Swaveda
Indian history, plainly written.
A short daily post on Indian history — archaeology, genetics, historical linguistics, and the texts. Plus side-by-side translations of public-domain primary works. Plain language; no chest-thumping in either direction.
Plain language
Aimed at any curious reader, not the seminar room. Sanskrit / Pali / Tamil terms get a gloss on first use.
Tradition ≠ evidence
“The Mahabharata describes…” and “the Mahabharata war happened in…” are different sentences, and we don’t silently merge them.
Readers can edit
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Latest articles
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Before the Sufis: Animal Piety and the Beast-Ascetics of the Pali Canon
An analysis of the Bhūridatta Jātaka reveals how early Buddhist texts granted spiritual agency and ritual capacity to non-human animals long before medieval traditions.
Meera Iyer · Aug 6, 2026
Weaving the Arthashastra: How Madurai’s Iron Age Spindle Whorls Ground Kautilya’s Textile Registry
Excavations at Keeladi and Kodumanal reveal physical evidence of early South Indian textile production, bridging the gap between literary descriptions and material reality.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 5, 2026
The Steppe Road to the Altai: What Siberian Horse Burials Reveal About Late Vedic Rituals
A comparative analysis of Altai Pazyryk kurgans and late Vedic texts reveals deep, shared Indo-European pastoralist roots through horse sacrifice rituals.
Vikram Joshi · Aug 5, 2026
The Mudbricks of Kunal: Reassessing the Early Harappan Transition through Stratigraphic Soil Analysis
Soil micromorphology at Kunal in Haryana reveals a gradual, continuous evolution from pit dwellings to mudbrick architecture, challenging older models of abrupt cultural transitions.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 4, 2026
The Problem with 'Neolithic' Swat: Why Elanai-kamar Challenges the Limits of Stone Age Labels
A preliminary survey of the Elanai-kamar rockshelter in the Swat valley challenges traditional Stone Age labels, revealing a complex transition from foraging to farming in the Hindu Kush foothills.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 3, 2026
Recent translations
All texts →Sanskrit
Arthashastra
Chapter 150 · Book 15, Chapter 1: Paragraphical Divisions of This Treatise
Updated Jul 26, 2026
Sanskrit
Arthashastra
Chapter 149 · Book 14, Chapter 4: Remedies against the Injuries of One's Own Army
Updated Jul 26, 2026
Sanskrit
Arthashastra
Chapter 148 · Book 14, Chapter 3: The Application of Medicines and Mantras
Updated Jul 26, 2026
A note on tone
Swaveda is curious, careful, and dry. There’s no civilizational chest-thumping in either direction here — no “Vedic India invented everything,” no “everything came from outside.” If we get something wrong, tell us. We fix it visibly, with a dated note.