The Indian Language and Literature program at the Department of South Asian Studies of Peking University has been designated as a key discipline by the Ministry of Education, classified as a secondary discipline under Foreign Language and Literature. This discipline is one of the first batch of national key disciplines announced and one of the earliest Master's and doctoral programs in China. The department is the only one that is authorized to confer PhD degrees in this discipline in China. In 2008, the department was rated as a specialty by the Ministry of Education. In 2009, the department was rated as a specialty in Beijing.

The department was established at the beginning of 2009. It consists of five teaching and research units, namely the Sanskrit & Pali Language Unit, the Hindi Language Unit, the Urdu Language Unit, the South Asian Culture Unit and the Bengali Language Unit. Research institutions affiliated to this department include the Center for India Studies, the Center for Pakistan Studies, the Institute of Sanskrit Manuscripts and Buddhist Literature, the Center for South Asian Studies and the Center for Buddhist Literature and Art.

The Department of South Asian Studies offers courses in six languages, namely Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Tibetan (one of China's ethnic-minority languages). Faculty research also involves some other ancient and modern languages, such as middle Iranian, Khotanese, Tocharian, Tibetan, English, German and Japanese. Research interest of the faculty mainly covers ancient Indian philology, cultural exchange between China and India, Buddhist history and literature, modern philology of South Asia, South Asian religion, South Asian culture and regional study of South Asia. Students may pursue graduate studies at the Master's or doctoral level in any of these major fields. Currently, the department has a faculty of 15 (all with PhD degrees).

From a historical perspective, the Indian discipline of Peking University began in 1917. In 1942, the National College of Oriental Studies was established, offering study of the Hindi language. In 1949, the National College of Oriental Studies was merged into Peking University. Hindi became one of the teaching and research languages of Peking University Indian Studies. In 1946, Mr. Ji Xianlin was employed by Peking University, and the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures was established. Sanskrit and Pali became the earliest languages of the department. Urdu language program was established in 1954. The teaching of Bengali language commenced in 2004. For a long time, under the leadership of the older generation of scholars such as Ji Xianlin, Jin Kemu, Liu Anwu and Jin Dinghan, the discipline has achieved fruitful results. It is in a leading position in the country and has certain influence in the international arena.