183. The Poet Kings: Taking Hinduism to South...

William and Anita are joined by renowned British-Iranian journalist, Christiane Amanpour, to discuss the war in Iran, and how it has echoes of the events she has covered since leaving Tehran in 1979. How did the Iran-Iraq War of 1980 shape the military tactics of today’s Islamic ...  Show more

What is the long history behind the current Israeli strikes on Lebanon? Why did Israel sell weapons to Iran in the 1980s? How was the Lebanon’s map drawn by European powers after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire? Lebanese historian and author of Black Wave, Kim Ghattas, joins W ...  Show more

The best-selling historian William Dalrymple presents India as the great superpower of ancient times in The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World. He argues that for more than a millennium India art, religions, technology, astronomy, music and mathematics spread fa ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Ramayana, the ancient Hindu epic which is regarded as one of the greatest works of world literature. Its importance in Indian culture has been compared to that of the Iliad and Odyssey in the West, and it’s still seen as a sacred text by Hindus ...  Show more

In episode eight of our series exploring the great historical cities of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, travel writer Paul Bloomfield is joined by Professor Chandrika Kaul as they guide us through the bustling streets, markets, temples, mosques, and forts of Delhi. Togethe ...  Show more

Situated north of the Hindu Kush and south of the Oxus (Amu Darya) River, the history of the ancient region of Bactria is rich and diverse. From the Oxus Civilisation that flourished in the Bronze Age to the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great, the Greco-Bactrians and the Kush ...