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 Stratigraphy of Sinauli: What Micro-Wear and C-14 Re-Analysis Reveal About Late Harappan Metalwork
Radiocarbon re-analysis of organic remains from Sinauli places its copper-plated wheeled vehicles between 1900 and 1800 BCE, refining the boundary between Late Harappan and Ochre Coloured Pottery horizons.
Rohan Bhattacharya · Nov 14, 2026
The Grammar of Grains: How Micro-Botanical Residues Redefine Iron Age Ganges Farming
Micro-botanical residue analysis of phytoliths and starch grains from Painted Grey Ware sites provides physical testing grounds for grain terminology in Vedic texts, illuminating the Iron Age Ganga-Yamuna Doab shift.
Kavya Sharma · Nov 14, 2026
Paleogenomics of the Mesolithic Ganges Plain: Deep Population Continuity at Damdama and Sarai Nahar Rai
Genomic data from Mesolithic Ganges Plain hunter-gatherer remains at Damdama and Sarai Nahar Rai reveals deep genetic continuity, grounding later South Asian population structure in early Holocene hunter-gatherer lineages.
Dr. Anil Patel · Nov 14, 2026
The Philology of Vijayanagara Epigraphy: Translating Krishnadevaraya’s Amuktamalyada Against Domingo Paes’s Accounts
Comparing Domingo Paes's Portuguese observational account of Vijayanagara with King Krishnadevaraya's Telugu epic Āmuktamālyadā and contemporary Sanskrit inscriptions shows how foreign descriptions align with native statecraft.
Meera Iyer · Nov 14, 2026
Roman Coin Hoards in the Coimbatore Gap: Numismatic Epigraphy and Lead Isotope Analysis Trace Early Historic Indian Ocean Trade
Isotopic analysis of Augustan denarii from Tamil Nadu matches silver sources to Spanish mines, providing material proof for Indian Ocean trade routes documented in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Devika Menon · Nov 14, 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.