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Delhi Durbar
The Delhi Durbar was a spectacular public event held in India to commemorate the accession of a new British monarch to the title Empress or Emperor of India. Three Delhi Durbars were held: 1877, 1903, and 1911. The event involved military...
Definition
Brahmi Script
The Brahmi script is the earliest writing system developed in India after the Indus script. It is one of the most influential writing systems; all modern Indian scripts and several hundred scripts found in Southeast and East Asia are derived...
Definition
Gurjara-Pratihara Empire
The Gurjara-Pratiharas, or simply, the Pratiharas (8th century CE - 11th century CE) held their sway over western and northern India. This dynasty saw its fortunes rising under Nagabhata I (730–760 CE) who successfully defeated Arab invaders...
Interview
Interview: Bejeweled Sri Lanka
The first comprehensive survey of Sri Lankan art organized by an American museum, The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka, on show now at the LACMA in Los Angeles, California, presents some 250 works addressing nearly two millennia of Sri Lankan...
Definition
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is an eyewitness account of ancient travel to Africa and India via the Red Sea written by an unknown Greek-speaking Egyptian author in the 1st century CE. In this detailed account, the conditions of the...
Definition
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire was established from the 15th century and eventually stretched from the Americas to Japan. Very often a string of coastal trading centres with defensive fortifications, there were larger territorial colonies like Brazil...
Image
Map of the British Conquest in India c. 1857
This map illustrates the rapid and often chaotic expansion of British control in India between the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the eve of the Indian Rebellion in 1857. During this century, the East India Company transformed from a trading...
Image
Map of the East India Company Trade, c.1800
The English East India Company (EIC) was established by Royal Charter on 31 December 1600 under Queen Elizabeth I (reign 1558–1603), granting it a monopoly on English trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. Initially conceived as a commercial...
Image
Portuguese Nobles in India
A c. 1540 illustration of Portuguese nobles in India. The Portuguese had many coastal colonies in India, part of the Estado da India. From the Códice Casanatense (Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome)
Definition
Rashtrakuta Dynasty
The Rashtrakuta Dynasty ruled parts of South India from the 8th to the 10th century CE. At its zenith, their kingdom included the modern state of Karnataka in its entirety along with parts of the current Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra...