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Anirudh Kanisetti

Anirudh Kanisetti

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A Chola queen shaped Hinduism like no one else. Yet you haven’t heard of her

Sembiyan Mahadevi, a 10th-century Chola queen, reshaped Hinduism through temple patronage and art. Her vision turned Nataraja into the most iconic...

30.01.2025 6

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Anirudh Kanisetti

It was a Tamil merchant guild that helped Rajendra Chola become a global conqueror

As much as kings, Tamil merchants are the unsung heroes of medieval India’s global footprint. Sometimes, cultural diasporas can achieve as much, if...

23.01.2025 30

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Anirudh Kanisetti

How Rajaraja Chola became the world’s richest king

Rajaraja alone gifted 38,604 gold coins. This was more than what most European courts at the time could muster.

16.01.2025 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Brahmins, Mughal yogis, British propaganda–How Kumbh Mela became world’s greatest gathering

Historical documents suggest the Kumbh Mela is only 150 years old, but it stands as a testament to Hinduism’s amazing ability to reinvent itself...

09.01.2025 40

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Anirudh Kanisetti

A Sanskrit Bible story was written in Ayodhya. The patron was a Lodi, the poet a Kshatriya

Sanskrit poetry did not simply disappear under Sultanate rule: it continued to evolve, and was enriched by contact with Persian and Arabic...

26.12.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Ajmer Dargah survey isn’t about righting historic wrongs. It’s an assault on Indian history

There is nothing a premodern Muslim ruler, teacher, or devotee could ever do to be accepted as Indian by the far Right—even if premodern Hindus...

05.12.2024 10

ThePrint

Anirudh Kanisetti

Hindus didn’t drive missionaries away in Jharkhand. Adivasis held their own, whoever the coloniser

From the British perspective, Adivasi hostility to the colonial state was simply ethnic hostility from the savage against the civilised. Nothing...

28.11.2024 3

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Who’s responsible for the state of India’s history? Propaganda, profits & influencers

Indian academia is sometimes unfairly maligned because it was not designed for the decentralised, instantaneous information transmission of the...

14.11.2024 10

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Anirudh Kanisetti

What Arthashastra tells us about strongmen rulers and autocracies in ancient India

Americans might be puzzled as to why an autocratic strongman holds such appeal with voters. But it’s a story India has seen a thousand times in our...

07.11.2024 2

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Anirudh Kanisetti

How did Durga’s popularity survive Mughal & colonial rule? Bengali zamindars made it happen

Since Durga could no longer be the premier royal war-goddess in a Sultanate-dominated world, Sanskrit texts from the 15th century stopped asking...

10.10.2024 2

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Port Blair’s new name ‘Sri Vijaya Puram’ isn’t historical or decolonial. It’s politics

Srivijaya today is one of Southeast Asia’s most puzzling polities. It made temple gifts from Thailand to Bengal and Tamil Nadu. And many of its...

03.10.2024 1

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Tirupati god was originally offered pongal. North Indian pilgrims brought laddus

Tirumala was once a minor shrine with only local devotees. It grew as an investment destination for Vijayanagara elites in the 16th century.

24.09.2024 4

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Torture, death, fines — how Arthashastra guided ancient kings on addressing crime & dissent

Ancient and medieval Indian theorists had a grim view of justice. Arthashastra insisted on harsh punishments—but also restrained state power in...

05.09.2024 2

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Medieval Indian rulers prided themselves on trafficking women. Even queens weren’t safe

Even as Indian women were sold off, Central Asian, Turkic, and Caucasian women were purchased. Many medieval kings had foreign ladies in their...

29.08.2024 2

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Anirudh Kanisetti

Bengaluru doesn’t belong only to Kannadigas. Its history is shaped by 1,000 years of migration

For over a millennia, the Bengaluru region has been the meeting-point of the Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil cultural zones.

25.07.2024 4

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Anirudh Kanisetti