Short answers, pulled from the story.
André Wink was born in 1953 in Hollandia, a remote town in what was then Netherlands New Guinea, now known as Jayapura, Indonesia. This birthplace set the stage for a life that would span the globe, connecting the Dutch colonial past with the complex histories of South and Southeast Asia.
André Wink earned his Ph.D. in 1984 from Leiden University under the guidance of the renowned Indologist J.C. Heesterman. This marked the beginning of his scholarly journey before he moved to the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1989.
André Wink published the first volume of Al-Hind in 1990, the second volume in 1997, and the third volume in 2003. The three-volume project covers the period from 700 to 1800 CE and stands as one of the most comprehensive studies of the Indo-Islamic world ever undertaken.
André Wink argued in the second volume of Al-Hind that the Delhi Sultanate's iqta system revitalized the north Indian economy and helped transform India into a hub of world trade. This thesis explored the conquest of India by Islamic armies and the military differences between invaders and defenders between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries.
Critics like Bruce B. Lawrence and Derryl N. Maclean pointed out significant flaws in André Wink's approach, particularly in the first volume of Al-Hind. Lawrence argued that Wink's focus on economic and trade networks came at the expense of cultural and religious history, while Maclean criticized Wink's use of sources and reliance on unattributed quotes.