Shubhanga Pandey

Biography

Shubhanga Pandey is a PhD candidate whose research looks at histories of information, ideas and political order. He is interested in how and why different historical actors pursue activities like surveying, data collecting, reporting, mapping, archiving, compiling and chronicling. His dissertation takes this approach to write a forgotten history of diplomacy, statecraft and political thought in Asia between the decline of early-modern empires and rise of European colonial states. His area of focus is South Asia, in particular the states and societies that inhabited the Himalaya and the adjoining plains during the 18th and 19th centuries. More details on his research are available on his personal website.

Before graduate school, he spent several years working as a journalist and was the chief editor of Himal Southasian, a magazine of politics and culture from South Asia. His writings have been published in various popular outlets including the London Review of Books blog, World Politics Review, Newslaundry and The Caravan.