The Foundations of Modern India

For more than 3,000 years, the Maya built one of the Ancient world's greatest civilisations. They raised towering pyramids in the rainforest, mastered the environment and established powerful dynasties- long before the rise of the Aztecs or the Inca. Their city-states waged wars, ...  Show more

Today, we trace Julius Caesar’s dramatic invasions into Britain - two bold expeditions that tested Rome’s reach at the very edge of the known world. Ships were battered by storms, soldiers struggled with unfamiliar tides, and British warriors offered fierce resistance. Caesar nev ...  Show more

In 1857 tensions in Company-controlled India came to a head in what the British called 'The Indian Mutiny', now referred to in India as the First War of Independence. The uprising and bloody reprisals sent shockwaves through the Empire, ended the rule of the East India Company, a ...  Show more

Join William and Anita for the latest episode of Empire, which picks up in the aftermath of the 1857 Rebellion and the establishment of the British Raj. The episode covers the birth of Gandhi, the arrival of Michael O'Dwyer, Indian soldiers in the First World War, and the lead up ...  Show more

For the latest in our everything you want to know series, historian Dr Anwesha Roy revisits the 1947 partition of India, which divided British-ruled India into two independent countries. In conversation with Rob Attar she explains how India came to be divided and considers why th ...  Show more

In 1947, the British divided up its former colony of India into two provinces. What followed was confusion, chaos, and an unprecedented wave of sectarian violence that left up to a million dead. 15 million more were forced to flee their homes. So why was the country broken up? Wh ...  Show more