In 1963, an Indian Navy sailor named AS Gill, who was a Leading Aircraft Ordnance Mechanic, stole a Navy fighter jet from the Meenambakkam civil airport in Chennai. On August 12, 1963, a British-made single-engine Hawker Sea Hawk aircraft taxied out and took off from the Meenambakkam civil airport in
The East India Company tried to use marble portrait statues commissioned by the company in 1760, depicting men dressed as Romans, to lionize Robert Clive. However, their attempt failed, as less than a decade later, Robert Clive’s reputation as a hero had collapsed. During Robert Clive’s lifetime, the East India
Rani Velu Nachiyar was the Tamil queen who led an army of women against the East India Company. “She will be amongst the best French speakers of the land, my lord.” The confidence in Jose de Pray’s voice was in stark contrast to his lean frame. The frailty of his
Robots powered by water and clockwork were built by medieval Indian engineers, and multiple courts with whom they interacted also possessed them. These robots are well-attested by credible travelers. One of the most fascinating, and least understood, aspects of South Asia’s history is the evolution of its technology. With so
Colonial exploitation included heritage theft, in which India’s wealth of heritage, antiquities, and artifacts were exported to the colonizers’ home bases. They shamelessly adorned their own museums and galleries with these treasures, and this practice continues unabated to this day. The whole idea of establishing a colony was to exploit
Ceri-Anne Fidler, in her doctoral thesis, describes how food was used to oppress Indian sailors on colonial ships. “The lascar was always sallow. It didn’t helpthat his name anagrammed rascal. He carrieda whiff of scurvy, a hint of rats in the hold,hulls battered by typhoons.” These words from a poem
In 1810, the Cherokees could have rightfully claimed that the United States had stolen the five million acres ceded in 1805, and the US still owed the Cherokees an estimated amount of $43.5 million. In a recent lecture on her new book, Redressing Historical Injustice: Self-Ownership, Property Rights and Economic Equality, Wanjiru Njoya
The discovery of a Buddha Statue by a Polish-US mission points to ancient civilizational links between India and Egypt. India’s Buddhist traditions left their trail of ascetic uniqueness in ancient Egypt. A statue of Buddha, the reverent ascetic who founded Buddhism, has been discovered in Egypt’s seaport of Berenice on
An 18th-century East India Company merchant named John Pybus offers advice on tax dodging and bribery in his notes. East India Company merchant John Pybus compiled notes about the practicalities of trade in various ports and settlements of the Indian Ocean in the 18th century. Among lists of prices, exchange
