Divya Cherian

Divya Cherian is an Associate Professor of History at Princeton University specializing in early modern and colonial South Asia. Her research examines intersections of caste, sexuality, power, and global history through the lens of bodily expression and status regimes during South Asia's transition from pre-colonial to colonial modernity.

Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in History from Columbia University, M.Phil. and M.A. in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), and B.A. in History from the University of Delhi.

Cherian's research centers on how global economic integration reshaped caste identities and religious boundaries in 18th-19th century South Asia, with expanding focus on occult practices, witchcraft persecution, and non-human beings. She investigates bodily permeability and liminality as mechanisms of social exclusion, connecting local South Asian histories to transnational capital flows and colonial power structures. Her work bridges legal history, gender studies, and religious studies through comparative frameworks.

Recent publications reveal consistent methodological innovation in analyzing marginality, showing how witchcraft accusations, abortion governance, and caste politics operated within early modern global networks. Her scholarship demonstrates how local South Asian phenomena cannot be understood without examining their entanglement with worldwide historical processes.

Major recognitions include:

• NEH Fellowship (2025) for "Conjured States: Witchcraft and Politics in Western India, 1750–1900"
• 2024 John F. Richards Prize (American Historical Association)
• 2022 Joseph W. Elder Prize (American Institute of Indian Studies)
• Multiple book award honors for "Merchants of Virtue"

Cherian teaches undergraduate surveys of medieval/early modern South Asia and seminars on caste, religious identities, and gender/nation in India. Her graduate seminars address major debates in South Asian history and comparative global frameworks. Current research is supported by NEH funding for her second book project exploring occult histories, land relations, and tribal identity formation during colonial transition.