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Thursday, September 25, 2025
TopicThinking Medieval

Topic: Thinking Medieval

Fatehpur Sikri was extraordinarily well-provided with water. Lessons for modern India

How three of the most important medieval metropolises—Vijayanagara, Bijapur, and Fatehpur Sikri—managed the challenges of inclement weather.

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.

Did the Cholas really have a navy?

Much of what we know about the Cholas depends almost entirely on inscriptions—an approach that lags decades behind global academic standards.

Shaivites wiped out Jain influence in medieval Karnataka—200 years before Delhi Sultans

The Republic of India’s understanding of religious policy should not be based only on this or that North Indian Sultan, but on a sober understanding of the dynamics of majority and minority communities throughout time.

Indians ruled Gulf through Hormuz. They paid to ban public cow slaughter, built temples

About a third of all homes in Bandar Abbas belonged to Indians. There was a large temple, and Hindu processions were allowed; the Banias also paid the Persian authorities to ban public cow slaughter.

The history of Indian caste censuses is the history of Indian statecraft

By the 18th century, Maratha dominions and other Indian states had developed fairly detailed caste enumerations, used to regulate hierarchies and impose differential taxation and privileges.

Dogs were adored in medieval India. They saved cows from asuras, fought boars & tigers

When Alexander arrived in the Indus Valley in 326 BCE, a local Indian tribe entertained him by setting their mastiffs loose on lions.

Which is the oldest Dravidian language—Kannada or Tamil? Listen to scientists, not celebrities

Multiple lines of evidence show Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Indo-Aryan speakers migrated at various points all across the subcontinent. Prehistoric Indian languages were as diverse as today’s.

Sanskrit didn’t always drive innovation in ancient India. There are two reasons

Sanskrit was seen as the language of divinity, thus the main current of Sanskrit knowledge tended to be conservative, resistant to new developments.

Who is the real Vikramaditya? Behind myth & legend is the story of a successful Gupta king

Buddhist legends, Jain stories, Shaivite rituals—everyone wanted a piece of the mythical king Vikramaditya.

On Camera

Aryan Khan has turned his camera on us. ‘I won’t be your victim again,’ he is saying

The Bads of Bollywood isn’t just about the film industry’s chaos. It’s also a show about India’s chaos: the narratives, the gatekeepers, the false morality.

Market regulator SEBI clears Adani Group of impropriety alleged by Hindenburg Research

SEBI probe concluded that purported loans and fund transfers were paid back in full and did not amount to deceptive market practices or unreported related party transactions.

China navy achieves breakthrough with new fighter jet launch system. What are electromagnetic catapults

China’s most advanced aircraft carrier—Fujian—uses electromagnetic catapults, a core component of future aircraft carriers.

India doesn’t give walkovers to Pakistan in war. Here’s why it shouldn’t do it in cricket either

Many really smart people now share the position that playing cricket with Pakistan is politically, strategically and morally wrong. It is just a poor appreciation of competitive sport.