Research

In her latest book, India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent, historian Audrey Truschke underlines why it is important to understand the subcontinent’s past through the lens of the marginalised.

A seminary-trained cleric, Khamenei ’s core revolutionary ideology includes the supremacy of Islam, the isolationist policy of 'Neither East, Nor West,’ and enmity with the US and Israel

Haji Khuda Bukhsh Nabi Bukhsh, in Calcutta, has continued to sell attar for over 200 years, holding its ground amid the growing popularity of imported perfumes

Sociologist Trina Vithayathil, author of Counting Caste, contends that the Census 2027 offers a rare chance to map the intersections of caste, gender, and religion. Yet without institutional accountability and transparency, it risks repeating historical

Historians have noted that long before any available palaeographic evidence of Kannada script in the region where it is predominantly spoken today, it was Prakrit and Sanskrit that were the languages of the elite and

The influence of Hinduism and Buddhism was evident in many aspects of Khmer life in Cambodia. Thailand too was strongly influenced by Hinduism.

Although often associated with Southern India, the Dravidian language family includes 27 languages, spoken by 220 million people across South Asia and beyond. This is a story on the North Dravidian language family and its

In 1968, 44 Dalits were burned alive in Kilvenmani village in present-day Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu following a labourers’ movement demanding higher wages.

As Harvard stands embroiled in a legal battle with President Donald Trump's government, a look at its rich history marked by resilience and revolt

Prohibited from covering their breasts, the Nadar women in 19th-century Travancore fought for their rights in a historic struggle that culminated in a series of protests known as the Channar Revolt.

The roots of the term ‘pariah’ lie in the name of a caste group called ‘Pariayar’, which originated in Tamil Nadu. In the West, however, the term took on a political meaning of its own

Earlier known as Kaibartas, the Mahishyas are a farming community concentrated in the southern districts of West Bengal. The community is divided over their Aryan origin and the OBC status

600-million-year-old clues in the Himalayas reiterate a tale of planetary transformation — of drifting continents, lost oceans, and the birth of life itself.

One of the earliest references to manual scavenging, a practice rooted in India’s caste system, is found in the Naradasamhita, which lists it among the 15 duties of slaves.

Sikhism, considered one of the youngest religions in the world, has since its inception denounced the caste system. Yet caste, as a social category, remains predominant among Sikhs.

Monarchists argue that the institution of monarchy is especially relevant to Nepal since the ancestors of King Gyanendra formed the country. In many ways, the monarchy in Nepal was responsible for introducing democracy and remains

In response to the terror attack on tourists in J&K’s Pahalgam on April 22, the Indian government declared the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. Among Asia’s oldest rivers, the Indus is under growing pressure

Despite being inextricably linked to Indian tradition, the modern understanding and usage of the word “caste” came through European intervention.

Author Laura Spinney weighs in on the linguistic expansion of Indo-European languages thousands of years ago, examining the alignment between archaeology, genetics, and linguistics.

Spoken by millions in the regions of the Western Himalayas, Pahari languages remain unrecognised in India’s official language policies. As younger generations turn to Hindi and English, community elders and linguists fight to keep local

When Ammar Hamid opened his late grandfather’s cupboard in Kolkata, he didn’t expect to unearth a lifetime of memories — passports, clocks, cameras, and more. What began as a discovery of sentimental keepsakes turned into

Understanding the complexities and nuances of translation in a linguistically diverse landscape like South Asia where it has played a crucial role in shaping cultural identity and addressing power imbalances.

Decades of migration and settlement in the Andaman Islands have led to the rise of Andamanese Hindi as the chief language of communication while native languages like the Great Andamanese face extinction.

While Bengali is primarily derived from Magadhi Prakrit, over the years, the language has taken on new forms, ranging from the Sylheti dialect that absorbed Persian vocabulary to Radhi Bengali moulded by Vaishnava devotional poetry.

Photographer Anirban Mitra’s latest publication focuses on the British mansions in Bengal that served as seats of colonial power and were later repurposed as centres of political significance in Independent India.