Dr.

Chandra Mohan Nautiyal

BIRBAL SAHNI
A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND
LOVED WHAT HE DID

Prof. Birbal Sahni

FNA, FASc, FNASc, FRS, FGS
(1891-1949)
Published by:
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©Vijnana Bharati 2023

First Edition July 2023

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Vijnana Bharati.

Birbal Sahni: A Man Who Did What He Loved and Loved What
He Did by Dr. Chandra Mohan Nautiyal

Editorial Team
Dr. Prashant Kodgire
National Convenor, VVM
Dr. K. Venkataraman
Editor-in-Chief, VVM
Dr. Vishnu K. Vaze
Content Coordinator, VVM
Dr. Brajesh Pandey
Controller of Examination, VVM

Price: Rs. 100/-

 INDEX

Preface........................................................................................... v

From Editor’s Desk.......................................................................vii

1. Introduction.........................................................................1

2. The Family & the Formative Years........................................3

3. Higher Education & Research Abroad..................................9

4. Fossils & Palaeobotany.......................................................12

5. A Teacher Par Excellence.....................................................18

6. The Researcher...................................................................22

7. The Institution Builder.......................................................27

8. The Other Side and His Unique Place in ...........................32

the Annals of Indian Science

9. Some Milestones in Prof. Birbal Sahni’s Life.......................37

10. Honours and Distinctions..................................................39

 Preface

T
here are people in the history of humankind, whose names
become synonymous with certain fields because of their
unparallel contributions.
Birbal Sahni’s is one such name. He earned his place in the
history of science on merit and created a niche for himself. His name
is inseparable from and identified with the discipline of Palaeobotany
in India. It is unfortunate that he passed away on April 10, 1949, just a
week after Institute of Palaeobotany was established in Lucknow.
Birbal Sahni was not only a scientist par excellence, but also an
institution builder, fine human being and nationalist to the core. He
chose to continue his research work in India despite offers of very high
and coveted positions in the government and other options. He loved
Indian values and traditions. He definitely is an ideal role model for
students and budding scientists. I am happy to present his brief life
sketch to them.
I felt that it would be no fun if the students know about Birbal
Sahni without knowing what Palaeobotany is. Therefore, a chapter has
been included which explains in simple terms fossils and Palaeobotany.
I am deeply indebted to Dr. (Mrs.) Vandana Prasad, Director, Birbal
Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, for the kind permission to
use photographs from BSIP archives. Others who cooperated include
Dr. Sanjay Singh and Dr. Y.P Singh. I express my heart-felt gratitude
to Dr. Arvind Ranade and Dr. Brijesh Pandey, for being instrumental in
my involvement, in writing this book.

Dr. Chandra Mohan Nautiyal

 FROM EDITOR’S DESK

B
harat has been a land of Science and technology since ages.
Quest for truth and resultant pursuit of science is unique in
our life. Unfortunately during the days of invaders and foreign
rule, especially at the start of British rule, development of science
remained at low and was almost in the state of stagnation. In late 19th
century, with the awakening of national spirit there was a resurgence of
scientific activity in this Indian subcontinent. There were many unsung
Indian scientists of modern era took inspiration from scientific heritage
for cultivation and advancement of modern science in society. We are
privileged and happy to present this book titled “Birbal Sahni: A man
who did what he loved and loved what he did”.
Prof. Birbal Sahni was one of the most illustrious scientists
who placed India on the scientific map of the world. He significantly
contributed to building and shaping many research institutions and
organizations in India. Prof. Birbal Sahni’s love for fossils became his
passion and he established Palaeobotany as an important discipline in
India. He may be indisputably called the “Father of Palaeobotany” in
India. He not merely unveiled scientific truths, but also added dignity
and lustre to the science he pursued. Apart from knowledge of the subject
and skill of communication, Prof. Birbal Sahni was sensitive, fair and
good at heart. Birbal inherited from his father his intense patriotism and
love of science while he imbibed his generosity and deep attachments
from his unassuming and self-sacrificing mother. The life of Dr. Birbal
Sahni is certainly a great inspiration to young minds of our country.
As far as the initiative of Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan (VVM) is
concerned, we thank Late Shri Jayant Sahasrabuddhe, the National
Organizing Secretary of Vijnana Bharati for his constant support and
guidance. We are sure that the students and parents will appreciate the
hard work of Dr. C. M. Nautiyal, an excellent science communicator
and scientist and author of this book. As the editors of the book, we
find the book has many interest facts and anecdotes, which will inspire
the young minds.
Vijnana Bharati will continue to strive to bring such original
contributors and their contributions in the field of science and
technology to the forefront; so that every Indian feels proud of the
Indian scientific heritage. As the members of the core team of VVM, we
wish that this book does not remain a mere study material for students,
but gets a larger readership across India.
We are happy to mention that this book is being translated and
published simultaneously by Vijnana Bharati in eleven official languages
of the country, in addition to English, ensuring a greater outreach to
every nook and corner of India.
The objective of Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan is not just to hunt for
science talent amongst young minds, but also to develop and nurture
scientific temperament in the younger generation. VVM aims to do so
by making students aware of the lives and achievements of scientists of
Indian origin, who have mostly stayed and worked in India. We hope
that reading about these scientists will inspire young minds and focus
their attention on their motherland and the achievements of the sons
and daughters of the country.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat

Dr. K. Venkataraman
Editor-in-Chief, VVM
1 | Introduction

uefUr Qfyuks o`{kk uefUr xqf.kuks tuk% A

'kq"ddk"ð'p ew[kZ'p u uefUr dnkpu AA

T
he young student was getting tense. In those days, University
Road in Lucknow was not as busy as it is today. Now, we even
have a metro station between the gate of Birbal Sahni Institute
of Palaeosciences and the adjacent gate number 4 of the University of
Lucknow. Of course, autos, taxis, buses, and tempos are easily available.
But in those days, over seven decades ago, a rickshaw was about the
only transport that could be hired. But, for this boy, there was not even
a rickshaw to be seen. The student was RSC Pal (who later joined the
Geological Survey of India), and he was in a hurry to reach the railway
station. He could hardly afford to miss the train, having been away
from home for so long. He waited and time ticked by. He looked
around desperately and then he noticed a car approaching him, slowing
down and finally stopping in front of him. The graceful gentleman at
the steering wheel, looked at the heavy luggage the boy was burdened
with and asked, “What is the problem?” Pal mumbled that he was
already late, and had to reach the railway station, but there was no
transport available. “Get inside,” the gentleman beckoned him in with
a soft smile. Immensely relieved, Pal was too happy to cash the almost
God-sent opportunity and, within minutes, made it to the station, a
very happy soul.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, he asked the elderly gentleman, ‘Sir,
May I know your good name please?”

| 1
 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

“I am Birbal Sahni” was the polite response. The car turned and
sped away, leaving the young boy totally transfixed. He had never seen
Prof. Sahni before but had, of course, heard his name. To be given a lift
by such a legend in such an unpretentious way! He was thrilled and
immensely impressed at the same time. He never thought a person of
Professor Sahni’s stature could be so unassuming.
It is this grand man of Indian science we are going to talk about in
this book. The above small instance sums up just one of the many noble
features of Prof. Sahni’s personality. Despite being a very well established
and widely respected scientist and teacher, a very influential person and
enjoying a commanding position in the society, he remained a humble,
kind, and helpful person. It is rightly said in our scriptures: A tree laden
with fruit bends down. In fact, Somerset Maugham has somewhere
commented that it is the achievers who are happy and humble, while the
frustrated people not only remain unhappy but also show off.

