Anshu Malhotra

Anshu Malhotra is a Professor in the Department of Global Studies and holds the Kunadan Kaur Kapany Chair for Sikh & Punjab Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Previously, she taught at the Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Delhi. She earned her Ph.D. from SOAS, University of London. Her research focuses on gender histories, cultural studies, autobiography studies, and the histories of South Asia, particularly Punjab and the Sikhs. She has authored influential books including Piro and the Gulabdasis: Gender, Sect and Society in Punjab (2017) and Gender, Caste and Religious Identities: Restructuring Class in Colonial Punjab (2002), and co-edited volumes such as Punjab Reconsidered: History, Culture and Practice (2012) and Text and Tradition in Early Modern North India (2018). Her work explores intersections of gender, caste, religion, and colonialism in Punjab. Currently, she is co-editing a volume on Sikh reformer Bhai Vir Singh and another on Punjab’s global and local histories.

Her research interests include gendered performativity, colonial Punjab dynamics, Sikh literary modernity, and diasporic identities. She has published extensively in journals like Modern Asian Studies and Journal of Women’s History. Her scholarship bridges historical analysis with cultural critique, emphasizing marginalized voices and socio-religious transformations. Recent projects highlight intersections between autobiography, gender, and colonial modernity in South Asia.

Malhotra’s contributions to Sikh studies and Punjabi historiography have redefined understandings of sectarian movements, cultural narratives, and colonial-era social structures. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates textual analysis with ethnographic insights, offering nuanced perspectives on identity formation in Punjab. While no specific awards are listed, her academic leadership is evident through her endowed chair and editorial roles.