Francis Christopher Rowland Robinson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, DL, FRAS (born 23 November 1944 in

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

) 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 species; as well as the ...

and academic who specialises in the history of

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. 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-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. 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, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

: 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 Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

, where he completed his MA and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degrees, the latter in 1970.

Academic career

Robinson's research interests have focused on the

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

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), ''Jamal Mian: The Life of Maulana Jamaluddin Abdul Wahab of Farangi Mahall, 1919-2012'' (2017), and ''The Muslim World in Modern South Asia: Power, Authority, Knowledge'' (2020). 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 (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

, 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 The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, the University of Chicago, and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Honours

He received a

in 2006 for his services to

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and his research into the

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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 historians of Islam Presidents of the Royal Asiatic Society

Early life and education

Academic career

Honours

Further reading

External links