Murari Jha is an economic and environmental historian of early modern India, and his broader research interests include the Mughal Empire, Ganga River Systems, European East India Companies, Indian Merchant Communities and the Indian Ocean. He received training in historical research at Leiden University, the Netherlands (2006–2013) and also at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1999–2006). He has a PhD from the Institute of History, Leiden University and another PhD from the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. His current research on the Ganga River focuses on the dynamics of interconnections between the regional economy of the eastern Ganga plain and the maritime global economy during the early modern period. In particular, by focusing on the Ganga River and the natural environment of the river plain, his research seeks to understand the economic and political changes in the Bihar-Bengal region from 1500 to 1800 CE. He is revising his Leiden PhD dissertation into a book manuscript tentatively titled River and Empire: An Economic and Environmental History of the Ganga in Mughal India, c.1500–1800. He has published articles in peer-reviewed international journals and book chapters in several edited collections.