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Saturday, January 10, 2026
TopicAncient India

Topic: ancient India

Draupadi, Chanakya didn’t tie hair—power, purity, rebellion of hair rituals in ancient India

Mendicants are warned not to seek alms from a woman with loose hair, which could indicate recent sexual intimacy or menstruation. A soldier letting his hair down is a sign of surrender.

What Arthashastra tells us about strongmen rulers and autocracies in ancient India

Americans might be puzzled as to why an autocratic strongman holds such appeal with voters. But it’s a story India has seen a thousand times in our ancient politics.

Pet or Pashu—ancient India knew which animals to eat. Then Manu made vegetarianism ideal

Manu has said: ‘A man who eats the meat of a particular animal is called an eater of that animal’s meat, whereas a fish-eater is an eater of every animal’s meat’.

Ancient India’s ideas travelled across cosmopolitan Asia. Manuscripts exhibition shows

The exhibition by SAMHiTA is part of the IIC’s ongoing annual festival. It reveals how Indian narratives have influenced cultures across Asia.

Brahmins didn’t always wear the sacred thread. They adopted it at the start of the Common Era

When we scratch below the surface, many so-called immemorial or even eternal ideas, customs, and institutions are found to have historical origins in defined times and spaces.

Lothal was a complex urban centre with maritime connections. It had a dockyard too

Archaeologist SR Rao used compelling evidence to identify a baked-brick rectangular structure as a dockyard in Lothal, but many scholars have expressed scepticism about this claim.

Oral traditions are fading—Nirmala Sitharaman gives an important reminder at book launch

The authors of ‘Life, Death and Ashtavakra Gita', Bibek Debroy and Hindol Sengupta, shared their struggles, loss, and the quest to understand death through the Ashtavakra Gita.

Ceramics are the alphabet of archaeology. India’s pottery traditions must be protected

The number of potters in India is declining. We must recognise their contribution to society and protect them, if only from an archaeologist’s point of view.

Sattva, rajas, tamas—How ancient Ayurvedic food classifications got tied to meat politics

The meanings of terms like sattvic and tamasic shifted over time, said JNU professor R Mahalakshmi during a talk at Delhi’s IIC. ‘We are not just looking at food but also at eaters.’

Harappans’ contribution to ancient Indian knowledge is either diluted or exaggerated

Professor Vasant Shinde said at least four phases of excavations at sites such as Rakhigarhi and Dholavira have revealed that Harappans “taught the whole world how to live in cities”.

On Camera

Global economic growth to slow in 2026 as Trump’s tariffs bite, UN says

The global economy is forecast to expand 2.7% this year, down from an estimated 2.8% in 2025. Growth is expected to go back up to 2.9% by 2027.

2025: Pakistan’s deadliest year in over a decade

Islamabad-based think-tank PICSS's new report says Pakistan saw 'pronounced escalation' in violence last year, with 3,413 conflict-related deaths compared to 1,950 in previous year.

A year-end Mea Culpa in National Interest—The Army-Islam combo doesn’t kill democracy

Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.