Nayanjot Lahiri is Professor of History at Ashoka University, Sonipat, a position she has held since 2016. She is one of India’s foremost historical scholars and author of many widely acclaimed publications. Her book Ashoka in Ancient India won the John F. Richards prize of the American Historical Association for the best book in South Asian History.
Her other books include Pre-Ahom Assam (1991), The Archaeology of Indian Trade Routes (1992), The Decline and Fall of the Indus Civilization (2000), Finding Forgotten Cities – How the Indus Civilization was Discovered (2005; centenary edition 2024), Marshalling the Past – Ancient India and its Modern Histories (2012), Monuments Matter – India’s Archaeological Heritage since Independence (2017), Time Pieces – A Whistle-Stop Tour of Ancient India (2018), Archaeology and the Public Purpose – Writings on and by M.N. Deshpande (2021) and Searching for Ashoka (2022).
Lahiri was awarded the Infosys Prize in Humanities – Archaeology for 2013.
Her two forthcoming books are on Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, best known today as a National Park and Tiger Reserve. One is a large format, edited volume, Bandhavgarh – Archaeology and Ecology, the result of four years of research with many eminent collaborators who have contributed essays in the areas of their expertise. The other, Bandhavgarh, Beyond the Tigers is Lahiri’s highly original and granular exploration of the region, from its pre-history to the present, through themes as diverse as caves, power and piety. Both books are represented by A Suitable Agency.