KHK Visiting Research Fellow 2009
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, USA

Abhishek Amar is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. He teaches courses on the early history of India, Buddhism, and inter-religious dynamics in South Asia. Prior to the postdoctoral research he conducted at the Käte Hamburger Collegium “Dynamics in the History of Religions” Abhishek Amar studied the history and material culture of Buddhism at Bodhgayā, the site of the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Abhishek Amar specializes in early Indian history, focusing specifically on the socio-religious history of the larger south Bihar region between the sixth and twelfth centuries CE. Of particular interest to him is the issue of the decline of Buddhism which is linked to questions of Buddhist interactions with the local society and polity, and other Hindu religious orders that emerged and grew in the region. These inter-religious dynamics between Hinduism and Buddhism were the focus of his research in Bochum as well.

Education

• Ph.D., Ancient Indian Religions, University of London, United Kingdom, 2009
• M.Phil., Ancient Indian History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, 2002
• M.A., Ancient Indian History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, 1999
• B.A. (Hons), Indian History, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India, 1997

KHK Fellowship

Duration: April 2009 - March 2010
Project: Negotiating Co-existence of the Buddhism, Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism: An Examination of Inter-Religious Dynamics in Early Medieval Magadha

External Website

Hamilton College