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Saturday, November 8, 2025
TopicThinking Medieval

Topic: Thinking Medieval

Medieval Bengali Buddhism wasn’t purely ‘Indian’. Javanese gods, Hindu rivalry

Sudhanakumara—a minor hero from an older Buddhist text—was quite popular in Java, where he was depicted on the colossal Borobudur temple in the 9th century.

A Thai-Buddhist ‘Ayodhya’ was one of Asia’s greatest kingdoms. Then came a reckoning

Over 400 years, Ayutthaya emerged through war, flourished through commerce, and collapsed in sociopolitical crisis.

Ram wasn’t always top god in India. Political chaos, conflict with Turks elevated him

For centuries, Ram was considered a semi-divine hero and ideal king, not a supreme god. It’s only from the 1200s that major Ram temples were built.

Rama and the King: How an ancient hero was used by Pala poets, Chola emperors

For centuries, Rama has been used by litterateurs and rulers to legitimise themselves.

Who brought Sanskrit to Baghdad? This is how Iranian Buddhists, Zoroastrians changed Arabs

Sanskrit scholars were patronised by the Caliphate. This reshapes how we should think about conquest today.

Manichaeism worshipped Jesus, Buddha. This Silk Road religion’s strength became its weakness

Manichaean icons and ideas trickled into the art of Tibet and Japan, with Mani and Jesus represented as Buddhas.

How a minor medieval war inspired a Telugu ‘Katha’, Tollywood movies

The Palnati Virula Katha, the Tale of the Palnadu Heroes, is a unique Mahabharata of a medieval landowning caste.

Don’t romanticise Vijayanagara as the ‘last Hindu empire’—it has a side you don’t know about

Immigrant Vijayanagara warriors were focused primarily on enriching themselves. This is revealed by temple inscriptions in the Kaveri delta and the northern Coromandel plain.

Nilgiris aren’t just for honeymoons—its peoples fought Hoysalas and Haider Ali

Haider Ali & Tipu Sultan clashed with the rulers of Tamil Nadu over control of the Nilgiris, which, played an important role in the geopolitics of early modern South India.

Odisha’s medieval queens weren’t ‘ideal wives’–they fought off invaders, ordered war & murder

The sovereign queens of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty, coming from tribal and royal backgrounds, were extraordinary examples of how Sanskritic court culture absorbed local traditions.

On Camera

Trump’s unpredictability is not the absence of strategy—it works on everyone but China

The Italian term sprezzatura—a studied nonchalance that conceals intention—best captures the spirit of Trump’s foreign policy so far. The pattern is unpredictability, transactionalism, and disruption as diplomacy.

Asia’s ‘weakest’ link: Yunus on a tightrope as Bangladesh tries to fix banks without breaking economy

With 20.2 percent of its total loans in default by the end of last year, Bangladesh had the weakest banking system in Asia. Despite reforms, it will take time to recover.

‘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.

Bihar is where politics moves, and everything else stands still

Bihar is blessed with a land more fertile for revolutions than any in India. Why has it fallen so far behind then? Constant obsession with politics is at the root of its destruction.