Francis Christopher Rowland Robinson CBE, DL, FRAS (born 23 November 1944 in Barnet) is a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and academic who specialises in the history of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

. Since 1990, he has been Professor of History of South Asia at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. He has twice been president of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

: from 1997 to 2000, and from 2003 to 2006.

Early life and education

Robinson was educated at Bexhill County Grammar School for Boys and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he completed his MA and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

degrees, the latter in 1970.

Academic career

Robinson's research interests have focused on the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

world, with particular emphasis the Muslims of

, Muslim responses to modernity, learned and holy families, and religious and political change. He has written several books on the Islamic World, including ''Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500'' (1982), ''Islam and Muslim History in South Asia'' (2000), ''The Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia'' (2001), ''The Mughal Emperors'' (2007), and ''Islam, South Asia, and the West'' (2007). Robinson served as president of the

from 1997 to 2000 and 2003 to 2006. Robinson was the vice-principal of

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic depa ...

, from 1997 to 2004. He had previously served as the head of the History Department at the college from 1990 to 1996. Robinson has also been a visiting professor at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, the University of Chicago, and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

Honours

He received a CBE in 2006 for his services to

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

and his research into the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

External links

Page on Professor Francis Robinson at the RHUL History Department website

Article about Professor Robinson's CBE award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Francis 1944 births Living people Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Surrey British scholars of Islam Historians of Islam Non-Muslim scholars of Islam Presidents of the Royal Asiatic Society

Early life and education

Academic career

Honours

Further reading

External links