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Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 32: Akbar, Part I With Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Akbar, Virendra Sexena as Birbal, Harish Patel as Todar Mai, Rajesh Vivek as Sheikh Mubarak, Pankaj Berry as Abul Fazai, Irfan Khan as Badayuni, Puneet Issar as Rana Pratap, S.P. Dubey as Abdul-Nabi, Surendar Pal as Man Singh, Arun Bakshi as Atga Khan, and Ayub Khan as Munim Khan. As Nehru noted, Babur died within four years of his coming to India and much of his time was spent in fighting and laying out a splendid capital in Agra. Hankering for Central Asia, Babur had won an empire in India; scorning Central Asia, Humayun lost the whole empire in India. Humayun encountered Sher Shah Suri, a well-prepared Afghan contender for sovereignty and, in the ensuing tussle in 1540 near Kanauj, he barely escaped with his life, but the Mughal troops were decimated. Humayun became a fugitive. The enthroned Sher Shah Suri had a short reign, installing energetic administrative reforms with excellent roads, horse-backed postal systems and stylised monuments. His remarkable reign came to an end in 1545 with his death. By 1555, Humayun reclaimed Delhi, but stumbled to his death next year. His son Akbar, barely 13, came out of the seraglio where he was under protection of uncle Bayram Khan, as regent, and reigned from 1556-1605. Drawing from Abul-Fazl’s imperial memoir Akbar-Nama, we see scenes of market prices being controlled (with Akbar intervening incognito). The young king proceeds to marry Jodhabai, the Rajput princess of Amber, and abolishes the discriminating Jaziya tax on the Hindus. As Nehru observes, Akbar surrounds himself with a group of brilliant men devoted to him and his ideals among whom are famous brothers Abul-Fazl and Fyzee, humorist Birbal, the trusted Rajput Raja Man Singh and the valiant general Abdul Rahim Khankhana. But the quarrel continues with the orthodox Ulemma, to whom the Sufi saint Sheikh Mubarak is hauled up. While most Rajput chiefs are amalgamated in the imperial system of broad-based Omrah (nobility), Rana Udai Singh of Mewar, and his valorous son Pratap Singh, prove recalcitrant, notwithstanding Man Singh’s honest persuasions. Akbar lays a punitive siege of Chittor, but despite the defeat at Haldighat, and flight of Udai Singh and Pratap Sigh to sanctuary in the hills Chittor is never re-occupied. As Nehru states, his royal court became a meeting place, almost an Ibadatkhana (prayer-hall), every Friday, for men of all faiths and those who had new ideas or inventions. His tolerance of views and his encouragement of all kinds of beliefs and opinions, including Sufism, angered some of the more orthodox Muslims like the Sayyads. Included in Akbar’s theological forays are, as we find, Portuguese priests. In 1580, the padres hastened from Goa confident of the most sensational conversion of all times! In the event, they are disappointed as were all other disputants. Akbar’s quest for spiritual enlightenment was to seek a faith that would satisfy the needs of his realm as well as his conscience. As a result, he came up with a new religious order Din-E-Ilahi. The cultural amalgamation of Hindu and Muslim in north India took a giant step forward, with Akbar as popular with the Hindus as with the Muslims. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 6: Mahabharata, Part II With Salim Ghouse as Krishna, Lalit Tiwari as Arjun, Vijay Kashuap as Shakuni, Om Puri as Duryodhana, Sujata Mehta as Draupadi, K.K. Raina as Vidur, Devendra Malhotra as Bhishma, Anjan Srivastava as Dhmarashtra, Pandavani as Teejanbai & Party, Upasana Dance Academy as Kathakali, Yuvak Biradari as Odissi, Gopal Dubey & Trinetra as Chlau An enchanting Kathakali dance unfolds stylistically Bhima’s drinking blood from the killed Dusshasana‘s entrails and tying Draupadi’s hair. As the Pandava- Kaurava battle revealed, the post-Vedic fights were not over animals, but over land-holdings. The end of the Mahabharata war sees a battle royal between Bhima and Duryodhana as depicted graphically in the rare tragedy Urubhangam (The Shattered Thigh) by the classic Sanskrit poet playwright Bhasa. The King Duryodhana is fallen in the blood-soaked battlefield and his guru Balarama (Krishna’s brother) is visibly incensed at the palpable unfairness of ‘striking below the belt’ by Bhima at Krishna’s instance. Duryodhana bemoans his lot and regrets his past misdeeds. Visited by the parents and son Durjaya, Duryodhana consoles them and urges them to view Kunti and Draupadi as their kith and kin. The battle- scarred Ashwatthama, the son of guru Drona, turns up looking for a ‘vanishing glory in war, without the accolade of victory.’ Taunting Duryodhana that Bhima has crushed his pride and spirit, along with his thighs, when he struck him with the mace and seized him by the hair, Ashwatthama vanishes into the night, weapon in hand, to slay the Pandava sons who are sleeping. Drawing from another modern classic play, Andhayug, by Dharamvir Bharati, we see the Kaurava King Dhritarashtra, wife Gandhari and their messenger Sanjay-with divine eyesight—confabulating and Ashwatthama defying the sage Vyasa, who warns him against unleashing Brahmastra (the warhead of ultimate destruction) and curses him with eternal perdition of leprosy. The war is virtually over and Gandhari delivers her crushing curse on Krishna - ‘just as he did not prevent the war nor save her progeny of one hundred sons from getting slain, Krishna would bear entirely the terrible consequences of war by letting his own clan perish in internecine war and himself dying an ignominious death by an ordinary hunter’s involuntary arrow.’ The doomed destiny is accepted magnanimously by Krishna. The curtain also rises on Bhishma, the Kaurava great-grandfather, waiting on his battle-induced arrow-bed to breathe his last and Yudhishtira seeking his valuable counsel for conducting governance in time to come. The veteran warrior delivers many gems and Nehru thought his special emphasis on social welfare was noteworthy, since it was against the prevailing tenets of individual perfection. Nehru quoted approvingly aphorisms like: ‘Truth, self-control, asceticism, generosity, non-violence, constancy in virtue, these are the means of success, not caste or family’; ‘Virtue is better than immortality and life’; ‘True joy entails suffering’; a dig against avarice, ‘The silkworm dies of its wealth’ and an injunction to the advancing people, ‘Discontent is the spur of progress.’ What a treasure-trove of thoughts! Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 27: Synthesis With Pankaj Berry as Lorik, Aparajita as Krishna, Lubna Siddiqi as Chanda, Murlidhar as Bajur, Mahendra Raghuvanshi as Bantha, Alopi Verma as Roopchand, Amrik Gill as Mehar, Ashutosh Pathak as VBaman, and Poonam Jha as Brahaspati. Playback is by Kuldip Singh, Murlidhar, Jasvinder Singh, and Ratan Sharma. Songs composed by Kuldip Singh. Nehru refers to the effect of the Turk-Afghan conquest as twofold. On the one hand, those who remained in the Afghan-occupied territory became more rigid and exclusive retiring into their shells and trying to protect themselves from foreign influences. On the other hand, there was a gradual approach towards these foreign ways both in thought and life. A synthesis emerged especially in music, which, rooted in old Indian classical pattern, developed in many directions. The popular languages were also developed at the same time. The wave of Bhakti movement was spreading fast to remove caste and creed barriers. In the south, there was Sant Namdev who moved to the north and preached Bhakti to the common man through his lilting songs. Muslim mysticism and Sufism grew, one of whose most venerable Peers was Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer Sharif. One of his famous disciples was Amir Khusrau, a Turk who was a contemporary of Namdev in the 14th century. He was a poet of the first rank in Persian, the court language of the Afghans, and also a musician who introduced many innovations in the Indian classical ragas and musical instruments. We hear some of his Sufi songs and those of Mullah Daud during the time of Feroze Shah Tughlaq. In a romantic interlude, we listen to the Langa Singer playing on the Ravanhatta instrument describing to King Rupchand the ethereal beauty of one princess Chanda married to Vaman, but ignored and unhappy, and now back in her father’s fold. The musical narrative describes together with visuals how the handsome Lorik, shining like the sun, steals Chanda’s heart. Taking grave risks, Lorik climbs up a rope to Chanda’s chambers and after mutual passion, is reluctantly turned away. In the teeth of Vaman’s remonstrations, Lorik and Chanda cross the flooded river and move to the other shore to set up an idyllic abode. With the passage of time, the hapless Maina spends days and nights in sorrow and anger. The repentant Lorik eventually returns. A gracious Maina agrees to accept Chanda in the royal household, but the forlorn lady dies meanwhile of snakebite. Lorik, beside himself in grief, gives up his life in Chanda’s funeral pyre. The legends, ascribed to Mullah Daud, are sung with great gusto even today. Back to history, Nehru notes the Saint—poet Ramanand in the south in the 15th century and his still more famous disciple Kabir, a weaver of Banaras, who is professedly neither Hindu nor Muslim. Kabir’s poems and songs became, and are still, very popular crossing all religious barriers. After Kabir, Guru Nanak appears in the north as the venerated founder of Sikhism. We listen to some beautiful Shabads. The growing popular language, Hindi, was encouraged, and an attempt was made to forge symbiotic links between the religious faiths of the Hindus and the Muslims to bring about this synthesis.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 18: Kalidasa, Part—I [ ⇐ Episode 17 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 19⇒ ] [ Episode 18 Supplement ] With Ravi Jhankal as Kalidas, Pallavi Joshi as Mallika, Virendra Saxena as Matul, Lalit Tiwari as Vilom, Devendra Malhotra as Acharya Vararuchi, Mala Kumar as Anusuya, Prabha Mathur as Priyamvada, Shekhar Thakur as Durvasa, and Meenakshi Thakur as Ambika. Nehru cited traditions that Kalidasa lived during the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya of the Gupta dynasty. Vikramaditya’s fame rested on the literary and cultural brilliance of his court where he collected some of the most famous writers, artists and musicians, the ‘nine gems’ of the imperial court. As one of the gems, Kalidasa was among the fortunate who experienced life’s beauty and tenderness more than its rough edges. His writings revealed this love of life and a passion for nature’s beauty. In our times, Mohan Rakesh has scripted the play Ashadh Ka Ek Din on Kalidasa’s life in his native village where he thrived early in the romantic companionship of beautiful Mallika. A lovers‘ tryst on the riverfront is seen as disturbed by a deer-cub shot by a hunter, who turns out to be aware of Kalidasa’s poetic prowess. The king’s messenger calling the genius to join Ujjain’s royal court soon arrives and a reluctant Mallika bids him adieu. The lovelorn Poet writes his long poem Meghadutam (The Cloud Messenger) where a lover, made captive and separated from his beloved, asks a cloud, during the rainy season, to carry his message of desperate longing to her at Alkapuri, crossing over hills and dales, lakes and rivers, dense forests and roaming deer. Kalidasa, in real life, is now conferred royalty under the title ‘Matrigupta’. His new princess-wife, Priyangumanjari, pays a visit to Mallika’s village out of curiosity, but the indignant Mallika spurns all offers of royal help, now sure that Kalidasa would never return. Meanwhile, Kalidasa moves on to his magnum opus, the play Abhijnanam Shakuntalam presented here blending dialogue with full-throated Natya Sangeet (dramatic songs) inspired by Kirloskar’s Marathi musical Shaakuntal and sung with gusto by the protagonists to take dramatic action forward. The King Dushyanta comes hunting to a forest where there is the hermitage of the sage Kanva. The king is prohibited from hunting the hermitage deer, but is offered hospitality by the sage’s beautiful foster- daughter Shakuntala. In no time the king falls for the hermit-girl: reciprocated by the latter and encouraged by companions Anasuya and Priyamvada. After a brief interlude of sweet romancing they get married. On Kalidasa, Nehru quotes approvingly the American scholar, Ryder Kalidasa understood in the fifth century what Europe did not learn until the 19th … that the world was not made for man, that man reaches his full stature only as he realises the dignity and worth of life that is not human. That Kalidasa seized this truth is a magnificent tribute to his intellectual power, a quality quite as necessary to great poetry as perfection of form…

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 27: Synthesis [ ⇐ Episode 26 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 28⇒ ] [ Episode 27 Supplement ] With Pankaj Berry as Lorik, Aparajita as Krishna, Lubna Siddiqi as Chanda, Murlidhar as Bajur, Mahendra Raghuvanshi as Bantha, Alopi Verma as Roopchand, Amrik Gill as Mehar, Ashutosh Pathak as VBaman, and Poonam Jha as Brahaspati. Playback is by Kuldip Singh, Murlidhar, Jasvinder Singh, and Ratan Sharma. Songs composed by Kuldip Singh. Nehru refers to the effect of the Turk-Afghan conquest as twofold. On the one hand, those who remained in the Afghan-occupied territory became more rigid and exclusive retiring into their shells and trying to protect themselves from foreign influences. On the other hand, there was a gradual approach towards these foreign ways both in thought and life. A synthesis emerged especially in music, which, rooted in old Indian classical pattern, developed in many directions. The popular languages were also developed at the same time. The wave of Bhakti movement was spreading fast to remove caste and creed barriers. In the south, there was Sant Namdev who moved to the north and preached Bhakti to the common man through his lilting songs. Muslim mysticism and Sufism grew, one of whose most venerable Peers was Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer Sharif. One of his famous disciples was Amir Khusrau, a Turk who was a contemporary of Namdev in the 14th century. He was a poet of the first rank in Persian, the court language of the Afghans, and also a musician who introduced many innovations in the Indian classical ragas and musical instruments. We hear some of his Sufi songs and those of Mullah Daud during the time of Feroze Shah Tughlaq. In a romantic interlude, we listen to the Langa Singer playing on the Ravanhatta instrument describing to King Rupchand the ethereal beauty of one princess Chanda married to Vaman, but ignored and unhappy, and now back in her father’s fold. The musical narrative describes together with visuals how the handsome Lorik, shining like the sun, steals Chanda’s heart. Taking grave risks, Lorik climbs up a rope to Chanda’s chambers and after mutual passion, is reluctantly turned away. In the teeth of Vaman’s remonstrations, Lorik and Chanda cross the flooded river and move to the other shore to set up an idyllic abode. With the passage of time, the hapless Maina spends days and nights in sorrow and anger. The repentant Lorik eventually returns. A gracious Maina agrees to accept Chanda in the royal household, but the forlorn lady dies meanwhile of snakebite. Lorik, beside himself in grief, gives up his life in Chanda’s funeral pyre. The legends, ascribed to Mullah Daud, are sung with great gusto even today. Back to history, Nehru notes the Saint—poet Ramanand in the south in the 15th century and his still more famous disciple Kabir, a weaver of Banaras, who is professedly neither Hindu nor Muslim. Kabir’s poems and songs became, and are still, very popular crossing all religious barriers. After Kabir, Guru Nanak appears in the north as the venerated founder of Sikhism. We listen to some beautiful Shabads. The growing popular language, Hindi, was encouraged, and an attempt was made to forge symbiotic links between the religious faiths of the Hindus and the Muslims to bring about this synthesis.

ÄvarÄ«vaḥ kuha kasya Åarmannambhaḥ kimÄsÄ«d ghahanaá¹ ghabhÄ«ram || Srishti se pehle sat nahin thaa, asat bhi nahin Antariksh bhi nahin, aakaash bhee nahin thaa. Chhipaa thaa kyaa, kahaan, kisne dhaka thaa? Us pal to agam, atal jal bhi kahaan thaa. Srishti kaa kaun hai kartaa? Kartaa hai ya vikartaa? Oonche aakash mein rahtaa. Sadaaa adhyaksh banaa rahtaa. Wohee sach much mein jaantaa..Yaa nahin bhi jaanataa Hain kisi ko nahin pataa, Nahin pataa, Nahin hai pataa, nahin hai pataa. Following is the lyrics of the track that is played at the end of each episode. Again, the first stanza is in sanskrit and it fades as the hindi song begins. Voh tha hiranya garbh srishti se pehle vidyamaan. Vohi to saare bhoot jaatee ka swami mahaan. jo hai astitvamaana dharti aasmaan dhaaran kar. Aise kis devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar? Jis ke bal par tejomay hai ambar. Prithvi hari bhari sthapit sthir. Swarg aur sooraj bhi sthir. Aise kis devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar? Garbh mein apne agni dhaaran kar paida kar, Vyapa tha jal idhar udhar neeche upar, Jagaa chuke vo ka ekameva pran bankar, Aise kis devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar? Om ! Srishti nirmata swarg rachaiyta purvaj rakhsa kar. Satya dharma palak atul jal niyamak raksha kar. Phaili hain dishayen bahu jaisi uski sab mein sab par, Aise hi devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar, Aise hi devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 16: The Sangam Period and Silappadikaram, Part II [ ⇐ Episode 15 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 17⇒ ] [ Episode 16 Supplement ] With Pallavi Joshi as Kannagi, Rakesh Dhar as Kovalan, Sulabha Deshpande as Kavundi, Vivendra Saxena as Pandit, Mayashree Vasant as the Queen, and Gunanada Nair as the Dancer. Anandi as Madhavi, Rekha Parmar as Mother. Choreography by Kanak Rele, Nalanda Nrityakala, Mahavidyalaya, Jayashree Nair, and Upasana Dance Akademi. Additional Play Back by Girishan, Geeta Eshwaran, Prem Kumar, Sethu Madhavan, Anitha Sheshadri, Shobha Ramchandran, S.R. Venkatesh, and Rajan Easwaran. Having left their old home at Puhar, Kovalan and Kannagi undertake a new voyage of life to Madurai with a pair of gold anklets of Kannagi as their only asset. The road is long and arduous, the wayside perils are many, and Kannagi is not too fit. The ascetic ‘Mata’ they meet under a tree-shelter generously offers to come as a fellow wayfarer in the difficult sojourn. A sudden attack by a rustic bully and his ladylove is fobbed off, thanks to the ‘Mata’. Avoiding missives from the pursuing Madhavi is a persistent task for Kovalan, as well as ignoring false directions, till they reach the local temple of Kartikeya, a Loka Devata (folk god), being propitiated by the village belles dancing and singing Jaya Jaya Shiva Suta Murugan… Unexpected hospitality from a simple village-woman is a godsend for them, at which point the ‘Mata’ leaves them in her hands. The tearful couple finds shelter and succour at a new home and it is time for Kovalan to try his luck in business in the bustling city of Madurai. The tired Kannagi settles down with the benevolent householder who even asks her teenage daughter to arrange with friends some entertainment for her in the form of a Kolattam folkdance, executed with striking sticks. But, for Kovalan, in the unfriendly crowds of Madurai, traders are typically untrusting as in any other city. To make matters worse, his gold anklet has an uncanny resemblance to the queen’s recently stolen piece of jewellery and the crafty goldsmith has some skeletons to hide! The king’s court is agog with a classical danseuse displaying her Mohiniattam skills, to some discomfiture of the jealous queen, when the goldsmith barges in and persuades the king to give him two armed escorts to catch the ‘thief. An unsuspecting Kovalan, tired and resting, is nudged awake and, in spite of his protestations, is goaded to instant death. When the news reaches Kannagi, her indignation overcomes her sorrow and she strides into the royal court, challenging the total miscarriage of justice. Once proven that it was a false accusation that led to her husband’s murder, she rises in fury, cursing the whole town to burn out and ravaged by floods. The miracle does happen and the awed people put Kannagi on a Goddess’s pedestal, leading to the penning of the epic. Nehru concludes that in India during every period when her civilisation bloomed, we find an intense joy in life and nature, the development of art, music, dance and literature, and even a highly sophisticated inquiry into sex relations. He thought it to be inconceivable that a culture or view of life, based on other-worldliness or world-worthlessness, could have produced all these manifestations of vigorous and varied life!

