Rishika Dhumal is an external PhD candidate at the Faculty of Archaeology.

More information about Rishika Dhumal

Research

The PhD research will archaeologically analyse the role of the Indian subcontinent in the Afro-Eurasian trade networks. This will be studied along with the connection between trade and Buddhism across the Indian subcontinent.

The thesis will use a trans-regional approach to determine the subcontinent’s role and will analyse multiple sites from three selected regions, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Sri Lanka. These three regions are also well known for their spread of Buddhism, which makes them ideal for this particular research. The connection between trade and Buddhism is made quite a lot with the Silk Routes trade because of the prominent Buddhist sites along the trade route (Bamiyan Buddhas, Taxila, Mes Aynak, etc). This presence of Buddhism is not given enough emphasis throughout the subcontinent in the context of trade. This PhD research will highlight these aspects and investigate further to get a better understanding of this connection.