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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Deccan Ash Mounds: Radiocarbon and Dung Layers Test Epic Pastoral Narratives
Stratified ash mounds in the Deccan offer empirical dates for prehistoric cattle herding, clarifying how physical penning residues contrast with pastoral narratives in the Mahabharata.
Vikram Joshi · Nov 12, 2026
The Microlithic Prehistory of Adichanallur: Triangulating Red Sand Dune Stratigraphy with Iron Age Urn Burials
Reconciling pre-iron hunter-gatherer horizons in red sand dunes with intrusive Iron Age burial urns requires careful stratigraphy, paleobotanical residue analysis, and rigorous radiocarbon dating.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Nov 11, 2026
The Wreck at Tenneti Park: How Coastline Topography and Cyclonic Cyclicality Mold Coromandel Maritime Hazards
The grounding of MV Maa off Visakhapatnam reveals how Bay of Bengal currents, shelf geomorphology, and cyclonic cycles have shaped centuries of maritime hazards on the Andhra coast.
Kavya Sharma · Nov 11, 2026
Pyrotechnics and Philology: Dissecting the Textual and Historical Evidence for Fireworks in Medieval Diwali
A textual and historical examination of how saltpetre formulas, medieval Sanskrit manuals, and gunpowder technology transformed India's festival of lights.
Dr. Anil Patel · Nov 11, 2026
The Subsidiary Alliance Drain: How Imperial Monetary Dominance Depressed Growth in Indirectly Ruled India
Quantitative institutional research demonstrates how British treaty-mandated military subsidies, currency monopolies, and trade controls systematically drained India's indirectly ruled princely states.
Devika Menon · Nov 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.