Research Faculty

FURUI Ryosuke

FURUI Ryosuke

Professor
Department of South Asian Studies,
Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia
furui[at]
Research theme: Ancient and Early Medieval History of South Asia

Ancient and Early Medieval History of South Asia

Research Topics


・Mar. 1998. Bachelor of Letters, Faculty of Letters, the University of Tokyo.
・Mar. 2000. Master of Letters, School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo.
・Apr. 2000. JSPS Research Fellow (DC1, until Dec. 2001).
・Apr. 2007. JSPS Research Fellow (PD, until Mar. 2008).
・Dec. 2007. Doctor of Philosophy, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
・Apr. 2008. Associate Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (formerly Institute of Oriental Culture), the University of Tokyo (until Mar. 2020.
・Mar. 2010. Guest Scholar, Institute for the Languages and Cultures of South Asia, Berlin Free University (until Mar. 2011).
・Apr. 2020. Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo

Research activities

Books
  • Furui, Ryosuke. Land and Society in Early South Asia: Eastern India 400–1250 AD. London and New York: Routledge, 2020. [Link]
Thesis
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Rural Society and Social Networks in Early Bengal from the Fifth to the Thirteenth Century A. D.” Doctor of Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2007.
Articles and Book Chapters
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Struggle Over Kannauj and Beyond: the Pālas, the Gurjara-Pratihāras, and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas.” Self-Representation and Presentation of Others in Indic Epigraphical Writing. Edited by Dániel Balogh, and Annette Schmiedchen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2024: 57-70. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Manahali Copperplate Inscription of Madanapāla, Year 8.”Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology, New Series 13 2023.12: 81-96. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Buddhist Vihāras in Early Medieval Bengal: Organizational Development and Historical Context.”Buddhism, Law & Society 7 2023.4: 99-141. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Changing patterns of agrarian development in early medieval North Bengal: A delineation from the inscriptions.” The Archaeology of Early Medieval and Medieval South Asia: Contesting Narratives from the Eastern Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin. Edited by Supriya Varma Swadhin Sen, and Bhairabi Prasad Sahu. London and New York: Routledge, 2023: 139-153. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke, and Arlo Griffiths. “A New Copperplate Inscription: Grant of the Village Kumudavillikā during the Reign of Śaśāṅka, Year 8.”Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology, New Series 11 2020.12: 99-113. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Sujanagar Stone Inscription of the Time of Bhojavarman, Year 7.”Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology, New Series 10 2019.12: 115-122. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Bangladesh National Museum Metal Vase Inscription of the Time of Devātideva and its Implications for the Early History of Harikela.”Puravritta 2 2019.7: 45-52. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Agrarian Expansion and Rural Commercialization in Early Medieval North Bengal.” Early Indian History and Beyond: Essays in Honour of B.D. Chattopadhyaya. Edited by Osmund Bopearachchi, and Suchandra Ghosh. Delhi: Primus Books, 2019: 155-174. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Social Life: Issues of Varṇa-Jāti System.” History of Bangladesh: Early Bengal in Regional Perspectives (up to c. 1200 CE), Vol.2 Society Economy Culture. Edited by Abdul Momin Chowdhury, and Ranabir Chakravarti. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 2018: 43-70. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Agrarian Society and Social Groups in Early Medieval Bengal from a Study of Inscriptions.” Inscriptions and Agrarian Issues in Indian History: Essays in Memory of D. C. Sircar. Edited by Suchandra Ghosh B. D. Chattopadhyaya, and Bishnupriya Basak. Kolkata: The Asiatic Society, 2017: 168-188. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Subordinate rulers under the Pālas: Their diverse origins and shifting power relation with the king.”The Indian Economic and Social History Review 54, no. 3 2017.7: 339-359. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Variegated Adaptations: State Formation in Bengal from the Fifth to the Seventh Century (rev.).” State Formation and Social Integration in Pre-modern South and Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study of Asian Society. Edited by Karashima Noboru, and Hirosue Masashi. Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko, 2017: 73-87. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Ājīvikas, Maṇibhadra and Early History of Eastern Bengal: A New Copperplate Inscription of Vainyagupta and its Implications.”Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 26, no. 4 2016.10: 391-412. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Bharat Kala Bhavan Copper Plate Inscription of Rājyapāla, year 2: Re-edition and Reinterpretation.”Puravritta 1 2016.2: 41-56. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Characteristics of Kaivarta Rebellion Delineated from the Rāmacarita.”Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 75 2015.12: 93-98. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Rajibpur Copper Plate Inscriptions of Gopāla IV and Madanapāla.”Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology, New Series 6 2015.11: 39-61. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Variegated Adaptations: State Formation in Bengal from the Fifth to the Seventh Century.” Interrogating Political Systems: Integrative Processes and States in Pre-modern India. Edited by Bhairabi Prasad Sahu, and Hermann Kulke. New Delhi: Manohar, 2015: 255-273. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Agrarian Expansion and Local Power Relation in the Seventh and Eighth Century Eastern Bengal: A Study on Copper Plate Inscriptions.” Urbanity and Economy: The Pre Modern Dynamics in Eastern India. Edited by Ratnabali Chatterjee. Kolkata: Setu Prakashani, 2013: 96-110. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “The Kotalipada Copperplate Inscription of the Time of Dvādaśāditya, Year 14.”Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology, New Series 4 2013.12: 89-98. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varṇasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa.” Revisiting Early India: Essays in Honour of D. C. Sircar. Edited by Suchandra Ghosh, et al. Kolkata: R. N. Bhattacharya, 2013: 203-218. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Brāhmaṇas in Early Medieval Bengal: Construction of their Identity, Networks and Authority.”Indian Historical Review 40, no. 2 2013.11: 223-248. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Merchant groups in early medieval Bengal: with special reference to the Rajbhita stone inscription of the time of Mahīpāla I, Year 33.”Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 76, no. 3 2013.9: 391-412. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Chaprakot Stone Inscription of the Time of Gopāla IV, Year 9.” Centenary Commemorative Volume (1913-2013). Edited by Alamgir Muhammad Serajuddin et al. Dhaka: Bangladesh National Museum, 2013: 110-117. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Panchrol (Egra) Copperplate Inscription of the Time of Śaśāṅka: A Re-edition.”Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology, New Series 2 2011.12: 119-130. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Rangpur Copper Plate Inscription of Mahīpāla I, Year 5.”Journal of Ancient Indian History 27 2011.12: 232-245. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Indian Museum Copper Plate Inscription of Dharmapala, Year 26: Tentative Reading and Study.”South Asian Studies 27, no. 2 2011.10: 145-156. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “The Jagajjibanpur Copper Plate Inscription and the Ruin of Nandadirghi Monastery.”Studies in South Asian Art and Archaeology, no. 31 2010.12: 1-16. (in Japanese)
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Biyala Copperplate Inscription of Mahīpāla I.”Pratna Samiksha: A Journal of Archaeology, New Series 1 2010.11: 99-106. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Ancient History and Society.” Contexts of Indian Buddhism. Edited by Komei Nara, and Masahiro Shimota, 新アジア仏教史1インドⅠ. Tokyo: Kosei Shuppansha, 2010: 68-113. (in Japanese)
  • Ryosuke, Furui. “2008年の歴史学会—回顧と展望—南アジア古代・中世.”史学雑誌 118, no. 5 2009.5: 275-279. (in Japanese) [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Re-reading Two Copper Plate Inscriptions of Gopāla II, year 4.” Prajñādhara: Essays on Asian Art, History, Epigraphy and Culture in Honour of Gouriswar Bhattacharya. Edited by Gerd J. M. Mevissen, and Arundhati Banerji. Delhi: Kaveri Books, 2009: 319-330. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “A New Copper Plate Inscription of Gopala II.”South Asian Studies 24, no. 1 2008.8: 67-75. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “The Rural World of an Agricultural Text: A Study on the Kṛṣiparāśara.”Studies in History (New Series) 21, no. 2 2005.9: 149-171. [Link]
