Former Professor and Vice-Chancellor at the Deccan College, Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Deemed University, Pune and presently Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, IIC Campus, Bangalore and Director General, National Maritime Heritage Complex, Gandhinagar is a world renowned archaeologist and one of the foremost scholars in South Asia.

Founder - Society of South Asian Archaeology (SOSAA)
He has been actively involved in Public Archaeology and established groups in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana to protect the Cultural Heritage of the country and generate awareness of the same among the general public.

His contributions to Archaeology in India and abroad take the form of a large number of research papers, edited volumes and other publications, comprising 12 books, two monograph, 19 edited books/journals, 133 papers in national journals/books and 72 research papers in International journals/books alone, in addition to 24 popular articles in magazines and other periodicals. Several crucial elements of South Asian archaeology, from hitherto unknown Protohistoric cultural phases to models of urbanisation in Mewar, Rajasthan, owe their discovery to him. His most significant breakthrough research contribution includes first aDNA analysis and Craniofacial Reconstruction of Harappan people.