Page 22 - CTB-1

22 PIONEERING A NEW FUTURE
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences
Above: BSIP foundation stone bearing 77 plant fossils collected by Prof. Birbal Sahni
Below: Prof. Birbal Sahni, the father of Indian Paleobotany
The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences was established in the year 1946 to explore and develop palaeobotany as a science in itself, visualize its potential in solving issues
of origin and evolution of plant life, and geological issues including exploration of fossil fuels. However, the mandate of BSIP was recently expanded to combine it with other areas of palaeosciences
and create modern facilities to achieve this end.
Initially, BSIP laid emphasis on more fundamental aspects of Indian fossil
floras, but diversified in due course
to include biostratigraphic dating,
correlation of surface and subsurface
sediments, radiocarbon dating and exploring areas favourable for fossil fuel deposits and hydrocarbon exploration. The main research work involves the understanding of plant evolution through geological time. Emphasis has been laid to derive knowledge about the diversification of Precambrian life, diversity, distribution and inter- basinal correlation of Gondwana and Tertiary
floras, coal/lignite quality and to understand the interaction between the climate and change of vegetation in Quaternary Period.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The Quaternary research going on at BSIP has a wide range of working aspects based on biotic
and abiotic proxies to decipher Palaeoclimate and Palaeoecology from large geospatial
extents. The variable studies, in this group, incorporate wide geographical ranges from the Himalayan region to
central plains where there is presence of Core Monsoon Zone and along the wide
coastal domains of Eastern and Western coasts. Tree-ring studies from the Himalayan
region have been carried out on various aspects such as climate reconstruction, glacial behaviour, and tree-line dynamics.
BSIP also conducted the largest-ever study of ancient human DNA in South Asia and sequenced the first genome of an individual from the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, which revealed unprecedented
A MAN WITH A VISION | Birbal Sahni
Birbal Sahni FRS was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian
subcontinent. He also took an interest in geology and archaeology. He founded what is now the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany at Lucknow in 1946. His major contributions
were in the study of the fossil plants of India and in plant evolution. He was also involved in the establishment of framework for Indian science education and served
as the President of the National Academy of Sciences, India and as an Honorary President of the International Botanical Congress, Stockholm.