  • Ryosuke, Furui. “Local Society and State Control as seen in the Copper-Plate Inscriptions of Bengal: 5th to 7th Century.”The Journal of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 82, no. 4 2001.3: 576-550. (in Japanese) [Link]
Book Reviews
  • Furui, Ryosuke. Review of Into the Twilight of Sanskrit Court Poetry: The Sena Salon of Bengal and Beyond, by Jesse Ross Knutson. The International Journal of Asian Studies 13, no. 2 (2016.7): 243-245. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. Review of The Changing Gaze: Regions and the Constructions of Early India, by Bhairabi Prasad Sahu. The Indian Economic and Social History Review 52, no. 4 (2015.12): 554-556. [Link]
  • Furui, Ryosuke. Review of Hāth-Kāghaz: History of Handmade Paper in South Asia, by Masatoshi A. Konishi. The International Journal of Asian Studies 12, no. 1 (2015.1): 118-120. [Link]
Conference
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Who Will Protect Donations? Exhortation Clauses in Bengal Charters in their Social Contexts.” Presented at the DHARMA Workshop 2024: Gift Protection in South and Southeast Asia, held by Centre d’études sud-asiatiques et himalayennes at EHSS Research Building, Condorcet Campus, Paris, 24-26 September 2024, Paris, September 25 2024.
  • Furui, Ryosuke, and Arlo Griffiths. “Between Bengal and Arakan: The Early Medieval History of Harikela Reconsidered from Inscriptions.” Presented at the The 26th International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art, held at Leipzig University, 16-20 September 2024, Leipzig, September 18 2024.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Martial Brāhmaṇas and a Brahmadeya: A New Copperplate Inscription of Gopāla II and its Historical Implications.” Presented at the A special lecture delivered at Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan, December 15 2023.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Martial Brāhmaṇas and a Kāyatsha General: Gleanings from New Pāla Inscriptions.” Presented at the A Lecture delivered at Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, December 14 2023.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Buddhist Vihāras and “Secularity”: What Epigraphy Can Say and Cannot Say.” Presented at the Vihāra Project Kickoff Symposium 2022, held at Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo, 19-20 November 2022, Tokyo, November 20 2022.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “The Pāla Kings in ‘Śaiva Age’: Layers of Religious Affiliation in Early Medieval Eastern India with Special Reference to Epigraphic Sources.” Presented at the Panel III: Epigraphy, on 14 October 2022, of the workshop ‘Śaiva-Buddhist Encounters in Early Medieval East India’ held at University of Naples “L’Orientale” on 13-14 October 2022 (online participation), Naples, October 14 2022.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Struggle Over Kanauj and Beyond: Mutual Representations of the Pālas, the Gurjara-Pratihāras and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas.” Presented at the The Panel ‘Self-Representation and Presentation of Others in Epigraphical Writing’ convened by Annette Schmiedchen on 15 September 2022 in 34th Deutscher Orientalistentag, held at Freie Universität Berlin on 12-17 September 2022, Berlin, September 15 2022.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Maṭhas in Early Medieval Bengal: A Delineation from Two Inscriptions.” Presented at the DHARMA Midterm Workshop: Institutionalised Religion and Asceticism in South and Southeast Asia in the Pre-Modern Period, held at Humboldt University, Institute for Asian and African Studies, Berlin on 1-4 March 2022 (online participation), Berlin, March 3 2022.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Buddhist Vihāras in South and Southeast Asian Inscriptions: An Interim Reflection.” Presented at the Vihāra Project Online Symposium ‘Different Approaches to Indian Buddhist Monasteries from the Gupta Period Onwards’, 20-21 November, 2021, Tokyo, November 20 2021.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Land and Society in Early South Asia: Eastern India 400-1250 AD, Reflection and Afterthought.” Presented at the UPE II Seminar on ‘Recent Researches on South and Southeast Asia’ held at Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta on 23 December 2019, Kolkata, December 23 2019.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Buddhist Vihāras in Early Medieval Bengal: Organizational Development and its Historical Context.” Presented at the Epigraphic Evidence on Patronage and Social Context of Buddhist Monasteries in Medieval South and Southeast Asia, the Workshop held at Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo, 27-28 May, 2019, Tokyo, May 27 2019.