Sardar Patel Award
History of the Sardar Patel award
Established in 1999, the Sardar Patel award is annually conferred by the Center for India and South Asia at UCLA. An endowment was created by funds donated by the Friends of the Sardar Patel Association provided to the UCLA Foundation.
The award was created to honor the best doctoral dissertation on any aspect of modern India - social sciences, humanities, education and fine arts - in any U.S. University or academic institution awarding the Ph.D.
The award continues to this day, honoring the legacy of Sardar Patel.
About Sardar Patel
Born Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel in 1875 in the city of Nadiad, Sardar Patel was one of the three principal leaders of the Indian Nationalist Movement for freedom from British rule. After India attained freedom in August of 1947, Sardar Patel became Deputy Prime Minister of India, as well as Minister for Home; Princely States, Information and Broadcasting.
As one of the earliest proponents of property rights and free enterprise, he is often considered the Iron Man of India. Due to his stellar role in integrating 565 princely states and colonial provinces into the nascent Indian Union, he is remembered as the Architect of modern India.
He died on December 15, 1950 in Mumbai. In his honor, a national memorial was created at the Moti Shahi Mahal, located in Ahmedabad in his home state of Gujarat.
