| Title |
Letters to Vishwa Nath Datta |
| Reference |
GBR/0012/MS Add.9578 |
| Creator |
Datta, Vishwa Nath (b. 1926), historian |
| Covering Dates |
1952–2002 |
| Extent and Medium |
1 file; paper; photographs; photographic negative |
| Repository |
Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives |
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| Content and context |
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Vishwa Nath Datta was born in Amritsar, India, on 20 March 1926. He matriculated as a research student at Fitzwilliam House in November 1950, and received the M.Litt. degree in February 1954. After lecturing in History at Kirori Mal College, Delhi, and Delhi University between 1954 and 1958, he served from 1958 to 1962 as editor of the Indian Gazetteers for the Ministry of Education, Government of India. He was subsequently appointed Head of the History Department at Kurukshetra University, where he was Professor of Modern History and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences; he was made Professor Emeritus in 1986. He has held numerous visiting professorships and fellowships, and in 1998 was a Resident Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. His publications include Jallianwala Bagh (Ludhiana and Kurukshetra, 1969), Madan Lal Dhingra and the Revolutionary Movement (New Delhi, 1978), Sati: A Historical, Social and Philosophical Enquiry into the Hindu Rite of Widow Burning (New Delhi, 1988), and, as editor, New Light on the Punjab Disturbances in 1919 (Simla, 1975) and, with S. Settar, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (Delhi, 2000).
The letters are mostly from senior members of the University of Cambridge. With related items.
Presented to the Library by Professor Datta in two sections: items 1-26 in June 2000, and items 27-44 in September 2002.
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Access and Use
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Please cite as Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Letters to Vishwa Nath Datta, MS Add.9578 |
| Further information |
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Three letters from Datta to Sir Herbert Butterfield, 1972-6, are held in the Butterfield papers in Cambridge University Library, reference MS Butterfield 531/D1-D3.
This finding aid was created by John Wells, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Cambridge University Library, in June 2011.
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| Index Terms |
| Datta, Vishwa Nath (b 1926) historian |
| Manuscripts/MS Add.9578 contains: |
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1
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Noël Annan; Cambridge. Will be delighted to help Datta; enquires about Gandhi's feelings concerning Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education.
Creator: Annan, Noel Gilroy (1916-2000) Baron Annan, historian. |
1950–1954 |
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2
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Noël Annan; Cambridge. Cannot dine before he leaves at the end of next week; invites Datta to call on him; recommends books on eighteenth and nineteenth-century political thought.
Creator: Annan, Noel Gilroy (1916-2000) Baron Annan, historian. |
1950–1954 |
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3
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Butterfield's position concerning the High Commissioner's request.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
22 Aug. 1952 |
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4
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Christmas wishes; administrative work; Butterfield's family and activities at Christmas; perturbation at the policies of the Western powers.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
29 Dec. 1958 |
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5
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Toynbee and his system; a critical period in diplomacy; the failure of the Summit Conference; Datta's publications.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
26 May 1960 |
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6
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Best wishes for 1961; Datta's publications; administrative duties as Vice-Chancellor; forthcoming visit to Hong Kong; Christmas in Canterbury.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
29 Dec. 1960 |
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7
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Travel arrangements; Datta's invitation to Butterfield to visit Delhi.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
19 Jan. 1961 |
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8
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Datta's publications and intended work on historiography of India; Butterfield's work on historiography for the Gifford Lectures; events in India; Sarvepalli Gopal; importance of the teaching function.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
15 Jan. 1965 |
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9
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Datta's present to Butterfield's wife; Sarvepalli Gopal; Higher Education in Britain now a matter of political controversy; busy with administration; the cause of history flourishing; work on the Gifford Lectures.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
15 July 1965 |
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10
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Christmas in Dublin; Gifford Lectures; flexibility of the historical process; Butterfield's current historical interests; death of Datta's sister.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
6 Jan. 1966 |
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11
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. Aerogramme. Enjoying retirement; Sawston; the age of his house; occupied with work on the history of historiography and on Charles James Fox.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
8 Jan. 1971 |
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12
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. Aerogramme. Recovering from poor health, but still easily tired; almost ten years since he saw Datta in Delhi.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
31 Dec. 1971 |
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13
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. Working desperately on a job against time; apologies and excuses for having neglected a request from Datta concerning the Conference of the Institute of Historical Studies in Kurukshetra.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
11 Nov. 1972 |
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14
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. New Year wishes; improving health; plans to spend Christmas in Canterbury; the weather during 1972; studying the history of historiography.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
14 Dec. 1972 |
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15
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. Remembers an evening spent with Datta and his wife; his sudden recovery after a long period of poor health; writing on the history of history; occasional trouble in Cambridge University in recent years from undergraduate revolutionaries.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
12 Dec. 1973 |
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16
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. Aerogramme. Recovering from a stroke; Datta's father's illness and death; Sarvepalli Gopal; congratulations on Datta's work on the Punjab disturbances; remembers an evening spent with Datta and his wife.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
11 May 1976 |
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17
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. Aerogramme. Continues to recover from the stroke; approves of Datta's interest in historiography; Soviet Russia; Sarvepalli Gopal.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
14 July 1976 |
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18
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Sir Herbert Butterfield; Sawston. Datta's good letter; leading a tolerable life, but lacks energy for creative writing; the weather; an American historian to edit a volume of Butterfield's essays; news of Butterfield's sons; Datta's scholarly work; Soviet Russia; Sarvepalli Gopal.
