February 22, 2026 is the 50th anniversary of Safarali Khaybulloevich Shomakhmadov, Senior Researcher of the “Serindia” Laboratory, Candidate of Sciences in History, Buddhologist, specialist in hagiographic works and imperial power ideologies.

In 1999 Safarali K. Shomakhmadov graduated from the Department of Philosophy of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia. In December 1999 he was admitted to the postgraduate studies program at the Saint Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS. Under supervision of the outstanding scholar of Indian and Buddhist Studies, Valeriy Isaevich Rudoy (1940–2009), Safarali K. Shomakhmadov prepared his Candidate of Sciences dissertation entitled “The Concept of Royal Power in Buddhist Canonical and Postcanonical Sources” [Концепция царской власти в буддийских канонических и постканонических источниках] and successfully defended it in 2004.

In 2002 he started working at the Saint Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS as a Junior Researcher. He joined the Buddhology Group within the Section of South Asian and Southeast Asian Studies. Since 2005 Safarali K. Shomakhmadov has been diligently carrying out duties of the academic secretary of the Section of South Asian and Southeast Asian Studies, IOM RAS.

For a number of years Safarali K. Shomakhmadov studied Sanskrit Buddhist texts, kept at the Serindia collection of the IOM RAS, under supervision of Margarita I. Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya (1933–2021), a major authority in Central Asian studies. As a result, he became a leading specialist in the “Serindia” Laboratory, a new department at our Institute that was established in 2018.

Safarali K. Shomakhmadov is the author of more than 70 research works. His monograph “The Doctrine of Royal Power (Theories of Imperial Rule in Buddhism)” [Учение о царской власти. (Теории имперского правления в буддизме)], based on his dissertation research, was published in 2007 by the “Saint Petersburg Oriental Studies” [Петербургское Востоковедение] publishing company.

Safarali K. Shomakhmadov is also active as a lecturer. For almost 20 years he has been teaching various Cultural Studies courses as an Assistant Professor at the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Culture.

On his 50th anniversary, we would like to thank Safarali K. Shomakhmadov for diligent work and academic achievements.

Irina F. Popova, Corresponding member of the RAS, Doctor of Sciences in History
Director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS