Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of The World of the Orient, Ukraine’s leading periodical in the broader field of Asian Studies, we would like to invite you to contribute to a special issue “Indology, South Asian and Buddhist studies” dedicated to the memory of an important Ukrainian Indologist and translator Pavlo Ritter, whose 150 birth anniversary Ukraine celebrates this year. The original plan was to commemorate this anniversary in the form of a series of events under the umbrella of the “Year of Indology”, but due to the difficulties caused by the Russian aggression, most events have been postponed or canceled. Nevertheless, we have not given up on the plan to dedicate an issue of our journal to Indian studies. We are happy to invite Indologists, Tibetologists, Buddhologists as well as scholars working on different aspects of traditional South Asia to contribute to this special issue of our peer-reviewed journal.

If you are interested in contributing, we would kindly ask you to send the proposed title and abstract of your contribution by 5 June to markovdmytro6@gmail.com. This is necessary to help with the planning of the issue. The final submission will be expected by 25 October 2022.

Prof. Pavlo Ritter (1872 -1939) was an outstanding scholar and translator from Oriental languages (Sanskrit, Pali, Bengali) who worked and taught in Kharkiv, Kharkiv University. He was the first translator of Sanskrit and Pali texts into Ukrainian. His works include the translations of Indian Classics, including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as well as some Jataka texts and a few Pali classical works. Unfortunately a career and life of the pioneering Ukrainian Indologist ended tragically: he was arrested in the late 1930s and died in prison.

Skhidnyj Svit (The World of the Orient) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the A. Yu. Krymskiy Institute of Oriental Studies of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine. The journal publishes articles on topical issues of the past and present of the Orient, Oriental languages and literatures, Ukrainian contacts with the Oriental countries, bibliographic surveys and reviews, as well as information about scientific conferences. Also the publications dedicated to the Crimean studies, Caucasian studies, African studies and Eastern Diasporas in different parts of the world are welcomed. Original articles of Ukrainian and foreign authors as well as the translations of Oriental historical, religious and literary sources are published.

The journal was first published in 1927 under the aegis of the All-Ukrainian Scientific Association of Oriental Studies. In 1931 the publication ceased. In 1993, after 62-year hiatus, the A. Yu. Krymsky Institute of Oriental Studies of Academy of Sciences of Ukraine resumed the publication.

Website of the journal: https://oriental-world.org.ua/

If you have any questions please write to markovdmytro6@gmail.com .