Lumbini 107
Maakhi Dhand Lake 41
Macaulay, Lord 274, 281
Macedonia/Macedonia ns 82, 109
Madras 126, 265, 273
Madurai 125–31, 132–4, 210
Maghada 77, 78, 84, 190, 199
Mahabharata 29, 56–61, 63–4, 125, 163, 167, 178–81, 183, 231, 268
Mahabodhi temple 75
Mahada 21
Mahadeo 144
Mahanadi river 101
Maharak Khanda 94
Mahavira 68, 71
Mahinda 97
Mahmud 202–10, 232
Makran 14, 83
Malabar coast 123
Maldives 209–10, 212
Manaat 207–8
Mandalay 156
mantras 18–19
Manu 178, 195
Manucci, Niccolao 260
Marathas 220, 263
Marshall, John 28, 30, 32, 33
Mary (city) 52
Mary, Mother of God 229
Massawa 121
Masud 206
Mat 165
Mathura 92, 105, 140, 143, 147, 161–4, 167–8, 169, 205
Mauryans 93, 97, 100, 105, 106, 107–9, 112–13, 128–9, 186, 189, 194, 211, 240
Mayavaram 128
Mecca 207
Medea 181
Medina 200
Mediterranean 116, 121, 124–5, 136, 141
Meerut 58, 59, 63
Megasthenes 86, 89, 90–4, 107, 108, 129, 189
Mehrgarh 23–5, 31
Menander 198
Merv 52, 169
Mesopotamia 34, 37, 43, 53, 146
Mian Mir 261
Michelangelo 252
Middle Ages 48–9, 50, 119, 123, 132, 221–3, 249, 290
migration 50–1, 53, 54
Minakshi temple 126, 127, 132–3
Mir 146
Mirabai 243
Mitanni 49, 53
Mitra 49
Mohenjo-Daro 29, 31–4, 36–7, 39–40, 42, 43, 45, 49
moksha 10, 96
Mongolia 142, 168
Mongols 8–9, 52, 63, 113, 184, 201, 265
Monserrate, Antonio 245
Moonlit Garden 229, 254
Mopylas 116, 222
Mount Abu 221
Mughalistan 228
Mughals 27, 64, 87–8, 100, 107, 137, 147–8, 158, 163, 165, 175–6, 184–6, 222, 225–69, 271, 273, 275–6, 278–9, 285, 290
Muhammad, Prophet 123, 200, 204–5, 207–8, 232, 256
Muhammad Adil Shah 239
Multan 26, 29, 204, 204–7, 257
Mumbai 116
Mumtaz 251, 253–5
Murad 260
Murghab 52, 54
Murray, John 270
Murugan 126, 127, 128
Muslim League 283, 285–8
Muslims 9, 11, 16, 87, 94, 113, 116, 123, 153–4, 172–6, 200–10, 216, 222–3, 226, 228–64, 273, 275–6, 283–91, 293–4
see also Islam
Muziris 121–5, 129, 201
Mycenae 28, 58, 62
Myos Hormos 118
Mysore 216, 273
Nagapattinam 213
Nahkon Pathom 152
Nalanda 190
Nana 144, 145, 146
Nanda king 84, 85
Nandi 214
Napoleon Bonaparte 100
Nara river 41
Narasa 146
Nasdatya (Asvons) 49
National Highway 100–1
Natya Shastra 217
Naushero 25
Nayaks 220
Nazis 17
Nedunjeliyan 131
Nehru, Jawaharlal 267–8, 284, 288–91, 293–4
Nehru, Motilal 268–9
Nehru, ‘Pandit’ 79
Nepal 78–9, 187, 243
Nero 122
Nicobar islands 210
Nile 32, 135
Nizami 205
Nizamuddin 232
No5 highway, Pakistan 25–6
noble truths 76
northern alliance 239
Northwest Frontier 50, 159, 273
Oman 116
Omar, Mullah 143
oral transmission 47
orientalism 45, 134
Orissa 100, 101, 105, 172, 210, 221, 276, 282
Ottomans 244
Oxus river 34, 54, 138–9, 143, 228–9
Padshahnama, Muhammad Qazwini 250
Pakistan 8, 14, 25–31, 40, 50, 72, 106, 109, 160, 174, 201, 204–5, 257, 286–8
Pala kingdom 221
Palestine/Palestinians 24, 124–5
Pali 74, 80, 198
Palladio 252
Pallavas 129, 210
Pamirs 143
Pandavas 56–7, 231
Pandyans 97, 126–7, 129, 131, 210
Panini 57
Panipat 229–32, 236, 239
Paniyan people 14–16
Panjshir river 141
Paramartha 183
Parsees 9, 267, 293
Partition 1947 72, 147, 172, 201, 258, 264, 286–90, 293
Parvati 193, 222
Pasupatimalai 126
Pataliputra (now Patna) 86–7, 89–90, 94, 196
Patna 86–90, 95, 98–9, 107, 111–12, 146–7, 162, 184, 190–1, 193, 197
Pattana Devi 122
Pattanam 122
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 120–1, 124, 133, 134–5, 136, 139
Periyar river 122, 123–4
Persepolis 82
Persia 69, 190, 202
Persians 66, 82, 115–16, 124, 201, 205, 206, 225
Peshawar 50, 140, 147–57, 159–60, 161, 162, 169
Phalgu river 72, 75
Pioneer (newspaper) 270
Pipal Mandi 149
Pitchappan, Professor 15
Pius, Antoninus 147
Plassey 273
Plato 244
Pliny the Elder 109, 121, 134
Pliny the Younger 119–20
Plutarch 86
poetry 11, 42, 57–8, 124, 126–7, 129–34, 191–3, 220
Polo, Marco 125–6, 211
Pompeii 124
Pongal 7
population figures 8, 36, 42–3, 166
Portuguese 16
Porus 82
pottery 23, 25, 60–1, 62
Pradhan, Debraj 103–5
Prayag (now Allahabad) 92, 246, 268
Prinsep, James 272
Ptolemy 129, 134, 135
Pul-i-iKhumri 144, 145
Punjab 25–6, 30–1, 36, 38–9, 42, 51, 55–6, 82–4, 86, 124, 140, 188, 201, 204–5, 208–9, 229, 239, 260, 275–6, 287
Punjab river 42
Purananuru 130
Puranas 29, 61, 62, 192
Purus 55, 82
Pyrrho 114
Pythagoras 244
Qana 121
Qissa Khawani bazaar 149, 150
Quetta 22
Qutb Minar complex 186
Rabatak 160
Raghuvamsa 192
Raj 131, 267–71, 279, 282–3
Rajanagar 104
Rajaraja (formerly Arulmoli) 211, 212–18, 219–21
Rajarajesvaram 213
Rajasthan 38–9, 40
Rajendra 212
Rajghat 68
Rajgir 77–8, 81, 84
Rajputs 263
Ram 242
Rama 171, 174–82, 183, 184, 192, 213, 222–3, 257, 290, 291
Ramayana 60, 163, 176, 177, 178, 180, 183, 222, 257–8
Ramrajya 171
Rangoon 101
Rann of Kutch 41, 260
Rao, Narasimha 176, 291
Ravana 179, 180
Ravi river 27, 28, 32, 55, 83, 238
Ray, Satyajit 175
rebirth/reincarnation 70, 78
Red Desert 51
Red Sea 115, 118, 119–21, 123, 136
Renaissance 114, 172, 203, 247, 252
Ridge, The 295
Rig-Veda 45–52, 55–8, 70, 83, 127, 157, 226
Romans 16, 32, 58, 101, 115, 118–31
, 142, 144, 165, 174, 184–5, 196, 201
Rome 129, 142, 159, 166, 168, 172
Rothermere, Lord 284
Roy, Ram 272
RSS 290
Rushdie, Salman 241–2
Russia/Russians 142–3, 226
Sahiwal 25, 26
Sahya mountains 211
Sakas 265
Saketa (present-day Ayodhia) 146, 147, 162, 182, 183
Sakuntala (play) 191
Sakya clan 97
Sakyamunis 73
Samarkand 228, 236
Sambara 55
Samghamitta 97
Samudragupta 183, 187, 268
Samvat calendar 46
Sanskrit 42, 44–6, 49, 57, 69, 138–9, 163, 193, 208–9, 255, 266
Saraswati 42
Saraswati river 38
Sarayu river 182
Sarianidi, Victor 52, 53, 54
Sassanians 169
Sceptics 114
Schliemann, Heinrich 29, 58, 60, 62
Schopenhauer, Arthur 257
science 190–1
sea levels 14
Second World War 287
secularism 200, 280, 283, 285–6, 289–90
Selene 144
Seleucus Nicator 84, 85
Selim 262
Senapati, Fakir Mohan 282
Sengulam 218
Seraphis 144
Seringapatam 273–4
Seth, Shantam 78
Shah-ji-ki Deri 153
Shahnama 205
Shaka era 140
Shakespeare, William 191, 192, 266, 278
Shalimar Gardens 250
Shastras 127
Sher Shah 237
Shiabuddin Ghuri 233
shipping 92–3, 115, 116–21, 134–5
Shiva 21, 60, 62, 66, 88, 92, 127, 144, 168, 175, 193, 207, 210, 211, 213, 214, 215, 217, 222
Shuja 260
Siddartha, Prince 75
see also Buddha
Sikhs 27, 83, 235–6, 242, 263–4, 280, 287, 293–4
Sikkal 115, 118
Silapaddikaram 133–4
Silk Route 51–2, 116, 136, 141, 142, 147, 148, 152, 159
Sind 29, 32–4, 201, 260, 287
Sinhalese 101
Sistani, Farrukhi 207
Sita 174, 178–9, 180–1, 257–8
Sivakkolundu 132–4
Sivaratri 62, 63
Skanda 144
Skandagupta 182, 183, 188
Sleeman, William 253
Smith, Vincent 186
Solam 218
soma (ritual drink) 18, 47, 48, 52–3
Somapura 221
Somnath 206–7
Son river 89, 94
South China Sea 119
Spain 200
Spice Route 116
spice trade 119–20, 124–5, 165
Sravanabelgola 96
