216. Seeds of British India: England’s First Ambassador to the Mughal Court
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What do you buy for a man who has everything? Thomas Roe is tasked with wooing the Emperor Jahang...
215. Jahangir: A World of Light And Darkness
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prince Salim grows up in the continuously expanding empire of his father, Akbar. The young prince is...
214. The Empire of Frankincense & Myrrh
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“The Nabateans are a silent partner in everything that goes on in the high summer of the Ancient p...
213. How Three Wise Men Became Three Kings
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The story of the Three Wise Men has been reinterpreted since it was first written down. The gift-bea...
212. Who Were The Three Wise Men?
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The truth behind the story of the Three Wise Men has more connections to empire than many of us real...
211. A Beautiful World: The Art of Akbar
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As a dyslexic child, Akbar explored his curiosities about the world through visual wonders, and by h...
210. Akbar the Great: Revolutionising Religious Tolerance
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Raja Birbal is a man of such exceptional wisdom and wit that he will become the stuff of legends. Bi...
209. Akbar the Great
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 1542, and the baby who will grow up to be Akbar the Great is born into nothing and nowhere. H...
208. Humayun Reconquers India
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kicked out of India, Humayun roams the desert as a nomad, accompanied by his young pregnant wife, hi...
207. The Stargazing Hippie vs The Lion King
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On his death bed, Babur tells his eldest son not to fight with his brothers however awful they will ...
Introducing... The Rest Is Classified
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's Iran 1951. Mohammad Mosaddegh, fuelled by an ever-growing nationalism, has just been elected Pr...
206. Babur: Guns, Gardens & Diamonds
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Against all odds, Babur defeats Sultan Lodi and captures Delhi. But despite the wealth that India ca...
205. Babur: The Taking of Delhi
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“In Herat a man can’t stretch out his leg without touching a poet’s backside” - Babur It’...
204. Babur: The First Mughal Emperor
19 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“To wander from mountain to mountain, hopeless and homeless, has nothing to recommend it” - Babu...
203. Captain Hook, Peter Pan & The Dark Side of Neverland
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
J.M. Barrie, the fascinating Scottish writer, gave us Peter Pan - the boy who never grows up, and hi...
202. Long John Silver: The Truth Behind Treasure Island
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Louis Stevenson, a sickly boy with a vivid imagination, grew up along Scotland’s rugged coa...
201. The Raj at War
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For many years, commemorations of the two World Wars excluded the memorialisation of soldiers from t...
200. The East India Company’s Global Manhunt
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After robbing the fleet in a brutal, barbaric fashion, Henry Avery caused a diplomatic incident of g...
199. Robbing the World’s Wealthiest Dynasty
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most notable pirates of his day, Henry Avery would go on to make potentially the most luc...
198. The Pirate Trial of the Century
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
William Kidd, a respectable Scottish privateer during the late 17th century, tasked with hunting dow...
197. The Pirate Hunter
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alongside legends like Blackbeard and Calico Jack, William Kidd is one of the most famous pirates to...
196. Blackbeard’s Reign of Terror
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“At our first salutation he drank damnation to me and my men who styled cowardly puppies saying he...
195. Blackbeard & the Pirates of the Caribbean
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The history of pirates is a thrilling kaleidoscope of adventure, devastation, violence and political...
194. Empire of Numbers: Fibonacci and the Birth of Modern Money
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When King Alfonso VI of León took Toledo from the Arabs in 1085, the history of western christendom...
193. Empire of Numbers: The Indian Origin of Arabic Numerals
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Often called Arabic numerals, the modern number system we use today actually originates in India. Wh...
192. Native American Chiefs, the Founding of Canada, and the KKK: Scots in America
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From India to Africa, the involvement and influence of Scots in the British Empire has been profound...
191. Slave, Slaver, Abolitionist: Three Scots in Africa
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The extraordinary lives of three Scotsmen - John Henderson, Richard Oswald, and David Livingstone - ...
190. Rags to Riches: The Scots in India
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of Culloden, much of Scotland was on its knees. Crippled by defeat and the subsequent ba...
189. Culloden: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Last Stand
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Few battles in history have been remembered as powerfully, nor been as mythologised, as Culloden on ...
188. Bonnie Prince Charlie: The Young Pretender
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1688 the Stuart King James II was ousted from the throne by his daughter Mary and her husband Wil...
187. The Birth of Britain
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the accession of James I and VI in 1603, Scotland was assimilated into the composite monarchy o...
186. Scotland: A Nation in Crisis
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When charting the rise of Scotland’s global influence, few events have been as tragically remarkab...
185. The God Kings of Angkor Wat
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the 9th century AD, two years after the Holy Roman Empire was established in Western Christendom,...
184. The Buddhist Merlin
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While in the West the legends of King Arthur were being born, a Buddhist tantric magician of immense...
183. The Poet Kings: Taking Hinduism to Southeast Asia
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
India’s transformation of the ancient world is indisputable, and tangible evidence of this can be ...
182. The Lady Macbeth of China
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Having garnered absolute power through bloody means, Empress Wu Zetian begins seeing apparitions, ha...
181. The Dragon Empress: China’s Game of Thrones
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent ris...
180. Gold & God: Connecting India & Ancient Rome
26 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It was actually India, not China, that was the greatest trading partner of the Roman Empire. During ...
179. The Golden Road: Rise of the Indosphere
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilisation, creating ar...
178. The Vietnam War: Nixon, Vietnamisation, and the Fall of Saigon
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With Richard Nixon now in the White House and not wanting to have his presidency consumed by Vietnam...
177. The Vietnam War: Lyndon Johnson, Americanisation, and Operation Rolling Thunder
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the death of JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson took over the Presidency and immediately had to wrestle wit...
176. The Vietnam War: The Rise of Ho Chi Minh
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vietnam, or Indochina as it was known, had been under French colonial rule since the nineteenth cent...
175. The CIA vs Fidel Castro
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Following the fall of Batista, the Cuban revolution took a more radical turn. Castro was not a commu...
174. The Cuban Revolution
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 1959 and the swaggering Cuban revolutionary, Fidel Castro, has just overthrown the unpopular ...
173. The Korean War: Dividing the Peninsula
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Korean War was a brutal affair. It is estimated that 3,000,000 people were killed in the conflic...
172. The Birth of North Korea
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Whilst we know the Korean Peninsula is split into two quite separate countries, North Korea and Sout...
171. The Bengal Famine: Chaos in Calcutta
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
By 1943, the price of rice was beyond unaffordable for most in Bengal, and people were dying in the ...
170. The Bengal Famine: A Disaster on the Horizon
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, the British administration feared that Japanese force...
169. Freedom Fighters Betrayed: Colonising the Philippines
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
By the end of the Spanish-US war, the Philippines was on the menu. Two battles played out simultaneo...
168. Teddy Roosevelt Takes on the Old World
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1898, whilst his boss was on a break at the osteopath, Teddy Roosevelt basically started a war. A...
167. Paradise Lost: The Taking of Hawaii
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On 7th July 1898, President McKinley formally annexed Hawaii, making it a colonial territory of the ...
166. How To Hide An Empire
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Not everyone agrees that the USA should be classed as an empire. But in the late 1800s, after white ...
165. A Massacre at Dawn
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Arizona Territory, April 30, 1871. The canyon known as Aravaipa lies still in the predawn darkness, ...
164. How the West was Won: The Truth Behind the Westerns
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A whole genre of movies is based on a relatively short period of nineteenth-century American history...
163. The Tattooed Girl: From Mormon to Native American
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1850, 13-year-old Olive Oatman and her family set off on the perilous journey by foot from Missou...
162. The Oregon Trail & the Gold Rush
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fort Laramie was once a stockade where European fur traders and Native Americans lived together peac...
161. The Trail of Tears
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Despite having fought alongside them, President Andrew Jackson hated Native Nations. In the early 18...
160. Native Nations vs Thomas Jefferson
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
North America was never virgin territory. For thousands of years it has been home to established nat...
159. The American Revolution: Building The New Rome (Ep 4)
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The British have surrendered, they’ll be leaving soon. Now the Americans have a new and arguably h...
158. The American Revolution: Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness (Ep 3)
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Declaration of Independence establishes the ideals on which this break away nation founds itself...
157. The American Revolution: The Shot Heard Around the World (Ep 2)
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The infamous Boston Tea Party sees colonists dressed as Native Americans dump British tea in the sur...
156. The American Revolution: No Taxation Without Representation (Ep 1)
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From sugar to paper, a series of taxes in the 1760s spark outrage amongst American colonists that sn...
155. The Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin (Ep 5)
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're all about the Benjamins. Franklin is unquestionably the most well-rounded of the Founding Fath...
154. The Founding Fathers: John Adams (Ep 4)
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Often given less attention than the other Founding Fathers, John Adams is no less significant. Not o...
153. The Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton (Ep 3)
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot...
152. The Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson (Ep 2)
27 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Jefferson is one of the most complex figures in the whole American Revolution. A child of the...
151. The Founding Fathers: George Washington (Ep 1)
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Everybody knows Washington as the strapping, powerful general and then president who helped to overt...
