The Saroj and Prem Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity, 500 BCE – 500 CE was created in 2006 through a generous endowment from the Singhmar family of Edmonton. The purpose of the endowment is to promote the study of ancient Indian history and culture at the University of Alberta.
एतच्च तद्येन नृपर्षयस्ते धर्मेण सूक्ष्मेण धनान्यवाप्य।
नित्यं त्यजन्तो विधिवद्बहूवुस्तपोभिराढ्या विभवैर्दरिद्राः॥
बुद्धचरितम् १.५६
The current holder of the Singhmar chair is Prof. Yigal Bronner (ORCID), who was appointed in 2025.
History
The first holder of the Singhmar Chair was Professor Aloka Parasher Sen (ORCID), who held the chair from 2008 to 2011. Professor Parasher Sen left the University of Alberta to take up the position of Head of Department of History at the University of Hyderabad.
Professor Dominik Wujastyk (ORCID) was appointed to the Singhmar Chair in 2015 and
retired in August 2024. During his tenure as Singhmar Chair, Wujastyk taught and wrote on Sanskrit language and literature, classical Indian studies, and the history of science and medicine in pre-modern India. He has active research interests in the social and intellectual history of precolonial India, the early history of yoga philosophy and practice, early science and medicine, and traditions of debate in India.
