BBC: The Story of India

Rig Veda

I had first caught a glimpse of the documentary series on BBC Knowledge and was immediately struck by it. Since then, I've managed to watch all six episodes of the wonderful series and consequently, my knowledge of India has been vastly expanded.

I'll just do a quick summary of the 6 episodes below:

Episode 1: Beginnings

Traces out the migration of humans from Africa into the Indian subcontinent and the establishment of the first shoots of civilization in the Indus Valley. Discuss the variations of North and South India with the North being invaded by people from Bactria somewhere in Turkmenistan who called themselves Aryan. Also talks about the ancient text of the Rig Veda and how it was carried over from the Aryans and later entrenched itself as one of the 4 sacred Vedas of Hinduism.  

Episode 2 : The Power of Ideas

Sculpture of the Buddha from the Maurya period, found in Afghanistan

Mauryan Empire in 265 BCE

This talks about the conception and rise of Buddhism, really most enlightening (no pun intended) about the major concepts of Buddhism and how is spread across India. Also shares about the invasion of India by Alexander the Great and how this invasion inspired the founder of the Mauryan Empire, Chandragupta Maurya, the first empire to encompass the subcontinent and even lands in present day Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Afghanistan. 

Episode 3 : Spice Routes and Silk Roads

Caravan in the desert

Looking at the establishment of the trade routes across Eurasia, the linking up on Han China, the Roman Empire and with India at the middle of these two great civilisations. Talks about the Kushan Empire and the city of Madurai as a place of trade with the Greeks. 

Episode 4 : Ages of Gold

Temple in the Cholan Period

Talks about the scientific achievements in the Indian Golden Age like the discovery of the zero and calculating the circumference of the Earth. Also discusses the great civilisation in the south of the Chola Empire founded by Rajaraja Chola. Also talks about Tamil as the last surviving classical Indian language. 

Episode 5 : The Meeting of Two Oceans

The Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan, a Mughal Emperor

This talks about the arrival of Islam in India and the interactions between Islam and Hinduism in India. Also talks about the rise of the last great Indian empire, the Mughals. An interesting insight into Emperor Akbar and his conclusion that no religion could hold the ultimate truth and began on his quest to seek religious unity. 

Episode 6 : Freedom and Liberation

Gandhi, The Great Soul

Nehru, 1st leader of independent India

Jinnah, founder of Pakistan

This episode examines the British (the last invaders of India) and their empire in India and India's struggle for freedom. Gives an interesting if sad insight into the Indian Mutiny as well as the Amritsar massacre. Most interesting, (especially since we have learnt about the India-Pakistan conflict in IH), is the rise of Indian nationalism, of the rise of Nehru and Gandhi and Jinnah and the events that led to the Partition of India in 1947. 

Conclusion:

Today the subcontinent has been spilt into three separate sovereign states, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. What I've learnt from this documentary is not only much about Indian culture, history and its way of thought, but also of the reasons why Partition occurred. Though we might think that the Muslims and Hindus in India have long been at loggerheads with each other, this is shown to be untrue for the two communities have long lived together side by side in peace during the period of the Mughals. It was British colonial policy to register their new subjects by race that first created the divide. The eventually division of the subcontinent was an unfortunate one, coupled with much terrible bloodshed. Indeed, India's ability to constantly assimilate the knowledge it received from other civilisations but to maintain its own unique culture and history simultaneously is what perhaps evokes much admiration fro me. After all, I've heard of empires built upon the sword, upon money, upon power, but only in India have I heard of a civilisation build an empire based on the spirit.

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