Upinder Singh

Upinder Singh taught in St. Stephen’s College (1981-2004) and subsequently in the History Department of the University of Delhi (2004-2018). After her BA (Honours) in History from St. Stephen’s College, she obtained her MA and MPhil from the University of Delhi, followed by a PhD from McGill University, Montreal. She has received fellowships to conduct research in Leiden, Cambridge, Harvard and Leuven. In 2009, she was awarded the Infosys Prize in Social Sciences -- History.

Professor Singh’s writings range over various aspects of ancient Indian social, economic, and religious history; the intersection between political ideas and practice; Indian archaeology; the modern histories of ancient sites and monuments; and cultural interactions between India and Southeast Asia. Her research papers have been published in several Indian and international journals.


A selected list of her published books include:

  • Kings, Brāhmaṇas, and Temples in Orissa: An Epigraphic Study (AD 300–1147) (New Delhi, Munshiram Manoharlal,1994); Ancient Delhi (New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1999);

  • The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology (New Delhi, Permanent Black, 2004);

  • A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the Twelfth Century (Delhi, Pearson, 2008);

  • The Idea of Ancient India: Essays on Religion, Politics, and Archaeology (New Delhi, SAGE, 2016).

  • Edited Delhi: Ancient History (New Delhi, Social Science Press, 2006)

  • Edited Rethinking Early Medieval India (Delhi, New Oxford University Press, 2011).

  • Co-edited Ancient India: New Research(New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2009)

  • Co-edited Asian Encounters: Exploring Connected Histories (New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2014)

  • Co-editedBuddhism in Asia: Revival and Reinvention. Her most recent book is Political Violence in Ancient India (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2017).

A selected list of her published papers include:


Picture Courtesy: Isha Pareek, Undergraduate Batch of 2021