Medium rare

In Goa, Miyan Ali was the inadvertent face of multiple intrigues. (Alamy)

A Muslim royal’s Christian faith

4 min read . 20 Dec 2019

A portrait of Malik Ambar circa 1624-25. (Wikimedia Commons)

A slave who defied the Mughals

5 min read . 13 Dec 2019

A still from the 2015 movie ‘Bajirao Mastani’.

Muslim sons of a Brahmin 'Peshwa'

4 min read . 06 Dec 2019

Champaner’s Jama Masjid was built by Mahmud Begada. (Wikimedia Commons)

The poison sultan of Gujarat

5 min read . 29 Nov 2019

Sethu Lakshmi Bayi. (Photograph courtesy: The Travancore Family, Bengaluru)

A queen exiled from history

5 min read . 22 Nov 2019

The Cheraman Juma Masjid in Methala, Thrissur district. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons )

A mosque celebrating a Hindu king

5 min read . 12 Nov 2019

Baiza Bai was suspicious of the Company and capable of reckless behaviour. (Wikimedia Commons)

The shrewd dowager of Gwalior

5 min read . 08 Nov 2019

Indira Raje from a 1919 photograph (Getty Images)

The young widow of Cooch Behar

4 min read . 01 Nov 2019

A painting depicting Krishna’s battle against the demon Naraka’s armies.

The many beginnings of Diwali

5 min read . 25 Oct 2019

Malhar Rao Gaekwad. Photo: Alamy; and (right) Robert Phayre. Photo: Getty Images

Opinion: Gold cannons and a poison plot

5 min read . 18 Oct 2019

A still from ‘Ramshastri’ (1944), a movie on Prabhune.

The judge who sentenced a ‘peshwa’

5 min read . 11 Oct 2019

The ‘darbar’ at Pudukkottai painted by Raja Ravi Varma. (Wikimedia Commons)

Opinion: Black magic and a bureaucrat

5 min read . 04 Oct 2019

The madrasa of Mahmud Gawan in Bidar, Karnataka. (Alamy)

Opinion: A merchant-prince betrayed in Bidar

5 min read . 27 Sep 2019

The Mountbattens with prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Delhi in May 1956.

The many loves of the Mountbattens

5 min read . 20 Sep 2019

Travancore’s Thirunal Rama Varma (1724-98) was known as Dharmarajah. alamy

Pathans and priests in Travancore

4 min read . 13 Sep 2019

A detail of the ‘House of Bijapur’ genealogical painting depicting most of the rulers of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Maratha blood and Persian veins

5 min read . 05 Sep 2019

Tukoji Rao Holkar III, maharaja of Indore from 1903-26. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Opinion | An abduction on Malabar Hill

5 min read . 23 Aug 2019

Interiors of the palace of the Thirumala Nayaka in Madurai. (Photo: Alamy)

Opinion | Shifting loyalties in the peninsula

5 min read . 16 Aug 2019

Dr M.P. Lukose was India’s first woman legislator. (Photo: Courtesy: Manorama Books)

Opinion | The good doctor of Travancore

4 min read . 08 Aug 2019

The Vitthala Temple in Vijayanagar features a ‘turbaned Muslim warrior’. (iStock)

Vijayanagar’s age of confidence

5 min read . 02 Aug 2019