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 32: Akbar, Part I [ ⇐ Episode 31 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 33⇒ ] With Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Akbar, Virendra Sexena as Birbal, Harish Patel as Todar Mai, Rajesh Vivek as Sheikh Mubarak, Pankaj Berry as Abul Fazai, Irfan Khan as Badayuni, Puneet Issar as Rana Pratap, S.P. Dubey as Abdul-Nabi, Surendar Pal as Man Singh, Arun Bakshi as Atga Khan, and Ayub Khan as Munim Khan. As Nehru noted, Babur died within four years of his coming to India and much of his time was spent in fighting and laying out a splendid capital in Agra. Hankering for Central Asia, Babur had won an empire in India; scorning Central Asia, Humayun lost the whole empire in India. Humayun encountered Sher Shah Suri, a well-prepared Afghan contender for sovereignty and, in the ensuing tussle in 1540 near Kanauj, he barely escaped with his life, but the Mughal troops were decimated. Humayun became a fugitive. The enthroned Sher Shah Suri had a short reign, installing energetic administrative reforms with excellent roads, horse-backed postal systems and stylised monuments. His remarkable reign came to an end in 1545 with his death. By 1555, Humayun reclaimed Delhi, but stumbled to his death next year. His son Akbar, barely 13, came out of the seraglio where he was under protection of uncle Bayram Khan, as regent, and reigned from 1556-1605. Drawing from Abul-Fazl’s imperial memoir Akbar-Nama, we see scenes of market prices being controlled (with Akbar intervening incognito). The young king proceeds to marry Jodhabai, the Rajput princess of Amber, and abolishes the discriminating Jaziya tax on the Hindus. As Nehru observes, Akbar surrounds himself with a group of brilliant men devoted to him and his ideals among whom are famous brothers Abul-Fazl and Fyzee, humorist Birbal, the trusted Rajput Raja Man Singh and the valiant general Abdul Rahim Khankhana. But the quarrel continues with the orthodox Ulemma, to whom the Sufi saint Sheikh Mubarak is hauled up. While most Rajput chiefs are amalgamated in the imperial system of broad-based Omrah (nobility), Rana Udai Singh of Mewar, and his valorous son Pratap Singh, prove recalcitrant, notwithstanding Man Singh’s honest persuasions. Akbar lays a punitive siege of Chittor, but despite the defeat at Haldighat, and flight of Udai Singh and Pratap Sigh to sanctuary in the hills Chittor is never re-occupied. As Nehru states, his royal court became a meeting place, almost an Ibadatkhana (prayer-hall), every Friday, for men of all faiths and those who had new ideas or inventions. His tolerance of views and his encouragement of all kinds of beliefs and opinions, including Sufism, angered some of the more orthodox Muslims like the Sayyads. Included in Akbar’s theological forays are, as we find, Portuguese priests. In 1580, the padres hastened from Goa confident of the most sensational conversion of all times! In the event, they are disappointed as were all other disputants. Akbar’s quest for spiritual enlightenment was to seek a faith that would satisfy the needs of his realm as well as his conscience. As a result, he came up with a new religious order Din-E-Ilahi. The cultural amalgamation of Hindu and Muslim in north India took a giant step forward, with Akbar as popular with the Hindus as with the Muslims.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 28: The Vijayanagar Empire Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 28 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Kuchipudi in Krishnadev Raya’s court Sword duel

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 30: The Fall of Vijayanagar Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 30 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: The show of acrobats

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 49: And Gandhi Came, Part I Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 49 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Harikatha on Gandhi

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 9: Republics & Kingdoms With K.K. Raina as Virudhaka, Virendra Saxena as Mahanama, Utkarsh Majumdar as Sudakka, Virendra Razdan as Ambarish, Rakesh Shrivastava as lllissa, Surendra Sharma as Messenger, Ravi Kemmu as Town Crier, and Alopi Verma, Mahendra Raghuvanshi Yusuf Khurram, and Sanjiv Virmani as Councilors. There is a widespread aerial view of ancient India. Nehru observes that in all probability, this India was a collection of small agriculturally based states. There were many tribal republics, some of which covered large areas. There were also petty kingdoms and even city-states with powerful guilds of merchants. Nehru notes that whatever the form of organisation, the tradition of city or village autonomy was very strong, and even when an overlordship was acknowledged, there was no interference down the line with a prevalent primitive kind of democracy. The above is illustrated in the working of the four principal kingdoms in Central and Northern India: Kashi, Koshala, Panchala and Magadha. The local autonomy is seen as greatly prized. In the dramatic narrative, there is an altercation when the traders‘ liberty is severely interfered with cross-border taxation by neighbouring kingdoms and royal councils take up consequent complaints. In the ensuing discussion, local autonomy is emphasised, class affiliations are mentioned and the elders quote legends of a king’s army being defeated by the sages performing yajnas and sacrifices with primitive weapons. What emerges is the essential dichotomy between the democratic council of Shakyas and the autocratic kingdom of Koshala. Despite the Buddha Tathagata’s advice to his clan-people to resist if attacked, a treacherous Koshala army which does not honour their commitment of honourable détente routs them. The floodgates open to Koshala’s control with a superior military force and all-round devastation wrought in the Shakya community. Nehru points out that kingship, originally elective, became hereditary according to the rule of primogeniture. Women were normally excluded from this right of the first-born child. The king (or leader) was held responsible if anything went wrong. There was a council of ministers (or advisers) and some kind of state (or autonomous) assembly. Where there was a king, he was fairly autocratic, though functioning within established conventions. The high priest had an important position in court as an adviser. That the subjects‘ happiness was the king’s happiness was best enumerated in the Rama legend from the Ramayana and held as the ideal epitome of kingship.