Traditional Paper of Kashmir!
The thin, waterproof bark of the paper birch tree, particularly Himalayan birch, was historically used for writing ancient texts, scriptures, and records in India and Russia. These birch bark manuscripts were durable, resisting decay, and were used for important religious works like the Gilgit Manuscripts, which feature the Saddharmapundarikasutra
Hello folks.. I was thinking of wearing some dresses which ancient Indians used to wear (pre islamic conquest)..
I know that dhoti was used in lower body. But, what did they wear in upper body? Some people told me that they used to be bare chested..
Can anyone discuss 'the evolution of menswear in India'? ..
Preferably in English.
The below is the report verbatim,
I have read the whole thing.
For TLDR- it is at the bottom
The World Heritage Committee,
and requests the State Party to put on hold the implementation of these projects pending completion of this review process;
Source- https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/8792
TLDR-
"The document of which we here reproduce the first sheet recites the cession of the island by “Our good brother the King of Portugall” and after noting the fact that it lies within the sphere of the Company’s operations, as defined in their recent charter, goes on to declare that, out of his earnest desire to encourage the said Company in their difficult and hazardous trade and traffic in those remote parts of the world, His Majesty grants them the whole of his rights in the said port and island of Bombay, and constitutes them “the true and absolute Lords and Proprietors” thereof, “to be holden of Us, our heires and Successors, as of the mannor of East Greenwich in our County of Kent, in free and common Soccage, and not in Capite nor by Knights service, yeilding and paying therefore to Us, our heires and Successors, at the Custome House, London, the rent or summe of tenn pounds of lawfull money of England, in gold, on the thirtyeth day of September yearely for ever.”
Provision is made that the rights of the existing inhabitants shall be respected and that they shall be allowed (as required by the Anglo-Portuguese treaty) the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion; also that the Company shall not sell or part with any portion of the island to a foreign state or individual. All warlike stores, ships, merchandise, cattle, etc., now on the island are freely bestowed on the Company, who are charged to fit out one or more vessels as soon as possible to take possession.
The salaries and wages of the garrison, as well as all charges of government, are to be paid by the Crown up to the time of the actual transfer; but should the Company fail to take possession before Michaelmas, 1668, the cost from that date is to fall upon them. Permission is given to enlist as many of the officers and men of the present garrison as may be willing to remain, the rest to be brought home at the expense of the Company. The latter may, at any of their General Courts, enact laws for the good government of the island and impose penalties for their infraction.
The Governors or other officers appointed by them are authorized to repel by force any attack upon the island, and to exercise martial law in cases of necessity. By another clause it is declared that all British subjects dwelling at Bombay, and all their children and posterity, shall enjoy as full privileges and liberties as if they had been abiding or born in England. And finally the powers hereby conferred on the Company are extended to any other settlements or possessions which they shall thereafter acquire.
Under the terms of this grant Bombay was taken over by the Company’s representative on September 23, 1668."
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Excerpt taken from Relics of the hon. East India Company by William Griggs.
Rani Mangammal was a female ruler of the Nayaka dynasty, who ruled the Kingdom of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Following the deaths of her mentally troubled husband and smallpox afflicted son, she became regent for her minor grandson, ruling from 1689 to 1704.
The above painting was part of a broader series of efforts by herself to legitimize her reign.
Ironically, Mangammal's demise is also linked to her depiction in a scandalous painting. According to folklore from this era, she would be imprisoned and starved to death by her grandson, following the circulation of a painting (now lost - if it ever existed) depicting the Queen making love to her commander Achayya, in "unconventional" clothes.
Was going through a children history book and saw that stories in arabian nights are inspired by the gupta works. Can sombody explain to me in more deapth about it????
An exceptionally talented conqueror, Samudragupta did not fail to project his Imperial power onto his subjects through the use of coins. He presented himself not only as a King, but as an avid musician, hunter and Ashwamedha sacrificer.
India, like all cultures, is a beautiful symposium of cultural exchange and merger of outside and local influences. India has given a lot to the world and has also borrowed a lot too, like everyone else ! it has always been a 2 way street.
But sometimes it seems like Indian culture seems to reject many if not all outside influence on India. I understand this probably rooted in the trauma of colonialism, but we can’t just deny our history to make ourselves feel better.
some examples of theories that are voraciously denied:
aryan migration theory (sanskrit and some Vedic gods and philosophy comes From Central Asia)
Kushans / Parthians introduced tunics and Kurtas to india
Persians introduced the writing script to India (extremely debatable but plausible)
Greeks/Romans brought the gandharan art style to India which became pretty popular
mughals / Islamic Turks had a huge impact on architecture, cuisine, language, music, and political institutions through the Delhi Sultanate and Mughals.
The British brought modern bureaucracy, railways, English education, colonial law, and modern archaeology/history as academic disciplines.
