All Dharma Dispatch essays on History and Historiography
This is the fascinating and ennobling history of Sorade, a village near Shivamogga. Its modern name is Choradi. For the longest time, Sorade was an independent and self-governing village republic not under the control of any king. It took pride in describing itself as an Agrahara in which all people
An intriguing and delightful anecdote of how mass distribution of chapatis played a mysterious role during the first war of Indian independence.
Ratta-Kandarpadeva or Indra IV, the last Rashtrakuta King daily engaged in strenuous war exercises. A brief description of his skill and prowess in performing these exercises offers brilliant insights and are relevant for all times.
The 1860 colonial British legislation titled "Duties on Profits arising from Property, Professions, Trades, and Offices" was a ruse for further impoverishing Indians. Among other places, it devastated the people of Hubballi and Dharwad region. In just two years, the middle-class was reduced to begga
A little-known fact of Hindu history that shows how the mighty Gahadavala Empire built a solid deterrent against alien Islamic invasions using a fiscal measure called the Turushka-Danda.
An obscure letter written by Khurram to his father Jahangir, threatens him with sword action if he were not granted dynastic succession.
With pepper at the heart of its flourishing spice trade, India overflowed with coins and other precious metals from Rome earning it the moniker, "sink of precious metals."
The first part of an essay-series documenting the central role that Indian pepper played in deciding the fortunes of empires and nations. It is a sweeping journey of two thousand years told through a weightless fleck of Indian flora.
The concluding part of this series narrates how Afonso had to hastily abandon his great plan to loot the wealth of Tirumala. Instead, he chose to burn down and loot a Hindu temple in Kollam.
A firsthand description of the grandeur of the Tirumala Brahmotsavam that the Portuguese chronicler Correa witnessed with his own eyes.