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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The Nālandā Plate of Devapāladeva: What the National Museum’s Ninth-Century Copper Charter Reveals About Pala Maritime Diplomacy
The Nālandā copper plate of Devapāladeva reveals a complex web of 9th-century maritime relations, Buddhist patronage, and diplomatic linkages connecting Bengal and the Melaka Straits.
Devika Menon · Sep 28, 2026
The Maternal Ancestry of Great Nicobar: What Mitochondrial Genomes and Deep-Time Isolation Reveal about the Peopling of the Bay of Bengal
Recent genetic analyses of the Shompen and Nicobarese populations reveal a deep maternal genetic bottleneck during the Last Glacial Maximum, challenging older Holocene migration models in the Bay of Bengal.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Sep 26, 2026
The Intaglios of Pattanam: What Gemstone Stratigraphy Tells Us About Early Chera Ports
Recent stratigraphic excavations of Mediterranean-style intaglios and raw debitage at Pattanam challenge the old narrative of Roman-dominated trade networks in the Indian Ocean.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Sep 25, 2026
The Ancestors of the Biobank: How 'Stairway Plot v3' Scales Up the Search for Ancient Indian Population Bottlenecks
A new computational tool solves the math problem of analyzing massive genomic datasets without relying on rigid historical models, pinpointing the timing of ancient South Asian population bottlenecks.
Dr. Anil Patel · Sep 25, 2026
The Carnelian of Sanjan: What Early Medieval Kiln Stratigraphy and Waste Flakes Reveal About Gujarat’s Bead Exports
Excavations at the early medieval port of Sanjan reveal stratified bead-making waste and kiln layers, providing physical proof of Gujarat's historic maritime trade with West Asia.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Sep 24, 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.