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Thursday, November 6, 2025
TopicMedieval India

Topic: Medieval India

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.'

What a Tamil town tells us about votes, caste, and fraud in medieval India

Nepotism seems to have been a concern in Uttaramerur elections. That's why the drawing of ballots was done by a child and executives' relatives were banned from being elected.

Cholas and Chaulukyas understood tariffs and taxes better than Trump does

In the 11th century, Chola emperor Kulottunga I abolished all commercial tolls. His policies improved the circulation of commodities, leading to a minor boom in manufacturing centres.

Olympics of medieval India were grisly, wacky, & thrilling. Elephant racing, polo, wrestling

Sports in medieval India were primarily conducted for royal entertainment. The prizes were dazzling, but some sports could end in death.

Gyan Chaupar—the spiritual ancestor of Snakes and Ladders

The medieval game was meant to educate players on which traits and practices were morally desirable and what consequences lay in store for negative habits.

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.

Chola kings divided people into 2 caste groups—to pit them against each other and exploit

In 'Caste Away', NA Vanamamalai talks about inscriptions from the time of Chola dynasty that reveal caste politics in medieval Tamil Nadu.

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.

Sanskrit texts show Medieval Indians loved foreign goods, luxury. Not just temples

This flies in the face of all ideas that medieval South Asians were somehow insular or uninterested in the rest of the globe.

There’s more to Assam than Ahoms. Ancient Kamarupa, Bengal challenge assumptions

The Mughal-Ahom wars were really the culmination of 1,000 years of geopolitical rivalry.

On Camera

Why Indian and American Hindus must adapt in a proselytising world

Indian sampradayas have to institutionalise their knowledge and boil it down to essentials for transmission and proselytisation if they are to compete with the major Abrahamic sects.

What does NCLAT order mean for data-sharing ban, penalty imposed by CCI on Meta & WhatsApp

On 4 November 2025, NCLAT bench, comprising Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Member Arun Baroka, noted that WhatsApp and Meta are distinct legal entities.

‘Let them see’: Putin says new nuclear-powered missiles in the making, in message to Washington

At a ceremony felicitating Russian military engineers, Putin highlights Moscow’s 'parity' in defence technologies for the next century.

Trump’s trade wars have rewritten powerplay, but India didn’t get the memo

This world is being restructured and redrawn by one man, and what’s his power? It’s not his formidable military. It’s trade. With China, it turned on him.