The second phase of the MAFIL project (2017-2020), in cooperation with HNB Garhwal University (Srinagar, Uttarakhand) is dedicated to the study of early Buddhism in Ladakh with extensive excavations at the site of Leh Choskor and exploration in the Leh valley.

The first phase of the MAFIL project (2013-2016), in cooperation with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), aimed at examining the links between the north-west of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia over time by establishing a chrono-cultural sequence for the Nubra valley from the Neolithic to the Buddhist period.

For its second phase (2017-2020) the MAFIL is supported institutionally and/or financially by:

• French Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs (through the Advisory Commission for Archaeological Research Abroad), Paris, France;

• Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar (Uttarakhand);

• the French Institute in India, Delhi;

• the East Asian Civilisations Research Centre, Paris, France;

• EPHE, PSL Research University, Paris;

• Institut Universitaire de France (IUF).

Since its creation in 2012 the MAFIL was punctually supported at an institutional and/or financial level by:

• the Special Programme Central Asia of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany;

• the Swiss Confederation’s Research, Education and Innovation Service, Swiss Embassy, Delhi;

• the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres (through the Foundation Paule Dumesnil’s award);

• the Project for Indian Cultural Studies, Mumbaï.