scorecardresearch
Sunday, August 17, 2025
TopicAncient India

Topic: ancient India

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”.

How did ancient Indians, Africans, Greeks understand science? Panch tatva, God, myth

At the launch of his book 'Mythakon se Vigyan Tak', Gauhar Raza spoke about the development of science, scientific consciousness, and myths across ancient civilisations.

Torture, death, fines — how Arthashastra guided ancient kings on addressing crime & dissent

Ancient and medieval Indian theorists had a grim view of justice. Arthashastra insisted on harsh punishments—but also restrained state power in surprisingly moral ways.

On Camera

Postcards from Hyderabad—stories Europeans told about the city

For all their colonial underpinnings, postcards from Hyderabad also inadvertently preserve a trace of local memory: a glimpse of a street, a face, a forgotten name.

Navigating Trump’s tariffs is no child’s play. Indian toymakers are losing out on orders, enquiries

Indian toymakers are now exploring new markets, but they want govt to negotiate a trade deal with US soon, introduce incentives and subsidies to make the industry more competitive.

What is Project Sudarshan Chakra, announced by Modi from ramparts of Red Fort

The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.

War of IAF, PAF doctrines: As Pakistan obsesses over numbers, India embraces risk, wins

Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?