Karam Tej Singh Sarao (born 1 April 1955) is an Indian historian and the former head and professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Delhi.

[2][3] He was born in village Chatha Gobindpura, Sangrur and received his high school certificate from Khanauri High School.

College, Chandigarh for one year, he went to Delhi University from where he obtained a bachelor's honours degree in history with economics, a first-class-first master’s in history, and a PhD in Buddhism.

In 1985, he went to Cambridge University as a Commonwealth scholar and received his second doctorate in Pāli and archaeology under the supervision of Raymond Allchin and K. R. Norman in 1989.

Between the years 1981 and 1993, he also worked part-time for India’s Ministry of Defence as National Cadet Corps officer in the rank of captain.