In Turkic literature, Alexander the Great appears as both a legend and a divine king

Many Turkic peoples inhabit regions that were deeply impacted by Alexander’s military campaigns.

Michael Erdman

· Nov 23, 2022 · 11:30 pm

How a researcher found, almost accidentally, the first modern Indian treatise on government

Rahul Sagar’s painstaking search had all but ended when he suddenly made his discovery of T Madhava Rao’s manuscript.

Rahul Sagar

· Sep 02, 2022 · 08:30 am

Biography controversy: How do you write the life story of someone who has long been dead?

The writer of ‘The Unsung Architect’, a biography of VP Menon, on how popular historians can go about their research.

Narayani Basu

· Oct 24, 2021 · 08:30 am

How reformer Savitribai Phule’s first biography got written despite a lack of detail about her life

In Shantabai Bankar’s sketch of the educational pioneer in 1939, an attempt to rekindle memory trumped the availability of factual information.

Surajkumar Thube

· Jul 18, 2021 · 11:30 am

How the 50 ‘birth-tales’ of Buddha spread from Thailand to the rest of Southeast Asia

The Paññāsa Jātaka contain stories outside the Buddhist canon.

Jana Igunma

· Jun 20, 2020 · 07:30 pm

Portugal gifted Bombay to Britain in 1661. So why did a Portuguese militia stay behind?

Loyal to the East India Company, the Bombay Portuguese Militia was first raised in 1672 and existed until 1827.

Hedley Sutton

· Oct 19, 2019 · 08:30 pm

From India to Iraq, the epic warrior Rustam appears in manuscripts with red hair. Why?

The appearance of the frequently-depicted character from the ‘Shahnama’ has remained unusually consistent.

Dr Peyvand Firouzeh

· Jul 16, 2019 · 09:30 pm

Photos: How an Arabic cosmographical text ‘went viral’ in 16th-century India

Zakariyyā’ ibn Muḥammad al-Qazwīnī’s ‘The Wonders of Creation’ was a veritable hit in the peninsular Deccan region.

Vivek Gupta

· Sep 12, 2018 · 08:30 pm

Photos: The tragic tale of Vietnamese heroine Kieu, from the epic poem ‘Kim Van Kieu’

The eponymous heroine is the most acclaimed lady in Vietnamese literature.

Sud Chonchirdsin

· Dec 04, 2017 · 09:30 pm

Glimpses of Malay manuscript ‘Adat Aceh’, a 17th century guide to statecraft from a great sultanate

The ‘Adat Aceh’ was compiled against the backdrop of the struggle for the throne of Aceh from 1815 to 1819.

Annabel Teh Gallop

· Nov 16, 2017 · 09:30 pm

Husband-hunting in the Raj: Here’s the advice British women received when traveling to India

What to wear on the journey to the India and how to decorate your home once you’ve settled in.

Anu Kumar

· Oct 31, 2017 · 11:30 am

How 12th century Persian poet Omar Khayyám inspired a hedonistic counterculture in Victorian England

Today, ‘The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám’ could be an antidote to the moderation addicts who rarely express a passionate lust for life.

Roman Krznaric

· May 20, 2017 · 09:30 pm