In the Season 3 Finale, we explore South Asia at the time of its most famous ancient figure: Ashoka Maurya, ruler of the largest empire seen in the subcontinent to that point. Anirudh meets a rude South Indian visiting one of Ashoka's inscriptions and hears the words of the emperor himself to uncover the nature, structure, and sobering truths about the Mauryan empire and its impact on the history of South Asia. Season 4 of Echoes of India will be out in November/December 2021! Anirudh is trying ...
Sep 20, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The forgotten religion of the Ajivikas can tell us a great deal about the religions and empires of the early Gangetic Plains. Anirudh visits the medieval Jain site of Shravanabelagola near Bangalore, recounts the story of the mysterious Ajivika teacher Makkhali Goshala, and explains how the rise of the mighty empire of the Mauryas is connected to this vanished religious tradition. Anirudh is trying to bring the history of South Asia alive though hard research and great storytelling. Please help ...
Sep 13, 2021•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast The invasion of Alexander III of Macedon is a landmark event in South Asian history. Join Anirudh as he explores the conqueror's camp, meets an Indian mercenary who served in Alexander's campaigns, and uncovers the mystery of the fall of the Nanda dynasty and the rise of the mighty Gangetic empire of the Mauryas that succeeded them. Anirudh is trying to bring the history of South Asia alive though hard research and great storytelling. Please help him out on this labour of love at https://www.buy...
Sep 06, 2021•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did the kingdom of Magadha lay the foundations for India's first empire? And how did the successors of Siddhartha Gautama establish the tradition now known as Buddhism? Episode 7 brings us to the early city of Rajagaha, where we explore its marketplaces and caves in search of answers. Anirudh is trying to bring the history of South Asia alive though hard research and great storytelling. Please help him out on this labour of love at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/akanisetti Notes and sources wi...
Aug 30, 2021•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Death inevitably comes to us all. But how do memories of the dead shape our world? Witness the last months and hours of Siddhartha Gautama as he travels across the Gangetic Plains desperately trying to protect his legacy - and see what our struggles against death teach us about the nature of history and history telling. Anirudh is trying to bring the history of South Asia alive though hard research and great storytelling. Please help him out on this labour of love at https://www.buymeacoffee.com...
Aug 23, 2021•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast What might Siddhartha Gotama, the Buddha, have actually thought of himself? Did he genuinely believe in what he preached? How do we, sitting in the 21st century, grapple with his complexities and flaws? Anirudh travels back through time to talk to the man himself, one quiet night on Vulture Peak near the great city of Rajagaha in Magadha. Anirudh is trying to bring the history of South Asia alive though hard research and great storytelling. Please him out on this labour of love at https://www.bu...
Aug 16, 2021•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 4 of Echoes of India brings us to witness the burgeoning power of the Buddhist Sangha in the early Gangetic Plains. How did Siddhartha Gotama, the Buddha, deal with the struggle of becoming a leader of thousands? How did he navigate the tides of public opinion and ensure that his rules were followed across this sprawling organisation? And what kind of role did women play in early Sangha? Anirudh is trying to bring the history of South Asia alive though hard research and great storytellin...
Aug 09, 2021•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 3 of Echoes of India, we'll begin to follow the extraordinary career of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. How did one person, emerging from the forests in the 5th century BCE, become a prophet, leading thousands of people in one of the most important religious movements in human history? How was he perceived in his time? And as one of the many preachers and renunciants wandering around the Gangetic Plains, what did the average person really think of Siddhartha Gautama and his ilk?...
Aug 02, 2021•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Episode 2 of Echoes of India brings us to the 8th century BCE, where we will see the origins of many of the ideas that shape India today. How did some of the oldest systematic ideas about the universe and reality, the concepts of karma, atman, and rebirth originate? Who were the people who came up with them, and why? Join us as we meet the ancient Indian theologians Gargi Vachaknavi and Yajnavalkya - and a rather grumpy author of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, who has a bone to pick with Anir...
Jul 26, 2021•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Season 3 premiere for Echoes of India returns us to the vibrant world of ancient India. We'll meet the strange mix of peoples who together made the early cities of the Gangetic Plains, and set the stage for the extraordinary life which we'll follow this season: that of Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha, one of the most important figures in the history of South Asia. Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates! Follow Anirudh on Ins...
Jul 19, 2021•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast What happened in India after the fall of the Gupta Empire? Some of the most incredible states and people in the subcontinent's history emerged. This is their story. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-22 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios , or any other podcast app. Y...
May 29, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the story of the Hun who tried to be an Indian emperor, and a story of the human costs of war: a story of grief, destruction, and of creation and inspiration against all odds. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-21 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios , or any o...
May 22, 2019•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast What was life in an ancient Indian city like? What were its sights and smells, and what kind of eccentric characters would it have been home to? Join us on a walk through Ujjain, one of South Asia's oldest cities, to find out. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-20 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/andro...
May 15, 2019•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the 5th century, two of the ancient world's superpowers - Rome and India - were threatened by massive migrations of nomadic peoples. But while the Western Roman Empire collapsed, the Gupta Empire managed to defeat them. How? The answer lies in the story of the shadowy figure known as Skanda-Gupta. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-18 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and othe...
May 08, 2019•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast The same century that saw the collapse of the Western Roman Empire also saw the rise of the great temple-building movements that transformed India's society and economy - but these played out in a deadly family drama that would lead to the end of the Guptas and Vakatakas. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-18 Get in touch with Anirudh on Twitter @AKanisetti and on Instagram @aniruddhadevaraya. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podc...
May 01, 2019•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did South Asian Buddhism catch on in China? How did the interaction between South and East Asia shape the intellectual and economic evolution of Eurasia? Luckily for us, in the early 400s CE, the remarkable 60-year old Chinese monk Faxian actually walked all the way to India to collect scriptures from his holy land in an epic journey of nearly twenty years, helping us answer these difficult questions. This is his story, a tale of human resilience and grit that still resonates 1600 years from...
Apr 24, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast The 5th century Queen Prabhavati-Gupta, daughter and granddaughter of kings, mother and grandmother of Queens, was one of the most remarkable women in Indian history. This is the story of her dramatic, extraordinary life. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-16 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm....
Apr 17, 2019•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the story of the spectacular Gupta astro-religio-political node of Udayagiri, where, in the 5th century CE, a new idea of Indian kingship was born. Here, through a series of brilliant innovations, the God of Time was experienced and identified with one remarkable individual. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-13 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on...
Apr 10, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did Sanskrit become a language of power and knowledge, patronized by everyone from kings to monks through half of Asia for a thousand years? This is the story of how the Guptas used its splendid syllables to turn language itself into masterful political messaging. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-14 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and im...
Apr 03, 2019•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Season 2 premiere of Echoes of India begins with the rise of the Himalaya mountains and ends with the victorious campaigns of the mighty North Indian ruler Samudra-Gupta, as Sanskrit courtly culture flourishes and war breaks out across the subcontinent. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-13 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM ...
Mar 27, 2019•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Season 1 Finale of Echoes of India is a rollercoaster ride through 600 years of Indian history, of the rise and fall of empires and ideas until the eve of the Gupta Empire in 300 CE. From art to religion to language, the finale sets the stage for the beginning of early medieval India with the Gupta and Vakataka empires in Season 2, starting March 27th. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-12 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhade...
Feb 06, 2019•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast At the same time that Christianity and other savior cults emerged in West Asia, ancient India had its own Buddhist savior. This was Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. This is his story, a story of life in ancient India's most cosmopolitan region. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-11 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast Ap...
Jan 30, 2019•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast A Central Asian king revered by Indians as the Second Ashoka? This is the story of the ruthless conqueror Kanishka, who led the Kushan Empire to its apogee, and ruled over most of North India - but also built the world's most splendid Buddhist stupa. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episode-10 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 23, 2019•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the story of the rise of the Kushan Empire: the most powerful South Asian state since the fall of the Mauryan Empire. Episode 9 of Echoes of India brings to life the remarkable religious syncretism of one of the ancient world's most globalized regions, at a time when the Silk Roads had grown to encompass most of the Eastern hemisphere. Notes and sources are at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/episode-9 Or get in touch with Anirudh @AKanisetti on Twitter or @aniruddhadevaraya on Instagram...
Jan 16, 2019•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the story of the jewel of ancient South India: the great Tamil trading city of Puhar. Episode 8 of Echoes of India brings to life a city sung about in poetry for thousands of years, at a time when one of the most important elements of Indian history was emerging: the international merchant corporation. If you have questions for Anirudh, follow him on Twitter @AKanisetti or on Instagram @aniruddhadevaraya Notes, sources, credits and a transcript of the episode can be found at https://www....
Jan 09, 2019•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did Buddhism catch on in South India? Episode 7 of Echoes of India explores the life of the Andhra teacher Nagarjuna, called a "Second Buddha", his fascinating philosophy of "zeroness", and the ancient South Indian dynasty who built Roman-style theatres in the 2nd century CE. If you have questions for Anirudh, follow him on Twitter @AKanisetti or on Instagram @aniruddhadevaraya Notes, sources, credits and a transcript of the episode can be found at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com/home/episo...
Jan 02, 2019•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did languages shape the way ancient Indians thought and behaved? Episode 6 of Echoes of India recounts the dramatic evolution of Sanskrit and Prakrit as widely-spoken languages of power and culture, in a time of political and cultural innovation. In the first two centuries CE, the Shakas and Satavahanas in Central India began to issue grand royal inscriptions tracing out bloody wars between their families and jostling for power and prestige. And they chose to draw on the remarkable literary ...
Dec 24, 2018•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the story of how South India's grandest Buddhist monument was built: the story of a time when Buddhism dominated the Indian subcontinent, and South Indian Buddhism reached out to shape the art and religion of millions. Episode 5 of Echoes of India moves further South to the fertile coastal lands of Andhra, where Buddhism flourished in the first two centuries CE, interacting with local and foreign art styles to create the gorgeous Amaravati school of art, resulting in the crowdfunding of ...
Dec 17, 2018•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast 1900 years after she was carved, an Indian ivory statuette was uncovered in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. How did she come there, and how much had the world changed since the eruption of Vesuvius buried her? This is her story: a story of the globalization of the ancient world, a story of the vast diversity and complexity of the world that our ancestors called home. Episode 4 of Echoes of India looks back on the first three to paint a picture of a planet in flux, as economic webs weave toget...
Dec 10, 2018•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast History is written by kings. What if a queen could tell us her story? In this episode, the rush of Central Asian nomads into India is halted by the first true empire based in the Deccan. But it would not be the last. And the most remarkable aspect of this empire? Its queens - powerful matriarchs who ruled and built in their own right, and whose vision of what a kingdom should be had profound effects on all that came after. The third episode of Echoes of India continues the complex saga of ancien...
Dec 03, 2018•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
