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Monday, February 23, 2026
TopicMedieval history

Topic: Medieval history

Aurangzeb’s redemption is built on a scholarly empire of shaky citations

The considerable weight of claims about Aurangzeb’s religious tolerance rest heavily on one obscure scholar's writings. We know him merely as 'Jnan Chandra, Bombay.'

Medieval Kashmir was confidently multicultural. And dazzled the world with art and ideas

Kashmiri art once outshone China, and its poets were sought after as far south as the Deccan — to say nothing of the vast reach of its textiles.

How did taxes work in medieval India? Chola, Mughal subjects struggled like today’s middle-class

In Tamil Nadu, we have an extraordinary archive of over 13,000 stone inscriptions on temple walls, recording the taxation, sale, and cultivation of land.

Yoga, Sanskrit inspired Sufi epics—Chakras became ‘mystical stations’, gods turned ‘angels’

Maulana Daud’s ‘Chandayan’ originated in a cultural context we can think of as Hindu, above which Sufism had become a major strand of elite devotion.

How a brawl in 18th-century Constantinople changed what we know about the Vikings

The sources that inform our knowledge of the Vikings come in many forms and languages. Among them are a series of geographical and eyewitness texts written in Arabic that discuss aspects of the Viking world.

How medieval French women used hidden social networks to share medical advice

The ‘Distaff Gospels’ share advice on pregnancy, childbirth and health. The collection was compiled during secretive meetings of French women who had gathered to spin flax.

Shaivite rivals were not Vaishnavites, but tantric Buddhists in medieval era

The Pallava dynasty was turning toward Shaivism. Buddhists took immediate note and strung up a narrative where Shiva is immature and Trailokyavijaya emerges supreme.

On Camera

Nick Jonas wearing a mangalsutra is validation for many Indians. He’s our favourite jiju

Nick Jonas is not trying to modernise the mangalsutra, but his gesture shows that choices can be equal. If commitment must be flaunted, it need not be gendered.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

Suspected brake failure leads to Tejas accident after landing, airframe likely to be written off

The IAF, so far, remains mum on this accident which has led to grounding of the fleet for safety checks.

No country is ever fully sovereign. Cold War era taught India its real meaning

India’s fraught neighbourhood places multiple constraints on its strategic choices. It leaves no time to take a deep breath, lean back and reset.