Incarnations

The lives and afterlives of 50 incredible Indian people from ancient India to the 21st century 'Essential... whoppingly aurally intense' New Statesman '... makes the mind fly across time, place and history. You may smile as, mentally, you walk alongside Khilnani up some flinty slope. You will keep thinking about what he said long after.' The Telegraph Historian Sunil Khilnani, Professor of History and Politics at Ashoka University, takes listeners on an immersive, whirlwind journey from ancient India to the 21st century through the life stories of 50 remarkable individuals, exploring their surprising legacies and illuminating both the wonders and the urgent conflicts of India today. From the 5th century grammarian Panini, a pioneer in algorithmic thinking, to the wandering poetess Mirabai, challenger of the gender and caste order; from Malik Ambar, a 16th century north African who became a Deccan kingmaker, to Dhirubhai Ambani, the 20th century entrepreneur whose son now ranks among the world's richest billionaires; from Lakshmibai, the 19th century queen who enjoyed weightlifting, wrestling and steeplechasing, and who became a lightning rod for India's attitudes to women, to the contemporary painter M.F. Husain, who shaped a distinctive Indian modernism; Khilnani brings to life an extraordinary panorama of India's most revealing and resonant lives. Guests featured include Javed Akhtar, one of the great songwriters of Indian cinema, renowned actress Sharmila Tagore, historian Romila Thapar, poet Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, artists Howard Hodgkin and Bharti Kher, Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, author and political activist Arundhati Roy, and Sanskrit scholar Sheldon Pollock. With the help of these experts, Khilnani investigates the lives of political strategists and social reformers, filmmakers and farmers, mathematicians and religious gurus, warriors and saints, artists and slaves, industry titans and freedom fighters, who have co-existed in a country bound together by its people, in all their differences and commonalities. The chosen lives conjure up an India full of relevance and infinite range, celebrating the variety of the country in all its diversity of thought, religion, politics and art. Production credits Presented by Sunil Khilnani Produced by Mark Savage, Jeremy Grange and Martin Williams Editor: Hugh Levinson Music composed by: Talvin Singh Researcher: Manu Pillai Executive Producer: Martin Smith First broadcast BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: The Buddha: 11 May 2015 Mahavira: 12 May 2015 Panini: 13 May 2015 Kautilya: 14 May 2015 Ashoka: 15 May 2015 Charaka: 18 May 2015 Aryabhata: 19 May 2015 Shankaracharya: 20 May 2015 Rajaraja Chola: 21 May 2015 Basavana: 22 May 2015 Amir Khusro: 25 May 2015 Kabir: 26 May 2015 Guru Nanak: 27 May 2015 Krishnadevaraya: 28 May 2015 Mirabai: 29 May 2015 Akbar: 1 June 2015 Malik Ambar: 2 June 2015 Dara Shikoh: 3 June 2015 Shivaji: 4 June 2015 Nainsukh: 5 June 2015 William Jones: 8 June 2015 Rammohan Roy: 9 June 2015 Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi: 10 June 2015 Jyotirao Phule: 11 June 2015 Birsa Munda: 12 June 2015 Deen Dayal: 26 July 2021 Jamsetji Tata: 27 July 2021 Vivekananda: 28 July 2021 Annie Besant: 29 July 2021 Chidambaram Pillai: 30 July 2021 Ramanujan: 2 August 2021 Tagore: 3 August 2021 Visvesvaraya: 4 August 2021 Periyar: 5 August 2021 Iqbal: 6 August 2021 Amrita Sher-Gil: 9 August 2021 Subhas Chandra Bose: 10 August 2021 Gandhi: 11 August 2021 Jinnah: 12 August 2021 Manto: 13 August 2021 Bhimrao Ambedkar: 16 August 2021 Raj Kapoor: 17 August 2021 Sheikh Abdullah: 18 August 2021 Krishna Menon: 19 August 2021 Subbulakshmi: 20 August 2021 Indira Gandhi: 23 August 2021 Satyajit Ray: 2