Empire: World History

Shah Jahan, the third son of the opium-addicted Jahangir, was born in 1592 with the name Khurram. More interested in precious gems and architecture than dancing girls at court, Khurram was reserved and carefully crafted his image as the “millennial sovereign”. Upon Jahangir's death, Khurram finds himself embroiled in a fierce succession struggle. His cunning and military experience, honed from years of avoiding his father's armies, proves invaluable in this fight for the throne. But Khurram was not powerful on his own. He was surrounded by powerful women – raised by his step-grandmother Ruquiya Sultan, adored by his eldest daughter Jahanara, and most important of all loved and supported by his wife Mumtaz Mahal. She was his confidante and best friend, and to lose her would break his heart. But his broken heart would lead to the building of one of the most beautiful buildings in the world… Join Anita and William as they explore the early life of the fifth Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Often overshadowed by his son’s architectural wonders like the Taj Mahal, Emperor Jahangir was a true connoisseur of beauty. His reign witnessed a flourishing of art, architecture, and craftsmanship through his patronage of impressive workshops of artists who created vibrant masterpieces. Jahangir continued expressing his love of the natural world through the paintings he commissioned: from zebras to squirrels to exotic birds. And women were not excluded from his world of art. His powerful wife Nur Jahan oversaw architectural projects like the “Baby Taj”, and female painters at court documented the intimate life of the imperial harem. But beyond documenting the world around him, how did Jahangir use art as propaganda, and what is the meaning behind the mysterious zodiac coins he created? Listen as William and Anita are joined by Susan Stronge, curator of the V&A exhibition, The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence, to discuss the visual culture of the court of Jahangir. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Aaliyah Akude Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do you buy for a man who has everything? Thomas Roe is tasked with wooing the Emperor Jahangir. On March 6th 1615, he sets sail from England on the 8 month voyage to the Mughal Empire, home to one fifth of the world’s population. He has been sent by James I and the East India Company on a diplomatic mission to improve trading relations. The English envy the fabulously rich Emperor Jahangir whose personal wealth is ten times that of the national revenue of England at the time. Expecting to be greeted as a diplomat, Roe arrives in India and is forced to undergo a customs check. He is ill and accompanied by a badly behaved cook and a drunk chaplain. He hasn’t even reached court in Ajmer and everything seems to be going wrong. Will he succeed in his mission to win over Jahangir? Listen as Anita and William are joined by Nandini Das, author of Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire, to discuss the grumpy ambassador’s stay at Jahangir’s court and how it shaped the East India Company. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prince Salim grows up in the continuously expanding empire of his father, Akbar. The young prince is being primed to take on this legacy, but he is more interested in studying the natural world with intense curiosity by dissecting animals and observing their mating rituals. Later, with Akbar dead and Salim ready to rule, he fights off claims to power from his own son, blinding him as punishment for his insubordination. In 1605, Prince Salim becomes Emperor Jahangir, but is it his love of nature or his brutish desire for revenge that characterises his rule? Is he more David Attenborough or Hannibal Lecter? Join Anita and William as they debate this question and explore the early life of the fourth Mughal Emperor. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The Nabateans are a silent partner in everything that goes on in the high summer of the Ancient period” - Bettany Hughes By the time of Jesus’ birth, a mysterious empire had built its wealth through trading two of the gifts present at the Nativity: frankincense and myrrh. Aromatic crystals harvested from the sap of gnarled trees, frankincense and myrrh were highly desirable commodities known as the tears or the breath of the gods. Based along the coast of the Red Sea, the nomadic Nabatean people were engineers, mariners and savvy traders, and they cleverly placed themselves as the middlemen in the trade of this incense. The Nabateans gave the world Arabic, and had a kingdom that even Alexander the Great could not siege - so why do so many of us know nothing about them? Listen as Anita and William are joined by Bettany Hughes to discuss how the Christmas gifts of frankincense and myrrh powered a mysterious and innovative kingdom… Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Evan Green Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story of the Three Wise Men has been reinterpreted since it was first written down. The gift-bearing visitors to the newborn Jesus were initially described as “Magi”, meaning Persians of a priestly caste, but by the 4th century they were given the individual names of Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar. And in Medieval Europe they were described not as Three Wise Men, but as Three Kings. Yet there’s more to the evolution of the Magi than Western ideas, in Syriac Christian traditions there are up to 24 Magi, and in the Ethiopian church they are named Hor, Karsudan, and Basanater. So how have these ideas developed over time? Listen as William and Anita are again joined by