History and Historiography

All Dharma Dispatch essays on History and Historiography

Essays

The Little-Known History of Inscription-Writers and Engravers

The Little-Known History of Inscription-Writers and Engravers

An understudied chapter of our history is the role of and function played by inscription-writers and engravers

Terror and the Normalising of Bad News: How M.N. Roy Founded the Communist Party of India

Terror and the Normalising of Bad News: How M.N. Roy Founded the Communist Party of India

From 1924 - 26, M.N. Roy used a variety of terror tactics and propaganda as the forerunners to establishing the Communist Party of India (CPI)

The Dark Dossier of M.N. Roy: India’s First Political Terrorist

The Dark Dossier of M.N. Roy: India’s First Political Terrorist

In 1933, the Home Department of the colonial British Government brought out a brief dossier on M.N. Roy, India's first Communist terrorist

An Ancient Greek Artist Engraves Bharata-Mata on a Silver Dish in Lampsacos

An Ancient Greek Artist Engraves Bharata-Mata on a Silver Dish in Lampsacos

A thrilling story narrating the little-known history of how a Greek artist of the 2nd Century CE had engraved an image of Bharata Mata on a silver dish in Lampsacos, Turkey

A Wedding that was Finalised in a Pot of Boiling Ghee

A Wedding that was Finalised in a Pot of Boiling Ghee

An inscription dated 1580 CE narrates a rather delightful, real-life story of how a potter's wedding was finalised in a pot of boiling ghee

The Horrific Finale: Glimpses of Hindu Persecution by Murshid Quli Khan

The Horrific Finale: Glimpses of Hindu Persecution by Murshid Quli Khan

The final episode of our series on Murshid Quli Khan narrates some horrific stories of Hindu persecution in Bengal under his regime.

The Bigotry of Murshid Quli Khan and the Farman that Founded Kolkata

The Bigotry of Murshid Quli Khan and the Farman that Founded Kolkata

Murshid Quli Khan was a fanatical Shia who ran his administration strictly according to the diktats of the Quran

The Tragic Tale of Sitaram Ray, the Last Hindu King of Bengal

The Tragic Tale of Sitaram Ray, the Last Hindu King of Bengal

Raja Sitaram Ray was a self-made Hindu king who built a small empire by the dint of his talent, bravery and leadership. He was also the last Hindu king of Bengal, executed by Murshid Quli Khan.

Bureaucracy as Dharma: Glimpses from Ancient India

Bureaucracy as Dharma: Glimpses from Ancient India

In its most profound conception and in enlightened practice, Dharma was the foundation of bureaucracy in Ancient India

A Glimpse into the Theory and Practice of Statecraft in Ancient India

A Glimpse into the Theory and Practice of Statecraft in Ancient India

An overview of how statecraft worked in ancient India in both theory and practice