Sunil Khilnani is a professor of politics and history at Ashoka University, India. Previously, he was a professor of politics and the Director of the King's College London India Institute. He is a scholar of Indian history and politics best known as the author of The Idea of India (1997). He was the presenter of a BBC Radio 4 series entitled Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, which was later published as a book in 2016. [1] [2] [3] He was a 2010 Berlin Prize Fellow, and he was also a recipient of the Indian government's 2005 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award. [4]
Khilnani was born in New Delhi and grew up on the continents of Africa, Europe and Asia. He earned a first at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and a PhD at King's College, Cambridge. [2]
He was Starr Foundation Professor at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, [5] and Director of South Asia Studies. [6] He has also served on the Humanities and Social Sciences juries for the Infosys Prize from 2013 to 2015. [7] As of 2023, Khilnani is a Professor of Political Science and History at Ashoka University. [8] He is also the Dean of AshokaX, an initiative by the university that allows those not affiliated with Ashoka to take courses specially tailored for them. [9]
He is married to the writer Katherine Boo.