2 |
2 | The Family and Formative Years

B
irbal Sahni’s family was a family in which education was valued.
This was despite the fact that his grandfather Lala Karamchand
Sahni, was not an academic but was in the banking profession.
However, he took some interest in Chemistry, which became his hobby.
An Unfortunate setback in Lala jee’s profession put him in great
financial difficulty in the very place, where he had built his fortune, viz.
Dera Ismail Khan (now in Pakistan). They had built a huge house and
the family was used to a very comfortable lifestyle. But it all changed
now. The big house was abandoned; luxuries were gone, no fancier food
or fancy clothes. Lala jee passed away when Ruchiram, Birbal Sahni’s
father, was quite young.
Ruchiram saw no future at Dera Ismail Khan for him. An ordinary
person would have crumbled. He, however, was made of sterner stuff
and took a major decision. He decided to leave Dera Ismail Khan and
move to a new place called Jhang. It meant moving to an unknown

He (Ruchiram Sahni) reached a small halting place as night was

falling. He had with him his bundle of books and a sum of rupee
one and paisa twenty-five only, which to a poor child, was almost a
fortune. There was no question of spending a night at an inn. The
choice before him was to spend the night in a stable or else climb
up a tree and sleep there. In the stable, he was afraid his books, his
most precious possessions, might be stolen. So, he climbed a tree
but dared not close his eyes lest he fell down. Dr. Shakti M Gupta
(A geologist and niece of Prof. Birbal Sahni) In her book “Birbal
Sahni” (1978), National Book Trust, P. 6.

| 3
 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

Ruchi Ram Sahni father of Prof. Sahni Eshwari Devi Mother of Prof. Sahni

place, which was some 240 km away, with a bag and baggage. In those
days, it was a long distance, particularly for a young boy like him. He
had little money but a lot of guts. His major asset comprised of a bagful
books. On the way, unable to afford any accommodation, he perched
himself on a tree branch overnight, unable to sleep, for fear of falling
down, but he remained determined.
Once he was in Jhang, Ruchiram plunged into studies
wholeheartedly. Later he moved to Bhera. His merit ensured that he
would get scholarships and he was able to complete his education in
Chemistry. After completion of education, Ruchiram Sahni got a
teaching job in the Government College, Lahore. He got married to
Eshwari Devi whose family lived in Behra, in Shahpur district in the
then North-West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan).
In those days, it was common practice for women to go to their
maternal place for the delivery of a child. You may be knowing that
even CV Raman was born in his maternal grandparents’ place. Prof.
Ruchiram Sahni’s wife Shrimati Eshwari Devi also chose to be at her
mother’s place for every delivery. Birbal was born in Behra on 14th
November 1889, his maternal grandparents’ place. Prof. Ruchiram
and Eshwari Devi had 7 children of whom two were daughters
4 |
 The Family and Formative Years

Lakshwanti and Leela. Among the 5 sons, Bikramjit was the eldest
while Birbal was second. Another son Mulkraj Sahni was 8 years
younger than Birbal. He grew up to be a celebrated geologist and was
a senior official in the Geological Survey of India. Dr. Mulkraj Sahni’s
son, Ashok Sahni rose to become a very famous and accomplished
palaeontologist, who obtained his doctorate from Minnesota. He
is now living in Lucknow, having taught at Lucknow. He served
as a professor and also Pro-Vice Chancellor of Punjab University,
Chandigarh and is known for his pioneering work in Palaeontology
and particularly on Indian dinosaurs.
The atmosphere at home was naturally academic, with Ruchiram
giving his children all the freedom to learn. Ruchiram Sahni, a chemist
by education, was interested in radioactivity and went to the UK for
research. He also spent some time in the laboratory of Lord Ernest
Rutherford, a Nobel Laureate. He interacted with Niels Bohr, Nobel
Laureate physicist of Denmark, who migrated to the USA during the
Second World War. Prof. Ruchiram was a great science communicator
and taught Chemistry at Lahore. In those days, he used to bike his way
to even small places and give lectures on science. What was equally
interesting was that he used to charge only a small token of money for
these lectures. He retired as the Professor of Chemistry in 1918 from the
Government College, Lahore.
Prof. Ruchiram’s interests were not limited to Chemistry alone.
He was a natural scientist and a keen observer. He took an interest in
social and cultural work and was a very reputed person even in social
circles. He was one of the leaders of Bramho Samaj in Punjab. He
remained active even after retirement from a government job. He was a
man of liberal views. A patriot to the core, he plunged into the struggle
for independence. All these left a great impression on all his children.

Early Formal and ‘Informal’ Education

Birbal studied at Mission School and Central Model School. He
graduated from Government College, Lahore. His first education was
under his great father and from nature. Prof. Ruchiram Sahni always

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

believed that the curriculum of education extends beyond textbooks.

His conviction was that maintaining and satisfying the curious mind of
a child is most crucial for its development.
Even as a child, Birbal displayed extraordinary interest in studying
nature. He made a large collection of leaves, shells, rocks, minerals and
even crabs. The father, recognising his child’s talents, not only encouraged
him in these pursuits, but also took him along during his tours to the

I was then about 6 years of age

and Birbal eight years older. One
fine morning he collected a few
handkerchiefs and one or two small
empty tins and asked my elder sister
(two years my senior) and myself
to accompany him. Little did we
realise, what we were in for. We
left home quietly, without a soul
knowing, and descended into the
ravine on the north side of the town.
We descended further and further till
we reached the stream. …in the excitement of the chase all count of
time was lost, except when pangs of hunger made things unbearable.
Night had already fallen and meanwhile, the entire household
was in a state of turmoil. The servants had been sent out with lanterns
to look for the young explorers, little knowing where to find them…
We reached home late at night tired, hungry and with bleeding feet,
not to speak of the unrestrained streams of tears rolling down our
cheeks. But our young brother was quite composed, and when father
asked him what he meant by leaving home without permission and
taking the youngsters, too, with him, he merely answered that he
wanted to collect crabs!
Dr. Mulkraj Sahni (Renowned geologist and younger brother of
Birbal Sahni)

6 |
 The Family and Formative Years

Himalayas. It was during such adventure-filled vacations that Birbal

found his true call – love for untangling the mysteries of nature. He
was a born explorer. As an ever-curious child, Birbal enjoyed escapes
to nature. Whenever possible, he would collect his siblings and venture
out to nearby hills, streams, and fields. Whenever he was in Behra, it
used to be his favourite past time to explore nearby areas. It was the area
of salt range, a nature-lover’s paradise. One such incident was recounted
by his younger brother Mulkraj years later.
The incident shows Birbal’s adventurous nature but also his
forthrightness and his father’s liberal and permissive attitude.
Apart from the intellectual influences, Birbal as well as his brothers
and sisters also imbibed several other positive character traits such as
truthfulness, perseverance, empathy and patriotism. The above incident
is also an example of truthfulness. The children didn’t cook up some
stories. Instead, they chose to tell the truth.
By his behavior, and not by preaching, Prof. Ruchiram taught
them the importance of persisting in efforts in the face of difficulties.
His own travails of journey from Dera Ismail Khan to Jhang and Lahore
was a good enough example to teach the value of determined efforts.
The tough period when his father had suffered losses, transformed him
into a tough man. The young Birbal had been always kept in a positive
spirit by his father who assured him, that the problems would end one
day. They also learnt to be bold in the face of difficulties. Everyone faces
problems for reasons beyond our control. How we face them, decides
the course of our future. So maintaining positivity is one of the major
keys to success.
Prof. Ruchiram was a kind hearted person. His attitude to people
was instrumental in making the children kind and full of empathy for
their whole life.
Birbal was particularly influenced by the environment of
nationalism in the house. Lahore was among the political centres of
India. Following the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in Amritsar, and the
ensuing Non-Cooperation movement, nationalism took deeper roots.
Prof. Ruchiram returned the title given by the British government

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

and refused to budge from his position even when pressurized by the
government. Such instances left an indelible impression on young
minds and the fearlessness so characteristic of Birbal’s personality
may be attributed to such incidents. Their house was visited by many
freedom fighters and so everyone in the house absorbed nationalistic
feelings from that atmosphere. After his return to India, he decided
to give up Western dress and was always seen in Indian dress made of
Indian cloth (Khadi).
Many of us are impressed and influenced by good teachers at some
stage in our life. Prof. Sahni was no exception. While studying for his
B.Sc. degree at the Government College, Lahore, he opted for Botany.
Here he came across a wonderful teacher Prof. Shiv Ram Kashyap, a
reputed Indian bryologist, who made a lasting impression on him. He
even exposed Birbal to various sites in Chamba, Leh, Baltal, Uri, Poonch
and Gulmarg in Himachal and J&K. Birbal had also been fortunate to
have visited many places including difficult terrains like Zozi La Pass
with his father during summer vacations. This helped Birbal to develop
further interest in Botany and may be termed a major point in his life.
One of his hobbies was to go around and collect plants to be planted
at home. By this time, Birbal had found the goal of his life. It had to
be about plants and he decided to pursue his higher studies in Plant
science.
Birbal had a versatile personality. As a young student, he
represented his school and college in hockey. He also played tennis.
While at Cambridge, he played tennis for Indian Majlis. Birbal also
loved music and could play sitar and violin. He was also good at
drawing. All these made him a very balanced person.

8 |
3 | Higher Education and Training
in Research

P
rof. Ruchiram Sahni was very clear in his mind that his children
should get the best possible education. This was true not only
for his sons but also daughters. All of them went to the UK for
higher education. His daughter Leela was the first graduate from Punjab.
He sent his son Bikramjit to study in Manchester, England. In
fact, one by one, all five brothers followed suit and came to England for
higher studies. Birbal joined Emmanuel College, Cambridge. However,
Birbal’s stay in Cambridge was not without its dramatic moments.
One day, elder brother Bikramjit was surprised to see his younger
brother Birbal had come from Cambridge to his place in Manchester.
Almost in tears, terribly home sick young Birbal told his brother that
he didn’t want to continue at Cambridge. In those days, higher studies
in the UK, which was much
closer than the USA from
India, was anybody’s dream.
But Birbal was not happy and
he wanted to go back to India.
It took some tact and effort on
the part of the elder brother
Bikramjit to convince Birbal
not to quit and to continue his
studies at Cambridge.
Slowly, things changed
and Birbal completed his
Tripos (A final honours
examination for a degree at

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

Cambridge). Then he started working for a doctorate under a leading

botanist Prof. Albert Charles Seward. Prof. Seward was a name to
reckon with in the field of Palaeobotany. This may be termed a defining
moment for Palaeobotany in India.
Actually, even Birbal’s coming to Emmanuel College for studying
Botany had not been a smooth affair. His father wanted him to go
for civil services. However, Birbal had a different plan. He wanted to

Some Fossil Collections of Prof. Birbal Sahni

10 |
 Higher Education and Training in Research

pursue research in Botany. Prof Ruchiram ultimately respected young

Birbal’s wish. One may recall how Homi Bhabha also chose research
against his father’s wish, rather than a high management position with a
fat pay cheque in a big company. One must listen to one’s heart.
While working with Prof. Seward at Cambridge, he published two
papers in the ‘New Phytologist’ in the year 1915. The first paper itself
showed his critical thinking and analytical capability. This also perhaps
explains his subsequent success in cracking the riddles posed by fossils
of plants. He studied the fossils collected from Montpellier. In this
first paper, he reported the presence of pollen grains in the ovules of the
Ginkgo plant. He was able to show it in 8 of the 12 specimens that,
the pollen grains did not belong to the Gingko plant. His genius lay in
the fact that he could visualise how foreign pollen grains got deposited
there. The occurrence of these materials of two different origins, viz.
belonging to Ginkgo and the foreign ones, could confuse us if it was not
observed properly. Panchanan Maheshwari, another botanist of repute,
commented in his article on Prof. Sahni - “if a similar example was
found in a fossil state, in all probability, it would have led to conclude
that the pollen grains and ovules belonged to the same species.”
The second paper was published by him the same year in the same
journal. It was based on his study of an interesting fern. Its botanical
name is Nephrolepis valubillis. This fern, collected in Kuala Lumpur, had
very strange anatomy. The stolon of the plants was very long (Stolon is
a horizontal branch from a plant and it has buds at its tip from where
a new plant can grow. Strawberry is one such example). In this case,
the stolon grows to a whooping length of 16 metres. In 1916, in yet
another paper in the same journal, he reported results of the vascular
anatomy of tubers of N. cordifolia. So, one may see that his interest
in and contribution to the study of living plants was also substantial.
However, his love for fossils grew and soon became his passion and he
was able to establish Palaeobotany as an important discipline in India.
He may be indisputably called the ‘Father of Palaeobotany’ in India.
He returned to India in the year 1919 and decided to take up
teaching.

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

4 | Fossils & Palaeobotany

T
he word Palaeobotany is made of two parts: Palaeo (old) and
Botany (relating to plants). So Palaeobotany refers to the study
of ancient plants. Thus, Palaeobotany is the name of science for
finding, studying and identifying plants preserved in the rocks as fossils.
These fossils represent the vegetation of the past. So it further extends
this knowledge about past vegetation to learn about the climate of that
time. The logic is simple: vegetation at a place evolves in response to the
climate. If climate changes, vegetation also changes. That is the reason
one finds different kinds of vegetation in different places. We see plants
with pointed and conical leaves at high altitudes, thorny vegetation in
the deserts and broad-leaved plants in tropical areas. By inferring about
the vegetation, we can make inferences about the climate. The study of
fossils has another use. If a plant is known to exist only during a narrow
time period, the discovery of that plant’s fossil in sediment can tell us
about the age of that sediment.
Fossils are almost always found in sedimentary rocks that form by
layer-by-layer deposition of sediment. Later, the weight of the sediments
and resulting heat compact the sediment and turn it into a sedimentary
rock. As coal-formation results from ‘cooking of vegetation’, while
buried in the sediment at high temperatures and high pressure, the
study of coal indicates the type of vegetation that evolved into coal. The
study of fossils unfolds the forgotten past. It is impossible to go back in
time and see the lost vegetation. But the fossils allow us a peek into the
past. For instance, plant fossils help us to visualize what those plants
looked like in the past. That is why Prof. Sahni equated fossils to time
machine. He meant that the study of fossils takes us into the past and
we can see the vegetation that may not be existing anymore.

12 |
 Fossils & Palaeobotany

Fossils can be of different types. Sometimes, buried under

sediments over long periods of time, the plants are charred due to
pressure and temperature there. Many charred remains of past food
grains have been recovered from archaeological sites. Sometimes, the
plants get flattened during burial but, on recovery, can still be identified
based on their shapes/ outlines of the organic remains though there is
some distortion. These are compression fossils. Sometimes, leaves may
get buried in the sediments. If the original organic material goes away
but its impression can be seen, we call it impression fossils.
Sometimes, the organic material of the buried plant (or of its part)
is largely eaten away by insects and bacteria, but before that deposition
happens on that. It is mold and carries the impression of the original
fruit, seed or some other part. In many cases, the surface features of
the object are preserved in this body made of salts/ minerals, and are
available for study even when the original plant or its parts are gone.
This can happen in the case of seeds and fruit. By filling the mold with
soft material, copies of the original fossils can be made.
In some cases, the soft inner material of the plant part is lost to
the surrounding or eaten away by bacteria etc. as above, but then the
empty space, so created, gets filled by salts/ minerals present in the
surrounding. Later, the outer layer (soft, but harder than the original
inner material) also gets lost. But a replica of the original material is
created. This is termed cast.
Plants also have pollen grains and spores. These are reproductive
parts of a plant. These are tiny objects- a small fraction (as small as
1/100th) of a mm in size. Advanced plants have pollen grains while
comparatively primitive plants have spores. In general, spores are
smaller than the pollen grains (but not always). The pollen grain has a
very tough outer layer (exine) made of a polymer called sporopollenin.
The exine survives under the most difficult circumstances. In fact, it is
chemically very strong. So strong that the sediment sample is boiled,
in acid and base, to recover pollen grains from the sediment. While
carbonates, and even silica etc. get dissolved, the pollen grains survive
intact. These ‘Palaeo pollen’ grains have identifiable unique shapes and

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

unique surface features for each plant, as seen in the pictures taken with
Scanning Electron Microscope.
As a result, the (old or palaeo) pollen grains and spores can be
isolated and identified under a microscope. This can tell us about the
vegetation they belonged to. This branch is termed Palynology or Palaeo
Palynology.
Sometimes, plants get buried in a water body. If water is slightly
acidic, silica may be present in its dissolved form. If there are not too
many bacteria to eat away the organic matter quickly, the dissolved
carbonates and occasionally iron-like elements, present in the aquatic
surrounding, begin to enter the interior of the plant parts. For instance,
the stem of a tree has its cells filled with silica. The process is very slow
and may continue for lacs of years. If the process is allowed to go on
undisturbed for a long period, gradually all the organic material inside
cells is replaced by silica. The result is a petrified tree. These are termed
petrifaction fossils. From the look of it, you may think it is a stem or
branch of an actual tree. But when you touch it, or try to lift it, you
realise that it is now a stone. If you make a thin section of the stem, you
may even see the cell structure under the microscope. It may be noted
that the softest parts like leaves may decay before silicification occurs.

In flesh and blood, Sahni is no more with us, but the torch he lighted
during the last thirty years now burns more brightly than ever and
the foundation of a research institute after his name will always be a
reminder of the great man who brought it into existence.
Prof. Panchanan Maheshwari, FRS

Today, we see petrified wood in places like Dindori, Mandala and

Seoni (Madhya Pradesh), Bolpur (West Bengal), Rajmahal (Jharkhand),
and some places like Jaisalmer (Rajasthan). These formed crores of years
ago. In fact, at several sites of such specimens, fossil parks have been
established around them such as in Ghughwa (Dindori, MP). There,
one can see a huge tree trunks in situ. They were too huge (several
metres long, and about half a metre thick) and too heavy to move

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 Fossils & Palaeobotany

through water current easily. In all likelihood, they are found today,
where they had been formed.
The petrified wood has the shape as well as features of a tree-trunk.
There is hardly ever any cellulose or such organic material left in the
fossils. It is dominatingly comprised of silica and other materials like
minerals. The present size may be much smaller than their original
size (height and girth). If the process of petrifaction was slow and
undisturbed, the fine features of the cell structure of the stem would still
be preserved. These are termed petrified fossils. In the lab, thin sections
of these samples may be made and the structures can be studied using
a microscope. This is useful in the identification of the wood which
transformed into fossils.
There is another type of fossil called Trace Fossil. These are tracks
found on sediment, indicative of the movement of organisms, and are
seen even when organisms themselves are gone. Even the excreta of
animals may get preserved. Dinosaur poop (called coprolite in technical
language) is one example and has helped palaeobotanists to prove that
grass existed even when dinosaurs roamed the Earth earlier than about
six and a half crore years ago.
So, we see that liquids forget, but rocks remember, as O’Keefe
had said. The fossils carry the valuable memories from the past. These
are writings of nature. Birbal Sahni was a man who could read these
scriptures imprinted in the rocks. The secret of his unusual choice for
research field may be traced to his experiences during a young age and
the background of his family.
Many people have an impression that Palaeobotany is a purely
academic subject with no use to the society. This is not true. It, of
course, tells us how vegetation appeared and evolved on Earth and
actually it is far more interesting than that. Some interesting information
learnt from plant-fossil studies are as follows: In Chhindwara (Madhya
Pradesh), jackfruit grew around 6.5 crore years ago. The inference is
based on a fossil recovered from there. The fossil may be seen in the
museum of BSIP, Lucknow. It is generally believed that the custard
apple (sharifa) reached India from Portugal but based on its engravings

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

on old Indian temples’ walls such as at Sanchi and Mathura, people

had doubts. Subsequent discoveries of its seeds/ coat from places like
Sanghol (Punjab) and Mirzapur and Sonbhadra (UP), changed the
opinion. The radiocarbon dating of the nearby charcoal as well as of
seed, established them to be about 3000-year-old. Another example is
of Eucalyptus. It is generally believed that it came from Australia. But
the finding of a 6.5 crore old fossil in India, casts doubt on this general
belief.
There is another approach. Pollen grains being characteristic of
a plant, their presence in the sediment tells us about the vegetation
prevailing in those times. In the next step, vegetation being responsive
to climate, the presence of pollen grains and spores also indicates what
kind of vegetation it was. Therefore, one can figure out what kind of
climate was there in places these plants existed. It may surprise you to
learn that Rajasthan, which has two-thirds of its area as desert today,
was not always like that. About 25 lakh years ago, Rajasthan was home
to evergreen forests. This continued up to at least 18 Lakh years ago.
Many in-between phases, during which strong winds and sand dunes
dominated, have left little material evidence to infer about vegetation
but even as late as 5000 to 10,000 years ago, Rajasthan had open
grassland. Pollen grains and spores offer us this opportunity to learn
about past climates.
The study of plant fossils yields other valuable information. Not
many people knew about agricultural practices in India. In India, we
had the cultivation of grapes 2300-1500 years before Christ. This
conclusion is based on the recovery of wood and seeds. Earlier people
thought that grape cultivation happened during the Moghul period.
But evidences of the cultivation of mehndi (henna), chameli (a type
of jasmine), parijata, and lemon during the Harappa period have been
found. More than 2,500 years ago, the use of reetha (soap berry) and
amla (Indian gooseberry) was prevalent in Southern India. There are
many other examples.
In addition, there are applications of economic importance. We
know that oil is recovered by drilling inside the earth. Oil is found

