Above: Coin of Kumāragupta (c. 415-55) showing the king's tutelary deity Kumāra seated on a peacock in a mountain landscape (The British Museum, London).
The materials curated here were produced for or are thematically related to "Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State," a project funded by the European Research Council (Identifier: ASIA 609823). The project represents a collaboration between four internationally recognised organisations: the British Museum, the British Library, the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), and Leiden University. Third parties providing resource include Norwegian Technical University (NTNU), the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement with the Institut Français de Pondichéry.
The organisational structure reflects the interdisciplinary ambitions of the project and the new ways it is exploring knowledge systems, cultural formation, and historical change. Crossing the intellectual, geographical, and political boundaries that have emerged in modern times and in the current historiography, the project is examining the complex polities and varied cultural networks of Asia to re-vision the approach to Asian archaeology, linguistics, religious studies, and history. The project will place Central, South and Southeast Asia on the global historical stage, enabling meaningful comparisons to coeval trans-national formations. This innovative research and theorisation will have long-standing applications beyond the project in multiple historiographies and disciplines.
Read moreAll work should be thematically related to the project or be a project output.