Hariprasad Gangashankar Shastri was an Indian scholar, historian, epigraphist, indologist and editor primarily known for his work on the political and cultural history of Gujarat state. He spent much of his career at the B. J. Institute of Learning and Research, Ahmedabad as a lecturer, professor, deputy director and then as director.
Early Life
Hariprasad Shastri was born on 17 October 1919 at Malataj, a village near Petlad. He was the youngest son of Gangashankar Shastri, a physician and ritualist. His elder brother, Shankarlal Shastri, was a professor of Sanskrit at the Bahauddin College, Junagadh and a Gujarati literary critic. His grandfather, Vrajlal Kalidas Shastri was a scholar of Sanskrit and Prakrit languages as well as a pioneer philologist of Gujarati and the youngest brother of the saint-poet, Chhotam. As he pursued higher studies, his PhD guide, Rasiklal Parikh served as a key source of inspiration. Shastri was also influenced by the views of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He married Shridevi Bhatt, daughter of an educationalist Karunashankar Kuberji Bhatt, in 1947. They had a son.
Education
Hariprasad Shastri was educated the primary school of his village, Malataj, and then attended A. V. High School, Malataj. He moved to Junagadh and joined Bahadur Khanji High School in 1932, from where, he matriculated in 1936. He received BA in 1940 and MA with Sanskrit and Ardhamagadhi language as his major subjects in 1942 from the University of Bombay. Later, he joined the Gujarat Vernacular Society, Ahmedabad, as a lecturer, and started his research under the guidance of Rasiklal Parikh. He wrote his thesis on the Political and Cultural History of the Maitraka Kingdom of Vallabhi on the basis of inscriptions of the Maitraka dynasty, and was awarded PhD in 1947.
Academic Career
In 1945, Shastri joined the B. J. Institute of Learning and Research, Ahmedabad as a lecturer where he taught Indian Culture and Sanskrit. He took roles of increasing responsibilities and was recognized as a P.G. teacher in Indian Culture in the year 1952 and in Sanskrit in the year 1956, by Gujarat University. In 1958, he was promoted as an assistant director of the B. J. Institute and served on this position for six years. He served there as the director from 1968 to his retirement in 1979. He also served as a Professor at Shri Ramananda Mahavidyalay, Ahmedabad in 1955–1956 and L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad in 1958–1962. He served as the president of Gujarat Itihas Parishad from 1960 to 1962. He died on 9 August 2014 in Navrangpura, Ahmedabad.
Besides writing above books, Shastri also edited several books related to history of Gujarat. He served as an editor for a Gujarati magazine Buddhiprakash in 1957-58. He had authored or co-authored about 775 research papers.
Recognition
Narmad Suvarna Chandrak for 1951 awarded by Narmad Sahitya Sabha in 1958 for his book Maitrakkalin Gujarat.
Haridas V. Gokani Gold Medal for the research paperShrikrishna in Harivamsa: A Critical Study presented at the 8th session of Gujarat Itihas Parishad, Patan, 1975.