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 Fossils & Palaeobotany

in so-called ‘traps’. Generally, these ‘oil basins’ are surrounded by

impervious rocks and, also, capped by tough sediment, that prevents
the escape of oil from there. When exploring for oil, one can’t keep on
drilling indefinitely to reach these traps, as drilling is expensive. So, it
is important to decide whether we are drilling at the right place. The
formation of oil happened during certain time periods. So, if one finds
pollen grains etc. indicative of any of those time periods in a certain
stratum (layer) of rock, one can continue drilling further.
A similar approach is adopted in the case of coal which is formed
from vegetation. Long ago, mainly during Gondwana Period (about 25
crore years ago), in India, huge forests got buried under sediment. They
transformed into coal over the following crores of years. Most of the
coal in India is from the Gondwana period and is spread in Jharkhand,
West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Uttar Pradesh etc. The
coal from theTertiary period (about 5 crore to 15 crore years ago) is
much less in amount and mostly confined to the North-east. Here also,
one identifies the right stratum that may contain coal by looking at the
pollen grains, spores or other palynofossils recovered from there.
Given the major role the hydrocarbons (a combined term for
petroleum, diesel, and hydrocarbon gases) and coal play in our life, we
can appreciate why palynology is important for the society.

With the late Professor Ramanujam, Professor Sir C. V. Raman and

Professor Chandrasekar, Professor Sahni shares the honour and glory of
having given his Motherland an honoured place in the world of science.
Sahni’s mortal remains are no more but he is one of the eternals, whose
work will live as long as Science lives and whose memory will always be
cherished with deep love and admiration by his innumerable friends and
students.
 C Mahadevan

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

5 | A Teacher Par Excellence

A
part from knowledge of the subject and skill of communication,
a teacher has to be sensitive, fair and good at heart. Birbal
had all these qualities aplenty. He returned to India in 1919
from England. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of Banaras
Hindu University (BHU), was keen that Prof. Sahni should join BHU,
Varanasi. The university had earned a reputation of being a great
seat for learning. In fact, Prof. Sahni did join BHU as Professor but,
somehow, he did not feel that he would be able to pursue his passion,
Palaeobotany, at BHU with the intensity he wanted. In 1920 Birbal
married Savitri, the daughter of his father’s close friend Mr. Sundar Das
Suri. She always stood by him in all difficulties.

18 |
 A Teacher Par Excellence

After getting married in less than a year’s time he moved to Punjab

University, Lahore and in 1921 moved to Lucknow. The inning at
Lucknow turned out to be his longest stay.

He developed in his students the qualities for which he was himself

deservedly famous, viz., initiative, correct observation, meticulous care
of details, a critical attitude, and thoroughness of work. He had an
open mind on any problem and never came to hasty conclusions. It was
therefore not easy to shake a position which he generally took after due
deliberation and a judicious sifting of facts. He did not try to smother or
minimise the opponent’s point of view, but always met it squarely and
fairly; in spite of the extreme courtesy and politeness in his expressions,
the effect of his arguments was often devastating to the cause he opposed.
C Mahadevan, (Former head of the Dept. Botany, Madras
University, Chennai)

Prof. Sahni came to Lucknow as a professor and was entrusted

with the responsibility of heading the Department of Botany. He meant
business right from the word go. He took upon himself the job of
revising the curriculum for graduate classes and systematically initiated
the arrangement of the other courses viz. BSc Hons and Masters.
Another thing he believed in was that the senior teachers should initiate
the fresh students into the subject. This was contrary to the general
practice of senior teachers taking only postgraduate classes. He felt that
with their higher experience and maturity, the senior faculty would be
able to explain to the students the finer nuances of the subject and help
the students in developing a love for the subject by enabling them to
formulate clearer concepts of the subjects.
Prof. Sahni was a very popular teacher. His lectures were sometimes
attended by students who didn’t belong to that course! He had a gift of
god to find the right word and style to describe a fossil, the scene of a
field or an idea. He would draw the diagram on the blackboard using
both his hands and lucidly describe it. His research papers had the
stamp of his class and were vivid and succinct in presentation. He was

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

a perfectionist by nature. In Palaeobotany, he was dealing with objects

that didn’t exist in the real world in their original form anymore and
hence required an extra-ordinary ability to describe them. Another of
his qualities was not to limit to the textbook while teaching. In his
classes, he used to also bring in the latest discoveries in the field. This
made the lectures more wholesome, more exciting and the students
benefitted by getting the actual flavour of the subject.
He guided 16 students during their doctoral degree. More than
the number, it was the quality of his students. No wonder that they all
went on to make a name.

Famous botanist Prof. Toppur

Seethapaty Sadasivan (1913-2001),
Padmabhushan, was a renowned
plant pathologist, with D.Sc. from
the University of London. He was
also Director, Centre for Advanced
Studies in Botany, University of
Madras (1944-1973) and later,
Chairman of the Governing
Body, Birbal Sahni Institute of
Palaeobotany, Lucknow (1977-
1980). This is what he had to say
Prof. S Sadasivan about Prof. Sahni as a teacher:
“To his students, he was an
ideal to be emulated, he was loved and respected. A nationalist to
the core, his personality was one that attracted the attention of the
entire scientific community. He never sought anything from anyone.
In fact, he was sought after for his wise counsel both administrative
and academic”.

Prof. Sahni’s students and colleagues had many anecdotes to

recount about him. (Late) Dr. RN Lakhanpal, a reputed palaeobotanist
and former distinguished scientist at BSIP, once told this author that

20 |
 A Teacher Par Excellence

Prof. Sahni was mild in manners, who would not like to hurt anyone.
If a student drew a diagram incorrectly, Sahni would softly say, ‘If I
were you, I’d have drawn it like this”. Then he would follow it up with
a demonstration by drawing the correct figure himself. This was a great
quality that made students love, as well as respect, him at the same time.
People who are really great, don’t enjoy belittling others.
Prof. Birbal Sahni introduced Palaeobotany as a special paper
for MSc students. This was a major way to promote Palaeobotany in
the country. The idea was that possibly some of these students would
develop interest in this subject due to skilled teachers and because of
early exposure, might take up research in the field of Palaeobotany.
Later, Kolkata University, Allahabad University and some others also
followed suit.
Prof. Sahni continued research along with teaching and
administrative work. A big recognition came when the Cambridge
University, UK, decided to confer on him the degree of D.Sc. in the
year 1929. His research standing, coupled with his teaching skills, made
the Botany Department of the University of Lucknow a prime centre in
the country for learning as well as research in Palaeobotany.
It was becoming clear that Palaeobotany is inseparable from
Geology. As Prof. Sahni himself said, later sometime, “Fossil plants
represent the debt that Botany owes to Geology”. His efforts bore fruit in
1943 and, the Department of Geology was established at the University
of Lucknow. Prof. Sahni was made its Head and remained so, as long
he was alive.

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

6 | The Researcher

“The same way as a child’s walk is made up of a series of falls, the edifice of
science is erected upon a series of mistakes”.
 Birbal Sahni

T
he standing of Birbal Sahni as a researcher was tall. Having
worked with a stalwart Prof. AC Seward and on the strength of
his research, which was known and respected internationally,
he was a global authority in the circle.
He was independent in thinking. Wagner’s theory of
continental drift had been known for many years. He supported
it with palaeobotanical evidence by recovering fossils of low altitude
vegetation at higher altitudes. For instance, He initiated what may be
termed Archaeobotany. He combined Archaeology and Botany to study
ancient civilisation. He recovered charred remains of a conifer from the
Harappan site. Considering that conifers grow at higher altitudes, this
established a connection between the two places.
Prof. Sahni visited Jammu & Kashmir several times. His interest
lay in Karewa sediments. By Karewa we mean step-like structures at
an altitude of over approximately 800-1800 metres found deposited
in a lake basin. At such altitudes, one doesn’t expect vegetation that
occurs in aquatic environments. The discovery of aquatic plants was
an interesting aspect of the study. The aquatic flora does not, generally,
find the conditions favourable to them at altitudes greater than about
1700 m. The observation became important leading to the suggestion
that the lake was originally at a lower elevation but got uplifted due to
some geological activity. Here by ‘geologic activity’ we mean tectonics.
It is the movement of the earth’s crustal plates, their collision and the

22 |
 The Researcher

resulting upliftment of the lighter plate and going down (subduction) of

the heavier plate. So, initially, at a lower level, these deposits may have
been afterwards raised at least by about 2000 m. It required guts in
those days to offer such an explanation. What seemed like an outlandish
idea then is now globally accepted.
Prof. Sahni also took an interest in the study of coins and other
archaeological artefacts. It started by chance. He stumbled upon a
collection of coin moulds in Haryana while hunting for fossils and
reported the research as “A clay seal and sealing of Sunga Period from
the Khokra Kot mound” (1936). He pursued the line of work, ensured
further excavations, and then published a monograph on the techniques

of coin-making in ancient India. Six years later, in the year 1941,

he published another paper “Yaudheya coin moulds from Sunet,
near Ludhiana in Sutlej Valley”. His work on numismatics was duly
recognised by the professional experts and he was honoured with a
medal by the Numismatics Society of India.
Prof. Sahni believed in looking at the larger picture. He always
felt that the more fossils you study, the clearer will be the picture. He
himself studied samples not only from India but from many other

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

countries. There were times when Prof. Seward was approached for the
study of Indian fossils. But he told the submitters to take them to Prof.
Sahni, instead. Whenever Prof. Sahni visited Europe, he collected as
many samples as possible. In fact, many samples were being sectioned
in Stockholm in anticipation of his visit at the time he breathed his last.
He was rightly described by famous botanist Prof. TS Sadasivan
as having a philosophy of life being “attached detachment like a true
Vedantin” and that “duty was his main forte”.

Prof. TG Helle commented on Prof. Sahni’s approach to

research as follows:
His research, in fact, ranged over practically the whole field of
Palaeobotany. He not only selected the concrete objects of his investigations
from all major groups of vascular plants and from nearly all plant-bearing
geological systems; but in dealing with this diverse material, and in his
more general discussions, he approached the problems involved from every
possible angle. Thus, his work on fossil plants resulted in contributions
to, all pertinent branches of Palaeobotany, as well as to stratigraphy,
palaeogeography and other related lines of geological research.

Exploration was in his nature, a trait he showed even in his

childhood. He carried out extensive work on fossils from places like
Haryana, Himachal, Jammu-Kashmir, and Jharkhand. For this, he
made long field trips to these places. The journeys in those days were
not easy. Field trips involved a lot of trekking, and also bullock cart
rides, but Prof. Sahni enjoyed them. Later he also took up studies on
fossils from the Salt range. This happened to have been his ‘playground’
where he used to roam about as a child.
While working on his doctorate with Prof. Seward, Birbal Sahni
was involved in revising a textbook, originally written by Lawson.
Interestingly, the terms included a clause that prevented the revising
authors from writing another textbook of Botany. All this for the paltry

24 |
 The Researcher

20 Sterling Pounds he got! Given the clarity of thoughts and exceptional

expression power he possessed, his not writing a textbook has been a big
loss to the students of Botany.
He conducted field trips in many parts of India. Rajmahal
Hills (in Jharkhand now) was a place he frequented and enriched his
collection. He also carried out field trips in Karewa sediments in J&K.
He explored sites in Himachal and Uttaranchal also. Interestingly, he
studied a large number of fossils which were not picked up from the
field but from museums. So, some friends even termed him truly a
‘fossil hunter’! This allowed him to have a comprehensive view of the
vegetation around the world and he was able to look at the evolution of
plants in a much broader way.
Facilities in those days were meagre and so were funds for research.
It was as late as 1932, that is after over a decade after his joining the
University of Lucknow, he got a funding of Rs. 4000/- for a fossil
cutting machine. But Prof. Sahni’s will was too strong to be crushed by
the difficulties. He continued his work relentlessly in the face of all odds
and earned such a high reputation that if European palaeobotanists were
approached by any Indian scientists to help in the study of plant fossils,
they would direct them to contact Prof. Sahni.
He developed a practice of visualising and reconstructing the model
of a plant based on several different parts of the same plant recovered as
fossils, rather than just on one part. So too much dependence on just
one feature in the anatomy was given up. He built up a reputation so
that people all over the world would send him samples for study.
The sites for fossils were generally remote places (even today most
are) and one had to travel by bullock cart and track and walk a lot. It
was not an easy job. Prof. Sahni was of the view that nothing which is
useful for research is too small and one shouldn’t be ashamed of doing
that work oneself. He applied the same yardstick to himself and learnt
everything required for fossil studies, be it going to the field, unearthing
the fossils, carrying them back, breaking, cutting, grinding, polishing or
photographing. Prof. Sahni would painstakingly cut the rock using a
wire-bow and then proceed to make sections. It was not easy. Fossils

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

are found in sedimentary rocks. The sedimentary rocks are formed by

compaction of sedimentary material under the effect of high temperature
and high pressure, common at depths. These rocks are, generally, more
fragile than igneous rocks (formed from the cooling of lava), but the
fossils themselves can be very hard. For instance, the fossils may be
in the form of petrified wood or chert which is almost pure silica. As
mentioned earlier, he had worked to make the foundation stone of the
Institute.