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 43: 1857, Part II With Om Puri as Soldier 1, Ravi Jhankal as Soldier 2, Murlidhar as Soldier 3, Piyush Mishra as Soldier 4, Ratna Pathak-Shah as Rani of Jhansi, K.K. Rana as Azimullah Kahn, Surenda Sharma as Tatya Tope, Anang Desai as Nana Saheb, Mohan Gokhale as Vishnu Pant, C.V. Kamerkar as Krishnji Pant, and Tom Alter as Henry Lawrence. Playback is by Murlidhar and Karsan Sangathia, and the script is by Iqtidar Alam Khan. Nehru opines that the 1857 Revolt that completed 100 years of British presence in India since Plassey, was essentially a feudal rising, though undoubtedly there were nationalistic elements in it. Those who had joined the Revolt were, as a rule, the disinherited and those deprived of their power and privileges, or those who feared that some such fate awaited them. In the ensuing drama, the loyalty of the rank and file is sought to be strengthened in the name of continued Mughal rule, and the belief that the British rule in India being limited to only 100 years is cited aloud. Mughal Firman is proclaimed from Red Fort ramparts, laying down a new hierarchy and setting up an administration. While the patriotic music announces farther marches to Kanpur and Oudh, the British muster troops on the Ridge, north of Delhi, and attempt to explain away their ‘mistakes’ in Lucknow and elsewhere. After the city falls to a British assault and, after another orgy of looting and indiscriminate massacre, the emperor is exiled to Rangoon. The rebellion is now seen in the vast Indo-Gangetic plain where Oudh becomes the main arena of a genuine populist uprising rooted in rural support. In Lucknow, although the British Collector assiduously cultivates Nana Sahib, the adopted son of the last Peshwa, with promises of protection by General Wheeler, the mutineers prevail upon him to replace the Mughal as their figurehead and provide leadership. Assuming the defunct Peshwa—ship, Nana Sahib takes the surrender of the 400 British in Kanpur. There are, however, two massacres of hapless British captives and, in the face of the avenging British forces now approaching from Allahabad, Nana Sahib and his able Marathi commander Tantia Topi escape to Nepal, never to be heard of again. Even after the recapture of Kanpur by the British, the rebel-held Lucknow sees a defiant stand developing into a remarkable siege. The final scenes of defiance occur in the south of Yamuna in the Bundelkhand territory of Jhansi. Once the local British community has taken refuge in the small fort and gets massacred while being evacuated, the Queen, who had parted with funds and guns to the mutineers marching off to Agra and Delhi, raises troops and leads them herself, most courageously, to repulse the British assault, but dies fighting heroically as ‘the best and the bravest’ of the rebel leaders. The battle is seen in graphic details with many gory hangings of the rebel prisoners from the surrounding trees. Nehru notes that, after the Revolt was violently crushed, the royal proclamation of 1858 transferred all rights enjoyed by the East India Company to the British Crown and Queen Victoria became the Queen of India. In the drama, the musicians bemoan the end of the dream to make the land free of foreign occupants by a united Hindu-Muslim regime. Nehru further observes that by 1877, the ‘Empress of India’ was also decorated ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 12: Chanakya and Chandragupta, Part II With Satyadev Dubey as Chanakya, Ravi Jhankal as Chandragupta, Anjan Shrivastava as Dhanananda, Meeta Vashisht as Suvasini, Lalit Tiwari as Rakshasa, Vijay Kashyap as Shakatara, Devendra Malhotra as Ashvalayan, Zarvan Patel as Alexander, Irfan as Malayaketu, and Padmanabhan as Seleucus. The scene now opens with a special entente with Virochak, son of the deceased King Porus, for jointly if ruling the kingdom with Chandragupta on an equally shared basis. This is agreed and Chanakya plans a ‘pincer movement’ of troops with an element of surprise into Pataliputra. Emperor Nanda and queen Suvasini are caught totally unawares. The royal couple, while fleeing the capital in disguise, is discovered and Nanda killed with a poison arrow. Obviously, in Chanakya’s grand stratagem, honesty and humanity come only next to the ‘empire’. A squirming Chandragupta accuses Chanakya to have a heart of stone. The bereaved queen spurns both Chandragupta’s offer, and Malayaketu’s more politically motivated offer of marriage and seeks refuge in the Buddhist monastery. In a last encounter with Suvasini, now a Bhikshuni (nun), Chandragupta, while looking for patronage of the Buddhist Sangha (organisation), shares his personal disillusionment with grandstand politics with her. In a last act of diplomatic skullduggery, Chanakya prevents Rakshasa from fleeing and, instead, persuades him to utilise his ample talents in the service of now Emperor Chandragupta, his erstwhile archenemy! As Nehru summarises, like Machiavelli in Europe, Chanakya was bold and scheming, proud and revengeful, never forgetting his purpose, availing himself of every device to delude and defeat the enemy. He sat with the reins of the empire in his hands and looked upon the emperor more as a beloved pupil than as a master. Chanakya’s final victory was obtained by sowing discord in the enemy’s ranks. At the victorious moment, he induced Chandragupta to hand over the insignia of his own high office to the rival prime minister Rakshasa, whose intelligence and loyalty to his old chief Nanda had impressed him greatly. So the story ends: not in the bitterness of defeat and humiliation, but in reconciliation and in laying the firm and enduring foundation of a state. The curtain is drawn when Chanakya demits office. In Nehru’s words, simple and austere in his life, uninterested in the pomp and pageantry of high position, Chanakya redeemed his pledge and accomplished his purpose, and then retired, withdrawing himself, Brahmin-like, to a life of contemplation and completion of his first love, writing Artha Shastra. Nehru describes Chandragupta’s empire covering the whole of India except for south, from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, and extending in the north up to Kabul. For the first time in recorded history, a centralised state rose in India, with its capital in Pataliputra. While the state was an autocracy, there was a great deal of local autonomy in the towns and village units, and elective elders looked after the local affairs. This local autonomy was highly prized and hardly any king or emperor interfered with it. In a purely agricultural age, there was nothing like the control of the individual by the state.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 37: Shivaji, Part I With Naseeruddin Shah as Shivaji, Achyut Potdar as Shahfi, Anang Desai as Dadoji Konddeo, Sunila Pradhan as Jiiabai, Mahendra Raghuvanshi as Bajirao, Chandrakant Kale as Shridhar Pant, and Ravindra Sathe as Sampat Rao. Playback by Ravindra Sathe, Chandrakant Kale, and Madhuri Purandhare. Script by Govind P. Deshpande. Nehru notes that during the declining years of the Mughal Empire, there was a ferment of revivalist sentiment, which was a mixture of religion and nationalism. When a great empire was breaking up and many adventurers, Indian and foreign, were trying to carve out principalities for themselves, it was not nationalism at all in its present sense. An equally important factor was the cracking up of the economic structure and repeated peasant uprisings, some of them on a big scale. The Marathas, especially, had a wider conception, a principle of national attachment which united their chiefs as in one common cause. In the growth and consolidation of the new Maratha power, Shivaji, born in 1627, became the symbol of a resurgent Hindu nationalism. The scene opens with a dialogue between a fort-keeper beholden to his task and a fellow storyteller who recounts the glory, valour and inspirational leadership evinced by Shivaji. The