Tim Lubin

Cover of "Early Āndhradeśa," showing fragment of toraṇa architrave at Phanigiri.

11 in-depth studies on inscriptions from early Āndhradeśa in South India, touching on coins, pottery, grant charters, memorial stones, and religious pluralism (Buddhist, Jainist, and Hindu). Open Access download from Brill: brill.com/edcollbook-o... (this is v. 2, the studies; v. 1, also available).

ASPA1846.org home page

The American Society for Premodern Asia web portal is now live on our new domain name: www.aspa1842.org

Buddha head with nimbus from Berenike

Astonishing finds excavated at Berenike in Egypt include Buddha images & other artifacts from India and some made locally in Indian style, plus a bilingual Sanskrit & Greek dedicatory inscription found near a marble Buddha head in an Isis temple courtyard.
publications.dainst.org/journals/jdi...

Cover of Wacana journal, vol. 26.3 (2025), with illustrated manuscript page showing a battle scene.

Important group of new studies on the "Kawi culture" that grew out of the use of the Old Javanese in the 8th-15th c. as a cosmopolitan vernacular by speakers of various languages, esp. in Java & Bali. Lots of exciting new work in this field. Wacana 26(3), free download: scholarhub.ui.ac.id/wacana/

Cover of The New Yorker with Zohran!

Edel Rodriguez’s “Mayor Mamdani” (November 4, 2025) www.newyorker.com/culture/cove...

東文研セミナー 「Customary Legalism: Rules of Law in Early India, Java, and Bali (A Lecture by Prof. Timothy Lubin)」が開催されました 報告 2025年9月24日に、当研究所訪問研究員であるTimothy Lubin教授（Washington and Lee University）を講師とする東文研セミナー「Customary Legalism: Rules of Law in Early India, Java, and Bali 」を開催した。

Few examples suvive of written statute law from early S&SE Asia, but I propose that one might infer the existence of generally applicable, enforceable laws from immunities granted in charters: "Customary Legalism: Rules of Law in Early India, Java, and Bali" www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/news/news.ph...

screenshot of Academia.edu AI Settings

For what it's worth, in Account Settings > AI Settings you can opt out of AI use of your Academia.edu uploads

Rioting and arson have engulfed Kathmandu in the wake of the govt's aborted attempt to censor or block access to social media. These brave souls sat out to protect Nepal's cultural heritage.

"Map of the Dominions of the House of Gorkha" by B. Hamilton (1819)

Provincialising Dharma: Studies on Legal Issues in the Himalaya, a collection of essays exploring the Himalayan regional dimensions of dharma, historically & today, is out: www.asiainstitutetorino.it/cis/CIS_10.pdf including my piece, "Sacred Law as a Device of State-Building in Gorkhali Nepal."

JAOS 145.3 is out: doi.org/10.7817/jaos..., articles on: autobiog of becoming, Ming women's anger, an old term for foreigners in China, cuneiform word lists, neo-Babylonian chronicles, the epic of Aqhat, Tabari's poetic license, bustling Buddhist monasteries, the aims of Sanskrit doxography, & more!

"‘Yala Toilet Frog’ named for departing Tea Board chairman." “I’m deeply gratified...” says Pethiyagoda. "If [those I've annoyed find] a frog in the toilet, I'm sure their actions will speak louder than words. Or they can simply drop the matter.”

archives1.dailynews.lk/2018/03/21/l...

That scam is seems designed to push people toward pirate copies. Since I don't *have* to use textbooks in my (non-Sanskrit) classes, I avoid them -- and any ludicrously costly books.

Issue 145:2 of the JAOS is out online: doi.org/10.7817/jaos... with articles on: Regal code-switching in the Deccan, r-clusters in Gandhari, omens in Song shu, 3 Qing compendia on cats, the Semitic perfect tense, Joseph in Egypt, counting lines in Erra, basmala as cosmic design, and gendering sex!

Violence in the Library Abstract There are mounting campaigns to repatriate cultural heritage objects that were wrongfully seized under colonial rule. Studying the history of these objects before their encounters with coloni...

Superb new OA article by Jarrah Sastrawan sorts through the complex issues of provenance, "ownership," and violence as they bear on #cultural #heritage claims & repatriation, by exploring the precolonial history of the "Lombok Treasure" & "Lombok Collection" of manuscripts. doi.org/10.1163/2213...