Professor Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones to discuss the evolution of the story of the Magi, and the influence of British imperialism on their symbolism… Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The truth behind the story of the Three Wise Men has more connections to empire than many of us realise… Featured in every Nativity scene in school plays, churches, and art around the world, the Three Wise Men are key characters in the Christmas story. They are only mentioned once in the Bible, appearing in Matthew’s gospel described as the Magi - meaning Persians of a priestly caste from Persia. But who were they? Where were they from? And what was the meaning behind their gifts? Listen as Anita and William are joined by Professor Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones to discuss how the story of the Magi highlights the intermingling of Persian and Jewish culture at the time, as well as tensions between two great empires: the Parthians and Rome… Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a dyslexic child, Akbar explored his curiosities about the world through visual wonders, and by having literature read aloud to him. As an adult, his love of art evolved as he became the patron of a multicultural group of calligraphers, painters, poets and more. A now renowned Mughal artistic style developed from his court, with iconic paintings full of bright colours and meticulous details. How did Akbar shape this style? And how was his art and architecture impacted by the religious tolerance he promoted? Listen as William and Anita explore the art and architecture that emerged from Akbar’s court. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Raja Birbal is a man of such exceptional wisdom and wit that he will become the stuff of legends. Birbal is just one of the Nine Gems Akbar surrounds himself with, remarkable people who will help the emperor enact a series of wide reaching and radical reforms. The ruler takes it upon himself to absorb the teachings of all religions he has access to, which includes the Portuguese Jesuits who are making Goa their home. In rejecting tradition in the pursuit of reason, how will Akbar foster open minded religious debate? And how, amidst all this peaceful dialogue, does he still manage to wage war and expand his kingdom? Listen as William and Anita discuss how Akbar revolutionised his governance and promoted religious tolerance in his realm. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s 1542, and the baby who will grow up to be Akbar the Great is born into nothing and nowhere. His father, Humayun is on the run to Persia and the young family are living like beggars in the desert. Later, in the impossibly wealthy Mughal court, the prince becomes emperor at aged just thirteen. Akbar is a unique example of tolerance in an era of religious divisions, presiding over an empire of flourishing religious pluralism and meritocracy. But how will he first go about building and cementing this empire? And what lengths will he go to to eliminate those threatening his rule? Listen as William and Anita explore how Akbar consolidated his power through any means necessary. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kicked out of India, Humayun roams the desert as a nomad, accompanied by his young pregnant wife, his court poets, and his library camels. Sher Shah has taken his throne and the Mughal Empire seems as though it will end soon after it had begun. But Humayun does not give up, he seeks refuge in Iran and seeks the support of a Persian cavalry to overthrow Sher Shah in India, and Humayun’s own treacherous brothers in Afghanistan. All the while, the openminded leader continues to explore his curiosities in astrology, inventions, and design. Listen as William and Anita discuss how the emperor Humayun reconquered India. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On his death bed, Babur tells his eldest son not to fight with his brothers however awful they will be to him. As his father passes away, Humayun inherits a fragile empire on shaky ground. And his dad’s message of peace quickly comes to the fore when his treacherous younger brothers plot to take his throne. Once thought of as the hopeless hippie son, Humayun was an accomplished military general who had served in Babur’s forces as a teenager, and as emperor he continued to command troops against a familiar enemy – Sher Shah. But despite Humayun’s military might, he seemingly cannot win against the formidable Afghan warlord. Will he lose all that his father had built for their dynasty? Listen as William and Anita explore the life of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Against all odds, Babur defeats Sultan Lodi and captures Delhi. But despite the wealth that India can provide him, Babur hates his new home. He complains of the heat, the lack of his favourite fruits, and the culture. Yet he is a masterful tactical ruler, and begins to shape a Mughal government that he will soon pass down to his descendants. Although he had won against the Delhi sultanate, he faces a new threat from the Rajputs in the south who are even more heavily armed. Babur enters his final battle at Khanwa, and all the while he is ferociously writing his memoirs: documenting his thoughts, feelings, and love of nature in a way that will keep his memory alive long after his death… Join William and Anita as they explore the four years Babur spent establishing his kingdom in India before he passed away. