D.D. Kosambi undertook the study of Ancient Indian history in a time when the consensus among the colonial scholars was that India had no history. He theorized that history is the presentation in chronological order of successive changes in the means and relations of production. He made several leaps and innovations in the study of Indian society, including the idea of ‘combined methods’ that put together archeology, sociology, statistics and anthropology with history. He believed India had a ‘living prehistory’ that was the result of a continuity in Indian civilization. Why should we be interested in a scientific study of Indian history at this time? How is our history, especially ancient, connected to our present and the future? Further, what does it mean to scientifically study Indian history and society?

D.D. Kosambi built upon the idea that freedom is the cognition of necessity to formulate that science is the recognition of necessity. What was necessary could only be determined through a combination of theorizing and scientific practice. Kosambi thought of the scientific approach to knowledge broadly as being crucial to the project of human freedom and world peace. He was a founder of the Indian Peace Council and raised his voice on behalf of the formerly colonized in several peace conferences. How is science, broadly defined, connected in our times to the struggle for peace and freedom? What is the relationship of knowledge production, world affairs and the future of the Indian people? What is the role of chance and necessity in studying society?