150. Worlds Colliding: Seizing Settlers in New England
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Deerfield, February 1704. The small, puritan town of roughly 300 inhabitants in western Massachusett...
149. Pocahontas: Kidnapped in Virginia
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most famous names in American history, Pocahontas had an extraordinary life. She was the ...
148. America: The Empire of Liberty
13 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Empire that dare not speak its name. America was born through an explicit rejection of empire as...
147. Queen Victoria: Empress of India (Ep 4)
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1877 Queen Victoria took on the title Empress of India, a nation which she undoubtedly had close ...
146. Queen Victoria: The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets (Ep 3)
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Across 1851, over 6,000,000 people went to London to see the Great Exhibition. Designed to showcase ...
145. Victoria & Albert (Ep 2)
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is one of the great love affairs of history. Upon meeting again shortly after her 18th birthday, ...
144. The Making of Queen Victoria (Ep 1)
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born on the 24th May 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was fifth in line to the throne at a time in which t...
143. Isabella of Castile: The Spanish Inquisition, the Conquest of Granada, and Columbus
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries Spain had been an outlier in Europe due to its religious diversity; Christians, Jews, ...
142. Isabella of Castile: Uniting Spain
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To some she is Europe’s first great queen, to others she is one of history’s great villains, but...
141. Nur Jahan: The Most Powerful Mughal Woman
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With Jahangir sliding into more of an opium and alcohol fuelled slumber with each passing day, Nur J...
140. Nur Jahan: The Light of the World
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nur Jahan was born on a roadside as her well-to-do parents fled from Safavid Persia for the tolerant...
139. Mrs Genghis Khan
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Börte came from a powerful nomadic tribe and in many ways her marriage to Genghis Khan set him up t...
138. The Graceful Reed: Ruling the Islamic Empire
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sold as a slave to the great Abbasid Caliph, al-Khayzuran quickly rose to the very top of the pyrami...
137. Empress Theodora: Making Heaven on Earth
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Empress Theodora is often unfairly remembered for the salacious stories that have been told abou...
136. Empress Theodora: From the Brothel to the Throne
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Placed by her mother into a brothel when she was just a child, Theodora was born into the most bruta...
135. Helena: Queen of the World and Finder of the One True Cross
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born in poverty at a time when the Roman Empire was in danger of cracking up and disintegrating, Hel...
134. Cleopatra: The Would-Be Empress of Rome
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With Julius Caesar dead, Cleopatra turned to another of Rome’s dominant figures. She became entwin...
133. Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born in the romantic splendour of Ptolemaic Egypt, not far from the Library of Alexandria, Cleopatra...
132. Journey to Nalanda and the Library of Jewels
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In late autumn, 629 AD, Xuanzang set out for the great university of Nalanda from Chang’an. Across...
131. Buddhism Goes to China
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Buddhism reached China in the 1st century AD, yet it remained a minor, foreign religion for the next...
130. India meets Rome: Making the Image of the Buddha
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1st century AD, the nomadic Kushans settled in what is now Afghanistan and established settle...
129. Ashoka: The Great Buddhist Emperor of India
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ruling in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka was one of India’s greatest ever rulers. Under his rule, the ...
128. The Life of the Buddha
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
India was the forgotten heart of the ancient world. For a millennium and a half, from about 250 BC t...
127. Inventing Curry: The British Taste for India
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From the beginning of the Raj, British tastes began to turn away from Indian cuisine towards a Europ...
126. Punch & Chilli: The East India Company at the Table
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When the East India Company first arrived on the shores of India, the food they ate in their first f...
125. The Origin of the Houthis
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since November 2023, the Houthis have been attacking international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Th...
124. Saddam Hussein vs The Ayatollah
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1980, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces invaded neighbouring Iran and so began the longes...
123. Hezbollah: The Party of God
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In June 1982, Israeli tanks rolled over the Lebanese border. Soon after, Iran sent 1,500 Revolutiona...
122. Iran & Saudi Arabia: The Rivalry that Split the Islamic World
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
1979 was the year that set the Islamic world on the path to today. In Iran, the revolution establish...
121. The Fall of the Shah of Shahs
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Shah cracks down on dissent, to the point even his great ally Jimmy Carter begins to cool on the...
120. The Iranian Revolution: The Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the Last Shah’s reforms - known as the White Revolution - starting to take effect, Iran looke...
119. The Last Shah
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Reza Pahlavi rules but he is still bedevilled by the interference of the great powers. Britain has i...
118. Iran's First Revolution
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the 19th century, Iran was a pawn of the great colonial powers. It failed to industrialis...