History

Founded in 1984 in the intellectually vibrant city of Prayagraj, India, the Sundar Singh Institute of South Asian Studies (originally the St. Bartholomew Institute) has grown into a unique academic centre committed to interdisciplinary research, ethical scholarship, and public responsibility. The Institute was conceived as a space where rigorous academic inquiry would not remain isolated from social realities, but would engage the pressing questions of justice, identity, and coexistence in South Asia.

The original name—St. Bartholomew Institute—reflected its founding under the Society of Saint Bartholomew, an ecumenical Christian academic initiative aimed at fostering inclusive theological and social research. The Institute attracted scholars from diverse traditions, including graduates of the University of Cambridge, and built its early identity on the convergence of Western and South Asian intellectual heritages. From its inception, the Institute challenged the boundaries of traditional academia by integrating moral imagination and civic engagement into its research ethos.

In January 2024, the Institute formally adopted its current name in honour of Sadhu Sundar Singh. This renaming marked not just a symbolic shift but a conscious reaffirmation of the Institute’s commitment to humility, spiritual depth, and ethically grounded scholarship. It signaled a move toward a more inclusive, justice-oriented vision of academic life—one that highlights the complexities and possibilities of South Asia through interdisciplinary and intercultural lenses.

Throughout its history, the Institute has maintained its identity as both a research institution and an ethical community. It offers a space where intellectual rigor is matched by public relevance, and where inquiry is not separated from responsibility. Faculty and fellows conduct research that spans history, the humanities, social sciences, and religious studies—an approach that allows the Institute to explore South Asian realities in both regional and transnational contexts.

Recognizing that South Asia’s future is interwoven with global forces—postcolonial memory, ecological urgency, economic inequality, and interfaith dynamics—the Institute has developed strong expertise in areas such as public theology, political theory, religious ethics, and cultural critique. Its scholars have helped shape policy discourse, inspired institutional innovation, and advanced public debates on justice and equity.

Accredited by India’s educational authorities, the Institute is more than a site of academic excellence. It is a moral platform for collective knowledge production, grounded in the values of intellectual integrity, cultural humility, and social equity. The Institute remains committed to fostering critical reflection and compassionate scholarship—learning that is always in service to the dignity and humanity of all people.

In an age marked by ethical, environmental, and political uncertainty, the Sundar Singh Institute continues to serve as an intellectual commons: a place of dialogue, critique, and hope. Here, the enduring questions of existence, human agency, and coexistence are examined with intellectual depth and spiritual courage, opening space to imagine a more just and compassionate world.