The New Zealand Historical Association (NZHA) has announced the establishment of the Sekhar Bandyopadhyay Prize, a prestigious biennial award recognising outstanding historical research by a New Zealand-based scholar in any field, excluding New Zealand history, published in a refereed journal.
The prize is named after Emeritus Prof. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, an internationally renowned historian and expert in nationalism and caste in colonial and postcolonial India. He has held numerous leadership roles, including Director of the New Zealand India Research Institute (NZIRI) and Professor of Asian History at Victoria University of Wellington, where he has also served as Associate Dean (Research) and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Reacting to the announcement, Prof. Bandyopadhyay expressed gratitude for the recognition, saying he feels humbled and honoured to receive such an award from his peers.
“I feel so humbled and honoured. I cannot think of any better award than this recognition by my peers. Thank you, NZHA and its Executive Committee.”
Prof. Bandyopadhyay, who joined Victoria University in 1992, has written seven books, edited or co-edited fourteen, and published over fifty book chapters and journal articles. His landmark works include Caste and Partition in Bengal: The Story of Dalit Refugees, 1946-1961 (2022), From Plassey to Partition and After: A History of Modern India (2015), and Caste, Protest and Identity in Colonial India (2011). His research has been instrumental in shaping the understanding of Indian migration, caste, and the Indian diaspora.
Prof. Bandyopadhyay’s influential book From Plassey to Partition has been translated into two languages, reprinted thirteen times, and is widely used as a university textbook on modern Indian history. He has also played a key role in non-political diplomacy, leading three New Zealand delegations to Indo-NZ meetings in New Delhi and Wellington.
Educated at Presidency College and the University of Calcutta, Prof. Bandyopadhyay has held visiting fellowships at the University of Chicago, Australian National University, National University of Singapore, and SOAS London, among others. He is also co-editor of the New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies and has played a key role in strengthening New Zealand-India academic ties through his work at NZIRI.
A Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and an Inaugural Fellow of the New Zealand Academy of Humanities, he has received numerous accolades, including the Rabindra Smriti Puraskar (Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Prize) and a Marsden grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand.
The NZHA is currently accepting nominations for the Sekhar Bandyopadhyay Prize, along with five other history prizes. A shortlist of five entries for each category will be compiled after 1 April 2025, with winners to be announced at the 2025 NZHA Conference.
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