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Changing Structure of Political Powers in South Asia: Bengal from the Fifth to the Thirteenth Century.” Presented at the Lecture at Department of History, University of Delhi, Delhi, January 12 2018.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Changing Structure of Political Powers in South Asia: Bengal from the Fifth to the Thirteenth Century.” Presented at the Paris EFEO Seminar, Paris, November 13 2017.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Reading Copper Plate Inscriptions of Bengal: Forms, Formats and Contents.” Presented at the Seminar held at Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, July 22 2017.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Changing Patterns of Agrarian Development in Early Medieval North Bengal: A Delineation from the Inscriptions.” Presented at the An International Conference on ‘Early Medieval/Medieval’ in Bengal: Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Archaeology with special reference to Bangladesh, held at Jahangirnagar University, 18-19 July 2017, Savar, Bangladesh, July 19 2017.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Characteristics of Kaivarta Rebellion Delineated from the Rāmacarita.” Presented at the Section I: Ancient India, December 29, 2014 of Indian History Congress 75th Session, held at Jawaharlal Nehru University, 28-30 December 2014, New Delhi, December 2014.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Variegated Adaptations: State Formation in Bengal from the 5th to the 7th Century.” Presented at the Session 3: Formation of State and Society during the Period of the 5th-14th Centuries, March 9, 2014 of The Second International Symposium of Inter-Asia Research Networks, State Formation and Social Integration in Pre-Modern South and Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study of Asian Society, held by Toyo Bunko, March 8-9, 2014, Tokyo, March 2014.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Inscribed Powers: Copper Plate Inscriptions of Eastern India and their Changing Forms.” Presented at the Session Material II (Others), November 15, 2013 of CSMC Conference on “Manuscripts and Epigraphy”, held by Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Universität Hamburg, November 14-16, 2013, Hamburg, November 2013.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Bangladesh National Museum Vase Inscription of the Time of Devātideva and its Implications for the Early History of Harikela.” Presented at the Session 7: History, July 9, 2013 of Centenary Celebration of Bangladesh National Museum 1913-2013 International Seminar, held by Bangladesh National Museum, July 8-9, 2013, Dhaka, 2013.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Agrarian Expansion and Local Power Relation in the Seventh and Eighth Century East Bengal: A Study on Copper Plate Inscriptions.” Presented at the Session 14: History, Epigraphy and Art History, September 3, 2009 of The 14th World Sanskrit Conference, held by International Association of Sanskrit Studies at the University of Kyoto, Kyoto, 2009.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Sub-regional Identities and Cultural Hegemony in Early Medieval Bengal.” Presented at the Session on Morphology of a Region, November 27, 2009 of International Conference on Region Formation in Contemporary South Asia, held at the University of Delhi, Delhi, 2009.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Agrarian Society and Social Groups in Early Medieval Bengal from a Study of Inscriptions.” Presented at the Session 3, November 16, 2007 of A Two day National Seminar to observe the birth centenary of Professor D. C. Sircar, on Inscriptions and the Agrarian History of India, held by The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, 2007.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Finding Tensions in the Social Order: a Reading of the Varnasaṃkara Section of the Bṛhaddharmapurāṇa.” Presented at the Academic Session 4, December 8, 2007 of International Seminar on Re-Visiting Early India Through Epigraphy and Other Texts, held by The Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 2007.
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Rural Society in Early Medieval Bengal and its Transition.” Presented at the Session 3, March 7, 2007 of ‘Revisiting Transitions’, seminar held at Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, March 2007.
Encyclopedia Articles
  • Furui, Ryosuke. “Early Medieval Bengal.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History. Edited by David Ludden. Online: Oxford University Press, 2022.9. [Link]

Experience

YearEducation
YearAcademic experience