In this episode, we take a look at the beginning of formal philosophy in the Northern kingdoms of India. There was a climate of questioning and social change which then pushed thinkers to examine the fundamental nature of their world
Episode 09 – Argumentative Indians
In this episode, we take a closer look at how society operated and some of the changes that were taking place. The beginnings of dissent and protest and social revolution, new philosophies and get a crash course in ancient inheritance
Episode 08 – The Land of Belonging
With kings fighting for glory and gold, what did the regular citizens get up to? We’ll take a look at what their lives were like, how ideas of social class and order developed. How much of an influence ritual and
Episode 07 – The Body Politic
We’re at a time of change. we’ll peel back the curtain on the different forces at work on ancient Indian society and see what it looked it before it changed. In this episode. we’ll look at the origin of kings
Episode 06 – Uneasy lie the heads
The Late Vedic Age; sometime between the 14th and 7th centuries BC. Or thereabouts. A time when everyone wants to be king, and then has a hard time figuring how to hold on. There are many clans and families all
Episode 5b – The Word of God, Deed of Man – (Part 3)
We pick up at the Rajasuya and then watch things go down hill for Yudhishtra and the Pandavas. After 13 years, things come to a head and it’s all out war. But in the end, it doesn’t feel like a
Episode 5a – The Word of God, Deed of Man – (Part 3)
We look at the other great epic of India; the Mahabharata. A big, rich and complex work. The Mahabharata covers a range of subjects from politics, war, society, philosophy, justice, the status of women and everything in between. But unlike the
Episode 4 – Word of Man Deed of God (Part 2)
Taking a breather from the heavier history, this time, we hear the first of the great epics of India; The Ramayana. A classical tale with kings, queens, demons and armies of warring monkeys it is ultimately the triumph of dharma
Episode 3 – The words and deeds of Gods and Men (Part 1)
A broad survey of ancient Indian literary sources and what historians have learnt from studying the Rig Veda, one of the oldest literary works. After guessing history from pottery remains and ruins of cities, literary sources were supposed to help.
Episode 2 – The Mark of the Unicorn
The Indus or Harappa Civilization, a very old and still mysterious civilization that reached a high degree of urban sophistication and complexity but left very few clues to how it managed to do all that. It’s divided historians and archaeologists about
Episode 1 – The Beginning
A brief geographical and archaeological survey of the earliest settlements in the South Asian Stone Age and the first signs of civilization. There’s also a little fish, world-carrying elephants and a giant turtle! Website Twitter
Episode 0 – Introduction
Hello! My name is Vivek Vasan and this is the introduction to Historical India Podcast. Here, I’ll tell you a little about myself and the plans for the Podcast series going forward. Website Twitter