folk-poet Srivallabh’s balladic songs re-create the halcyon days of Shivaji. Bereaved son of Shahuji and brought up by Dadaji Konde, he has begun collecting complaints in his Jagir from the oppressed peasants, harassed by the marauding soldiers of both Mughals and Adilshahi kingdom of Bijapur. Shivaji has the highest regard for his widowed-motherjijabai and takes oath, under her guidance, at the hill- top temple of ‘Mata Bhavani’, to revive Hindu kingship at a time of awesome and orthodox Muslim supremacy. The ballads relate how Shivaji pines to break away from the shackles of the Bijapur thralldom and chalks out a daring strategy to capture forts in the Western Ghats and along the adjacent Konkan coast. To start with, it is ‘assault’, not ‘conflict’ of Purandhar fort, as a test case. He appeals to a rival Chieftain Shankaraji to use his energy and courage, and become the fort-keeper. The ploy succeeds and an ally is born. There is a round of thanks-giving prayers at the Bhavani temple. Nehru comments that while the empire was rent by strife and revolt, the new Maratha power thus began growing in western India. As an ideal guerrilla leader of hardened mountaineers whose cavalry could go far and wide, Shivaji drew inspiration from the classics and traditions to build up the Marathas as a strong fighting group, gave them a nationalist background, and made them into a formidable fighting force. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

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Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 3: The Vedic People and The Rigveda With Anang Desai, K.K. Raina, Ravi Jhankal, S. P. Dubey, Virendra Razdan, Rajendra Mehra, Mano, Shrivastava, Navtej Hundal, Nafisa Sharma, Abha Mishra, Sujata Kanego, Kanika Vajpai, Poonam lha, Ila Arun, Vijay Kashyap The rise of the Aryans, with their river-bound agricultural community, took place perhaps 1000 years after the Indus Valley period. Could the Indus Valley civilisation disappear altogether? More likely, thought Nehru, it was a synthesis and fusion between the new Aryans and the Dravidians who were probably the representatives of the Indus Valley. There were other tribes and peoples who came to India from the Northeast and became absorbed in India. The agriculturists were naturally looking for cattle—wealth as well as water even at the expense of others and were always deliriously happy when they reached a riverfront that would perpetuate supply of sweet water to the fields. They sang paeans of praise for water: Give us strength, O waters, like the mother’s milk to the infant and rid us of ailments; Give us cheers, O waters, and offer us the elixir of life… The other vital ingredient of life was fire to ignite which dry woods were rubbed. Soon came the elaborate rituals of Yajna (the sacrificial fire) and fire- worship: We won’t perish, O fire, if you give us protection from perils and pestilences… The compulsions of animal farming drove the Aryans to adopt many subterfuges like sending a partly-hooded (and protected) female spy to the antagonists and demand that they surrender their cattle-wealth to the superior race led by ‘Indra’; an early generic term for any leader of men. On receiving denial, armed skirmishes would follow, with the Aryans routing the foes and usurping their cattle. In India, Nehru avers, in every period when her civilisation (like that of the Aryans) bloomed, one would find intense joy in life and nature, not any precept of life-negation. There is palpable pleasure in the act of living: development of art and music, literature and dancing, painting and theatre. We see, for instance, the addicted males drinking and gambling away the whole night and the hapless wives pining in the solitude of night, with death lurking behind. There was also the freedom to choose a successor to the dead leader as another ‘Indra’ and to define new domains of power by letting loose a roaming horse and challenging any chief who would dare restrain it. The Vedas were the outpourings of the Aryans, who perhaps brought their ideas from their common stock, out of which grew the ‘Avesta’ in Iran, and elaborated them in the rich soil of India, surmised Nehru. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 39: Company Bahadur With Amrish Puri as Raza Khan, Jalal Agha as Robert Cave , Tom Alter as Sykes, Rajendra Gupta as Raja Nandkumar, Richard Lane-Smith as Middleton, and C.R. Woodward as Johnson. The dancers are Hemswarna Mirajkar and Yuvak Biradari. Nehru observed that the hundred years that followed the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 saw a complicated and many-sided struggle for mastery over India. The Mughal Empire rapidly fell to pieces and their Subehdars (viceroys) and Mansabdars (governors) began to function as semi-independent rulers. The real protagonists for power in India during the 18th century were four: two Indians factions - the Marathas, Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan in the south; two foreign factions - the British and the French. Nehru further observes that in Bengal, Lord Clive, with treason and forgery, won the battle of Plassey in 1757, a date that marks the unsavoury beginning of the British empire in India. This was followed by another and more decisive win at the battle of Buxar between the British and the deposed Mir Qasim in alliance with the emperor Shah Alam and the Nawab of Awadh in 1764, and all that remained of the Mughal power in northern India was shattered. The drama unfolds with the rapid succession of Nawabs of Bengal to the now titular Raja Nanda Kumar. The successors are increasingly emasculated from their revenue-earning capacity by the Company and Clive now insists on a more skewed treaty for earnings from comprehensive taxation on all items other than salt. Not satisfied, Clive invites Raza Khan, an old hand from Nawab Alibardi Khan’s time, to join the top echelon. Nanda Kumar is confined to the capital Murshidabad while Clive has freedom of the commercial capital Kolkata, after the Company has extracted the highly-lucrative Diwani (revenue- administration) of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa. A scheming Clive is seen enjoying Kathak dance in typical period costume, while pressure is mounted for appointing British civilians for the junior revenue jobs at Nawab’s cost. A desperate Raza, wishing to plan for efficient revenue—machinery prevalent in Alibardi’s time is pushed to the wall. Incidents of British graft in Purnea and Dinajpur mount, and the exchequer is on the brink of bankruptcy. Protestations by Raza fall on deaf ears. As Nehru records, an early consequence of the British rule in Bengal and Bihar was a terrible famine, which ravaged the two provinces in 1770, killing over a third of the population of this rich, vast and densely-populated area. Warren Hastings appears on the scene and the signed document by Raza is now put to forged use by virtually blackmailing him, besides physically assaulting him surreptitiously. Hasting’s case against Raza is the last straw and the exalted man dies of a broken heart in 1791. Looking back over this period, Nehru says, it almost seems that the British succeeded in dominating India by a succession of fortuitous circumstances and lucky flukes. With remarkably little effort, they won a great empire and enormous wealth, which helped to make them the leading power Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 4: Caste Formation With Anang Desai, Inayatullah Kantaroo, Anuradha Tarafdar, Ila Arun, Srichand Makhija, Maqsoom Ali, Salim Ghouse, K.K. Raina, Vishnu Sharma, Lalit Tiwari, Ravi Jhankal The advent of the Aryans in India raised new problems, racial and political. The conquered race, the Dravidians, had a long background of civilisation behind them, but Nehru has little doubt that the Aryans considered themselves vastly superior and a wide gulf separated the two races. Then there were indigenous tribes, nomads and forest-dwellers. Out of the conflict and confrontation of races gradually arose the caste system, which in course of the succeeding centuries was to affect Indian life so profoundly. As the drama reveals, initially the tiller of the soil functioned also as priest, soldier or trader, and everyone shared his problem with everyone else. Indeed there was no privileged class. The caste divisions, originally intended to separate the Aryans from the non-Aryans, ricocheted on the Aryans themselves. Nehru figures out that, in an age when it was customary for the conquerors to exterminate the conquered races, caste enabled a more peaceful solution: fitting the growing specialisation of functions. Gradually, from among the mass of agriculturists evolved the Vaishyas, as farmers, artisans and merchants; the Kshatriyas, as warriors, rulers; the Brahmins, as priests and thinkers. Below them were the Shudras, as labourers (inferior to farmers) and unskilled workers. Mythologically, Brahmins came from the mouth of Brahma, Kshatriyas from his arms, Vaishyas from his thighs and Shudras from his feet. Nehru points out that this was in keeping with the spirit of the times and kindred civilisations like the Iranians had a four-fold division, though not petrified into castes and the Greeks were entirely dependent on mass slavery. That these castes must have been in a fluid condition and rigidity came in only later, is illustrated from the epics. In the Valmiki Ramayana, a Brahmin and his wife bring their 14 year old dead child and roundly condemn, for this event, their righteous king Rama who is inclined to accept the blame. In the Mahabharata, the Pandava-guru Drona denies martial training to Ekalavya, the talented son of the hunter-chieftain, but the youth practises before the guru’s statue and becomes a mighty archer. Discovered later, Drona asks him to cut off his right thumb by way of guru‘s ‘fee’ to save the Kshatriya ‘pride’. Probably, caste was neither Aryan nor Dravidian, but an attempt at the social organisation of different races, rationalisation of the facts as they existed at the time, opines Nehru. It brought degradation afterwards, and is still a burden and a curse. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 13: Ashoka, Part I With Om Puri as Ashoka, K.K. Raina as Radhagupta, Ila Arun as Asandhimitra, Aparajita Krishna as Devi, Achyut Potdar as Sukhvihar Virendra Razdan as Bindusara, Maqsoom Ali as Tissa, Anang Desai as Vikrambhatt, Lalit Tiwari as Agivika, S.P. Dubey as Mahendrabhatt, Ravi Kemmu as the Monk, Jaspal Sandhu as Sushima, and Poonam Jha as Wife of Bidndusara. The scene opens in Ashoka’s many-pillared hall in his palace at Pataliputra (dug up in Nehru’s time in an incredible state of preservation). Ashoka, grandson of Chandragupta, succeeded to the great Magadha Empire around 273 BC. Already the empire included a far greater part of India and extended right into Central Asia. Of Ashoka Nehru quotes HG Wells approvingly : ⇧Contents⇧ : Amidst the tens of thousands of names and monarchs that crowd the columns of history … the name of Ashoka shines, and shines almost alone, a star. From the Volga to japan his name is still honoured. China, Tibet, and even lndia, though it has left his doctrine, preserve the tradition of his greatness… There is a discussion in the royal court of Bindusar about the wisdom of Ashoka continuing as a prince, as a viceroy in the north-western province of which Taxila, the university centre, was the capital. There is some confidential information on the incipient feud between the designated Yuvaraj (heir apparent) Sushima and Ashoka related to their incumbency to throne after the imminent demise of the ailing king. The prime minister assesses the espionage report on revolt in Taxila and sends Sushima there. Ashoka is at Ujjain meeting the business-leader there for possible support and obtaining his charming daughter for matrimony. There is an appeal for grant of land to build a Buddhist monastery which finds ready support with Ashoka, notwithstanding some Brahminical resistance. There are complaints about multiple taxation incurred by the business community which Ashoka solves gaining their confidence. The sick Emperor Bindusar is worried about quelling the Taxila unrest and is keen to call Sushima to Pataliputra to make him the heir-apparent. Ashoka anticipates the royal mind and ignoring a command to proceed to Taxila, turns up in the capital. By another sleight of hand, he declares himself as Raj-Pratinidhi (the royal representative) even before Sushima gets a chance. The feud for succession now hots up and the bed-ridden emperor can do precious little. By planning well ahead Sushima’s return route to Pataliputra is obstructed by an outwardly polite Ashoka and Sushima’s plot for a frontal attack next morning is nipped in the bud by a swift assassination. The other princes, who could possibly prove recalcitrant, are also swiftly eliminated The way of Ashoka to his gloried destination is appreciably clear.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 3: The Vedic People and The Rigveda Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 03 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Ode to water Prayer to Agni I Song Praising Indra I Song Praising Indra II Song in Praise of Cow Song about Gampbling Introspection-thinking of Varuna Last rites song Ashwamedha Song Hymn to Usha The Dawn Prayer to Agni II

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 19: Kalidasa, Part II [ ⇐ Episode 18 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 20⇒ ] [ Episode 19 Supplement ] With Ravi Jhankal as Kalidas, Pallavi Joshi as Mallika, Virendra Saxena as Matul, Lalit Tiwari as Vilom, Devendra Malhotra as Kanva, Mala Kumar as Anusuya, Prabha Mathur as Priyamvada, Shekhar Thakur as Durvasa, and Meenakshi Thakur as Gautami. Nehru cites the French critic Sylvan Levi in The Indian Theatre: Theatre is an excellent expression of civilisation even in its infancy. With its translation and interpretation of real life it can be confined to a single striking form free from insignificant accessories and generalisation within symbols. Abhijnanam Shakuntalam opens with Shakuntala wrapped in thoughts of King Dushyanta and is oblivious to the arrival of the irascible sage Durvasa. The latter takes immediate offence, cursing Shakuntala to forget the one whose sweet memory has made her unmindful of his presence. Her companions Anasuya and Priyamvada panic and, at their entreaty, Durvasa softens his curse to make it inapplicable on production of an insignia. The time arrives now for the hermit-girl to leave for her husband’s abode, but the entourage