Abhishek Kaicker
kaicker.bsky.social
Abhishek Kaicker
@kaicker.bsky.social
Historian
Worried the World Is Falling Apart? That’s OK. It’s Happened Before.

A review of two new books

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/b...
Worried the World Is Falling Apart? That’s OK. It’s Happened Before.
www.nytimes.com
June 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM
How did Mughal understandings of the historical past evolve and change over time?

This is the question explored in my new essay, which focuses particularly on the early eighteenth century.

It is open access, and I look forward to your comments.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
FROM ETERNITY TO APOCALYPSE: TIME, NEWS, AND HISTORY BETWEEN THE MUGHAL AND BRITISH EMPIRES, 1556–1785
The eighteenth-century origins of colonial orientalism in India spurred not just the translation of Indian texts but the production of interstitial histories, works that were forged in the intellectu...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
March 14, 2025 at 8:19 AM
March 13, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
Second scientist recruited to PRC in the past two days. There is more of this to come and much more happening at lower levels:

www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
Chinese-American mathematician Huaxin Lin leaves US for Shanghai institute
A top academic has returned to China as a professor at the new Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences.
www.scmp.com
March 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM
February 20, 2025 at 12:03 PM
February 20, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
Mughal Emperor Alamgir's advice in Braja-Bhasha:

Pt. Lajjaram Mehta wrote abt a 'Hitopdesh' (beneficial advice) manuscript that was passed down in his family. It had Alamgir's advice as heard by one Shankar Pant.

Was translated from Alamgir's 'Yāminī bhākhā' (Persian?) to Braja dohas
February 20, 2025 at 11:44 AM
A history that raises a question
February 7, 2025 at 9:37 AM
February 5, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Grierson, The Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan, 1889
January 30, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
Applications for our 2025-27 ECR Fellowships @ihr.bsky.social close on 31 Jan 2025

For full details and how to apply see below:

www.history.ac.uk/fellowships/...
Past & Present Fellowships
Past & Present Fellowships are available for two years, and open to researchers who have completed a doctorate in history.
www.history.ac.uk
January 28, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
kosambi did not mince words
January 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
This fascinating new book by Sunila Kalé and Christian Novetzke shows us #yoga in a refreshingly unconventional light: its political and even militant applications over history. cup.columbia.edu/book/the-yog...
The Yoga of Power | Columbia University Press
In Indian languages from Sanskrit to Marathi, yoga has an enormous range of meanings, though most often it refers to philosophy or methods to control the min... | CUP
cup.columbia.edu
December 22, 2024 at 2:27 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
Baig’s mushaira is the portrait of a #Delhi and a way of life that now solely exists in the collective memory of ‘Dehli-wallahs’. It was a powerful urge to record the city’s older face in photographic detail.

Read my translation of the urdu classic "Dehli ki aakhri shama"
December 29, 2024 at 6:06 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
Pakistani dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq shaking hands with National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; President Jimmy Carter stands by, 3 October 1980.
December 29, 2024 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
This is an incredibly ambitious paper, my god.
(with a bunch of interesting implications)
December 30, 2024 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
The annual American Historical Association meeting is in NYC in Jan. Every year (since 2006 or so), I count how many papers this gathering has on Iraq and/or Afghanistan. It has never ever been more than 5. This year's count is 2.
December 27, 2024 at 12:33 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
Four year departmental lectureship in Modern Chinese History.

This position is based at the China Centre at St Hugh’s College, close to central Oxford. This is a full-time, fixed-term position until 31 August 2029.

Details here: tinyurl.com/57nku4u5
Job Details
urldefense.proofpoint.com
December 19, 2024 at 4:17 PM
Adventures in the Indies
December 19, 2024 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
"Medicinal Property of Owl's Body Organs"
Folio from Manāfiʿ al-Ḥayawān (Usefulness of Animals), early 14th century, Tabriz, Iran
December 10, 2024 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
A short Q&A about *Disrupted City* with my employer's news service
In 'Disrupted City,' a Columbia Historian Brings Lahore to Life
In his new book, Manan Ahmed shows readers that the cultural center of Pakistan has not disappeared, but it can only be glimpsed in reflections.
news.columbia.edu
December 9, 2024 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Abhishek Kaicker
Russia’s version of what happened this week is very funny. Points for comedy & creativity. “As a result of the negotiations held between B. Assad and a number of participants in the armed conflict … he decided to leave the post” www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
Live updates: Rebels in Damascus claim victory; Assad has left country, Russia says
Bashar al-Assad’s prime minister pledged a transition of power after rebels entered Damascus. Assad’s whereabouts were unknown.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 8, 2024 at 4:15 PM