Prof. Hartog was a distinguished

chemist. He was a member of
the Viceroy’s Commission on the
University of Calcutta, India, in
1917. From 1920 to 1925 Hartog
served as the first vice-chancellor
of the University of Dacca, Bengal.
He was instrumental in the creation
of the National Foundation for
Educational Research, London, to
study the nature and purpose of
Sir Philip Hartog, KBE (1864 – school examinations. He played a
1947): A Chemistry Educationist
leading role in the improvement of
school and college examinations. In 1930 Hartog was knighted for
distinguished public service.
Prof. Hartog had heard about Prof. Sahni. So, when he visited
India, he wished to see the place where Prof. Sahni worked. He
was taken to the museum where Prof. Sahni’s table was placed. He
looked bewildered. Prof. Sahni had his table placed in a corner which
was just a partitioned part of the museum. “Prof. Sahni has no room
of his own!”, he uttered in disbelief. Then he accepted it muttering,
‘Yes, great scientists have always worked in garrets.’
This just goes to show that those who focus on work, hardly
worry about comfort and pomp.

26 |
7 | An Institution-Builder

T
he decade of the 1930s was a time when nationalism and
feeling for independence were peaking. The protests to express
sentiments against the British Rule were growing strongly.
However, for Indian science, it happened to be a golden phase.
Ramanujan, honoured with Fellowship of the Royal Society, as an ace
mathematician was already an icon. JC Bose, SN Bose and Meghnad
Saha were impressing the world with their original contributions.
Raman had just been honoured with the Nobel in 1930. On one hand,
these things seemed to dent the long-felt inferiority complex, a result
of almost two centuries of colonial rule and biased curricula in the

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

education system, but one also may interpret this as a growing desire of
Indians to prove India’s intellectual superiority to the world.
Despite this, most Indian scientists found it difficult to fight
the bias and faced problems in having their research work published
within a reasonable time in these journals which were all foreign-based.
Following discussions among Raman, Saha, Sahni and others, a new
journal by the name ‘Current Science’ was started in 1932 at Bengaluru.
It is rated high and is still being published regularly.
Prof. Sahni felt that there should be a platform for botanists in
India where they could discuss science. So, he took the initiative and
played a major role in the establishment of the ‘Indian Botanical Society’
in the year 1920. In the year 1924, the demand became vocal when the
then editor of Nature visited India, he also became its President.
Given that science in India was progressing in many disciplines,
the need for an Indian Science Academy on the pattern of the Royal
Society of London was also acutely felt. Birbal Sahni, among others like
CV Raman and Meghnad Saha, played a major role in this too. Later he
also served as its President. He was one of the 15 founding members of
the National Academy of Sciences (NASI), Allahabad (now Prayagraj)
in 1930. He also was the President of NASI for two terms in 1937-39
and 1943-44. Late,r when Prof. CV Raman was working to establish
an Academy at Bangalore (now Bengaluru), Prof. Sahni again played a
significant role and was a founder member when the Indian Academy
of Sciences (IASc), Bengaluru was established on 24 April, 1934, and
served as its Vice-President from 1934 to 1949. He was also one of the
125 founder members of the National Institute of Sciences of India
(NISI) at Kolkata in January 1935. It is now known as Indian National
Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi.

Founding of the Institute of Palaeobotany, at Lucknow

Prof. Sahni always felt that more and more scientists should
research in Palaeobotany. This was possible only by getting more
students and scientists exposed to and interested in Palaeobotany. This
demanded an enhanced projection of the subject and regular dialogue

28 |
 An Institution-Builder

Prof. Sahni with Prof. CV Raman (centre) and Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (right)

in the palaeobotanist’ community. So, the need for establishing

a common platform for the scientific community was felt and he
convened a committee of Indian palaeobotanists in 1939. The idea
was to coordinate palaeobotanical research in India and document the
progress made, on a regular basis. This initiative proved to be a major
step towards the institutionalisation of the study of this subject.
The stage was thus being set for projecting Palaeobotany as a
promising subject and developing it in all its dimensions as pure and
applied sciences. Prof. Sahni brought like-minded people together
and on May 19th, 1946, the Palaeobotanical Society was formed. This
ultimately proved to be the first step towards establishing a full-fledged
Institute of Palaeobotany. The Society was established in Lucknow,
with its office initially in the Botany Department of the University
of Lucknow. The same year on 10th September, the Governing Body
of the Palaeobotanical Society resolved to establish an Institute of
Palaeobotany. The base was the Botany Department of the University
of Lucknow. Thus, he was able to fulfil a long-cherished dream.
He also showed this penchant for opening new vistas while at the
University of Lucknow. Prof. Sahni always believed that research is not

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

possible by limiting oneself to an air-tight domain of one subject. As

mentioned earlier, understanding the role of Geology in Palaeobotany,
he prevailed upon the authorities to start a new department of Geology
at the University of Lucknow. So, while serving as head of the Botany
department at the University of Lucknow, he established a department
of Geology at the university and remained its head for the rest of his
life, till 1949.

The Foundation Stone

Not many are aware that Prof. Sahni was personally involved in
making the foundation stone of the building of the Institute. The
foundation stone had 77 fossils embedded in it ranging from the
Pre-Cambrian time (older than about 60 Crore years) to the Pre-
Christian era. The fossils had been sourced from many countries.
Some had been collected from Rajmahal Hills in Bihar a few weeks
before laying of the foundation stone.

30 |
 An Institution-Builder

On the occasion of its inauguration, Prof. Sahni said, “The stone

is a somewhat unusual sort of monument. It has been purposely made
up in this laboratory from an assortment of rocks and fossils from many
different countries, and from many geological forms from the oldest to
the youngest, covering a span of time from at least 600 million years ago
to only about the beginning of the Christian era’.

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

8 | The Other Side and His Unique

Place in the Annals of Indian
Science

F
ew people earn the honour of having a field identified with their
own name. Prof. Birbal Sahni was one such person. In India, the
word Palaeobotany instantly evokes Prof. Birbal Sahni’s name.
Prof. Sahni had a philosophical bent of mind. He was not religious
in the conventional sense. But quotes from his lectures and writings
give a fairly good idea of his spirituality. He was a scientist with strong
nationalistic feelings.
He had a clear, clinically precise way of thinking, and also
expressing it. He was a deep thinker and the following passage by him
gives a fairly good idea of his thinking:
For what is it, after all, that pious men worship in a stone which
they place in a temple, but an idea, or an ideal, a great truth, a hope,
or a wish for a higher existence, whether in this world or the next. And
what is it that a stone symbolizes? – the great fact of the antiquity of plant
life on the globe, the intellect of man ever striving to bring that fact more
and more clearly to light, revealing different stages not only in the evolution
of the plant kingdom in a more and more orderly and understandable
sequence, but also the evolution of his own poor understanding of these
truths. The very construction of it, the flaws and imperfections of the entire
make up, the labour that has gone into its preparation, are all but symbols
of our surrounding where they are found. He strongly believed that
Palaeobotany is incomplete without imperfect and helpless efforts at
constructing something new, something worthwhile.
He always felt that fossils cannot be studied in isolation from the

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 The Other Side and His Unique Place in the Annals of Indian Science

sediment and surroundings where they are found. That was the reason
he established the Department of Geology at the University of Lucknow.
His following quote sums up this relationship beautifully:
Palaeobotany is the common ground between Botany and Geology- it
is in fact Botany of the rocks.

