I am a scholar working on the material culture of South Asia, especially India.  

I was a curator at the British Museum for more than thirty years, retiring in 2018 as Head of the South and Southeast Asia Section in the Department of Asia (see About). 

My work there involved the mounting of many exhibitions and permanent displays, as well as the research into, publication of and addition to these outstanding collections. I have written extensively, both for public and for scholarly readers (see Publications).

I live in London, but continue to travel to the subcontinent, to conduct research and write about it (see Travelogue & Research).

At the early Buddhist site of Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, southern India in December 2022
Standing in the circumambulatory walkway around the ruins of the great stupa (left) with fragments of stone railing pillars (right). These range in date from the late centuries BC to the early centuries AD.

Photograph © Lanto Synge 2019