YouTube video by The British Museum The Babylonian Map of the World with Irving Finkel | Curator’s Corner S9 Ep5

A delightful bit on the world's oldest map of the world. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUxF...

Dumb toothbrushes are still an option, even in the 21st century.

You should not regret it! I've read the dissertation and found it informative & enjoyable, w an artfully done translation. It opens up a fascinating but little-known world to your readers. Maybe as a career move, it did not work out as planned ... but you wrote an excellent book! Never a bad thing.

Detail of "Map of the Dominions of the House of Gorkha," by Buchanan Hamilton (1819)

Posted a forthcoming study of how the Gorkha kings deployed Hindu sacred law (dharma) in 18th- & early 19th-c. Nepal to integrate ethnic groups as castes within a multiethnic kingdom — in the shadow of late Mughal/early Company-raj India.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Harvard University Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.

To everyone (justifiably) applauding @harvard.edu 's response to the fed. administration's demands: that letter is only part of the story. Harvard's new website went public in coordination with Harvard Pres. #AlanGarber 's letter. It's completely revamped--and it's brilliant. www.harvard.edu. (1/8)

Pranaya Rana on Nepal’s royalist resurgence: State of Southasia #21 In early March this year, a massive gathering of some 10,000 royalist supporters gathered to greet Nepal's former king, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, as he returne

After the decades of agony that uprooted the monarchy at last, violent agitation to restore it cannot be merely "the people’s discontent with Nepal's political establishment." The yearning for a king is the yearning for the old order by those who benefited from it. www.himalmag.com/podcast/nepa...

Over 250-years-old Mughal document throws light on tax waiver for pilgrims at Allahabad Discover a 250-year-old firman from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II granting religious autonomy to Ganga pilgrims.

Fascinating Mughal order reveals a history of 18th century India the right-wing doesn’t want you to know!

At the 235th Meeting yesterday, we voted to continue our work under a new name: the American Society for Premodern Asia. We invite all scholars who work on languages, literatures, history, and material culture of West, Central, South, and East Asia, and North Africa join us! #ancient #medieval #asia

Joy Connolly Calls for Collaboration Among Higher Education Institutions in Chronicle Op-Ed In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Joy Connolly calls for collaboration among higher education institutions in responding to the current political climate.

ACLS President Joy Connolly has published a new opinion piece in the @chronicle.com calling for collaboration among higher education institutions in response to the current political climate: bit.ly/3E9Fdaq

The incomplete end of Nepal’s Hindu monarchy Pro-monarchy protests reveal Nepal’s incomplete transition from Hindu kingdom to secular republic, fuelled by nationalist myths and Hindutva

Discontent does only so much to explain the revival of royalist politics in Nepal.

Amish Raj Mulmi writes about what's fuelling the recent violent pro-monarchy protests:

I hope other university alliances start pooling resources and engaging in the kinds of collective action Rutgers is proposing here for the Big Ten.

senate.rutgers.edu/report/resol...

New insights on how Śiva worship took shape in early India and Nepal!

The shame of Columbia University In surrendering to Trump, it's opening all universities to Trump's tyranny

Columbia University (bis alma mater mea!) caves fecklessly to brutal government tyranny. An ill omen for American academia ... until someone dares to resist.
robertreich.substack.com/p/the-shame-...

A Warning for Columbia University Surrendering to the Trump administration’s $400 million ransom demand would be a disaster for higher education and for the United States.

Columbia U. faces a demand to sacrifice its academic freedom in exchange for $400M in federal funds. Too steep a price.

The US government has sent Columbia University a ransom note | Sheldon Pollock Like a mob boss, the government threatens to cut off two of the university’s fingers: academic freedom and faculty governance

Eminent Sanskritist Sheldon Pollock, the former MESAAS dept head at Columbia, writes that "like a mob boss, the government threatens to cut off two of the university’s fingers: academic freedom and faculty governance."

Special Project launch event (hybrid) at the The SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies with the three Principal Investigators of the ERC Synergy MANTRAMS Project, Carola Lorea, Finnian Gerety, and Borayin Larios. Register for (free) tickets… 1/