Prof. Sahni’s manners were exquisitely courteous, his brilliant intellect,

his uprightness, and the deeply human touch in his character awoke
sympathy, which spontaneously rose to friendship.
 Suzanne Leclerc

Being a researcher in Palaeobotany, he was aware of how truth

presents itself in fragments and not as a whole. He realised this while
working out the structure of Williamsonia sewardiana, which was
collected separately as stem, leaf, and seed:
“The student of science lives in a world of fragments. Nothing in this
vast array of visible things that we call nature appears to our restricted vision
as a complete picture.

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

Deep within, Prof. Sahni had a very philosophical way of looking

at things. Nature offers a glimpse into its secrets but it hides as much
as it reveals. It is up to us to put the scattered pieces of the evidence
together and try to solve the riddle.
“True artist that he is, the creator never reveals the whole of his design
at once. Like the child with a jig-saw puzzle, we try to piece together the
fragments of the pictures”.
He fully realised the limitations of science.
“To the onlooker, who alone holds the key, the seriousness with which
we go about our little attempts must seem pitiable. For after all, there can be
only one real solution: we only delude ourselves. Some of us may boast that
we have got at that one truth. Nonetheless, curiosity lures us on, for there
are few pursuits so absorbing as this study of fragments that we call science”.
Not that he was always so serious as to never laugh or have
amusement. In fact, he enjoyed interacting with young children
and amuse them with his playfulness. While travelling anywhere,
even abroad, a glove which had the appearance of a monkey always
accompanied him. He would regale the kids with fun-filled stories and
anecdotes through this monkey whom he had named Gippy. His niece
described in her book how he presented it to his newly wed wife and the
amusement it generated when she realised it was not a pet but just a toy.
Prof. Sahni’s contributions were not limited to the study of plants
and their fossils alone. He had also contributed to Botany of the living
plants. His research in the science of coins (numismatics), is also well
recognised. He supported the Tectonics theory based on fossil-based
evidence when they were few takers for it.
He was a great institution builder and had been involved in the
establishment of all the three major science academies of India. He
institutionalised Palaeobotanical studies. The Lucknow-based Birbal
Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (initially known as Institute of
Palaeobotany and then Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany), is a
testimony to his missionary zeal and stands as his living memorial.
Prof. Sahni never hankered for power or position. It is believed
that immediately after independence, he was offered the position of

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 The Other Side and His Unique Place in the Annals of Indian Science

Secretary, Education, of the Central Government by the then Minister

for Education. However, being entirely committed to science and its
development, Prof. Sahni politely declined it.
Prof. Sahni had a special, beautiful poetic way of stating things.
This is how he described the finding of fossils in the rocks: “Slumbering
for millions of years in the strata, these immortal things woke up, as it were,
under the stroke of the geological hammer and again saw the light of the
day …”
Prof. Sahni had an aesthetic sense that few of his colleagues or
contemporaries could match. It is said that he was unhappy after
looking at the finished foundation stone as he felt that the size of the
dark grains in the foundation stone was bigger than it should have been.
His penetrating sight made him critical of himself. This is a quality
everyone can learn from him.

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

First Day Covers issued by the India postal department to

commemorate Prof. Birbal Sahni and his work.
It was because of all such qualities added to his academic brilliance
that he had made a great impression on his seniors, his contemporaries
and younger colleagues alike. His demise on the intervening night of
9th and 10th April, 1949, shocked everyone who knew him. Just a week
before his demise, the foundation stone of the institute building had
been laid. He was just short of turning 60-year-old and the untimely
departure could have meant the end of his dream, the nascent Institute
of Palaeobotany. But his wife Mrs. Savitri Sahni rose to the occasion.
Prof. Sahni’s goodwill ensured that his dream lived on and today stands
as a leading institution in the field.
The views of different distinguished scientists about him give an
insight into his stature and the respect commanded by him.

36 |
9 | Some Milestones in
Prof. Birbal Sahni’s Life

S.N. Year Event

1. 14th Nov. 1889 Birth at Behra (present Pakistan)
2. 1911 Graduation from Govt. College, Lahore
3. 1914 Tripos from Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Awarded D.Sc. degree from the University
4. 1919
of London
Return to India and Joined BHU, Varanasi
5. 1919
as Prof.
6. 1920-1921 Joined Punjab University as Professor
Joined Univ. of Lucknow as Professor,
8. 1921
Botany
9. 1933 Became Dean, Science Faculty
Constitution of a Committee of
10. Sep. 1939
Palaeobotanists
Established Department of Geology at the
11. 1943
University of Lucknow
12. 19 May, 1946 Founding of Palaeobotanical Society
th

13. 3rd June, 1946 Registration of the Palaeobotanical Society

Palaeobotanical Society resolved to establish
14. 10 Sep., 1946 the Institute of Palaeobotany with Prof.
th

Sahni as Director
15. 3 April, 1949 Foundation of the Institute laid
rd

10th April, Demise

16.
1949

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

Bust of Prof. Sahni at Birla Industrial & Technology Museum (NCSM), Kolkatta

38 |
Honours and Distinctions

S.N. Honour Year

President, Indian Botanical Society (also its
1 1924
founding member in 1920)
President, Geology Section, International
2 1926
Botanical Congress
Alladi Krishnaswamy Lecture, Andhra
3 1930
University
Founding Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences,
4 1934
Bengaluru
Founding Fellow, Indian National Science
5 Academy, New Delhi * & also Vice-President 1935
(Foreign Section)
Vice-President, Palaeobotany Section,
6 1935
International Botanical Congress, Amsterdam
Sir CR Reddy National Prize for Natural
7 1936
Sciences
Barclay Medal for Biological Research by the
8 1936
Asiatic Society
9 Fellow of the Royal Society of London, UK 1936
10 Fellow, Asiatic Society 1936
President, Botany Section, International 1921 &
11
Botanical Society 1938
President, National Academy of Sciences, India, 1937-1939,
12
Prayagraj (Allahabad) 1943-1947
13 General President, Science Congress 1940
14 Nelson Wright Medal by Numismatic Society 1945

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 BIRBAL SAHNI : A MAN WHO DID WHAT HE LOVED AND LOVED WHAT HE DID

Hon. Foreign Member, Ame. Aca. Arts &

15 1948
Sciences
16 Fellow, Geological Society of Great Britain 1948
Hon. General President, International Botanical
17 1950***
Congress
# There were many more such as Hon. DSc / doctorates from
several universities, memorial lectures at various universities
such as Kolkata, Patna, Baroda and membership of government
committees etc.
* INSA was initially at Kolkata as the ‘National Institute of Sciences
in India’ with its office at Asiatic Society.
** He was a founding Fellow of NASc since 1930.
*** Prof. Sahni couldn’t attend this due to his demise.

Samadhi of Prof. Birbal Sahni in the BSIP premises.

40 |
VIJNANA BHARATI
Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) is a national movement for the
propagation and popularization of Science and Technology
among students and masses. VIBHA promotes scientific
contributions made by India from ancient to present
time. At present we are the largest scientific organization
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Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) an
institution under the Ministry of Education and National
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