The evolution of Soviet/Russian and Central Asian Studies in India is closely linked to the multi-layered relations between India and the former Soviet Union. The developments within the Soviet Union in the nearly 70 years of its existence deeply impacted India and the tone and tenor of their bilateral ties also had implications for the growth of Russian/Central Asian Studies. Against this backdrop, this article traces the origin, development, restructuring and expansion of the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies at the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Given that this has been the largest Centre at SIS, the article views the evolution of the Centre through the people that made it possible—the pioneers, the architects and the inheritors (those who currently constitute the Centre).
Sanjay Pandey (Fri,) studied this question.