Creator: Butterfield, Sir Herbert (1900-1979), historian. |
1 Mar. 1978 |
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19
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Pamela Butterfield; Sawston. Illness of Sir Herbert Butterfield; thanks for Datta's letter, lecture and book.
Creator: Butterfield, Edith Joyce (Pamela), wife of Sir Herbert Butterfield. |
11 June 1979 |
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20
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Pamela Butterfield; Sawston. Illness and death of Sir Herbert Butterfield.
Creator: Butterfield, Edith Joyce (Pamela), wife of Sir Herbert Butterfield. |
8 Sep. 1979 |
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21
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Duncan Forbes; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Interested in Scottish thought in the eighteenth century; has published a book on Hume, and articles; Cambridge is peaceful after the storms of ten years ago; finds examining burdensome; envies academic friends in Italy who seem to do no teaching and are always on leave; family news; Eric Stokes.
Creator: Forbes, Duncan (1922-1994), historian. |
9 Jan. 1979 |
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22
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Duncan Forbes; Girton. Aerogramme. Thanks for sending Presidential address; has moved house; a Clare College research student working on caste in India in the nineteenth century may contact Datta; there has been a scheme to encourage older dons to retire, but he has refused it.
Creator: Forbes, Duncan (1922-1994), historian. |
20 Jan. 1983 |
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23
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E. M. Forster; Cambridge. Will be pleased to see Datta and show him papers relevant to his thesis; his great grandfather was a friend of Charles Grant; mentions Henry Morris's biography of Grant, published in 1904.
Creator: Forster, Edward Morgan (1879-1970), novelist. |
3 Apr. 1953 |
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24
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E. M. Forster; Cambridge. Postcard. Looks forward to seeing Datta next Wednesday. Someone else has applied to see the diary.
Creator: Forster, Edward Morgan (1879-1970), novelist. |
29 May 1953 |
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25
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G. M. Trevelyan; Cambridge. Ill in bed with congestion of the lungs; hopes 'the enclosed' [not present] will settle Datta's affair.
Creator: Trevelyan, George Macaulay (1876-1962), historian. |
8 Apr. 1953 |
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26
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G. M. Trevelyan; Hallington Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne. Aerogramme. Thanks Datta for sending an article on E. M. Forster, of which he approves; has not got Macaulay's copy of Mill's India, and does not know where it is; his eyes are very weak.
Creator: Trevelyan, George Macaulay (1876-1962), historian. |
25 July 1958 |
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27
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Lord Birdwood; London. Postcard. His opinion on the question of Kashmir.
Creator: Birdwood, Christopher Bromhead, 2nd Baron Birdwood (1899-1962), army officer. |
13 May 1952 |
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28
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Christopher Brooke; Cambridge. Thanks Datta for sending a copy of his review of a book on David Knowles.
Creator: Brooke, Christopher Nugent Lawrence (b. 1927), medieval historian. |
11 Oct. 1993 |
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29
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Pamela Butterfield; Sawston. She has been touched by his letters of sympathy [on the death of Sir Herbert Butterfield]; she has been in America; Adam Watson is editing two books based on Sir Herbert Butterfield's writings; she sends a photograph [not present].
Creator: Butterfield, Edith Joyce (Pamela), wife of Sir Herbert Butterfield. |
17 Aug. 1980 |
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30
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Maurice Cowling; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Thanks for Datta's book Sati; he enjoyed meeting Khurana; he is sure Datta is enjoying retirement.
Creator: Cowling, Maurice John (1926-2005), historian. |
3 Feb. 1988 |
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31
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Hugh Trevor-Roper; Cambridge. He would be delighted to see Datta, but his imminent departure for Scotland makes this difficult; he asks Datta to telephone him.
Creator: Roper, Hugh Redwald Trevor - (1914-2003) Baron Dacre, historian. |
29 July 1985 |
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32
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Duncan Forbes; Cambridge. Aerogramme. His work as a lecturer in Cambridge; his plans for a book on Scottish historians of the eighteenth century; a conference of historians from Asia held in London two or three years previously; news of Noël Annan, Maurice Cowling, and his own family.
Creator: Forbes, Duncan (1922-1994), historian. |
1 Feb. 1958 |
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33
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E. M. Forster; Cambridge. Postcard. Report on a volume of manuscripts.
Creator: Forster, Edward Morgan (1879-1970), novelist. |
1 July 1953 |
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34
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E. M. Forster; Cambridge. Postcard. Thanks Datta, and looks forward to visiting him next Sunday.
Creator: Forster, Edward Morgan (1879-1970), novelist. |
2 Dec. 1953 |
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35
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E. M. Forster; Cambridge. Aerogramme. Thanks for Christmas card; he is glad to have news of Datta and his wife, and has pleasant memories of Datta's hospitality; he is keeping well for his age, and has recently been to the Aegean and to Leiden; visit of Ravi Shankar; best wishes for 1957.
Creator: Forster, Edward Morgan (1879-1970), novelist. |
1 Jan. 1957 |
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36
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Genealogical diagram. Photographic film negative. Showing the descent of Forster from Henry Thornton; apparently from a diary, and immediately preceding an entry dated 6 June 1953.
Creator: Forster, Edward Morgan (1879-1970), novelist.
negative. |
1953 |
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37
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Reflection on E. M. Forster. Typescript of article by Datta, with manuscript amendments.
Creator: Datta, Vishwa Nath (b. 1926), historian.
9 pages. |
1958 |
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38
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Reflections on E. M. Forster. Copy, from an htm file, of the article printed in the Illustrated Weekly of India, 6 July 1958, pp. 8-9.
Creator: Datta, Vishwa Nath (b. 1926), historian.
2 pages. |
2002 |
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39
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B. G. Kher; Dublin. He will take up the question of the portrait of Raja Rammohan Roy's with the Director of Bristol Museum. He has noted Datta's views.
Creator: Kher, Shri Bal Gangadhar (1888-1957), High Commissioner for India in London. |
13 Aug. 1952 |
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40
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Nicholas Mansergh; New Delhi. Regrets that he is unable to visit Datta in Kurukshetra; he has visited southern India, and has contracted laryngitis.
Creator: Mansergh, Philip Nicholas Seton (1910-1991), historian. |
3 Apr. 1980 |
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41
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Jawaharlal Nehru; New Delhi. Photograph of letter. The portrait of Raja Rammohan Roy in the Bristol Museum; his lack of opportunity or desire to read An Autobiography of an Unknown Indian; Hindi books for the Cambridge Library.
Creator: Nehru, Jawaharlal (1889-1964), Indian Statesman.
photograph. |
21 July 1952 |
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42
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Programme of the ceremony for the award of honorary degrees in the University of Cambridge. Printed booklet. Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the graduands.
Creator: University of Cambridge. |
4 June 1953 |
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43
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Photograph of Jawaharlal Nehru and Thomas Mann. Apparently taken on the occasion of the ceremony for the award of honorary degrees in the University of Cambridge, 4 June 1953.
photograph. |
1953 |
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44
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J. A. Thomson; New Delhi. He has read Datta's Presidential Address to the Indian History Congress; he has been appointed as Britain's Permanent Representative at the United Nations, and would have left India by now had it not been for the Falklands crisis; his successor will be Robert Wade-Gery, whose credentials are impeccable.
Creator: Thomson, Sir John Adam (b. 1927), British diplomat.
2 sheets. |
2 June 1982 |
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