Pirawat Punyagupta
Arlington, VA| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program |
| Project Title: | Historicizing Delimitation in India |
| Field of Study: | History |
| Home Institution: | At-Large, Arlington, VA |
| Host Institution: | Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi |
| Grant Start Month: | September 2025 |
| Duration of Grant: | Nine months |
Brief Bio:
Putt Punyagupta graduated from Yale University with a BA in history and South Asian studies. A two-time U.S. State Department critical language scholar, he is proficient in Chinese, Hindi, Lao, Persian, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, and Urdu, and is presently learning Bengali and Russian. He has worked for Yale’s Program in Iranian Studies as well as the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. He has also conducted research for the Stimson Center, a U.S. nonprofit that aims to enhance international peace and security through analysis and outreach. Besides, he has taken part in symposia at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies. Putt has also supported heritage conservation activities. Prior to Fulbright, he was an open-source analyst in Washington, D.C.
Putt’s Fulbright-Nehru project is studying the history of delimitation in India. It is investigating the process’ original design elements while examining the intentions of past delimitation commissions and their attempts to ensure neutrality. It is also studying the responses of political parties and rationales behind the federal- and state-level freezes that took place in 1971 and 2002. The project is primarily relying on archival materials housed in Delhi, but is also consulting collections in relevant regional centers such as Chennai and Mumbai. Overall, the project aims to shed light on the underlying architecture that sustains India’s vibrant democracy.