Peter Bisschop is Professor of Sanskrit and Ancient Cultures of South Asia at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies. He is a Sanskritist and cultural historian of ancient India, with particular interest in the development of Hinduism and related traditions. His research is philological in nature; he makes editions of Sanskrit texts based on surviving manuscripts. For his research, he studies not only texts but also material culture (inscriptions, temples, statues, etc.). He is interested in the development of religious texts in relation to their environment. Sanskrit has more than 3,000 years of history in large parts of South and Southeast Asia. His research thus covers a vast area in time and space.

More information about Peter Bisschop

Research

The main focus of my research concerns the historical development and spread of early Hindu religious traditions, in particular Śaivism, based, first of all, on the philological study of Sanskrit texts. I am particularly interested in the composition and transmission of the anonymous Purāṇa literature, and the historical, religious and social contexts of Purāṇic mythology. I am a member of the international research team preparing a critical edition of the Skandapurāṇa. I also take a keen interest in other forms of Sanskrit literature such as Kāvya, Śāstra and Tantra. 

I have been involved as principal investigator in several major research grants. From 2016-2020 I was head of the NWO Free Competition Project From Universe of Viṣṇu to Universe of Śiva. From 2017-2020 I was one of the principal investigators of the ERC Synergy Project Asia Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State. In 2022 I was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for the project PURANA: Mythical Discourse and Religious Agency in the Puranic Ecumene, which runs from 2022-2027.

Supervision

I am willing to supervise MA students on projects concerning any topics related to Sanskrit and various aspects of culture and society in early South Asia. For PhD projects, I particularly welcome those who work with primary sources and are willing to think beyond them.

CV

• 1993-1998: MA Philosophy and Indology at the University of Groningen.
• 2000-2004: Research Assistant at the University of Groningen. PhD Early Saivism and the Skandapurara: Sects and Centres.
• 2004-2005: Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford.
• 2005-2010: Lecturer in Sanskrit Studies, University of Edinburgh.
• 2010: Professor in Sanskrit and Ancient Cultures of South Asia, Leiden University.

Teaching

• BA and MA courses Sanskrit.
• BA courses on the history and culture of South Asia.

Selected Publications

• The Skandapurāṇa. Volume V. Adhyāyas 96-112. The Varāha Cycle and the Andhaka Cycle Continued. Critical Edition with an Introduction & Annotated English Synopsis by Peter C. Bisschop and Yuko Yokochi, in cooperation with Sanne Dokter-Mersch and Judit Törzsök. Leiden: Brill, 2021.
• Primary Sources and Asian Pasts. Edited by Peter C. Bisschop and Elizabeth A. Cecil. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021.
• Universal Śaivism. The Appeasement of All Gods and Powers in the Śāntyadhyāya of the Śivadharmaśāstra. Leiden: Brill, 2018.
• The Skandapurāṇa. Volume IV. Adhyāyas 70-95. Start of the Skanda and Andhaka Cycles. Critical Edition with an Introduction & Annotated English Synopsis by Peter C. Bisschop and Yuko Yokochi, in cooperation with Diwakar Acharya and Judit Törzsök. Leiden: Brill, 2018.
• The Skandapurāṇa. Volume IIB. Adhyāyas 31-52. The Vāhana and Naraka Cycles. Critical Edition with an Introduction and Annotated English Synopsis by Hans T. Bakker, Peter C. Bisschop and Y. Yokochi, in cooperation with Nina Mirnig and Judit Törzsök. Leiden: Brill, 2014.
• Early Śaivism and the Skandapurāṇa: Sects and Centres. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 2006.

Ancillary positions

• Editor-in-Chief of Indo-Iranian Journal

• Editor-in-Chief of the Gonda Indological Studies 

Publications

Activities