Romila Thapar (born 1931) is a historian mainly writing on Ancient India. She did her doctorate at London University in 1958. Later she worked as Professor of Ancient Indian History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She later moved to London.

Her major works are Asoka and the Decline of the Maurya, Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, Recent Perspectives of Early Indian History (editor), A History of India Volume One, and Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. Her scholarly approach tends to be critical of social elites, and portrays the origins of Hinduism as an evolving interplay between social forces. For both reasons her historiography has been sharply criticized by Hindu nationalists.

In April 2003, she was named as First Holder of the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at Library of Congress. Incidentally, the Library of Congress is the USA's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. Her appointment raised the ire of Hindu nationalists and other Indians.

In January 2005, she refused to accept the Padma Bhushan awarded by the Indian Government. In a letter to President A P J Abdul Kalam, she said she was "astonished to see her name in the list of awardees because three months ago when I was contacted by the HRD ministry and asked if I would accept an award, I made my position very clear and explained my reason for declining it". Thapar had refused the Padma Bhushan on an earlier occasion, in 1992. To the President, she explained the reason for turning down the award thus: "I only accept awards from academic institutions or those associated with my professional work, and not accept state awards."

External links

• "Romila rejects Padma award" - Times of India article dated January 27, 2005
• "Romila Thapar's appointment to Library of Congress opposed"- Rediff article dated April 25, 2003
• "An Open Letter of Protest"
• "Analysis: Hating Romila Thapar" from Himal South Asian magazine