India

A Hatred for Hindus

Long before the recent rise in Islamophobia, distrust of Hinduism was rife among Britain’s ruling class.

The Tiger of Mysore

In the 18th century, the Muslim warlord Tipu Sultan terrorised Hindu southern India and clashed repeatedly with the British. Today, his legacy is contested, but he was far from the nationalist that some have claimed, writes Zareer Masani.

A Himalayan Chess Game

When India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947, the region’s Princely States – including tiny Sikkim – became pawns in South Asia’s great power politics, as Andrew Duff explains.

The Greatest Civilisation Ever Forgotten?

The civilisation that arose in the Indus valley around 5,000 years ago was only discovered in the early 20th century. Andrew Robinson looks at what we know about this extraordinary culture.

Indians in Britain during the First World War

The people of Brighton offered a warm welcome to the Indian soldiers sent to convalesce at the Sussex resort in the First World War. But the military authorities found much to be nervous about.

The Army of the Pure

From the fifteenth century until the present day, under both British and Indian rulers, write George Woodcock, the Sikhs of the Punjab have made their distinctive contribution to Hindu civilization.