Professor Peter Flügel

Peter Flügel, Dr Phil Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, is Founding Chair of the Centre of Jaina Studies, and Professor of the Study of Religions and Philosophies at the Department of History, Religions and Philosophies in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 

He has published extensively on the history, anthropology and sociology of contemporary Jain schools and sects, Jain relic stūpas, Jaina-Vaiṣṇava syncretism, and on the socio-political and legal history of the Jain tradition. He is also working on social theory, and questions of comparative philosophy, pluralism and non-violence. 

He convenes the Annual Jaina Studies Workshops at SOAS, is editor of the International Journal of Jain Studies, series editor of Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies, and Jaina Studies of Harrassowitz, and principal investigator of the Jaina-Prosopography project.

Peter Flügel has published extensively on the history, anthropology and sociology of contemporary Jain schools and sects, Jain relic stūpas, Jaina-Vaiṣṇava syncretism, and on the socio-political and legal history of the Jain tradition. He is also working on questions of comparative philosophy, pluralism and non-violence. 

He is the editor of the International Journal of Jain Studies, co-editor of Jaina Studies - Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies, and series editor of Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies, and Jaina Studies (Harrassowitz).

Research projects

• Förderungsstipendium (Research Grant, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz 1986-1987)
• Promotionsstipendium (Doctoral Research Grant, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.1987-1990)
• Relic Worship in Jainism (2000 British Academy SRC SG-31522, 2002 Central Research Fund University of London REGS/CRF/2002/2003 (AR/CRF/A), 2002 SOAS IRP 285)
• Socio-Demographic Analysis of Contemporary Jaina Monastic Orders (2001 British Academy SCR SG-32893, 2001 SOAS IRP 295)
• Jaina Law and the Jaina Community in India and Britain, with Professor Werner Menski of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences at SOAS as principal applicant (2003-2006 AHRB Research Grant B/RG/AN9085/APN/16406)
• Jaina Rituals of Death (2011 AHRC Fellowship AH/I002405/1 2011)
• Johannes Klatt’s Jaina-Onomasticon (2012-2015 Leverhulme Trust Research Grant RPG-2012-620)
• Exploratory Survey of the Jaina Heritage in Pakistan (2015-2016)
• Literary Heritage of the Aniconic Jaina-Tradition (2016-2017 British Academy SG15213)
• Jaina-Prosopography: Monastic Lineages, Networks and Patronage (2017-2020 Leverhulme Trust Research Grant RPG-2016-454)
• Jaina Non-Tīrthas in Madhyadeśa (2018-)
• Kānjī Svāmī: History, Teachings, Community (2020-2023)
• The Aniconic Jaina Traditions: History, Doctrine, Practice (2022-2025 Leverhulme Major Research Grant MRF-2021-192)
• Jaina-Prosopography: Monastic Lineages, Networks and Patronage (2020- Firodia Trust, Jivdaya Foundation, BC Mehta Trust, Drs Jasvant N. Modi and Meera Modi and family)

Fellowships

• Millennium Fellow SOAS, University of London (2000-2002)
• Lifelong Honorary Visiting Fellow, Department of Jainology and Comparative Religion & Philosophy, Jain Vishva Bharati Institute, Ladnun (Rajasthan) (from 2001)
• Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt (2012-2013)
• The Royal Asiatic Society, Research Fellow (2020-)

International collaborations

• Olle Qvarnström, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, University of Lund, Jaina Studies Workshop at SOAS (from 2007)
• Shahid Rahman, Department of Philosophy, University of Lille 3, Jaina Logic and Argumentation (from 2012)
• Eva de Clercq, Ghent University, Jaina Studies, Cooperation in Postgraduate Research & Jaina Studies Workshop at SOAS (from 2013)
• Research Network for Dynamic and Dialogical Approaches to Historical Logic (DDAHL)
• The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, India (MoU Jaina-Prosopography, from 2019)
• Department of Prakrit & Pali University School of Languages, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India (MoU Jaina Prosopography, from 2019)
• Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (MoU Jaina Prosopography, from 2022)
• Ruhr-Universität Bochum (MoU Jaina Bronzes, from 2023)

Awards

• Ācārya Tulsī Anekānt Sammān. Ācārya Mahāprajña & M.G. Saraogi Foundation Calcutta, Dabaṛī (Rajasthan) 1999
• International Pravartinī Pārvatī Jain Award, Sādhvī Sudhā & Award Committee, Ambala (Panjab) 2010
• 'Jewel of the Jain World' Award 2012, Jain World Foundation USA