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 Epigraphy of Dhillika: What Early Medieval Inscriptions and Stratigraphy Reveal About Delhi
Sanskrit epigraphs like the 12th-century Bijolia rock inscription trace Delhi's name to Dhillika, matching continuous archaeological strata at Purana Qila despite debate over its link to ancient Indraprastha.
Meera Iyer · Oct 12, 2026
The Astrologers of Afrasiab: What Pre-Islamic Murals Reveal About Indian Trans-Pamir Intellectual Networks
Seventh-century murals in Samarkand depict India as a realm of astrologers. Triangulated with Sogdian inscriptions and Sanskrit texts, the art reveals trans-Pamir scientific networks before the Islamic Golden Age.
Devika Menon · Oct 12, 2026
The Diet in the DNA: What Holocene Gene-Environment Selection Reveals About Ancient Indian Foodways
New genomic research maps how human gene-environment interactions evolved alongside Holocene agricultural shifts, offering biomolecular evidence to test early farming transitions and epic dietary traditions.
Vikram Joshi · Oct 12, 2026
The Slag of Kuntasi: How Charcoal Radiocarbon Dates and Micro-Morphology Recalibrate Early Harappan Metallurgy
Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and microscopic analysis of slag from lower strata at Kuntasi show coastal copper working preceded urban Harappan expansion in Gujarat, challenging traditional supply-network models.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Oct 11, 2026
The Genomes of Rakhigarhi: What Skeletal DNA Reveals About the Indus Valley Population Structure
Ancient DNA extracted from a skeleton at Rakhigarhi reveals a distinct lineage without Central Asian Steppe or Anatolian farmer genetic markers, framing how archaeogeneticists model the Indus Valley population.
Dr. Anil Patel · Oct 11, 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.