The John F. Richards Prize in South Asian History recognizes the most distinguished work of scholarship on South Asian history published in English. South Asia is defined as the geographic area included in the modern states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Eligibility will be defined quite broadly, including books on any period or field of South Asian historical studies and works which integrate South Asian history with broader global issues and movements.
In making its selection, the prize committee will pay particular attention to depth of research, methodological innovation, conceptual originality, and literary excellence. Works that reinterpret old themes or develop new theoretical perspectives are welcome. Anthologies, encyclopedias and other edited volumes will not be considered. The current prize amount is $1,000.
The general rules for submission are:
- Books with a copyright of 2024 are eligible for the 2025 award.
- Nomination submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. Publishers may submit as many entries as they wish. Authors or publishers may submit the same book for multiple AHA prizes.
- Nominators must complete an online prize submission form for each book submitted. Once you fill out the form you will receive an email with the committee’s contact information.
- One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Richards Prize Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.
Please Note: The competition will open in mid-March. Entries must be received by May 15, 2025, to be eligible for the 2025 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2025 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2026 AHA annual meeting in Chicago.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
John F. Richards
John F. Richards (1938–2007) was a historian of South Asia and in particular of the Mughal Empire. He was professor of History at Duke University. He was the author of Mughal Administration in Golconda (1975); The Mughal Empire (1993); and The Unending Frontier: An Environmental History of the Early Modern World (2003).
Past Recipients
Current Recipient
Divya Cherian, Princeton University
Merchants of Virtue: Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia (Univ. of California Press)
Divya Cherian persuasively argues that as 18th-century Marwari merchants connected with globalized dynamics of trade and finance, they allied with Marwar/Jodhpur elites to enforce social distinctions of “embodied difference” expressed in dietary and caste terms. An emergent elite “Hinduness” defined itself against an “untouchable” populace that included Muslims, before any later colonial influences. Cherian interprets regional court rulings and orders with sophisticated scholarship to illuminate how power reshaped local social identities, a process that resonates across India today.