India’s maritime heritage is under threat — and China is winning the narrative war. This talk by Senior Maritime Archaeologist Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray examines how India must reframe Project MAUSAM from a history-and-archaeology exercise into a UNESCO transnational heritage bid.She argues India has failed to build the research-backed “outstanding universal value” narrative that UNESCO requires — and that China has exploited this gap brilliantly through its Maritime Silk Road programme, drawing in India’s strategic neighbourhood. Key sites like Socotra, with Brahmi inscriptions naming Ashtabhuja Vishnu, remain unclaimed in the global heritage conversation.Ray calls for India to study and engage with the histories of other nations, develop credible transnational site-linkages, and counter China’s soft power offensive with India’s own civilisational story — one that must be told in a way the world finds compelling.

About the speaker:
Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray is a distinguished Indian historian and archaeologist specializing in maritime history, archaeology of religion, and the Indian Ocean’s maritime archaeology. Former Chairperson of the National Monuments Authority and JNU Professor, she is affiliated with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. Her research centers on early seafaring communities, Buddhism in South Asia, and transnational maritime networks. A 2014-2019 Anneliese Maier awardee, she emphasizes studying coastal history across the Indian Ocean by integrating history, archaeology, and heritage protection.

Dr. Sanjay Kumar: Co-Director of Lokniti at Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS)