Sushma Jansari

Dr Sushma Jansari is a British Indian historian specialising in the Mauryan period and collecting histories. She is the Tabor Foundation curator South Asia at the British Museum and Vice Chair of Trustees of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. Jansari is also the founder and presenter of The Wonder House podcast and a former council member and honorary joint-secretary of the Royal Numismatic Society.

Education Jansari studied ancient history at University College London, graduating with a BA in 2005 and MA in 2006. She undertook postgraduate research at this institution, completing her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2016 with a thesis titled "From Megasthenes to Sophytes: A re-examination of literary and numismatic sources for Seleucid-Mauryan relations in British and Indian scholarship".

Career While working on her PhD, Jansari joined the British Museum's Department of Asia and curated the ancient to mediaeval displays in the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery for China and South Asia (opened 2017). In 2018, she was appointed Tabor Foundation curator of South Asia, becoming the first person of Indian origin to hold a permanent role curating the South Asian collections.

Jansari was lead curator (2016-2022) for the Manchester Museum South Asia Gallery, a British Museum Partnership which opened in 2023. She was the first Indian origin woman to join the Royal Numismatic Society Council (2012-2018) and hold the post of honorary joint-secretary. She introduced annual student and early career scholar lectures to the society.

As a curator of Gujarati origin, Jansari was featured in the Roots and Changes - Gujarati Influences exhibition at Brent Museum and Archives in 2021. Her book, Chandragupta Maurya: The Creation of a National Hero in India, was published by UCL Press in June 2023. The exhibition Ancient India: living traditions by Jansari, about art and religion in ancient South Asia, at The British Museum opened in May 2025. The exhibition book also titled Ancient India: living traditions was also released in May 2025 and is the first British Museum publication to be entirely vegan. The exhibition has received positive reviews.

Podcaster In 2019, Jansari launched The Wonder House podcast.

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