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“In Herat a man can’t stretch out his leg without touching a poet’s backside” - Babur It’s 1506, and Babur leaves his beloved base in Kabul to visit his cousins in Herat, Afghanistan. But whilst he is shyly standing in the corner at parties and receiving a speedy education in poetry and calligraphy, his nemesis Shaybani Khan sacks the city he had left behind. Babur is now one of the last Timurid princes left, and to ensure the power of his family lineage does not die out, he enters a controversial alliance to help him defeat Shaybani Khan. In 1511, Babur launches military campaigns in his homeland of Uzbekistan, but why does he turn his attentions to India instead? And how will he succeed in conquering this new land? Listen as William and Anita discuss Babur’s life in Afghanistan, and the build up to his invasion of India. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“To wander from mountain to mountain, hopeless and homeless, has nothing to recommend it” - Babur Before he became the father of the Mughal dynasty, and the author of one of the most important memoirs in world history, Babur was a provincial young prince in modern-day Uzbekistan. His family tree stretches back to Genghis Khan and Timur, and his fighting spirit was as strong as his ancestors’. As a teenager he sets his sights on the capital city of Samarkand and lays siege to it. But he meets his match when faced with the great Uzbeg warlord, Shaybani Khan. At just 21 years old, Babur is left defeated and homeless, wandering as a nomad around Central Asia. How will he recover from this? Join William and Anita as they explore the early life of the first Great Mughal, Babur. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J.M. Barrie, the fascinating Scottish writer, gave us Peter Pan - the boy who never grows up, and his notorious pirate nemesis: Captain Hook. But where did this iconic rivalry come from, and how did Barrie’s fascination with both youth and pirates shape this timeless story? Barrie’s life, marked by personal tragedy and complex relationships, set the stage for a world where innocence meets adventure on the high seas. The figure of Captain Hook looms large over Peter Pan. Modelled partly on the infamous privateer Christopher Newport, who ruled Caribbean waters with a missing arm, Hook embodies the darker side of Neverland. Inspired by his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family, Barrie crafted Peter Pan as a tribute to these young boys who captured his heart. Yet, their lives would be marked by profound loss, shadowing the whimsy of the Lost Boys with tragedy. Join William and Anita as they dive into the origins of Barrie’s Peter Pan and the history behind Neverland’s fictional pirates. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Louis Stevenson, a sickly boy with a vivid imagination, grew up along Scotland’s rugged coast, where tales of shipwrecks and buried gold stirred dreams of pirates and treasure. Out of this coastal world, Stevenson crafted Treasure Island - and with it, Long John Silver, a character who has since come to define the cunning, complex pirate in our imaginations. But what inspired Stevenson’s tale, and how did his own experiences, steeped in adventure and struggle, breathe life into one of literature’s greatest pirates? Tracing the origins of Treasure Island and its enduring characters, we learn that the stories are grounded in Stevenson’s Scottish roots, a tapestry of real pirate lore, and the influential writings of Daniel Defoe. We meet Jim Hawkins, the young hero, and Long John Silver, the peg-legged rogue inspired by stories of real marauders. Join Anita and William as they explore how Treasure Island came to shape the mythical pirate figure and inspire countless adventures. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For many years, commemorations of the two World Wars excluded the memorialisation of soldiers from the British Empire. But campaigners have gradually turned the spotlight on their experiences. In the First and Second World War, approximately 3.8 million soldiers from the Indian subcontinent served in the British Army. Indian and British troops often formed friendships that lasted beyond the wars, bonded in their camaraderie and bravery. Yet there was a ceiling for Indian soldiers, they would never go on to receive top jobs or become commanders. And despite camaraderie on the front, the top generals saw Indians as lesser. During the evacuation of Dunkirk, the British were given the order to “cut loose your Indians and your mules”. This horrified leaders in Delhi and despite Nehru’s passionate antifascism, the Congress began small acts of civil disobedience in protest of India being placed in a war that it didn’t sign up to. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Yasmin Khan to discuss the Raj at War, and how World War Two became a catalyst for the end of British rule in India… To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After robbing the fleet in a brutal, barbaric fashion, Henry Avery caused a diplomatic incident of global proportions. The Mughals were furious and the East India Company, which at this very moment was trying to make inroads into India, had to go into overdrive to prove that he was not part of the company. As a result, they undertook one of the greatest manhunts ever to try to catch Avery. It crossed the world, going to the Caribbean and eventually to the British Isles, but will they find him? Listen to William and Anita to find out… To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the most notable pirates of his day, Henry Avery would go on to make potentially the most lucrative heist ever on the high seas. Originally a navy man, Avery then took the well-trodden path of starting out as a privateer and turning to piracy. Via a mutiny he soon found himself in the Indian Ocean looking to take the biggest prizes - Mughal ships - and in August 1695 the greatest appeared before him. The ships of Aurangzeb himself were heading for the Red Sea, so Avery hoisted his sail and went after them. Listen as William and Anita discuss one of the most infamous pirates of the age and his attempts to rob the Mughals. To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

