Like most kings, Alauddin Khilji wanted everlasting fame, and that’s why he commissioned grand monuments like the Alai Darwaza and the Alai Minar, a tower that was meant to be even more magnificent than the Qutub Minar.
Elihu Yale was a British merchant and a Governor of Fort St. George during the British colonial rule in India. He amassed a huge amount of wealth through illegal private trading, and he supported a horrific practice that was prevalent in those times. So why is Yale University, a premier institution, named after him?
Perhaps no Indian artist’s work is as instantly recognisable as Raja Ravi Varma’s. Picture a Hindu goddess in your mind, and chances are that the image is in a Ravi Varma-esque style. Read on to find out more about his journey and legacy.
Most people believe Vasco da Gama to be the founder of Portuguese power in India. But did you know that there was another Portuguese captain who had a major role to play in India’s colonial history?
In the 17th century, Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore, refused to trade with the then most powerful multinational in the world, the Dutch East India Company. It led to a war which Marthanda Varma won. But this was only a minor victory. Marthanda Varma, in fact, had bigger ambitions – to chase out the Dutch once and for all with the help of one Dutch military commander, De Lannoy. How did this king make it happen?
Iltutmish named Qutub Minar after his own master and predecessor, Qutub-ud-din Aibak. But some historians think that Iltutmish christened the tower after another "Qutub" - Qutub-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki! Read on to know why.
In May 1894, Hong Kong was struck by the deadly bubonic plague. As it was a busy port city with ships travelling in and out carrying valuable cargo and many people every day, the seaborne plague soon arrived in Bombay (present-day Mumbai), which even in those days housed over 8,20,000 people. How did the city survive?
Kalki Krishnamurthy’s magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan, is a masterpiece in historical fiction. Based on the real events surrounding Raja Raja Chola's accession to the throne, the novel serves up an enticing concoction of espionage, deceit, desire and valour, topped with an ancient murder mystery. What is the real story? And can truth really be stranger than fiction?
Raja Desingu is a popular local hero whose stories continue to be told in street performances like Therukoothu, Poi-Kal-Kuthirai, and even the Burra-Katha tradition of Andhra. But the true story of the king of Gingee Fort is quite different from the romantic folk versions. So what is the real story?
