Postdoc at Heidelberg University
Research Fellow at the Śākta Traditions research Programme, OCHS

Biography:

Rajan is a Research Associate at the South Asian Institute, Heidelberg University and the Research Unit “Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal”, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Rajan has a PhD in South Asian Studies (Heidelberg University) and MA in Classical Indology (Nepal Sanskrit University, Balmeeki Vidyapeeth). Rajan has been a Research Assistant and Cataloguer at the Nepalese-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project (NGMCP) at the Nepal Research Centre (NRC) in Kathmandu for 9 years (2004-2013). He is the Honorary Leader of our Kathmandu Office.

Research Area/s:

His interests span widely from Śaivism to Indian Philosophy, Manuscriptology and Epigraphy with a special focus on medieval and pre-modern Nepalese legal History, and the emergence and practices of the Śākta traditions in the Kathmandu Valley.

Selected Publications:

His publications include:  

• “Documented Evidence Relating to the Implementation of the Mulukī Ain in Mid-19th Century Nepal”, in: Studies in Historical Documents of Nepal and India, herausgegeben von Simon Cubelic, Axel Michaels und Astrid Zotter (im Erscheinen) (2018). Co-authored with Manik Bajracharya und Simon Cubelic.
• “Reporting across Borders in a Time of Turmoil: Eight Reports from Lokaramaṇa Upādhyāya from the Years 1837–1844,” in: Abhilekha 34: 138-172 (2017). Co-authored with Simon Cubelic.
• “Nepalese Monarchy in an Age of Codification: Kingship, Patriotism, and Legality in the Nepalese Code of 1854“, in: Transnational Histories of the “Royal Nation”, herausgegeben von Milinda Banerjee, Charlotte Backerra and Cathleen Sarti, 67–86. Cham: Springer International Publishing (2017). Co-authored with Manik Bajracharya und Simon Cubelic.
• “Reporting across Borders: Four Reports of Lokaramaṇa Upādhyāya from the years 1831–1837”, in: Abhilekha 33: 120–133 (2016). Co-authored with Manik Bajracharya und Axel Michaels.
• “Six 19th-20th Century Documents on Elephants from the National Archives of Nepal”, in: Abhilekha 32: 96–105 (2015).  „Acyutāṣṭakavyākhyā by Vācaspati Panta: A testimony to Nepalese Scholarship“, in: Abhilekha 28: 90–103 (2012).