Pushkar Sohoni


Pushkar Sohoni is an architect, and an architectural and cultural historian. He is an associate professor in the department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. He was chair of the department from 2019 to 2024.

Education

Pushkar Sohoni attended Loyola High School. After graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Pune in 1999, he attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Design to get a Master of Science in Historic Preservation. In 2002, he wrote a Master's Thesis under the guidance of Prof. Frank Matero on preservation policy for the city walls of Cairo. From 2002, he was in the of the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences while being a Graduate Advisor in Fisher-Hassenfeld College House. In 2010, he received his doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania for his dissertation on the architecture of the Nizam Shahi dynasty. He worked under the supervision of Prof. Michael W. Meister and Prof. Renata Holod. Pushkar Sohoni was the post-doctoral fellow for Indo-Persian Studies in the at the University of British Columbia in 2010–2011, where he was a resident of Green College.

Experience

In October 2016, Pushkar Sohoni joined the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune as an assistant professor, and became an associate professor in 2019. Before that, he worked as the South Asia Bibliographer and Librarian at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, and a lecturer in the Department of South Asian Studies from 2011 to 2016. In this period, Pushkar Sohoni was in charge of the South Asia Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, and wrote a "widely circulated blog post" on collecting practices for libraries. He was on the advisory board of the Title VI South Asia Center. Pushkar Sohoni also served as a member of the Committee on South Asian Libraries and Documentation, and was on the executive board of the South Asia Materials Project from 2013 to 2015. In 2017–18, he was a visiting associate professor at Anant National University. His work on the palaces of the Nizam Shahs has been cited in several popular and scholarly articles and essays. He has also written about language, scripts, numismatics, and material culture.

Pushkar Sohoni often speaks at public events, and has led heritage walks. He often speaks on the local history of Pune. Dr. Sohoni has lectured extensively on the architecture of the Deccan. He has lectured on several occasions at Jnanapravaha in Mumbai. He has also appeared in a documentary film Tales of Ahmednagar on historic Ahmednagar produced by Live History India, a portal for which he was one of the earliest contributors. He has also featured in other films on the kings of Ahmadnagar, such as The Mad King Murtaza. In January 2020, he was on a panel at the Kerala Literature Festival to discuss Tony Joseph's book Early Indians. Dr. Sohoni has also been a moderator at several conferences, including the History Literature Festival. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of the Arts, the University of British Columbia, and Comenius University in Bratislava, in addition to the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. He has been a visiting critic at KRVIA.
Pushkar Sohoni worked on conservation projects in Mesa Verde National Park and in the Saint Louis Cemetery in New Orleans, as part of the at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the archaeological expedition to Iran in 2004, to excavate sites of the Jiroft culture. In 2005, he worked for the Architectural Heritage division of INTACH, New Delhi, working on the documentation of Durbar Hall in Qila Mubarak, Patiala.
Since 2015, he is an Associate Editor of South Asian Studies. Pushkar Sohoni was on the Board of Studies for Architecture, Savitribai Phule Pune University from 2018 and the Board of Studies for Architecture at Vishwakarma University from 2019 to 2022.
In 2025, along with Sarah Melsens and Maya Dodd, Pushkar Sohoni launched the Pune . The archive has been receiving good reviews from various news sources.

Awards

The American Institute of Indian Studies awarded Pushkar Sohoni a Junior Research Fellowship in 2007–08. He was a member of the project Art Space and Mobility in the Early Ages of Globalization, organized by the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. While in residence at Green College, University of British Columbia, Pushkar Sohoni served on the executive board of the Dining Committee, Residents' Council, and the Membership Committee. He was a Guest Fellow at the Wolf Humanities Center at the University of Pennsylvania is 2012–13. Along with Lisa Mitchell and Raili Roy, he won a Penn Global Engagement Fund Award for the academic year 2013–14, for undergraduate research and cultural immersion experiences in India for students. In 2013, he was a sub-reviewer for projects that had received the Aga Khan Architectural Award. He is interested in numismatics, and has lent coins to exhibitions, including the show Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In 2016–17, he and C. Ryan Perkins won an award from the American Institute of Pakistan Studies to conduct workshops for the cataloging and preservation of the Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu library in Karachi. Pushkar Sohoni was a non-residential visiting scholar of the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania in the year 2016–17. He has received research grants from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, the Indian Council of Historical Research, and the Indian Council of Social Science Research.

