Podcast appearance with Dr Jagjeet Lally

RAS Fellow and Member of Council Dr Jagjeet Lally was a recent guest on the BBC’s You’re Dead to Me podcast series, in an episode entitled India Between Empires: The Long 18th Century. The discussion effectively conveys nuanced ideas about this period in a lighthearted and accessible way, and we hope you enjoy listening. The episode is available at the link below.

You’re Dead to Me – India between empires: the long 18th century – BBC Sounds

From the episode description:

Greg Jenner is joined in early modern India by historian Dr Jagjeet Lally and comedian Nish Kumar to learn all about the subcontinent’s dynamic eighteenth century. From the sixteenth century, the dominant power in India was the Mughal Empire. According to the traditional narrative, when the Mughals began to decline in the eighteenth century, the subcontinent descended into political chaos, and European trading powers – most notably the British East India Company – swooped in to take advantage and (in their words) restore order. But can we trust this story? In this episode, we look at India’s long eighteenth century not as a period of chaos, but one of dynamic transformation and exciting developments. Taking in the rise of new powers including the Marathas, the Rajputs and the Sikh Empire, and looking at changes in the economy, global trade, artistic patronage and gender relations, we explore what India was really like at this time.