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
Sign in to send a correction or addition. If it holds up, it changes the article and credits you. If it’s contested, it’s preserved as a reader note.
Latest articles
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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
The Bones of Harappa: How Richard Meadow's Zooarchaeology Reshaped the Indus Kitchen
Richard Meadow spent decades reading cattle teeth and butchered bones at Harappa. His death prompts a look at how animal remains, not seals or scripts, rewrote the Indus Valley's daily life.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 2, 2026
The Decentered Frontier: What a Lapis Lazuli Outpost in Afghanistan Says About Harappan Trade
A remote Bronze Age outpost on the Oxus river, far from the Indus cities, suggests the Harappan world ran on deliberate, long-distance resource strategy rather than a single inward-looking core.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Aug 1, 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.