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.
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Latest articles
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The Barley of Banawali: What Flotation Samples in Trench BNL-1 Reveal About Early Harappan Agricultural Risk Mitigation
Stratigraphic evidence from Banawali reveals how Early Harappan farmers prioritized drought-resistant barley over wheat to mitigate environmental risks during the transitional Siswal phase.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 10, 2026
The Grammar of Patronage: What Gāndhārī Donor Formulas Reveal About the Kushan Silk Road
An analysis of Gāndhārī donor formulas like 'danamuha' and 'deyadhaṃma' reveals how different social classes of merchants and monastics funded the expansion of Buddhism along Kushan trade routes.
Devika Menon · Aug 10, 2026
The Mudwalls of Hastinapura: Why Painted Grey Ware Settlements Left No Monuments
Excations at Hastinapura show how the Painted Grey Ware culture relied on perishable mud and wattle-and-daub, explaining why this early iron-using era left no monumental stone ruins.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 9, 2026
The Mortar of Rakhigarhi: What Gypsum Plaster in Trench RGR-7 Reveals About Early Harappan Structural Transitions
A close reading of Mound 7's micro-stratigraphy reveals how a sudden shift to gypsum-based plaster marks the transition from regional Siswal occupations to the inter-regional networks of the Mature Harappan period.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 8, 2026
The Grammar of the Girdle: How the Mekhala of Sangam Poetry Maps onto Iron Age Adichanallur
An investigation into how early Tamil grammatical texts describing the mekhala (waist-girdle) align with physical bronze artifacts excavated at the Iron Age site of Adichanallur.
Asha Naidu · Aug 8, 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.