Rahul Peter Das
Encyclopedia
Rahul Peter Das is the professor of South Asia
n studies at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he is also the Dean of Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy I and erstwhile Director of the Centre for Languages of the University. He is a Board Member of the EuroIndia Centre
and the German Association for Asian Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde), and received the Hind Rattan
Award in 2006, the Nav Rattan Award in 2009.
Das, of mixed Indian (Bengali) and German parentage, was born in Germany
, but raised in Calcutta. He attended the Calcutta Medical College and the Maulana Azad College
, both affiliated to the University of Calcutta
for his medical preparatory education. He returned to Germany in 1974. Through his teachers Klaus Ludwig Janert and Albrecht Wezler, students of the famous Paul Thieme
, he was influenced by the stringent principles of philological research of the latter. He applied these principles when he instituted, in 2000, the new subject of South Asian Studies (Südasienkunde) at his university. This subject is based on an approach to the study of South Asia different from Indology
, which too continues to be represented at the university. In a manner new for the German speaking area, it combines elements of philology and the social sciences, but with a methodology derived from philology: data-based and not taking its cues from models or theories, in which respect it differs from approaches prevalent in the Anglo-Saxon world. The languages of reference are modern South Asian languages, not Sanskrit; South Asian Islam is a part of the curriculum.
Das' student Hans Harder
obtained the first Venia legendi in the new subject and subsequently went on to the University of Heidelberg to become the professor for Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures, known before Harder took over the chair as Modern Indology.
Das has published widely and authoritatively on a variety of subjects ranging from Vedic linguistics through South Asian Islam and Tamil to Security Studies. His particular areas of interest are, however, Bengal and Bengali, as well as traditional South Asian medicine.
In 2006, Das initiated the interdisciplinary Working Group on Post-classical South Asia (Arbeitskreis Neuzeitliches Südasien) within the German Association for Asian Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde).
Das is the editor / co-editor of:
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n studies at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he is also the Dean of Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy I and erstwhile Director of the Centre for Languages of the University. He is a Board Member of the EuroIndia Centre
EuroIndia Centre
The EuroIndia Centre is a non-profit organisation founded in 2001 by the former French Prime Minister Raymond Barre and the present Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The EuroIndia Centre is a private institution, legally registered in France and financed by individual, public and corporate...
and the German Association for Asian Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde), and received the Hind Rattan
Hind Rattan
Name of an Indian non-governmental diasporic award given yearly to about 30 members of the worldwide Indian diaspora by the NRI Welfare Society of India , at a ceremony in connection with the yearly...
Award in 2006, the Nav Rattan Award in 2009.
Das, of mixed Indian (Bengali) and German parentage, was born in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, but raised in Calcutta. He attended the Calcutta Medical College and the Maulana Azad College
Maulana Azad College
Maulana Azad College is located in central Calcutta, West Bengal, India. It is located near the junction of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road and SN Banerjee Road, popularly called "Lotus crossing".It is a Government college and affiliated to the University of Calcutta...
, both affiliated to the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
for his medical preparatory education. He returned to Germany in 1974. Through his teachers Klaus Ludwig Janert and Albrecht Wezler, students of the famous Paul Thieme
Paul Thieme
Paul Thieme was a scholar of Vedic Sanskrit. He received his doctorate in Indology in 1928 in Göttingen, and habilitated there in 1932. From 1932 to 1935 he taught German and French at the University of Allahabad...
, he was influenced by the stringent principles of philological research of the latter. He applied these principles when he instituted, in 2000, the new subject of South Asian Studies (Südasienkunde) at his university. This subject is based on an approach to the study of South Asia different from Indology
Indology
Indology is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent , and as such is a subset of Asian studies....
, which too continues to be represented at the university. In a manner new for the German speaking area, it combines elements of philology and the social sciences, but with a methodology derived from philology: data-based and not taking its cues from models or theories, in which respect it differs from approaches prevalent in the Anglo-Saxon world. The languages of reference are modern South Asian languages, not Sanskrit; South Asian Islam is a part of the curriculum.
Das' student Hans Harder
Hans Harder
Johannes Georg Smith Harder, known as Hans Harder was a Danish painter and drawing master. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He was known especially as a painter of landscapes.-Reference:* at Kunstindeks Danmark/Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon...
obtained the first Venia legendi in the new subject and subsequently went on to the University of Heidelberg to become the professor for Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures, known before Harder took over the chair as Modern Indology.
Das has published widely and authoritatively on a variety of subjects ranging from Vedic linguistics through South Asian Islam and Tamil to Security Studies. His particular areas of interest are, however, Bengal and Bengali, as well as traditional South Asian medicine.
In 2006, Das initiated the interdisciplinary Working Group on Post-classical South Asia (Arbeitskreis Neuzeitliches Südasien) within the German Association for Asian Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde).
Das is the editor / co-editor of:
- Traditional South Asian Medicine
- Südasienwissenschaftliche Arbeitsblätter (Working Papers on South Asian Studies)
- Mitteilungen zur Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte der islamischen Welt (Communications on the Social and Cultural History of the Islamic World)
- Veröffentlichungen zur Indogermanistik und Anthropologie (Publications on Indo-European Studies and Anthropology)
- South Asia editor of Orientalistische Literaturzeitung (Review of Literature on the Orient)
- South Asia editor of the new (3rd) edition of Kindlers Literatur Lexikon
External links
- Biodata of Rahul Peter Das from the university website
- Publications of Rahul Peter Das
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde
- Arbeitskreis Neuzeitliches Südasien
- Faculty of Philosophy I
- Traditional South Asian Medicine
- Südasienwissenschaftliche Arbeitsblätter
- Mitteilungen zur Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte der islamischen Welt
- Veröffentlichungen zur Indogermanistik und Anthropologie
- Orientalistische Literaturzeitung
- Kindlers Literatur Lexikon