William Kidd, a respectable Scottish privateer during the late 17th century, tasked with hunting down pirates on the orders of a murky cabal of British aristocrats, but with the crown’s blessing, finds himself and his crew frustrated by the absence of pirates in the waters off Madagascar during October 1696. With mutiny brewing on his ship The Adventure, Kidd - ever mercurial in his willingness to abandon the law - brutally killed one of his crew with a bucket, before attacking an apparently French Trading vessel captained by an Englishman - illegally. From that point onwards Kidd went rogue, attacking vessels hither and thither, drubbing and torturing as he went, or so the stories say… So, was Kidd really a devious, thieving pirate, whose innocence was but a calculated ruse, or a truly blameless man, caught up in powers and intrigues above his head, and pushed to the brink by a traitorous mutiny? Join William and Anita as they discuss William Kidd’s burgeoning pirating career and his turn to the dark side: his spate of violent pillaging, his time on the run from the British government and the famous treasure hoards he buried along the way; culminating in the most famous trial of the century, and a gibbet on Execution Dock…. To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alongside legends like Blackbeard and Calico Jack, William Kidd is one of the most famous pirates to have entered the public consciousness, thanks to Hollywood, sea shanties and literary mythologization. A Scottish sailor and privateer living during the late 17th century, Kidd went from a life of prosperous respectability and high society on Wall Street; hunting down pirates and protecting the trade of the British Empire, to a life spent on the run, pillaging ships as he went. But what was the process by which Kidd turned to the dark side? And was it against his will? His fate changed in 1695 when a murky syndicate of aristocrats commissioned Kidd - with the authorisation of the government - to hunt down pirates and Frenchmen in the Indian Ocean, and protect the trade there. From that point onwards Kidd’s law-abiding life of respectability would spiral out of control… Join William and Anita as they discuss the thrilling and tumultuous early career of the elusive William Kidd: his conversion from family man to pirate, his alleged visits to the famous Pirate utopia in Madagascar, and the acts of violence that would change his life forever… Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“At our first salutation he drank damnation to me and my men who styled cowardly puppies saying he would neither give nor take quarter…” By the end of November 1717 Blackbeard had become one of the most feared pirates of his age. Having declared war upon the British empire in revenge for his imprisoned brethren in Boston, he reigned down violence and destruction upon the eastern seaboard of North America, disrupting trade and causing havoc. By 1718 he had a devastating fleet of some six ships, helmed by his own flagship and one of the most famous pirate vessels of all time: the Queen Anne’s Revenge, a former French slaver. Finally, after blockading Charleston in exchange for a mere box of medicine, the British navy decided to take decisive action and hunt Blackbeard down. The man they sent for the job was Lieutenant Robert Maynard, who finally found his terrifying foe anchored on an island off North Carolina. Taking Blackbeard’s pirates by surprise, a bloody battle ensued that would see a legendary pirate duel to the death… Join William and Anita as they discuss Blackbeard’s terrifying reign of fear, the climax of his cataclysmic career, his downfall, and the astounding duel that would seal his bloody fate… To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition To buy David's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Suppressing-Piracy-Early-Eighteenth-Century-ebook/dp/B0917NM46Y/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The history of pirates is a thrilling kaleidoscope of adventure, devastation, violence and political intrigue, and never more so than during the 17th and 18th centuries: the golden age of piracy. This saw the rise of some of the most famous pirates of all time, many of them united in the near mythical Pirate Republic at Nassau in the Caribbean. From Calico Jack, the colourful progenitor of the skull and crossbones, to Charles Vane, the pirate king himself who delighted in torturing his captives, and the eccentrically berobed Stede Bonnet, the golden age saw pirates drive the British empire to the brink of despair. None more so than Blackbeard, the famously ruthless pirate captain who supposedly set his beard alight before battle to frighten his enemies. But behind his flaming beard and terrifying reputation, who was the real Blackbeard? And what was it that led him into a life of bloodthirsty pillaging upon the high seas? Join William and Anita as they discuss the golden age of piracy and the early life and career of the most famous pirate of all time: Blackbeard. To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition To buy David's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Suppressing-Piracy-Early-Eighteenth-Century-ebook/dp/B0917NM46Y/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When King Alfonso VI of León took Toledo from the Arabs in 1085, the history of western christendom changed forever. Within the city existed a number of texts full of the