Sri Campa 146, 147
Sri Lanka 74, 109, 110, 135, 142, 159, 179, 198, 209–10, 211, 212
land bridge 14
Srinagar 229
Srivilliputtur 125
Sroshard 146
Stein, Aurel 28, 39
Stevens, Thomas 45
Sthula-Badra 95
Stone Age 14, 20–1, 56, 93
Strabo 32, 36, 109
Stuart, General Charles ‘Hindoo’ 271, 277
Sufis 87–8, 154, 175, 204, 205, 209, 232, 256, 258
Suhrawardi 244–5
Sujata 73
Sukkur 22, 35
Sultanate 158, 185
Sumatra 135
Sung dynasty 212
Surkh Kotal 144–5, 160, 164
Swaminath Aiyar 132
Swat 50, 51
Syria 16, 49, 53, 109, 141
Tagore, Rabindranath 209
Taj Mahal 161, 228, 250–5, 262, 266
Taklamakan desert 137–8
Taliban 141, 143, 145, 225
Tambrapani river 127
Tamburlaine 63, 64, 225, 227, 230, 235
Tamil language 9, 222
Tamil Nadu 15, 126, 129, 132, 215
Tamils 7, 97, 101, 115, 121, 124–34, 211–13, 217, 220, 276–7
Tamluk 135
Tamralipti 135
Tang dynasty 89, 199
Tanjapuri 218
Tanjore 210–21
Tarim basin 109, 138, 160
Taxila 82, 86, 111, 124
textiles 265
Thailand 109, 152
Thanesar 209
Thar desert 39, 40, 41, 207
Thermopylae 260
Thomas, Apostle 123–4
Tiber 119
Tiberius 122
Tibet 109, 142, 151, 168
Tilak 203
Tilak, Bal Gangadhar 284
Tilya Tepe 52
Tipu 273, 274, 275
Tirupparakunram 126
Tiruvasagam 277
Tiryns 28
Tissarakha 105, 110, 111
Tochari Tila 138, 165
Tolkapiyam 130
Torkham 50
Tosali 104
trade 50, 115–21, 123–5, 134–7, 159, 264–6, 272–5
Trajan 125
Treta Yuga 178, 182
Trichy 125
Trivandrum 17
Trojan heroes 55
Troy 57, 58, 62, 63, 180, 184
Tudors 184, 192
Tuqluqs 235
Turkestan 29
Turkmanbashi 51
Turks 8–9, 64, 113, 172, 184, 201, 202, 203, 208, 222, 265
Turvasa 51
Tutankhamun 30
Tuticorin 119
Udaigiri 103
Udaipur 260
Ujain 97, 98, 184, 191
Umma 146
UNESCO 148
United Provinces 285
United States 10, 20
bases 22, 141
untouchables (dalits) 56, 70, 93–4, 113
Upagupta 105
Upanishads 256–7
Ur tombs, Iraq 30
Uttar Pradesh 58
Vaigai plain 126
Vaishnavaites 177, 181, 209, 221, 257, 277
Valmiki 181
Varkala 13, 16
Varuna 49
Vasistha 256–7
Vasubhandu 183
Vatsayana Mallanaga 193, 194, 195
Vedic culture 17, 46, 48–9, 52–4, 70, 75, 187, 192, 256
Vellore Mutiny 1806 275
Vennar river 218
VHP 290
Victoria, Queen 50, 103, 108, 149, 150, 268, 275
Vidisa 97, 98
Vidisha 186
Vietnam 119
Vikramaditya 182
Vima Kadphises 146
Vima Takto 139, 140, 146, 162
Virumandi 15
Vishnu 79, 125, 167, 175–7, 190, 213, 257
Vivekananda, Swami 209, 277
Vulture Peak 78
Waddell, Laurence 94
Wandiwash 273
Wellesley, Richard 274
Western Ghats 13
Wild Goose Pagoda 198–9
Woolley, Leonard 29
World Heritage Sites 213–18
Xanadu 89
Xian 89
Yadu 51
Yanado Irula 14–15
Yellow river 160
Yemen 14, 121
yoga 18
Yoga Vasistha 256–7
yoni stones 22
Yueh-chi 137, 138–9, 159
see also Kushans
Yuga Purana 88
Yusef, Sheikh 205
Yusufzai, Bibi Mubarika 229
Zanaibar 136
Zeus 47, 51, 141
Zheng He 160
Zoroaster 69, 244
Zoroastrianism 146, 241
see also Parsees
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For a project long in the making I have many debts. First I would like to thank the Government of India, the staff of the Ministry of External Affair
