Top-rated
Sun, Aug 30, 2015
India (and East India) are not just named after the Indus, its basin with four major rivers ('Punjab' from Greek penta) is also the home region of the subcontinent's oldest civilization, named Harappa after its main city site, contemporary of Pharaonic Egypt and Mesopotamia but more egalitarian, without grand palaces, rather merchant republics confederated in a loose empire. They had Hindu and Buddhist cultures, but were strongly influenced by the sort annexation to the Hellenistic empire of Alexander the Great, resulting in an Indo-Greek culture in suck kingdoms as Gandhara, which were rich on the Silk Road. That wealth would attract many invaders, especially from Central Asia and Afghanistan, which also imported Islam and mainly Persian influence as exemplified by the grand capital Lahore.
Top-rated
Sun, Sep 6, 2015
The Mughals created the most famous and dazzling empire that India has ever seen, from the Taj Mahal to fabulously intricate miniatures of court life. But in the process, did they bring civilisation to India or tear it apart? From the moment the first Mughal emperor Babur arrived from Afghanistan the debate began - were the Mughals imposing their own religion of Islam on a Hindu country, or were they open to the religion and art of the country they were conquering? The artworks the Mughals left behind over their 200-year empire - even the very buildings which have traces of Hindu architecture as well as Muslim - clearly show how this debate played out and Sona Datta traces how this most spectacular of all Indian civilisations also sowed the seeds of discord.
Top-rated
Sun, Sep 13, 2015
In a journey across the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Sona Datta traces the development of the Hindu religion from its origins as an amalgamation of local faith traditions to its dominant position today. She uncovers this fascinating tale by looking at the buildings in which the faith evolved, moving from the caves and rock temples on the shores of the Bay of Bengal at Mahabalipurem, through the monolithic stone temple at Tanjavur to the vast complex of ornately carved towers, tanks and courtyards at Madurai, where every evening the god Shiva processes round the precincts to visit the bedchamber of his partner Parvati.