A Tamil poem describes foreign ships arriving with gold and departing with pepper. Nearly 5,000 kilometres away, archaeologists excavating a Roman port in Egypt found a sealed jar containing approximately 7.5 kilograms of South Indian black pepper. Together, these discoveries trace one of the ancient world’s great maritime trade routes. Roman coins, wine jars and … Read more
A sword stood upright beside one grave. Its copper sheath had been placed horizontally across a row of pottery. Nearby, archaeologists uncovered decorated coffins, shields, headgear and three copper-covered vehicles. Women were also buried at Sinauli. Together, these discoveries inspired a fascinating possibility: did women fight as warriors in northern India approximately 4,000 years ago? … Read more
In approximately 1025 CE, Rajendra Chola I sent a fleet across the Bay of Bengal and attacked a chain of ports connected with Srivijaya. The expedition reached territories around present-day Malaysia, Sumatra and the approaches to the Strait of Malacca. It was one of medieval India’s most ambitious overseas military operations—but no surviving Chola source … Read more
Scientific dates from Sivagalai in Tamil Nadu indicate that iron objects were present in archaeological contexts dating as far back as 3345 BCE. These results, published by the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology in 2025, could substantially revise the accepted history of iron technology in India and possibly the wider ancient world. Sivagalai is an … Read more
The ancient cemetery at Sinauli in Uttar Pradesh has produced some of India’s most remarkable Bronze Age discoveries. Archaeologists uncovered elaborate coffins, copper weapons and full-sized wooden vehicles covered with copper. One discovery attracted particular attention: a female burial containing objects associated with archery and warfare. Was this woman one of India’s earliest known female … Read more
Inside the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam is an unusual seated representation of the influential philosopher and theologian Ramanuja. Many devotees and temple accounts identify it as his preserved mortal body, maintained for centuries with saffron and camphor. Another historical interpretation says that Ramanuja’s remains were interred beneath the shrine and that the visible figure … Read more
During the Pleistocene, the Indian subcontinent was inhabited by an elephant considerably larger than any living elephant.Known as Palaeoloxodon namadicus, it belonged to an extinct group commonly called straight-tusked elephants. Fossils attributed to the species have been reported from river valleys and sedimentary deposits across northern and central India.Its enormous size has produced eye-catching claims … Read more
Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu preserves one of southern India’s most important records of the Cretaceous Period. Its sedimentary rocks contain marine fossils, petrified wood and fragmentary evidence of dinosaurs that lived near the end of the age of reptiles. At approximately the same time, enormous volcanic eruptions were transforming western and central India. These eruptions … Read more
Key takeaway: Archaeologists at Sinauli discovered three full-sized copper-clad wooden vehicles in elaborate burials. The excavation team identifies them as chariots, but the absence of horses, horse equipment and spoked wheels leaves their exact function open to debate. The discovery of three ancient vehicles at Sinauli in Uttar Pradesh has raised important questions about transport, … Read more