Publications

In 2015, he authored a book, ', focused on the sultanate architecture in the region. The book was quoted in a Bombay High Court order in 2018. In 2017, he co-authored with Kenneth X. Robbins, a book on the Jewish heritage in the western Deccan, titled '. In 2018, his book on the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar and their architectural legacy in 2018, called The Architecture of a Deccan Sultanate: Courtly Practice and Royal Authority in Late Medieval India, was published. In 2021, he co-edited a book on the practices of Muharram across the world among South Asian communities: Non-Shia Practices of Muḥarram in South Asia and the Diaspora: Beyond Mourning. Along with Riyaz Latif, he wrote Sultanate Ahmadabad and its Monuments, published by Primus in 2022. His research on the colonial market halls of India was published in 2023 as Taming the Oriental Bazaar: Architecture of the Market-''halls of Colonial India.'' In the same year, along with Pika Ghosh, he co-edited the festschrift to Michael W. Meister, titled Chakshudana or Opening the Eyes: Seeing South Asian Art Anew.
In 2024, the Maharashtra State Board for Literature and Culture published a two-volume set, in Marathi and in English, called महाराष्ट्रातील वास्तुकला : परंपरा आणि वाटचाल and Architecture in Maharashtra: tradition and journey respectively. It was edited by Narendra Dengle, with Pushkar Sohoni, Chetan Sahasrabuddhe, and Minal Sagare as co-editors.
He has written extensively on the history of architecture, the Deccan sultanates, numismatics, socio-linguistics, and aspects of material culture.
In 2017–2018, he wrote a fortnightly column called 'By the Wayside' for the Pune Mirror. He has been a consultant for the Sahapedia project on culturally mapping the city of Pune.

Research bibliography

Books (authored)

  • Taming the Oriental Bazaar: Architecture of the Market-Halls of Colonial India.
  • Sultanate Ahmadabad and its Monuments: The City of the Muzaffarids .
  • The Architecture of a Deccan Sultanate: Courtly Practice and Royal Authority in Late Medieval India.
  • Jewish Heritage of the Deccan: Mumbai, the Northern Konkan, Pune.
  • Aurangabad with Daulatabad, Khuldabad, Ahmadnagar.

    Books (edited)

  • , महाराष्ट्रातील वास्तुकला : परंपरा आणि वाटचाल, 2 volumes.
  • , Architecture in Maharashtra: Tradition and Journey, 2 volumes.
  • Chakshudana or Opening the Eyes: Seeing South Asian Art Anew.
  • Non-Shia Practices of Muḥarram in South Asia and the Diaspora Beyond Mourning.

    Edited Journal Issue

  • Languages and Scripts of South Asia: Special Issue of South Asian History and Culture,, vol. 9, no. 1. ISSN 1947-2501.

    Research Essays and Articles

  • ‘A Critical Analysis of an Architectural Heritage Site as a Filming Location Through Heritage Impact Assessments: The Case of Amber Palace, Rajasthan, India’ in Journal of Heritage Management, vol. 10 no. 2, pp. 207-224.
  • 'Maritime Fortifications: Defending Land and Sea' in Amarendra Kumar, Tides of Triumph: the Maratha Navy ''Saga, pp. 97–116.
  • 'Paṭṭā: The Maratha Sword' in Journal of Arms and Armour, vol. 22 no. 1, pp. 131–144.
  • 'Janjira Fort and Rajapuri Port: Connected Histories in a Coastal Complex' in Shefali Balsari-Shah and Sunita Nair, Gateways to the Sea: Historic Ports and Docks of Mumbai Region, pp. 174–182.
  • 'Creating an Ecumene: Cultural, Economic, Social Boundaries of the Deccan Sultanates' in South Asian Studies vol. 39 no. 2,, pp. 146–159.
  • 'Introduction: Reading Monuments and Seeing Texts: Michael W. Meister and the Opening of Eyes' in Pika Ghosh and Pushkar Sohoni, Chakshudana : Seeing South Asian Art Anew, pp. 1–17.
  • 'Squaring a Circle: Design and Construction in the Temple of Anwa' in Pika Ghosh and Pushkar Sohoni, Chakshudana : Seeing South Asian Art Anew, pp. 74–90.
  • 'Reflections of Rauza: Connected Histories of Burhanpur and Khuldabad' in South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, vol. 3 no. 1, pp. 123–126.
  • 'Mansions of the Gods and Visions of Paradise' in Nidan: International Journal for Indian Studies, vol. 8 issue 1, pp. 88–99.
  • 'Sacred Cows and Winged Steeds: Convergence of Material Form' in Kalyana Mitra: A Treasure House of History, Culture, and Archaeological Studies , vol. 6, pp. 370–375.
  • 'Caprids on Early Iranian Ceramics: Static Forms, Dynamic Meanings' in Abhayan G.S., Pankaj Goyal, and Sharada C.V., Animals in Archaeology: Integrating Landscapes, Environment and Humans in South Asia , vol. 2, pp. 441–451.
  • 'A Story Without Architecture: The Mythical Origins of Mumbai' in South Asian Studies, vol. 39 no. 1, pp 1–9.
  • 'Cultural Translation and Linguistic Equivalence: Persian–Marathi Bilingual Inscriptions' in Journal of Persianate Studies, vol. 15, pp. 70–84.
  • 'Introduction' in Heiko Sievers, Thomas Lüttge and Hans Winterberg: Golconda - Hyderabad 1974 - 1996 – 2012, A Photographic Essay, pp. 17–19.
  • 'Golconda and Hyderabad' in Heiko Sievers, Thomas Lüttge and Hans Winterberg: Golconda - Hyderabad 1974 - 1996 – 2012, A Photographic Essay, pp. 179–184.
  • 'From Colonial to National: Appropriating the Past in Service of the Present' in Mrinalini Venkateswaran, March to Freedom: Reflections on India's Independence, pp. 161–167.
  • 'Strike Two: Afterlife of Bahmani Coinage' in American Journal of Numismatics, vol. 33, pp. 189–209.
  • 'Introduction' in Pushkar Sohoni and Torsten Tschacher, Non-Shia Practices of Muḥarram in South Asia and the Diaspora: Beyond Mourning, pp. 1–11.
  • 'Visual language of piety and power: Ta'ziahs and temples in the Western Deccan' in Pushkar Sohoni and Torsten Tschacher, Non-Shia Practices of Muḥarram in South Asia and the Diaspora: Beyond Mourning, pp. 41–52.
  • , in Ku-ming Chang and Alan J. Rocke, A Global History of Research Education: Disciplines, Institutions, and Nations, 1840-1950 History of Universities Series, vol. XXXIV no. 1, pp. 269–291.
  • 'Architectural Traditions in the Deccan' in Richard M. Eaton and Ramya Sreenivasan, The Oxford Handbook of the Mughal World.
  • 'Postal Project: Rocket mail and the creation of the aero-philatelic market in India' in Culture, Continuity and Tradition: Disquisitions in Honour of Prof. Vasant Shinde, pp. 815–823, plates 934–938.
  • 'The Fort of Janjira' in African Rulers and Generals in India , pp. 167–183.
  • 'Memorials of Sovereignty: Funerary Architecture of the Siddis of Janjira at Khokri ' in Arts Asiatiques, vol. 74, pp. 147–154.
  • , 'Notice: An Unpublished Inscription from the Fort of Ahmadnagar' in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 29 no. 4, pp. 723–726.
