Annette Schmiedchen

Prof. Dr. Annette Schmiedchen is a Professor at the Institute for Asian and African Studies (IAAW) at Humboldt University Berlin, specializing in premodern Indian history and Sanskrit epigraphy. She leads the subproject 'From Deccan to Arakan' within the ERC Synergy Grant 'DHARMA – The Domestication of 'Hindu' Asceticism and the Religious Making of South and Southeast Asia' (2019–2025). Her academic journey began with Indology studies at Humboldt University and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, culminating in her habilitation at MLU in 2009.

• Humboldt University Berlin: Research Associate (1998-2006), Professor (since 2019)
• Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg: Acting Professor (2008/09), Habilitation (2009)
• ERC Project FOUNDMED: Research Associate (2012-2017)

Dr. Schmiedchen's research focuses on inscriptional corpora of the Maitraka and Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasties in western and central India, examining complex issues of religious foundations in Buddhist, Brahmanic-Hindu, and Jainist contexts, as well as questions of power representation and legitimacy in premodern Indian culture. She has made significant contributions to understanding how religious institutions were established and maintained through royal patronage and endowments.

Her extensive publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output across multiple decades, with recent work increasingly focusing on comparative religious studies across South and Southeast Asia. The DHARMA project represents a major interdisciplinary effort to reconstruct how Hinduism developed as a religion and social model by bringing together epigraphic sources, archaeological finds, and normative texts.

• Monographs: Ruler Genealogy and Religious Patronage: The Inscription Culture of the Rastrakutas, Silaharas, and Yadavas (8th to 13th Centuries) (2014)
• Edited Volumes: Special Volume on Epigraphic Evidence on Patronage and Social Contexts of Buddhist Monasteries in South and Southeast Asia (2021/22)

As project leader of the DHARMA subproject, she oversees research staff including multiple doctoral researchers, indicating her role in mentoring the next generation of scholars. Her work bridges historical, religious, and archaeological approaches to provide a comprehensive understanding of medieval South Asian societies and their religious foundations.