s, and the Archaeological Survey of India for their great help in facilitating the filming. In London I must especially thank the High Commissioner of India Kamalesh Sharma and Mrs Babli Sharma who went out of their way to help and encourage us; also the then Indian Minister of Culture and Director of the Nehru Centre in London, Dr Atul Khare. At Air India, staff were unfailingly helpful over all our journeys. Thanks also to the staff at the National Museum in Delhi, and at the museums of Patna, Sarnath, Mathura, Calcutta, Allahabad, Chennai and Tanjore, and to the Asiatic Society in Calcutta and the National Archive in Delhi. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madurai kindly facilitated our shooting their genetics programme. Saregama generously allowed us to use some of A.R. Rahman’s compositions in the films. In Pakistan, I am grateful to the Archaeological Survey of Pakistan, to Orya Maqbool Jaan, to Raees Abbas Zaidi, to Jalil Abbas the then Minister of Culture, and to the staff of the Museums at Taxila and Peshawar, and the sites at Harappa and Takht-i-Bai.
At home, at the British Library Catriona Finlayson and her colleagues opened that wonderful resource for shooting and provided much research material; at Imperial College London Dr Sanjiv Gupta showed us the long view; at the British Museum Richard Blurton, Joe Cribb, and Liz Errington generously answered queries and lead us into new directions. Professor Nick Sims-Williams shared the excitement of his Kushan discoveries. In India, I would like to thank Profs R. Pitchappan, Irfan Habib, D.N. Jha, A. Prasad, S.P. Gupta, and S. Mehrotra, for their help and insight; Prof Ihsan Ali was our guide to the archaeology of the North West Pakistan; and Zahoor Durrani, again our host in Peshawar, enthused us with his knowledge and passion. Thanks, too, to Shereen Ratnagar and Nayanjot Lahiri for talking on the phone about their work; Lolita Nehru at a dinner in London, Indira Peterson in a Tanjore garden; and Romila Thapar for kind words of advice to a young beginner many years back. It cannot be too strongly stressed that none of the above bear any responsibility for any errors of fact or interpretation that may be in this book: there are many contentious topics, such as the ‘Aryan’ invasion, or the interpretation of Islam and Hinduism in the Middle Ages to name but two, and the conclusions drawn are mine alone; one hopes that a work of popularization has not fallen too far short of their high standards. On location, my thanks to Sandhya Mulchanani and Rakshander Jalil; Prof Dhiditi Biswas; Prof R. Balasubrahmaniam; Prof B.B. Lal; Shashi Tharoor; Dr Ajit Prasad at Patna; Prof Harbans Mukhia at Panipat; Aggamaha Bhadanta Gyaneshwar at Kushinanaghr; William Dalrymple and Mahmood Farooqi; Prof Mridula Muckerjee; Profs Sathyabama and Pandian in Chennai; Dr A Sivakkolundu; Dr S. Suresh; Dr Pradhan and his colleagues in Orissa; R. Krishnamurthy; Drs Selvakumar and Shajan in Kerala; Ambika Shukla in Delhi; Ranjeet Choudary and his family in Benares; Bhikku Bodhipala at Bodhgaya; Mahathero Wathai in Sarmath; Kunwar Rani Kulsum Begum and her husband Rajkumar Amir Nakheer Khan in Lucknow and their family and friends with whom we spent a memorable Eid; Dr Liladhar Gupta and his family who showed us the ancient traditions of Ayurveda in Mathura. In Kerala, Vinod Bhattathiripad and the Namudiri community; in Allahabad Rustom Gandhi and family, Shantum Seth in Rajgir and Bodgaya for his wisdom and his good company; Pankaj Mishra in Simla; Prof Sriram Mehrotra at Etawah, Simla and Bareh: Ed Moulton in Calgary.