs and Empire : Lancashire and British Policy in India’, and ‘Dictionary of Martyrs India’s Freedom Struggle’. He also edited the Three Volumes of Documents on Indian Politics, Indian Economy and Society. Professor Chatterji's last institutional attachment was with the Department of History, IIT Guwahati. Professor Chatterji obtained his Ph.D. from Cambridge University England where he was also a Commonwealth Scholar and Smuts Fellow. Professor Chatterji taught in Saint Stephens College, New Delhi, Hyderabad University and Delhi University.
A highly cultured person as he was, Professor Chatterji had deep interest in music and was also an accomplished Veena player.
Professor Basudev Chatterji was involved with Dibrugarh University where he was the Chief Guest in the Fourteenth Convocation. Professor Chatterji was to deliver a course on Gandhian Studies in the University in the summer of 2016 which had to be deferred because of his illness. Professor A.K. Buragohain, Vice Chancellor of Dibrugarh University paid rich tribute to Professor Chatterji and stated that his demise is an irreparable loss to the academic world and to Dibrugarh University.