On the Spot: Sushma Jansari
‘People think curators sit about in armchairs drinking tea while occasionally peering at an object. It’s a little more high octane than that.’
Why are you a historian and curator of South Asia?
I am fascinated by the convergence of history and the objects which survive from antiquity, providing a direct link with the past. As a curator, I tell stories through objects and bring history to as wide an audience as possible.
What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
The importance of footnotes.
Which book has had the greatest influence on you?
From Samarkhand to Sardis by A. Kuhrt and S. Sherwin-White. It is what led me to study Seleucid-Mauryan contact and interaction.
What book in your field should everyone read?
The Classics and Colonial India by Phiroze Vasunia.
Which moment would you most like to go back to?
I’d love to know what actually happened when Seleucus and Chandragupta met by the banks of the River Indus in c.305 BC.
Which historian has had the greatest influence on you?
My PhD supervisor, Eleanor Robson.
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