Professor Upinder Singh is one of the most eminent historians of India. She has published extensively on the history of ancient India. Her range of interests takes her across various regions of India. Her latest book brings together the extant knowledge on ancient and early medieval India in the form of a textbook entitled A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India (Pearson, 2009). She has been awarded many honours in India and abroad for opening up new vistas in understanding the past of India.
In 2009 A jury, headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, chose Upinder Singh for the Rs.5-million (Rs. 50 lakh) prize for her contributions as an outstanding historian of ancient and early medieval India. The prize had been instituted by the Infosys Science Foundation.