Empire: World History

Latest Episodes:

207. The Stargazing Hippie vs The Lion King Nov 28, 2024

Show notes

On his death bed, Babur tells his eldest son not to fight with his brothers however awful they will be to him. As his father passes away, Humayun inherits a fragile empire on shaky ground. And his dad’s message of peace quickly comes to the fore when his treacherous younger brothers plot to take his throne. Once thought of as the hopeless hippie son, Humayun was an accomplished military general who had served in Babur’s forces as a teenager, and as emperor he continued to command troops against a familiar enemy – Sher Shah. But despite Humayun’s military might, he seemingly cannot win against the formidable Afghan warlord. Will he lose all that his father had built for their dynasty?

Listen as William and Anita explore the life of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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206. Babur: Guns, Gardens & Diamonds Nov 26, 2024

Show notes

Against all odds, Babur defeats Sultan Lodi and captures Delhi. But despite the wealth that India can provide him, Babur hates his new home. He complains of the heat, the lack of his favourite fruits, and the culture. Yet he is a masterful tactical ruler, and begins to shape a Mughal government that he will soon pass down to his descendants. Although he had won against the Delhi sultanate, he faces a new threat from the Rajputs in the south who are even more heavily armed. Babur enters his final battle at Khanwa, and all the while he is ferociously writing his memoirs: documenting his thoughts, feelings, and love of nature in a way that will keep his memory alive long after his death…

Join William and Anita as they explore the four years Babur spent establishing his kingdom in India before he passed away.

To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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205. Babur: The Taking of Delhi Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

“In Herat a man can’t stretch out his leg without touching a poet’s backside” - Babur

It’s 1506, and Babur leaves his beloved base in Kabul to visit his cousins in Herat, Afghanistan. But whilst he is shyly standing in the corner at parties and receiving a speedy education in poetry and calligraphy, his nemesis Shaybani Khan sacks the city he had left behind. Babur is now one of the last Timurid princes left, and to ensure the power of his family lineage does not die out, he enters a controversial alliance to help him defeat Shaybani Khan. In 1511, Babur launches military campaigns in his homeland of Uzbekistan, but why does he turn his attentions to India instead? And how will he succeed in conquering this new land?

Listen as William and Anita discuss Babur’s life in Afghanistan, and the build up to his invasion of India.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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204. Babur: The First Mughal Emperor Nov 19, 2024

Show notes

“To wander from mountain to mountain, hopeless and homeless, has nothing to recommend it” - Babur

Before he became the father of the Mughal dynasty, and the author of one of the most important memoirs in world history, Babur was a provincial young prince in modern-day Uzbekistan. His family tree stretches back to Genghis Khan and Timur, and his fighting spirit was as strong as his ancestors’. As a teenager he sets his sights on the capital city of Samarkand and lays siege to it. But he meets his match when faced with the great Uzbeg warlord, Shaybani Khan. At just 21 years old, Babur is left defeated and homeless, wandering as a nomad around Central Asia. How will he recover from this?

Join William and Anita as they explore the early life of the first Great Mughal, Babur.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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203. Captain Hook, Peter Pan & The Dark Side of Neverland Nov 14, 2024

Show notes

J.M. Barrie, the fascinating Scottish writer, gave us Peter Pan - the boy who never grows up, and his notorious pirate nemesis: Captain Hook. But where did this iconic rivalry come from, and how did Barrie’s fascination with both youth and pirates shape this timeless story? Barrie’s life, marked by personal tragedy and complex relationships, set the stage for a world where innocence meets adventure on the high seas.

The figure of Captain Hook looms large over Peter Pan. Modelled partly on the infamous privateer Christopher Newport, who ruled Caribbean waters with a missing arm, Hook embodies the darker side of Neverland. Inspired by his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family, Barrie crafted Peter Pan as a tribute to these young boys who captured his heart. Yet, their lives would be marked by profound loss, shadowing the whimsy of the Lost Boys with tragedy.

