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Anirudh Kanisetti

Anirudh Kanisetti

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How a fading Benares dynasty commissioned North India’s greatest Ramayana paintings

In an India that was post-Mughal but pre-British Raj, diplomacy, popular religion, and a constellation of genius painters created the most spectacular...

25.04.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Why are South Indian temples larger than ones in North? Answer isn’t ‘Islamic invasions’

In the medieval period, South Indian temples became investment destinations for middle classes. This is why they transformed into sprawling complexes.

18.04.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

How Karnataka’s medieval Lingayats challenged caste, oppression of women & toppled empires

Dalit Lingayats, educated in the Vedas, defeated Buddhists in debate. Women conducted rituals, and exercised free will in marriages.

11.04.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Not Manusmriti, British—caste system in medieval Tamil Nadu solidified after Cholas fell

Middle castes reveal a complicated history of caste. It's rooted in politics, not religion

21.03.2024 30

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Anirudh Kanisetti

South India’s Jain goddesses you haven’t heard of: Establishers of dynasties, fierce protectors

Jvalamalini’s legends depict her as ferocious and straightforward. Ambika is maternal, a protector of children and kings alike.

07.03.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

How non-violent Jainism thrived in the warlike Deccan

Deccan Jains were aware of the contradiction between their non-violent principles and the martial political systems that granted them patronage.

22.02.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance’ to ‘Total War’, how video games make medieval history memorable

Want to explore medieval history? Step away from X and into video games

15.02.2024 7

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Vijayanagara was the Indian Renaissance State. It contains memories of older empires

Just like Europe’s neoclassical monuments, Vijayanagara’s temples reformulated memories of the older Chola and Chalukya empires.

08.02.2024 20

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Medieval Bengali Buddhism wasn’t purely ‘Indian’. Javanese gods, Hindu rivalry

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...

01.02.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

A Thai-Buddhist ‘Ayodhya’ was one of Asia’s greatest kingdoms. Then came a reckoning

Over 400 years, Ayutthaya emerged through war, flourished through commerce, and collapsed in sociopolitical crisis.

25.01.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Ram wasn’t always top god in India. Political chaos, conflict with Turks elevated him

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.

18.01.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Rama as a descendent of Adam? Inside Indonesia’s Muslim Ramayanas

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...

11.01.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Rama and the King: How an ancient hero was used by Pala poets, Chola emperors

For centuries, Rama has been used by litterateurs and rulers to legitimise themselves.

04.01.2024 50

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Who brought Sanskrit to Baghdad? This is how Iranian Buddhists, Zoroastrians changed Arabs

Sanskrit scholars became patrons of the Caliphate. This reshapes how we should think about conquest today.

21.12.2023 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Manichaeism worshipped Jesus, Buddha. This Silk Road religion’s strength became its weakness

Manichaean icons and ideas trickled into the art of Tibet and Japan, with Mani and Jesus represented as Buddhas.

14.12.2023 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Medieval Jewish merchants connected Mangalore to Egypt and Spain. Trade in India thrived

India is often treated like a side-act to Jewish history in Europe. But India, Egypt were central to medieval Jewish merchants

07.12.2023 8

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Buddha used to be Vishnu in India. In Sri Lanka, Vishnu is a future Buddha

In the 15th–17th centuries, the politics and ethnic diversity of Sri Lanka led to the subordination of Vishnu into the Buddhist pantheon.

30.11.2023 20

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Anirudh Kanisetti

How a minor medieval war inspired a Telugu ‘Katha’, Tollywood movies

The Palnati Virula Katha, the Tale of the Palnadu Heroes, is a unique Mahabharata of a medieval landowning caste.

16.11.2023 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Don’t romanticise Vijayanagara as the ‘last Hindu empire’—it has a side you don’t know about

Immigrant Vijayanagara warriors were focused primarily on enriching themselves. This is revealed by temple inscriptions in the Kaveri delta and the...

09.11.2023 9

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Anirudh Kanisetti

How Shiva and Narasimha worship assimilated Adivasis in Andhra Pradesh

From mercenaries to the in-laws of the gods, the Boya and Chenchu peoples were courted by the Chola and Vijayanagara emperors.

02.11.2023 5

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Nilgiris aren’t just for honeymoons—its peoples fought Hoysalas and Haider Ali

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...

26.10.2023 7

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Odisha’s medieval queens weren’t ‘ideal wives’–they fought off invaders, ordered war & murder

The sovereign queens of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty, coming from tribal and royal backgrounds, were extraordinary examples of how Sanskritic court culture...

19.10.2023 7

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Buddhism has just been reduced to anti-Brahmin thought. But it shaped Hindu reforms too

Buddhism's colonial rediscovery was revolutionary, influencing generations of political and intellectual leaders in the lead-up to India’s...

12.10.2023 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Army’s move to learn about ancient texts is important. But it needs a broader focus

The Arthashastra is a valuable historical resource, but it is not the only ancient strategic text. Army should also study India’s later strategic...

05.10.2023 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

British Indian sepoys weren’t silent spectators to colonial brutality. They led quiet rebellions

Indian sepoys who left their homes and crossed oceans to witness a world being conquered and exploited by the British, sought to understand,...

28.09.2023 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Celebrate Ahom wars against Mughals. But don’t miss how neo-Vaishnavites weakened them

The Ahoms today are spoken of with reverence, along with a handful of other dynasties who have been selected as icons of contemporary nationalism....

21.09.2023 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Gupta Period wasn’t exactly the glorious Hindu age that we are told. It’s complicated

Sources on the Guptas—and their Central Asian rivals & successors—show that ancient India’s most ostensibly ‘indigenous’ rulers had more...

14.09.2023 20

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Anirudh Kanisetti

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