Himanshu Prabha Ray is Chairperson of the National Monuments Authority, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi and as recipient of the Anneliese Maier research award of the Humboldt Foundation is affiliated to Ludwig Maximillian University, Munich. Her research interests include Maritime History and Archaeology of the Indian Ocean, the History of Archaeology in South and Southeast Asia and the Archaeology of Religion in Asia. Her books on maritime contacts include The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003, as also edited volumes, Satish Chandra and Himanshu Prabha Ray edited, The Sea, Identity and History: From the Bay of Bengal to the South China Sea, Manohar Publishers, 2013; H.P. Ray and E.A. Alpers, edited, Cross Currents and Community Networks: Encapsulating the History of the Indian Ocean World, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2007; H.P. Ray and J.-F. Salles, edited, Tradition and Archaeology: Early Maritime Contacts in the Indian Ocean, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi, 1996, updated edition 2012.
