BIRBAL SAHNI- Biography

BIRBAL SAHNI

Birth: 14h November 1891/Death: 10h April 1949

Birbal Sahni was a renowned paleobotanist and geologist of India. He is Sahni is credited for setting up the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palacobotany at Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In the year 1929, he received the degree of Sc. D. from the University of Cambridge. He was also appointed the Fellow of the Royal Society of

London (FRS) in the year 1936, which is the biggest British scientific honor.

He studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent. Also a great geologist, Sahni is credited for establishing the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany at Lucknow in the state of Uttar

Pradesh. Born on 14 November in the year 1891 at Behra in the Saharanpur District of West Punjab. Birbal was the third son of Ishwar Devi and Prof. Ruchi Ram Sahni. Some famous personalities who were regular guests of his parents were Motilal Nehru, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Sarojini Naidu and others.

He received his education at the Government College University of Lahore and later from Punjab

University. He attended the Emmanuel College at Cambridge in the year 1914. And after this, he pursued further studies under Professor A.C. Seward and was given the D.Sc. degree from

London University in the year 1919. Birbal Sahni then came back to his native country India to work as the professor of Botany at the highly esteemed Banaras Hindu University at the holy city of Varanasi. His fabulous research work was honored by the University of Cambridge that decided to present him with the degree of Sc. D. in the year 1929. In the coming time, Sahni not only continued his own study, but also appointed and guided a number of bright students under him.