Rahul Peter Das (born 7 July 1954 in Haan, North Rhine-Westphalia), an alumnus of St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata, is a former professor of South Asian studies (Südasienkunde) at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he was also dean of studies of the Faculty of Philosophy I.
Through his teachers Klaus Ludwig Janert and Albrecht Wezler, students of Paul Thieme, he was influenced by the stringent principles of philological research.
He applied these principles when he instituted, in 2000, the new subject of South Asian Studies (Südasienkunde) at his university.
Das has published on a variety of subjects ranging from Vedic linguistics through South Asian Islam and Tamil to Security Studies.
In 2006, Das initiated the interdisciplinary Working Group on Post-classical South Asia (Arbeitskreis Neuzeitliches Südasien) within the German Association for Asian Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde).