Sanjukta Datta

Sanjukta Datta is a historian of ancient and early medieval India. Her research interests focus on kingship, patronage, trans-regional Buddhist networks,  documentary cultures, and the history of Indian archaeology. She has published in journals like European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, The Indian Economic and Social History Review, Studies in History, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, and has contributed essays in edited volumes such as Ancient India: New Research, edited by Upinder Singh and Nayanjot Lahiri (Oxford University Press, 2009) and Social Worlds of Premodern Transactions: Perspectives from Indian Epigraphy and History, edited by Mekhola Gomes, Digvijay Kumar Singh, and Meera Visvanathan (Primus Books, 2021). She is currently working on her first book manuscript tentatively titled, In the Name of the Buddha: Kingship and Patronage in Early Medieval Eastern India. At Ashoka University, Sanjukta offers a mandatory survey course on the early history of the Indian subcontinent until the 2nd century BCE (for History Majors) along with a range of electives on themes such as understanding early medieval India, introduction to archaeology, history of documentary cultures in pre-modern India, history of Buddhism in Asia, history of Hinduism in the Indian subcontinent, and comparative history of world religions. Prior to joining the university, she taught history at Gargi College and St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. She obtained her MA, MPhil and PhD from University of Delhi, having completed her BA (Honours) in History from St. Stephen’s College.