Dr. Aftab Alam is an Assistant Professor of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology at the Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He obtained his Ph.D. in Ancient Indian History, Culture, and Archaeology from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, in 2018. He completed his Master’s degree in 2011 and his Bachelor’s degree in 2009 in Ancient History, Culture, and Archaeology from the University of Allahabad.

His research primarily focuses on the Landscape Archaeology of Northern South Asia, emphasizing the study of settlement patterns and their material culture through the combined use of archaeological, scientific, and digital methods. He has extensive experience conducting archaeological research across the Ganga and Indus basins of North and North-West India, particularly in the regions of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.

His areas of specialization include Archaeological Field Methods, encompassing both survey and excavation techniques, and the scientific study of ceramics. He also applies remote sensing, GIS, and digital mapping to investigate archaeological settlement patterns and ancient land-use systems. His research further incorporates computational approaches to fieldwork and explores the long-term development of urban and agrarian societies in South Asia. He strongly believes in interdisciplinary research and integrates archaeological and historical data to address broader sustainability and environmental challenges.

Currently, Dr. Aftab Alam serves as the Principal Investigator and Liaison Officer for the Five-Year Memorandum of Understanding (2025–2030) between Aligarh Muslim University (India) and the University of York (United Kingdom), in collaboration with Dr. Adam Green. He is also an Honorary Research Associate (2025–2026) at the Department of Archaeology and the Department of Geography and Environment, University of York, United Kingdom.

Before joining Aligarh Muslim University, He held several prestigious research positions. He was a Visiting Fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge in 2019. He worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in two major international projects, i.e., TIGR²ESS (Transforming India’s Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable Food Supplies) from 2020 to 2022, and MAHSA (Mapping Archaeological Heritage in South Asia) from 2022 to 2023, jointly conducted by the University of Cambridge and Banaras Hindu University. In 2022, he was awarded the highly competitive Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, Spain, which he declined to pursue a full-time academic career as an Assistant Professor at the Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.

He has also been actively engaged in capacity-building and international training programmes. He attended the NGP-DST Summer School on Geospatial Technologies held in July 2024 at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, organized by the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Centre for Sustainable Development and supported by the National Geospatial Programme (NGP), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. In 2025, he was awarded the Global South Fellowship under the Global South Programme funded by the Global Research Excellence Fund, United Kingdom, to participate in scientific research at the University of York for two weeks. He also participated in the Archaeological Summer School (2025) held across Çanakkale, İzmir, Gaziantep, Şanliurfa, Ankara, and Istanbul in the Republic of Turkey. His research bridges the disciplines of archaeology, digital humanities, and sustainability studies, advancing a holistic understanding of ancient landscapes, material culture, and socio-environmental systems. Through his interdisciplinary approach and international collaborations, he continues to make significant contributions to the study of South Asian archaeology and the broader discourse on sustainable human-environment interactions in the past.

During his PhD studies and beyond, he supervised more than 20 archaeological Fieldworks in India, leading international teams. These fieldworks in Archaeology provided extensive experience in directing and collaborating in international and interdisciplinary research.

• Archaeological trips to the historic city of Agra and yet another exploratory exploration to a historic site in the village Mukhlishpur, District Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), along with Prof. Gulfishan Khan and members of the Archaeology section, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University , 2023-24.

• Fieldwork in Bahola and other Places in District Karnal, Haryana, with the team Professor R. N. Singh, Banaras Hindu University and University of Cambridge from 21^st November 2022 to 5^th December 2022.

• Excavation at Nindaur, Kaimur, Bhabhua, Bihar, March-May 2022, conducted by the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, BHU, Varanasi, India, 2022, with Dr Vikas Kumar Singh.

• The Excavation at Sakas, Sahsaram, Rohtas, Bihar, March –April 2021, conducted by the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, BHU, Varanasi, India, with the team of Dr Vikas Kumar Singh, 2021.

• Co-Director of Exploration in Warangal, Mehbubabad and Khammam Districts, Telangana, for the field session, 2020-2021, with the team of Dr K. P. Rao, Dr Adam S. Green, Professor Cameron A. Petrie and Professor R. N. Singh, 2021

• The Exploration from Kashi to Mathura in an Archaeological Perspective, Conducted by AIHC & Archaeology, BHU, Varanasi, 2020.

• The Exploration in Sidhi District, Madhya Pradesh, India, Conducted by AIHC & Archaeology, BHU, Varanasi, September 2020.

• The Excavation at Sakas, Sahsaram, Rohtas, Bihar, February- March,2019, conducted by the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, BHU, Varanasi, India, with the team of Dr Vikas Kumar Singh, 2019

• The Excavation at Sakas, Sahsaram, Rohtas, Bihar, March –April 2019, conducted by the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, BHU, Varanasi, India, with a team led by Dr Vikas Kumar Singh, 2019.

• The Excavation at Masudpur, Hissar, Haryana, in Jan.-Feb. 2019, conducted by the Archaeology Departments of the BHU & University of Cambridge, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh and Dr Cameron A. Petrie, 2019.

• The Exploration in Varanasi District, Uttar Pradesh, India, Conducted by AIHC & Archaeology, BHU, Varanasi, September 2018

• The Excavation at Masudpur in Hissar, Haryana, in January-March 2018, was conducted by the Archaeology Departments of the BHU & University of Cambridge, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh and Dr Cameron A. Petrie 2018.

• The Excavation at LohariRagho II in Hissar, Haryana, in March-April 2017, conducted by the Archaeology Departments of the BHU & University of Cambridge, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh and Dr Cameron A. Petrie 2017.

• The Excavations at Khanak, Bhiwani, Haryana, in February- May 2016 conducted by the Archaeology Department of the BHU, Varanasi, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh, 2016.

• The Surface Survey and Trial Excavation at LoharoRagho II in Hissar, Haryana, in March-April 2015, was conducted by the Archaeology Departments of the BHU & University of Cambridge, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh and Dr Cameron A. Petrie, 2015.

• The Explorations in Jaipur and Sikar districts, Rajasthan, conducted by the Department of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh, 2015.

• Participated in the Excavations at Ganeshwar, Sikar, Rajasthan, in March-April & September 2013, conducted by the Archaeology Departments of the BHU & Rajasthan State Archaeology, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh, 2013.

• Participated in The Excavations at Bahola, Karnal, Haryana, in March-April-May 2012, conducted by the Archaeology Departments of the BHU & University of Cambridge, with the team of Professor R. N. Singh and Dr Cameron A. Petrie, 2012.