Source: The Republic of Bihar by Arvind N Das (1992)
There have been a few posts off late that seek to influence discourse on the subject of land reforms in the state of Bihar in a manner that is skewed towards particular communities, the reality was that in practice, the actual implementation of abolition in the region was indeed rather patchy and laid the ground for caste based and Naxalite conflicts that intensified through the course of the 1980s and 90s, leading to effectively two lost decades in the state. Honest acknowledgment of the highly extractive political economy in the region having its origins in the Permanent Settlement in Colonial times is important to help the state get out of the morass that has long afflicted it.
In the letter Nehru acknowledges that many zamindars had already lost their rental income while compensation payments were delayed. He notes that some estates were auctioned for almost nothing because they no longer generated income after abolition. He even remarks that although technically legal the process appeared very unjust.
Source : The Nehru Archive
The Return of the Chola Copper Plates to India marks a major cultural restitution milestone for India. The Netherlands formally returned the 11th-century Chola-era copper plates, also known as the “Leiden Plates”, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country in May 2026.
These copper plates date back to the reign of Rajaraja Chola I (985–1014 CE) and are considered among the most important surviving records of the Chola Empire. The collection contains 21 copper plates weighing around 30 kg, bound by a bronze ring carrying the royal Chola seal. The inscriptions are written in both Sanskrit and Tamil.
The plates were reportedly taken to the Netherlands in the 18th century by Dutch missionary and scholar Florentius Camper during the period when Nagapattinam was under Dutch control. They later became part of the collection at Leiden University. India had been seeking their return since 2012.
Prime Minister Modi called the return “a joyous moment for every Indian,” highlighting the broader effort to bring back culturally significant artefacts removed during colonial times.
I am looking for a deeper understanding and nuanced explanation. Please go beyond the surface-level expectation that because one time when Bhagat Singh Sandhu was young, he wrote an essay called “Why I Am an Atheist,” this somehow justifies the erasure of his tribal identity as it somehow overcomes caste. Anyone familiar with how Indian society works understands this is simply not true, especially in Panjab where villages themselves are named after specific caste groups. Dosanjh Kalan is the village of Diljit Dosanjh. Badal is the ancestral village of Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is otherwise Dhillon.
The atheism essay gets deployed as retroactive justification for stripping away his gotra, but that’s intellectually dishonest. His Marxist atheism was a critique of religion as a tool of oppression, not a renunciation of Sikh identity. He kept his kesh except when fugitive operations demanded otherwise, his family remained deeply Sikh, and the Jallianwala Bagh response and Akali movement were both active in his world.
We don’t apply this same logic to Ambedkar, whose Mahar caste identity persists in the historical record even after his formal renunciation of Hinduism and conversion to Buddhism, because that identity serves the Ambedkarite narrative.
Udham Singh could also used as an example. He was Kambojh.
Cities in India ending in -pattinam, -patnam and -pattana were not just ports; they were centres of culture and civilisational change, where different communities came together. These cities also played a significant role in shaping the history of medieval India, leading to the development of colonial settlements.
Source:
Kulke, H., Kesavapany, K. & Sakhuja, V. (2009). Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia. ISEAS Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789812309389
Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. The Cōḷas. University of Madras. https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4293
Maharashtra State Gazetteer (History): Silaharas of Western India. https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/History%20Part/chapter_8.pdf
Pilar Seminary Museum. The Kadambas of Goa. https://pilarmuseum.org/the-kadambas-of-goa/
https://mapsbysagar.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-pattanams-of-south-asia.html
How much do we know of Pulakeshi II outside of the Aihole inscription? Do we know the specifics of how he defeated Harshavardana and any other information about battfield tactics?
im interested in mughal and colonial history and all the politics throughout and after. im also interested how politcal ideologies came and developed in india. but i havent read a single history book unless u count till 10th sst. soo total beginner.
what should i read to dive in it?
I would like to know more about the cultural syncretism in Rajasthan as well as in Kerala, because it seems that this is what resulted in them both having such spiritually inundated cultural artefacts. Take for example the music in Rajasthan (the instrumentation: pungi, alghoza, the full nagada band with shankh and cymbals; and the style of singing devi ka solwa) and in Kerala (the Panchavadyam ensemble, Koodiyattam instrumentation and the style of vachika or recitation). In both cases they have a highly numinous sound world, comparable to the liturgical music of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as that of the Orthodox monastics on Mount Athos.
And that’s just to isolate one component of the two cultures. On the whole the cultures of these two states both really seem as though to originate from and call us back to this vast Original Land of the Heart. Sorry to be high falutin but I really don’t know how else to talk about these things..
The two states would seem to have in common a history of interaction with other spiritually and culturally fertile civilizations throughout their history. (Kerala’s history as trade port. And Rajasthan’s position near the silk road?). I’d appreciate more info and clarification on those histories.
