Echoes Of India: A History Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Beloved of the Gods: Ashoka Maurya in His Time and Ours Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

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 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

Alternatively, you can donate at paypal.me/akanisetti or through UPI at anirudh.kanisetti@okhdfcbank to get the same rewards - including community access, illustrations from South Asian history, and more!

Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates.

Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Emperor is Naked: How History Forgot the Ajivikas and Remembered the Mauryas Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

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 him out on this labour of love at

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/akanisettiAlternatively, you can donate at paypal.me/akanisetti or through UPI at anirudh.kanisetti@okhdfcbank to get the same rewards - including community access, illustrations from South Asian history, and more!Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!

Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alexander the Brute: Building Empires in the Ancient World Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

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.buymeacoffee.com/akanisetti
Alternatively, you can donate at paypal.me/akanisetti or through UPI at anirudh.kanisetti@okhdfcbank to get the same rewards - including community access, illustrations from South Asian history, and more!

Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!

Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thrones of Blood: Ajatashatru's Wars and the First Buddhist Council Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

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 will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!

Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Great Extinguishing: Memories of the Death of Buddha and the Rise of Magadha Aug 23, 2021

Show notes

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/akanisetti

Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!

Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So I Have Heard From the Blessed One: Anirudh Speaks to the Buddha Aug 16, 2021

Show notes

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.buymeacoffee.com/akanisetti

Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!

Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nun of Your Business: Women, Society, and the Sangha in Early Buddhism Aug 09, 2021

Show notes

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 storytelling. Please him out on this labour of love at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/akanisetti
Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!
Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.
You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/androidor iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buddha the Prophet: The Republics, Slaves and Ethics of Early India Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

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?
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.buymeacoffee.com/akanisetti
Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!
Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.
You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: IVM Podcasts - Apps on Google Play or iOS: ‎IVM Podcasts, or any other podcast app.
You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featured

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gargi's Fires: Gender, Caste, Rebirth, and the Metaphysics of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

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 Anirudh..
Notes and sources will be available at https://www.anirudhkanisetti.com - sign up for updates!
Follow Anirudh on Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for more irreverent, critically-researched content on South Asia's incredible history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buddha Goes to Sarnath: How Cities and Civilisations are Born Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

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 Instagram @aniryuddha, @cholabhaturaempire, or @connectedhistories for even more irreverent, well-researched stories from South Asia's incredible history.

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.You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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