2,500 years of Indian history has been unearthed in a major new series for BBC Radio 4, presented by Professor Sunil Khilnani, Avantha Professor and Director of the King’s India institute. In ‘Incarnations – India in 50 Lives’, Professor Khilnani explores the history of India through 50 eminent figures who have shaped the country as we know it today.

What I’m trying to do with Incarnations is fill that silent space

Professor Sunil Khilnani, Avantha Professor and Director of the King’s India institute

Listen again by visiting the  Incarnations: India in 50 Lives page on BBC Radio 4.

 

 

One of the most popular programmes on Radio 4 during the period that it aired, the series brought to life a so far missing element of Indian history: that of its people. Figures that have shaped the histories of America, Europe and even China, Professor Khilnani says, are well documented, yet he comments: ‘Indian history is a curiously unpeopled place. Ask most people in the West – and many in India – to name a thinker, ruler, or spiritual leader who preceded the 20th-century trinity of Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, and you’re in for some long, awkward silence.’

‘What I’m trying to do with Incarnations is fill that silent space: to share with listeners the stories of 50 fascinating, idiosyncratic individuals whose lives shaped not just Indian history, but the social, cultural and political currents of India today.’

Interested in studying India? Find out more about the  King’s India Institute and some of the  courses they offer.

Image credit: BBC/Dan Goldman