ideas that we would call Arabic numerals, but that originated in India. From the libraries of Toledo these were translated and spread through Europe. Enter Fibonacci. A genius Italian mathematician, he instantly recognised the advantages of this number system and so wrote Liber Abaci, distilling these ancient ideas into a Latin text. Once this caught on, it laid the foundation for the modern banking and economic system that underpins the global economy. Listen as William and Anita discuss how numerical ideas that originated in India came to prevail across the world. To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Often called Arabic numerals, the modern number system we use today actually originates in India. Whilst in the west they were using Roman numerals, in India they were using numbers 1-9. Then, the great Brahmagupta in the 7th century made one of the most monumental developments in human history. He invented zero in its modern form. Therefore, these basic rules of mathematics for the first time allowed any number up to infinity to be expressed with just ten distinct symbols: the nine Indian numbers plus zero. Rules that are still taught in classrooms around the world today. This step was a major advance that had never previously been attempted elsewhere and it was this Indian reincarnation of zero as a number, rather than just as an absence, that transformed it and gave it its power. From India, this development then travelled along the Golden Road and into the heart of Barmakid Baghdad. Listen as William and Anita discuss the origins of the Empire of Numbers. To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From India to Africa, the involvement and influence of Scots in the British Empire has been profound. In both arenas, they rose through the ranks as soldiers, merchants and bureaucrats, to carve out, govern and lead the empire overseas. But what of America? Here too the Scottish presence was enormous. From the Scottish diaspora in the Caribbean, where after Culloden Scots rebels were forced to work or they travelled willingly to become wealthy slavers themselves. In North America and Canada they fought in the Seven Years War and American Revolution, quickly came to dominate the fur and tobacco trades, and in many cases developed profitable, amicable and often romantic alliances with the Native Americans and First Nations peoples. With all this and more, the history of Scots in America is rife with adventure and derring-do, success and failure, glory, tragedy, bravery and controversy…. In today’s episode, William and Anita are joined once again by historian Murray Pittock, to discuss the story of Scots in America, and some of the fascinating Scottish characters who made their names there. To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The extraordinary lives of three Scotsmen - John Henderson, Richard Oswald, and David Livingstone - encapsulate the polarities of the Scottish experience in Africa prior to the 20th century. Henderson, formerly a soldier for the Swedes and the Danes in Europe, was captured and enslaved by the Arabs of Zanzibar in the Mediterranean. Before long though, he had won the heart of a princess of Zanzibar, and eloped to Alexandria with her. By contrast, Richard Oswald was a rich and prodigious slaver who went so far as to purchase an island where he would play golf, surrounded by his enslaved golf caddies in tartan, before later playing a major role in negotiating the Declaration of Independence. Finally, there was David Livingstone, a pioneering missionary, explorer and abolitionist, who nevertheless supported British colonial expansion, and whose influence on Western attitudes toward Africa endure to this day. In every case, the story of Scots in Africa is riddled with courage, cowardice, horror and adventure… In today’s episode, William and Anita are joined once again by historian Murray Pittock, to discuss the remarkable lives of the Scots who shaped and were shaped by their interactions with Africa, and the insight they give into the experiences of Scots overall. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the wake of Culloden, much of Scotland was on its knees. Crippled by defeat and the subsequent backlash of the British government, along with famine and poverty, they were in dire need of new horizons. The nascent British Empire would provide it. The Scottish Highlanders had developed a fearsome reputation during their struggles against the English, and would prove just as indomitable fighting for Britain in India. Yet, in more ways than militarily, India was to become a treasure trove of opportunity, enrichment and conquest for the Scots. From their domination of the East India Trading Company, to some of the men credited with cementing imperial rule in India, and the Highlander Regiments who took on the ferocious Tipu Sultan in the South, Scots involvement in all spheres of the British Empire in India was momentous. It also made them very rich… how controversial, then, is Scotland’s Indian involvement? In today’s episode, William and Anita are joined by historian Andrew MacKillop to discuss the colourful history of Scots and India. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Few battles in history have been remembered as powerfully, nor been as mythologised, as Culloden on the 16th of April 1746. Under the leadership of Charles Edward Stuart - Bonnie Prince Charlie, ‘the Young Pretender’ - the Jacobites fight to the death upon Culloden Moor to place their own king on the British throne. Outgunned, outnumbered, the kilted swordsmen and musketeers took on the forces of the Hanoverian George II of England, in what would be the last battle fought on British soil. What would be their fate? In today’s episode, William and Anita are joined again by historian Jacqueline Riding to discuss the Battle of Culloden: one of the most cataclysmic battles in British history. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1688 the Stuart King James II was ousted from the throne by his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, in what is called the Glorious Revolution. This momentous change would set in motion decades of unrest across the British Isles, as the supporters of James Stuart; his son the ‘Old Pretender’ James, and his flamboyant grandson, ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, both exiled in France and Italy, sought to restore them to the throne of Britain. In Scotland especially, the hereditary home of the Stuarts, rebellion was constantly brewing amongst the Scottish clans, where demands by the English king for them to bend the knee would result in the bloody massacre of Glencoe…finally, with time passing and the momentum of the Stuart cause fading, the Young Pretender; Bonnie Prince Charlie, took up his family’s struggle and sailed to Scotland to reclaim his father’s crown….the storm clouds of revolt were brewing. What would be Scotland’s fate, and indeed that of Britain? In today’s episode, William and Anita are joined by historian Jacqueline Riding to discuss the Jacobites and their fight to restore the Stuarts to the British throne, in the build up to the cataclysmic Battle of Culloden… To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the accession of James I and VI in 1603, Scotland was assimilated into the composite monarchy of the United Kingdom. James, an eccentric, insecure and rambling figure, preoccupied with witches, was himself an alien in his new English court. Even at this stage though, it seems unlikely that the two nations would be legally combined under one parliament. But, with Scottish interests abroad constantly embattled by a lack of resources and the exclusionist attitude of its English neighbours; their flailing economy, and in-fighting, Scottish sovereignty within the composite monarchy began diminishing. As such, many in Scotland began resisting any union of the two nations with increasing desperation, while the English government - under the pro-union Queen Anne - in response redoubled their efforts to see the Scottish parliament subsumed…Was the union of Scotland and England now inevitable, or could a Scottish Referendum in 1706 protect Scottish independence? In this week’s episode, William and Anita are joined by renowned historian Murray Pittock to discuss the process by which Scotland was brought into Union with England, the condition of the new state, and the long term repercussions of this seminal moment for the future of Great Britain… To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When charting the rise of Scotland’s global influence, few events have been as tragically remarkable as the Darien Scheme of 1698, which saw woefully unprepared Scottish pioneers attempt to settle and colonise the Isthmus of Panama. Scotland during this period was a country bound to England under one crown, originally that of James I and VI, though still in its own right a sovereign state. However, competitive enmity was developing between the two neighbours over the question of empire and their competing ambitions overseas, with England increasingly restricting Scottish trade as a result. This, and a bad harvest saw Scottish finances in dire straits. So it was that the Scottish government, upon the urging of wheeler-dealer businessman William Patterson who himself had been inspired by pirates, decided to fund an expedition to create a permanent Scots colony; New Caledonia, on the thin strip of land uniting North and South America, and so ideally suited for trade. Little did the Scots men, women and children who set out that November - full of hope and enthusiasm - know of the hunger, danger and disease that awaited them… In today’s episode, Anita and William are joined by archaeologist Mark Horton to discuss the disastrous Darien scheme, and the long-term repercussions of this calamitous expedition for the future of Scotland. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 9th century AD, two years after the Holy Roman Empire was established in Western Christendom, another world-shaking empire was rising in the east, more powerful even than that of Charlemagne and far wealthier. Born in what is today Northern Cambodia but long before the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, the mighty Khmer empire dominated most of mainland Southeast Asia, stretching as far north as southern China, and far outsizing the Byzantine empire and its peak. In 802 a mighty warrior king, Jayavarman II, united the warring clans, made dynastic alliances and conquered his way to supremacy. His descendants would become God Kings…Meanwhile, in the famed city of Angkor, the divine kings of the Khmers built a temple of such epic proportions and complexity, such beauty, that its fame - like the temple itself - would endure across the ages: Angkor Wat. But what is the truth of Angkor Wat’s origins? And how much does it owe to the example of India? Join William and Anita as they discuss the extraordinary Khmer empire and the divine kings who raised her, illuminating as they do, one of the greatest lost history’s in all the world. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While in the West the legends of King Arthur were being born, a Buddhist tantric magician of immense magical powers - Vajrabodhi - was enshrining himself as the Merlin of first India, and then China. Undeniably one of the most extraordinary characters of the 8th century, Vajrabodhi would play a crucial role in transporting Buddhism to the Chinese court, along with Indian scholarship. After being sent there on an important embassy by his cousin, a mighty Pallava king of Southern India, Vajrabodhi embarked upon a colourful odyssey to rival those of antiquity, meeting, as he went, a young boy who would later become his loyal companion and a powerful sorcerer in his own right; Amoghavajra. Together they were alleged to have sent rain dragons to cure droughts, and concocted spells or mantras capable of destroying the invading hordes of Islam and the Tibetans. What then is the truth of these exceptional monks and their purported “magic”? Did they really conquer rampaging armies and even master the elements? Join William and Anita as they discuss Vajrabodhi, the Buddhist magician of India, and his sorcerer’s apprentice. From wizards, spells, and rain dragons, to invading armies, and the secrets of the previously unexplainable Borobudur… To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India’s transformation of the ancient world is indisputable, and tangible evidence of this can be found in the magnificent Hindu and Buddhist temples scattered across the landscapes of South East Asia. But what was the process by which India transported its vast empire of art, culture, architecture, technology, religion and even writing to South East Asia? The story largely derives in the ascent of international trade from India across the Bay of Bengal, to places like Malaysia, Thailand and even China. The formidable Pallava dynasty transmitted the famous tradition of Indian temple building far beyond the borders of India, along with majestic notions of Hindu kingship, and the burgeoning Indian renaissance in art and poetry that flourished from the 6th century. But who were the Pallavas, rulers of southern India and architects of a cultural revolution? Join Anita and William as they discuss one of the most extraordinary cultural and architectural exports of all time, and the birth of one common, mighty Indosphere in the East. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Tabby Syrett Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Having garnered absolute power through bloody means, Empress Wu Zetian begins seeing apparitions, haunted by her violent schemes. With her husband incapacitated, the Empress at first held counsel on his behalf from behind a curtain. But she soon officially proclaimed herself a divine ruler. Working alongside a prominent Buddhist monk, she built temples and universities in China, creating a new holy land. Yet as the formidable leader enters her seventies, the guilt about how she got to this position begins to play on her conscience… Listen as Anita and William discuss how Empress Wu Zetian grew 7th century China into a Buddhist powerhouse. survey.empirepoduk.com Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Evan Green Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s only ever woman Emperor. Raised by pious Buddhist parents, Wu Zetian left a trail of bodies in her wake as she charted a path to absolute power. From a lowly ranked concubine in the imperial harem to the corridors of power, she used Buddhism to legitimise her unprecedented claim to rule. Listen as William and Anita discuss the unstoppable rise of China’s only woman Emperor to rule in her own right, and what this meant for Ancient India’s empire of ideas. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @EmpirePodUK Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Evan Green Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was actually India, not China, that was the greatest trading partner of the Roman Empire. During this era, it’s clear that sea travel was the fastest, most economical and safest way to move people and goods in the pre-modern world, costing about a fifth of the price of equivalent land transport. The Golden Road of early east–west commerce, in other words, lay less overland, through a Persia often at war with Rome, and much more across the open oceans, via the choppy waters of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Listen as William and Anita discuss the trade links between India and Ancient Rome. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Evan Green Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilisation, creating around it a vast empire of ideas. Indian art, religions, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics and mythology blazed a trail across the world, along a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific. Listen as Anita and William discuss his new book and the rise of the Indosphere. To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Evan Green Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Richard Nixon now in the White House and not wanting to have his presidency consumed by Vietnam like his predecessor’s was, he begins to search for ways to disentangle America from the war. It begins with Vietnamisation and an attempt to reduce South Vietnamese reliance on the Americans, but soon he goes to China and starts making moves on the world stage to reduce Soviet and Chinese support for the north. Before long the Americans will be out and South Vietnam will be left to its fate. Listen as William and Anita are once again joined by Fredrik Logevall to discuss the end of the Vietnam War and the last chopper out of Saigon. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the death of JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson took over the Presidency and immediately had to wrestle with America’s relationship with Vietnam after the killing of Diem. Right from the start he prophesised that it would be his downfall and so it was. He consistently resented it and the distraction it was from his domestic agenda, the Great Society. Over his five years in charge, LBJ Americanised the war, committing more and more troops to Vietnam, and initiating massive bombing campaigns known as Operation Rolling Thunder, putting America into a quagmire. But was this inevitable? Would JFK have done things differently? Listen as William and Anita are once again joined by Fredrik Logevall to find out. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vietnam, or Indochina as it was known, had been under French colonial rule since the nineteenth century. This was until the Vietnamese nationalist group, the Viet Minh, took on the French in 1946. Ho Chi Minh, son of a Confucian scholar, former chef in Boston, and lover of French literature, was at their head. The fighting came to an end in 1954 with the Geneva conference splitting the country in two. The northern side was to be ruled by the Viet Minh, with close links to the Chinese Communist party and the Soviet Union whilst the South, then known as the Republic of Vietnam, was to remain loyal to America. However, by summer 1963, America is taking an increasingly active role, tensions are rising and a second war is on the horizon. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Fredrik Logevall to discuss the lead up to the Vietnam War. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the fall of Batista, the Cuban revolution took a more radical turn. Castro was not a communist to begin with, but as those around him became increasingly Marxist, the CIA’s desire to regain control of the island grew. With the failure of JFK’s Bay of Pigs invasion, events escalated into the Cuban Missile Crisis as the USSR brought nuclear weapons to America’s doorstep. Listen as Anita and William are once again joined by Alex von Tunzelmann to talk about how the Caribbean almost became the centre of a nuclear armageddon. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Aaliyah Akude Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s 1959 and the swaggering Cuban revolutionary, Fidel Castro, has just overthrown the unpopular American backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Che Guevara, the Marxist physician whose face would become an internationally recognised symbol of resistance, is at his side. But how did the small Caribbean nation go from a profitable outpost of the Spanish empire to a heady American party island, rife with gangsters and gambling, to a hub of revolution? Listen as Anita and William are joined by Alex Von Tunzelmann to discuss the events that led up to the Cuban Revolution. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Alice Horrell Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Korean War was a brutal affair. It is estimated that 3,000,000 people were killed in the conflict that absolutely devastated the Korean Peninsula. And the legacy of it is still with us today; it was over the course of this war that the division between North and South solidified into two separate nations. It was also at this time that Kim Il Sung rose to prominence, establishing North Korea's ruling dynasty that exists to this day. Listen as William and Anita are once again joined by Paul Thomas Chamberlin to discuss the events of the war and its monumental legacy. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whilst we know the Korean Peninsula is split into two quite separate countries, North Korea and South Korea, that has not always been been the case. Korea was an independent, singular nation until the Japanese colonised it at the start of the 20th century. This collapsed after the Second World War, at which time the USA and Russia swept in to create their own spheres of influence, separated by the 38th parallel. Communist Russia in the north, capitalist USA in the south. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Paul Thomas Chamberlin to discuss the origins of North and South Korea. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By 1943, the price of rice was beyond unaffordable for most in Bengal, and people were dying in the streets. Despite government censorship of letters, news spread about the famine and the tide turned with the introduction of a new Viceroy. Yet when aid eventually did arrive from other regions of India, it was so chaotically handled that some food shipments were halted at the station. Listen as Anita and William are joined again by Kavita Puri to explore the legacy of what is sometimes dubbed “Churchill’s Famine”. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, the British administration feared that Japanese forces would take India as part of their campaign. To prevent access to resources in the event of a potential invasion, colonial forces enacted a “denial policy”, confiscating rice and destroying boats. This, along with a cyclone and political unrest, led to starvation in the countryside of Bengal, forcing people to flee to cities in a desperate search for food. Listen as Anita and William take a break from the American series to revisit an important and tragic event in 20th century Indian history, with guest Kavita Puri… Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the end of the Spanish-US war, the Philippines was on the menu. Two battles played out simultaneously on the archipelago: and old and a new empire fought for power over a colony, whilst Filipinos fought for independence. The Philippines honoured the US in their new constitution and flag. But they were betrayed, and a young revolutionary, Emilio Aguinaldo, led the Filipino people in the brutal war against American imperialism. Listen as Anita and William are joined once again by Daniel Immerwahr to explore the colonisation of the Philippines. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices