Vijoy S Sahay Professor Emeritus (UGC) and Former Head, Department of Anthropology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India
After having obtained First Position in First Class in B.A. (Honours) and M.A. in Anthropology from Ranchi University, Professor Sahay did his PhD under the supervision of Late Professor L.P. Vidyarthi. He spent altogether 13 months in different islands of the Nicobar Archipelago for data collection for his doctoral work. As a Lecturer and Reader he taught Anthropology in Ranchi University for 15 years; and then joined Allahabad University in 1993, wherefrom he retired on June 30, 2015 as Head, Department of Anthropology, University of Allahabad. Author of a number of books, and over 50 research articles, Prof. Sahay is also Editor-in-Chief of the international journal the Oriental Anthropologist. Besides delivering a number of lectures in different universities of India, Prof. Sahay was Visiting Professor to KwaZulu Natal University, Durban, South Africa (2004), Aarhus University, Denmark (2011) and Rajiv Gandhi Central University, Arunachal Pradesh (2014). He has also presented research papers in the conferences in USA, China, U.K., Singapore and South Africa, and Croatia. So far he has supervised 24 PhDs and 6 more PhD candidates are presently enrolled under his supervision. Prof. Sahay has very extensively done anthropological fieldwork in most parts of the country including, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Himalayas, Bastar (Chattisgarh), Jharkhand, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, and the state of Assam. His most fascinating work has been on the Nicobar Archipelago.
His forthcoming publications are: (1) Experiencing Anthropology in the Nicobar Archipelago, (2) Munda and Their Killies: A Study on Social Organization Vis-a-Vis Territorial Organization, (3) From Island to Highland: A Comparative Study on Cultural Ecology, (4) Himalayan Blunders in Andamans, (5) Anthropology of the Buddha, and a book on (6) Anthropological Theories.
Prof. Sahay has also been a member of the Committee constituted by the Ministry Of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, for the protection of primitive tribal groups of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He was also one of the members of the Scientific Expert Committee constituted by Ministry of Forest and Environment, Government of India to examine the feasibility of Shekhar Singh Committee Report on Andamans.
PRESENTLY, PROF. SAHAY IS PROFESSOR EMERITUS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY, RANCHI UNIVERSITY, RANCHI, AWARDED BY THE UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION, NEW DELHI.