  • 'Architectural Continuity across Political Ruptures: Early Marathas and the Deccan Sultanates' in Laurie McMillin and Bina Sengar, Spaces and Places in Western India: Formations and Delineations, pp. 107–114.
  • 'The Hunt for a Location: Narratives on the Foundation of Cities in South and Southeast Asia' in Asian Ethnology, vol. 77, nos. 1&2, pp. 215–233.
  • 'The Non-issue of Coinage: The Monetary Policies of the Post-Bahmani Sultanates' in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 28, issue 3, pp. 645–659.
  • 'Building History: Historiography of Architectural History in South Asia' in History Compass, vol. 16, no. 5.
  • 'Imbrication and Implication: Early Maratha Architecture and the Deccan Sultanates' in Archives of Asian Art, vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 33–46.
  • 'Translocated Animal Subjects in Collaboration: Animals and Human Knowledge' in Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies, vol. 8 no. 1, pp. 1–14.
  • , 'Script and Identity - The Politics of Writing in South Asia: An Introduction' to Languages and Scripts of South Asia: Special Issue of South Asian History and Culture, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–15.
  • 'Colonial and Post-colonial Debates about Polygraphia in Marathi' in Languages and Scripts of South Asia: Special Issue of South Asian History and Culture, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 38–46.
  • 'Old Fights, New Meanings: Lions and Elephants in Combat' in Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, vol. 67/68, pp. 225–234.
  • 'Marathi of a Single Type: the Demise of the Modi Script' in Modern Asian Studies, vol. 51, issue 3, pp. 662–685.
  • 'Flushing out the Enemy: Revisiting the Battle of Bhatavadi' in Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, vol. 76, pp. 15–22.
  • 'A Tale of Two Imperial Residences: Aurangzeb's Architectural Patronage' in Journal of Islamic Architecture, vol. 4, issue 2, pp. 63–69.
  • 'Vernacular as a Space: Writing in the Deccan' in South Asian History and Culture, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 258–270.
  • 'Paper Documents and Copper Plates: Localization of Hegemonic Practices' in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 79, issue 1, pp. 87–101.
  • 'Continuities in the Sacred Landscape: Ellora, Khuldabad and the Temple of Ghrishneshwara' in Syed Ayub Ali, Studies in Medieval Deccan History: Dr. M.A. Nayeem felicitation volume, pp. 56–68.
  • 'From Defended Settlements to Fortified Strongholds: Responses to Gunpowder in the early modern Deccan' in South Asian Studies, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 111–126.
  • 'Gaining Pious Merit and Creating Images of Paradise: Gardens and Irrigation' in K. Krishna Naik and E. Siva Nagi Reddy, Cultural Contours of History and Archaeology: in honour of Snehasiri Prof. P. Chenna Reddy, vol. 2, pp. 111–119.
  • 'Patterns of Faith: Mosque Typologies and sectarian affiliation in the kingdom of Ahmadnagar' in David Roxburgh, Seeing the Past—Envisioning Islamic Art and Architecture: Essays in Honor of Renata Holod, pp. 110–127.
  • 'Medieval Chaul under the Nizam Shahs: an Historic and Archaeological Investigation' in Laura E. Parodi, The Visual World of Muslim India: The Art, Culture and Society of the Deccan in the Early Modern Era, pp. 53–75.
  • 'Nature, Dams, Wells and Gardens: The Route of Water in and around Bidar' in Daud Ali and Emma Flatt, Garden and Landscape Practices in Pre-Colonial India, pp. 54–73.
  • 'Architecture of the Nizam Shahs' in Helen Philon, Silent Splendour: Palaces of the Deccan, 14th-19th Centuries, pp. 56–65.
  • 'Index to the Annual Reports of the Archaeological Department of His Exalted Highness The Nizam's Dominions' in Journal of Deccan Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 41–78.
  • 'Change and memory in Farah Bagh' in Journal of Deccan Studies, vol. 4 no. 2, pp. 59–77.