Great to see the actual color of lac! This pigment was a major commodity traded from India to Yemen and Egypt. One of the Geniza merchants who dealt in dyes and dyed cloth was known as al-Urjuwānī, "the purple dealer" Some of the Geniza documents about lac --> geniza.princeton.edu/en/documents...

Joumana Medlej@majnouna.com · 4mo ago

Lac pigment collected after I demonstrated the process in an online class a few weeks ago, before and after drying/pulverising. #medievalpigments

#cartoon #CJP #Ramlila #Politics #BJP Linktr.ee/MANJULtoons

#medievalsky @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social has put together a virtual issue featuring Chris Wickham's work for the journal academic.oup.com/past/pages/c...

Virtual Issue: Chris Wickham

In memory of our dear friend and colleague Chris Wickham, former Editor of the journal and Chair of the Past and Present Editorial Board, P&P have collected

academic.oup.com

RIP Chris Wickham. Unlike so many historians who emphasise particularities and contingencies, he was the master of constructing grand, coherent, beautifully rendered worlds out of his evidence. This, from his 2021 Past and Present essay, is a masterpiece of historical writing.

The Pope reminds me of a version of Catholicism I knew growing up as a young man attending anti-war and anti-death penalty protests, where I met elderly Catholics who shared their version of faith with me. I learned that Catholicism was about love and mercy for the weak, the condemned, and the poor.

Christopher Hale@christopherjhale.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass with an estimated 800,000 people in Paris on Saturday, after spending the morning with migrants, the poor, and adults newly entering the Catholic Church. “For Christians,” he added, “the poor are not a sociological category, but the very ‘flesh’ of Christ.”

The old way is to say antiquity created the West. This subtitle gets it right

(Mar)Chella Ward@luxmea.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I’m pretty sure that if nothing else it will be the yellowest book of 2027 🤭💛 www.plutobooks.com/product/clas...

Jarrah Sastrawan's new book (also in OA pdf) is a fascinating and groundbreaking study of how cultural knowledge was produced and transmitted, textually and otherwise, in 5th–15th-c. Java, with valuable insights on historiography.

The Precarious Past in Premodern Java by Wayan Sastrawan - Paper

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

ucpress.edu

"Historically, and down to the present day, visitors to his dargah have included all kinds of people — criminals, thugs, politicians, ministers, ordinary men and women, and members of transgender communities — seeking blessings and benediction."

Re-reading Nizamuddin Auliya in history and memory

As legends associated with the charisma and spiritual power of Nizamuddin Auliya spread, many anecdotes from folkloric traditions began to be linked with his life, which cannot be entirely discarded e...

thedailystar.net

Dr. Mekhola Gomes joins us to discuss copper, kinship, and property in early medieval India, the work of reading ancient inscriptions, teaching the Ramayana, and why we must understand the past on its own terms. 🎧 Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts! open.spotify.com/episode/3o0d...

I had an article out recently on the complex ways in which ‘post-colonial’ (archaeological) knowledge moved, the conditions that allowed it, and why it’s important to finally move beyond that old Bruce Trigger article characterising types of archaeological work: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Developing Indian pasts? The Archaeological Survey of India, ‘postcolonial’ archaeology, and technical assistance in Nepal - William Carruthers, 2026

This article examines archaeological assistance provided to Nepal by the Archaeological Survey of India as part of India’s aid efforts there in the 1960s. It de...

journals.sagepub.com

Banksy in London

ranajit guha always 🔥

where I talk about kinship, global medieval history, inscriptions, JNU, and my upcoming book. thanks to @meetinginthema.bsky.social for this opportunity! #medievalsky open.spotify.com/show/1xJf1PI...

Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott

Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott

Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why

theguardian.com

Historian and retired professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Janaki Nair on her incarcerated students, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam

A teacher's testimony: Prof. Janaki Nair on denial of bail to two of her students, Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid

A renowned retired JNU historian expressed anger after her former students, anti-CAA activists Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, were denied bail by the Supreme Court in a UAPA case linked to the Delhi v...

maktoobmedia.com

Important piece regarding Indian gaming industry. Hope this adds more nuance in south asian games studies discourse. theambedkarianchronicle.in/debugging-in...

Debugging Inequality: Caste and Labour Hierarchies in Indian Gaming Industry | The Ambedkarian Chronicle

The author reflects on their own experiences in the industry, the narratives they came across and how caste does in fact shape the process of game development.

theambedkarianchronicle.in

eminent historian tanika sarkar on the history of India’s national song, vande mataram, and the exclusionary imagination of the Indian nation as a hindu goddess in distress m.thewire.in/article/book...

My article on kinship ties, Buddhism, and early medieval states has just been published. Available open access: doi.org/10.1163/9789...

Important group of new studies on the "Kawi culture" that grew out of the use of the Old Javanese in the 8th-15th c. as a cosmopolitan vernacular by speakers of various languages, esp. in Java & Bali. Lots of exciting new work in this field. Wacana 26(3), free download: scholarhub.ui.ac.id/wacana/

archaeology in the age of colonialism

Galkande Dhammananda is a rarity in Sri Lanka: a monk speaking out against Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism and looking to build bridges after civil war. Jeevan Ravindran writes buff.ly/eMtdqa7

One monk’s lonely battle against Sinhala-Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka

One monk’s battle against extremist Buddhism in Sri Lanka

himalmag.com

Our latest open access book is out! Classical Art and Ancient India is available in print and free online www.carc.ox.ac.uk/carc/publica...

Ons Jabeur says she’s been called ‘a terrorist’ for trying to help starving people in Gaza: "I've been called a terrorist so many times. I don't know how that's even related. I'm trying to help people, and especially kids, who are starving." Source: www.wtatennis.com/news/4260883....

Ranajit Guha on a truly Indian history writing as expropriation of the expropriators

A pop star floating in zero gravity on a mission funded by Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in history, while the rest of us guess at what economic downturn or fascist political maneuver will strike next…is exactly how I saw this year unfurling

In Space, No One Can Hear You Girlboss

Strapped in next to Gayle King and an all-women crew aboard Jeff Bezos’ rocket, the pop star set a record for the most feminist publicity stunt in history as she smashed through the glass ceiling of E...

pitchfork.com

Fascinating Mughal order reveals a history of 18th century India the right-wing doesn’t want you to know!

Over 250-years-old Mughal document throws light on tax waiver for pilgrims at Allahabad

Discover a 250-year-old firman from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II granting religious autonomy to Ganga pilgrims.

thehindu.com