Join William and Anita as they dive into the origins of Barrie’s Peter Pan and the history behind Neverland’s fictional pirates.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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202. Long John Silver: The Truth Behind Treasure Island Nov 12, 2024

Show notes

Robert Louis Stevenson, a sickly boy with a vivid imagination, grew up along Scotland’s rugged coast, where tales of shipwrecks and buried gold stirred dreams of pirates and treasure. Out of this coastal world, Stevenson crafted Treasure Island - and with it, Long John Silver, a character who has since come to define the cunning, complex pirate in our imaginations. But what inspired Stevenson’s tale, and how did his own experiences, steeped in adventure and struggle, breathe life into one of literature’s greatest pirates?

Tracing the origins of Treasure Island and its enduring characters, we learn that the stories are grounded in Stevenson’s Scottish roots, a tapestry of real pirate lore, and the influential writings of Daniel Defoe. We meet Jim Hawkins, the young hero, and Long John Silver, the peg-legged rogue inspired by stories of real marauders.

Join Anita and William as they explore how Treasure Island came to shape the mythical pirate figure and inspire countless adventures.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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201. The Raj at War Nov 07, 2024

Show notes

For many years, commemorations of the two World Wars excluded the memorialisation of soldiers from the British Empire. But campaigners have gradually turned the spotlight on their experiences.

In the First and Second World War, approximately 3.8 million soldiers from the Indian subcontinent served in the British Army. Indian and British troops often formed friendships that lasted beyond the wars, bonded in their camaraderie and bravery. Yet there was a ceiling for Indian soldiers, they would never go on to receive top jobs or become commanders. And despite camaraderie on the front, the top generals saw Indians as lesser. During the evacuation of Dunkirk, the British were given the order to “cut loose your Indians and your mules”. This horrified leaders in Delhi and despite Nehru’s passionate antifascism, the Congress began small acts of civil disobedience in protest of India being placed in a war that it didn’t sign up to.

Listen as William and Anita are joined by Yasmin Khan to discuss the Raj at War, and how World War Two became a catalyst for the end of British rule in India…

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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200. The East India Company’s Global Manhunt Nov 05, 2024

Show notes

After robbing the fleet in a brutal, barbaric fashion, Henry Avery caused a diplomatic incident of global proportions. The Mughals were furious and the East India Company, which at this very moment was trying to make inroads into India, had to go into overdrive to prove that he was not part of the company. As a result, they undertook one of the greatest manhunts ever to try to catch Avery. It crossed the world, going to the Caribbean and eventually to the British Isles, but will they find him?

Listen to William and Anita to find out…

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

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Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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199. Robbing the World’s Wealthiest Dynasty Oct 31, 2024

Show notes

One of the most notable pirates of his day, Henry Avery would go on to make potentially the most lucrative heist ever on the high seas. Originally a navy man, Avery then took the well-trodden path of starting out as a privateer and turning to piracy. Via a mutiny he soon found himself in the Indian Ocean looking to take the biggest prizes - Mughal ships - and in August 1695 the greatest appeared before him. The ships of Aurangzeb himself were heading for the Red Sea, so Avery hoisted his sail and went after them.

Listen as William and Anita discuss one of the most infamous pirates of the age and his attempts to rob the Mughals.

To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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198. The Pirate Trial of the Century Oct 29, 2024

Show notes

William Kidd, a respectable Scottish privateer during the late 17th century, tasked with hunting down pirates on the orders of a murky cabal of British aristocrats, but with the crown’s blessing, finds himself and his crew frustrated by the absence of pirates in the waters off Madagascar during October 1696. With mutiny brewing on his ship The Adventure, Kidd - ever mercurial in his willingness to abandon the law - brutally killed one of his crew with a bucket, before attacking an apparently French Trading vessel captained by an Englishman - illegally. From that point onwards Kidd went rogue, attacking vessels hither and thither, drubbing and torturing as he went, or so the stories say… So, was Kidd really a devious, thieving pirate, whose innocence was but a calculated ruse, or a truly blameless man, caught up in powers and intrigues above his head, and pushed to the brink by a traitorous mutiny?

Join William and Anita as they discuss William Kidd’s burgeoning pirating career and his turn to the dark side: his spate of violent pillaging, his time on the run from the British government and the famous treasure hoards he buried along the way; culminating in the most famous trial of the century, and a gibbet on Execution Dock….

To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices