“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future” said Theodore Roosevelt.

The past has a lot of mysteries stored in it. Be it science, art, literature or anything, history has always given us facts and things that has helped in development. The world of science is not left behind. With the passing time, there have been developments in the field of science and the credit for these developments goes to the scientists who have studied the past and used the knowledge for the advancement of present.

Birbal Sahni was one among those scientists who has studied the past and helped the world of science by his various contributions.

He is one of the famous paleobotanist and geologist. Born on 14th November 1891, Birbal Sahni was the son of Lala Ruchi Ram Sahni and Shrimati Ishwar Devi. He was born in a very small town of Shahpur District, Behra situated in West Punjab (presently in Pakistan). His parents were supporters of freedom struggle which made various leaders like Motilal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, etc. This resulted in growing up of Sahni in a very intellectual environment.

Birbal Sahni’s matriculation was done from Mission and Central Model Schools. Since childhood, Sahni was very much interested in plants, environment, etc. He used to collect leaves, shells, excursions of mountains, rocks, etc. He made this interest grow as his career. He got his degree in botany from Government College, Lahore in 1911. In 1913, Sahni joined Emmanuel College, Cambridge University to pursue his Tripos degree in Natural sciences.

Being awarded with research studentship in 1915 was a bonus to Sahni’s scientific career. In 1919, under the guidance of S. R. Kashyap, Birbal Sahni started his research on palaeobotany. The following year, Sahni got the degree of D.Sc. from the London University.

Sahni, after returning to India, started teaching in Banaras Hindu University. University of Lucknow appointed him as the professor of Botany. He also held the position in the department of Geology. Under his influence, the department of Botany became a well-known centre for research and teaching. Birbal Sahni was also a geologist and believed that geology and palaeobotany are interrelated.

As Birbal Sahni was interested in the study of science of past, he researched on Yaudheya Coin Moulds of KhoKhra Kot, Rohtak in 1936. Bringing the field of palaeobotany in an organized and structured form was one of the main motives of Birbal Sahni.

Setting up of the Institute of Palaeobotany was the biggest contribution of Birbal Sahni to the world of science. To honour him, the institute was renamed to Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany. Research on plant fossils and geological surveys is the main aim of the institution and this was what Birbal Sahni wanted: establishment of palaeobotany in India.

Birbal Sahni did immense research on geographical distribution of living species such as Taxus, Tmesipteris and Psilotum. He had a special interest in geology and even examined the remains from Harappa civilization and found out that they were conifers of mountain regions. So he could infer that people of Harappa civilization had trade relationship with people living in mountains.

He has done major contributions in the field of morphological studies of Zygopteridaceae and even published many papers related to that. He studied the fossil plants and based on this study he also suggested that lower Narmada area was costal.

The brilliance of Birbal Sahni was worthy of making him the first botanist to be the member of Royal Society of London. He was a recipient of Barclay Medal of Royal Asiatic society in 1936, Nelson Wright Medal in 1945 and Sir C. R. Reddy National Prize in 1947.

Unfortunately, Birbal Sahni had a sudden heart attack on 10th April, 1949, due to which he died. He was one eminent person who has researched over the science in past and made his mark till the future.