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Anirudh KanisettiThePrint |
In an India that was post-Mughal but pre-British Raj, diplomacy, popular religion, and a constellation of genius painters created the most spectacular...
In the medieval period, South Indian temples became investment destinations for middle classes. This is why they transformed into sprawling complexes.
Dalit Lingayats, educated in the Vedas, defeated Buddhists in debate. Women conducted rituals, and exercised free will in marriages.
Middle castes reveal a complicated history of caste. It's rooted in politics, not religion
Jvalamalini’s legends depict her as ferocious and straightforward. Ambika is maternal, a protector of children and kings alike.
Deccan Jains were aware of the contradiction between their non-violent principles and the martial political systems that granted them patronage.
Want to explore medieval history? Step away from X and into video games
Just like Europe’s neoclassical monuments, Vijayanagara’s temples reformulated memories of the older Chola and Chalukya empires.
Sudhanakumara—a minor hero from an older Buddhist text—was quite popular in Java, where he was depicted on the colossal Borobudur temple in the...
Over 400 years, Ayutthaya emerged through war, flourished through commerce, and collapsed in sociopolitical crisis.
For centuries, Ram was considered a semi-divine hero and ideal king, not a supreme god. It’s only from the 1200s that major Ram temples were built.
In some versions, Allah replaces Brahma, and Dasaratha is held to be Adam’s great-grandson, thus integrating Rama into Java’s Islamicate sense of...
For centuries, Rama has been used by litterateurs and rulers to legitimise themselves.
Sanskrit scholars became patrons of the Caliphate. This reshapes how we should think about conquest today.
Manichaean icons and ideas trickled into the art of Tibet and Japan, with Mani and Jesus represented as Buddhas.
India is often treated like a side-act to Jewish history in Europe. But India, Egypt were central to medieval Jewish merchants
In the 15th–17th centuries, the politics and ethnic diversity of Sri Lanka led to the subordination of Vishnu into the Buddhist pantheon.
The Palnati Virula Katha, the Tale of the Palnadu Heroes, is a unique Mahabharata of a medieval landowning caste.
Immigrant Vijayanagara warriors were focused primarily on enriching themselves. This is revealed by temple inscriptions in the Kaveri delta and the...
From mercenaries to the in-laws of the gods, the Boya and Chenchu peoples were courted by the Chola and Vijayanagara emperors.
Haider Ali & Tipu Sultan clashed with the rulers of Tamil Nadu over control of the Nilgiris, which, played an important role in the geopolitics of...
The sovereign queens of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty, coming from tribal and royal backgrounds, were extraordinary examples of how Sanskritic court culture...
Buddhism's colonial rediscovery was revolutionary, influencing generations of political and intellectual leaders in the lead-up to India’s...
The Arthashastra is a valuable historical resource, but it is not the only ancient strategic text. Army should also study India’s later strategic...
Indian sepoys who left their homes and crossed oceans to witness a world being conquered and exploited by the British, sought to understand,...
The Ahoms today are spoken of with reverence, along with a handful of other dynasties who have been selected as icons of contemporary nationalism....
Sources on the Guptas—and their Central Asian rivals & successors—show that ancient India’s most ostensibly ‘indigenous’ rulers had more...