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The Historylogy Podcast

The Historylogy Podcast

Shinil Subramanian Payamal 187 Episodes Oct 9, 2026

The Historylogy Podcast, hosted by Shinil Subramanian Payamal, explores history through book reviews, archaeological discoveries, and stories of people and places. New episodes are released weekly on Fridays, with regular book giveaways for listeners.

Episodes

Land of the Eastern Light written by Nabaarun Barooah - Book Review
Land of the Eastern Light written by Nabaarun Barooah - Book Review Oct 9, 2026 00:07:02 Ask most people when Assam’s history begins and they say 1228, when Sukaphaa crossed the Patkai hills. Nabaarun Barooah’s Land of the Eastern Light: Assam Before the Ahoms (HarperCollins India, foreword by Vikram Sampath) argues that this answer erases well over a thousand years of kings, grants, trade and ritual power. In this episode we walk through the book’s arc, from the Naraka and Bhagadatta
GOAT: Gopal 'Patha' Mukherjee, the Meat-Shop Owner Who Saved Kolkata written by Abhijit Majumder and Debdutta Bhattacharjee
GOAT: Gopal 'Patha' Mukherjee, the Meat-Shop Owner Who Saved Kolkata written by Abhijit Majumder and Debdutta Bhattacharjee Oct 2, 2026 00:05:08 In August 1946, Direct Action Day turned Calcutta into a killing ground. This episode looks at GOAT: Gopal 'Patha' Mukherjee, the Meat-Shop Owner Who Saved Kolkata by Abhijit Majumder and Debdutta Bhattacharjee. The book credits a 33-year-old College Street meat-shop owner with organizing the counter-attack that ended the violence and, in the authors' telling, kept Kolkata in India. We cover what
She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen written by Katie Hickman - Book Review
She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen written by Katie Hickman - Book Review Sep 25, 2026 00:07:06 Long before the Raj, British women were sailing to India to trade, perform, paint, bake and reinvent themselves. We review Katie Hickman's She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British Women in India, a lively history that recovers three centuries of forgotten lives, from a seventeenth-century cloth trader to survivors of 1857. We look at what the book gets right about the memsahib stereotype
A History of India as it Happened written by François Gautier - Book Review
A History of India as it Happened written by François Gautier - Book Review Sep 18, 2026 00:04:28 We dig into François Gautier's "A History of India as it Happened: Not as it Has Been Written," a 2013 revisionist counter-history that puts colonial and Marxist historians on trial. Gautier, a French journalist who has lived in India since the 1970s, argues that everything from the Aryan invasion theory to accounts of Islamic conquest and British rule has been softened, distorted, or deliberately
Tales of the Past: The Odisha Saga written by Sibashis Mahapatra
Tales of the Past: The Odisha Saga written by Sibashis Mahapatra Sep 11, 2026 00:04:00 Odisha's medieval history rarely gets more than a footnote treatment: a temple here, an Ashokan war there. In this episode, we dig into Sibashis Mahapatra's "Tales of the Past: The Odisha Saga," a nine-essay collection that resurrects forgotten kings, lost battles, and the odd loyal Brahmin general along the way. We talk about why the book skips a straight timeline in favor of standalone stories,
Political letters of Shāh Walīullāh Dehlavī translated by Rohit Sahasrabudhe - Book Review
Political letters of Shāh Walīullāh Dehlavī translated by Rohit Sahasrabudhe - Book Review Sep 4, 2026 00:09:20 In the 1750s, as Mughal power crumbled and Maratha armies pushed deeper into Hindustan, a Delhi theologian named Shāh Walīullāh sat down to write letters — not to fight the coming storm, but to direct it. In this episode, we open a newly translated collection of his political correspondence, Political Letters of Shāh Walīullāh Dehlavī: "Most Systematic Theory of Jihād," translated by Rohit Sahasra
The End of the Maratha Empire edited by Manoj Dani and Guruprasad Kanitkar - Book Review
The End of the Maratha Empire edited by Manoj Dani and Guruprasad Kanitkar - Book Review Aug 28, 2026 00:07:34 Captain John MacLeod was a young Scottish military engineer who marched into the Deccan in November 1817, just as the Maratha Empire's century-long dominance collapsed under the weight of the Third Anglo-Maratha War. His day-by-day field journal, edited by Manoj Dani and Guruprasad Kanitkar, is the subject of this episode. We trace MacLeod's path from route surveys through the Satmala and Sahyadri
Echoes From Konkan written by Sarla Bhirud - Book Review
Echoes From Konkan written by Sarla Bhirud - Book Review Jul 31, 2026 00:04:22 In this episode of The Historylogy Podcast, we dive deep into the ancient rock-cut heritage of Maharashtra with a comprehensive book review of Echoes From Konkan: Unravelling prehistoric and political tales through the Kuda Caves by Sarla Bhirud. Nestled in the Raigad district, the Kuda Caves are more than just breathtaking Buddhist rock-cut structures—they are silent witnesses to ancient trade ne
The Theft of India written by Roy Moxham - Book Review
The Theft of India written by Roy Moxham - Book Review Jun 30, 2026 00:04:53 The Theft of India documents the intense rivalry for spoils that played out between the British, the French, the Dutch, the Portuguese and the impact this had on Indians. It details the political intrigue, the agreements and the betrayals, the oppression, swindling and greed of these foreign powers as they each tried to strengthen their grip on this vast and ‘exotic’ land. Order links of the book
The House of Jaipur written by John Zubrzycki - Book Review
The House of Jaipur written by John Zubrzycki - Book Review May 31, 2026 00:06:13 Deeply researched and compellingly narrated, The House of Jaipur is a gripping saga studded with unforgettable characters, their charmed lives often crossed by misfortune and tragedy. Order links of the book 'The House of Jaipur' below: Amazon India:PaperbackHardcoverKindle Amazon USA:PaperbackHardcoverKindle Please feel free to our social media ID's for latest updates. Links below:https://www
The Saint’s Shadow: Gautam Khattar and the Letters of St. Francis Xavier
The Saint’s Shadow: Gautam Khattar and the Letters of St. Francis Xavier Apr 30, 2026 00:05:23 For many Goans, St. Francis Xavier is Goencho Saib—the Protector of Goa. But Gautam Khattar's rhetoric was based on a specific reading of history—one that claims the missionary's methods were anything but saintly. To understand the roots of this anger, we have to go back to 1542. We have to look at the words of the Jesuits themselves. Specifically, the book The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xav
Glorious Failure written by Robert Ivermee - Book Review
Glorious Failure written by Robert Ivermee - Book Review Mar 31, 2026 00:06:50 Exploding the myth of a benign French presence on the subcontinent, Robert Ivermee's extensive research reveals how France's Indian empire relied on war-making, conquest, opportunistic alliances, regime change and slavery to pursue its ambitions. From great power rivalry to informal empire and entrenched inequalities, Glorious Failure tackles topics that remain vital and urgent in today's world.

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