Dr. Caleb Simmons (Ph.D. in Religion, University of Florida) specializes in religion in South Asia, especially Hinduism. His research specialties span religion and state-formation in medieval and colonial India to contemporary transnational aspects of Hinduism. He has publications and continuing research interests related to a broad range of contemporary topics, including ecological issues and sacred geography in India; South Asian diaspora communities; and material and popular cultures that arise as a result of globalization-especially South Asian religions as portrayed in comic books and graphic novels. He teaches courses on Hinduism, Indian religions, and method and theory of Religious Studies.

"In his brilliant and evocative boook, Devotional Sovereignty: Kingship and Religion in India, Caleb Simmons...importantly centers questions of theology in relation to sovereignty, making Devotional Sovereignty essential reading..." -- Rajbir Singh Judge, CSU, Long Beach, Religion

"Drawing upon a rich range of sources--royal histories, genealogical inscriptions, portraiture and visual narratives--Simmons eloquently argues for the centrality of devotion to the construction and sustenance of sovereignty in Mysore when British colonial authority was established, extended, and consolidated. A compelling and original contribution to studies of Hinduism, kingship, visual and literary culture at a time of political change." -- Crispin Branfoot, Reader in the History of South Asian Art & Archaeology, SOAS University of London

"By mining literary and visual sources respecting two South Indian kings--Mysore's Tipu Sultan and Krishnaraja Wodeyar III--Caleb Simmons shows how the idea of sovereignty was transformed during the dawn and high noon of British colonial rule. Challenging essentialized notions of Hindu or Muslim kingship, the book will prove indispensable for both historians of early modern India and students of religious studies." -- Richard M. Eaton, author of India in the Persianate Age, 1000-1765

"Devotional Sovereignty bridges several gaps in the scholarship on sacred kingship and religion in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century South India. It is especially commendable that Simmons combines an analysis of narrative sources across a wide range of archives and languages with a close reading of artistic productions and performances in royal and temple spaces. Scholars within and outside the field of South Asian studies will benefit from this erudite work." -- A. Azfar Moin, Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Austin