Episodes

  • Beloved of the Gods: Ashoka Maurya in His Time and Ours

    Beloved of the Gods: Ashoka Maurya in His Time and Ours
    Sep 20 2021
    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.
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • The Emperor is Naked: How History Forgot the Ajivikas and Remembered the Mauryas

    The Emperor is Naked: How History Forgot the Ajivikas and Remembered the Mauryas
    Sep 13 2021
    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.
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    31 mins
  • Alexander the Brute: Building Empires in the Ancient World

    Alexander the Brute: Building Empires in the Ancient World
    Sep 6 2021
    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.
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    34 mins
  • Thrones of Blood: Ajatashatru's Wars and the First Buddhist Council

    Thrones of Blood: Ajatashatru's Wars and the First Buddhist Council
    Aug 30 2021
    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.
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    31 mins
  • The Great Extinguishing: Memories of the Death of Buddha and the Rise of Magadha

    The Great Extinguishing: Memories of the Death of Buddha and the Rise of Magadha
    Aug 23 2021
    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.
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    35 mins
  • So I Have Heard From the Blessed One: Anirudh Speaks to the Buddha

    So I Have Heard From the Blessed One: Anirudh Speaks to the Buddha
    Aug 16 2021
    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.
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    35 mins
  • Nun of Your Business: Women, Society, and the Sangha in Early Buddhism

    Nun of Your Business: Women, Society, and the Sangha in Early Buddhism
    Aug 9 2021
    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.
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    38 mins
  • Buddha the Prophet: The Republics, Slaves and Ethics of Early India

    Buddha the Prophet: The Republics, Slaves and Ethics of Early India
    Aug 2 2021
    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.
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    40 mins