is given a distinctly cold welcome by the king. Having forgotten all about his marriage and even pregnancy of Shakuntala, the king expresses righteous bewilderment at the very suggestion of a runaway marriage and the hermits are equally indignant at the King refusing to accept a lawfully wedded wife. The meeting breaks amidst much acrimony and Shakuntala is reported to be whisked away from her ignominy by heavenly fairies. The scenario changes from Kalidasa’s play to Kalidasa as in Ashad Ka Ek Din. Mallika is chastised by an uncle for having declined royal bounty, when who appears but Kalidasa himself! Virtually glossing over his long absence and hoping to find things as they were when he had left, Kalidasa regrets his years in Ujjain as ‘Matrigupta’ unable to adjust to royalty and never forgetting Mallika in all his creative outpourings. He offers to begin life with Mallika once again, but the ‘present’ intervenes, she is married now and has a child. Kalidasa walks out, never to return again. Nehru alludes to Sylvan Levy again: The Indian originality lay in the expression of a holistic approach in its dramatic art; it combined and condensed the dogma, the belief systems and the institutions… And here was Ryder assessing poetical fluency as well as intellectual grasp of Kalidasa: The combination of the two has not been found more than a dozen times since the world began. Because he possessed this harmonious combination, Kalidasa ranks with Sophocles, Virgil and Milton.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 48: Extremists And Moderates [ ⇐ Episode 47 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 49⇒ ] With Mohan Gokhale as Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Sudhir Kulkarni as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Tom Alter as Chairman, Achyut Potdar as Prof. Jinsivale, Madhav Achwal as Govind Ranacle, and John Holyer as Journalist. The script is by Govind P. Despande and the consultant is Prof. Y.D. Phadke. Nehru opines that the early stages of the political movement were dominated by the ideological urges of upper middle classes. With the coming-of-age of the National Congress founded in 1885, anew type of leadership appeared, more aggressive and defiant, representing the much larger number of lower middle classes as well as youth. The powerful agitation against ‘Partition’ of Bengal had thrown up many able and aggressive leaders but the real symbol of the ‘radical’ new age was Bal Gangadhar Tilak from Maharashtra with his power base around Pune. ‘Moderates’, who favoured constitutional methods, became identified with Gopal Krishna Gokhale, whose power—base was among Mumbai intelligentsia. The first signs of polarisation in the Congress ranks loom large in Maharashtra in late 1890‘s. In the prevailing debate on the ‘Age of Consent Bill’, Gokhale declines to go against the government. ‘Radicals’ like Tilak argue about the futility of revisionist petitions to the government. Revolutionary slogans are in the air, tempers run high and conflicts seem inevitable. To avoid confrontation, opinions of Dadabhai Naoroji, universally regarded as the father-figure of the country, are sought but to no avail. Gokhale accepts the need for patience, and moves easily between the presidency of Congress and membership of the Viceroy’s Council. His contrived view is that the establishment of railways has hastened the policy of free trade. Tilak experiments with mass-focus appeals like the politicisation of festivals, patriotic crusades based on the legacy of Shivaji and exhortations to Civil disobedience, and printing seditious poetry in his newspaper ‘Kesari’. Reports of incidents of defiling idols and molesting women by the Tommies bring charges of sedition on Tilak. Gokhale is left in a quandary and hastens to pardon him in public. Sentenced to prison, Tilak becomes a martyr for the Nationalist cause. As Nehru notes, the explosion that greeted the ‘Partition’ of Bengal in 1905 finds its echo in Tilak’s incendiary speeches, while in Gokhale’s camp, there is consolatory anticipation that the incoming Secretary of State is going to be sympathetic to the Nationalist cause. Gokhale continues to be the voice of moderation, yet the pamphlets and petitions flood everywhere, announcing extension of Swadeshi protest to the whole of India. It spreads in a remarkable display of united and effective action. Congress, however, disowns the movement. At the 1906 Congress in Nagpur, a split is avoided by extending an invitation to the octogenarian Dadabhai Naoroji to take the chair by Surendranath Banerjee, and some contrite resolutions favouring Swaraj (self-rule). In the 1907 Congress meet at Surat, the divisions between ‘radicals’ like Tilak and ‘moderates’ like Gokhale can no longer be contained. As Nehru summarises, the 1907 clash in Congress resulted apparently in a victory for the ‘moderates’ through organisational control. There was, however, no doubt that the vast majority of political—minded people in India favoured Tilak and his ‘radical’ group.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 52: Do or Die [ ⇐ Episode 51 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 53⇒ ] [ Episode 52 Supplement ] With Om Puri as Nigam, Ravi Jhankal as Superintendent of Police, Pankaj Berry as Ramanand, Devendra Malhotra as Chitto Pandey, Maqsoom Ali as Paras, Irshad Hashmi as Agyat Baba, Sohaila Kapur-Limaye as janki Devi, and John Holyer as British Officer I. Playback by Karsan Sangathia. Script consultants are Prof. Bipan Chandra, Dr. Radhey Sham Sharma, and Parasnath Mishra and the script is by Atul Tiwari. The scene opens with Nehru being taken to the Ahmadnagar Fort jail. The time is September 1939 and World War II is about to begin. The Congress has laid down a dual policy in regard to the War. There is opposition to Fascism, Nazism and Japanese militarism, but also an emphasis on freedom for India. Nehru reiterates that only a free India could take proper part in such warfare. The scene swiftly switches to 7th August, 1942 in Mumbai where the All-India Congress Committee considered and debated in public, what has since come to be known as the ‘Quit India Resolution’. The resolution was finally passed late in the evening of 8th August 1942. A few hours later, in the early morning of 9th, a large number of leaders were arrested all over the country. The song-and-dance sequence shows how the German ‘fiends’ are coming and the British ‘canines’ are about to flee with tails curled under their legs! In a nerve—centre of popular resistance, Ballia, discussions are on among minor leaders on arrangements for Gandhi’s impending visit to nearby Banaras and making the non-violence movement a success, when news arrives of Gandhi’s arrest on 9th August. There is immense public resentment expressed through the call of Ballia ‘Bandh’. Gandhi is removed to an unknown destination and the populace resolve to ‘Do or Die’ against this miscarriage of justice, in a non-violent manner, by holding a strike in Ballia. The police are flabbergasted as the number of people in the procession far outnumber the available bullets! Defying the power of the Establishment, people sing: Vijayee Vishwa Tiranga Pyara… Barricades are put up to obstruct rail lines. Every compartment carries Congress-flags and the slogan ’Vande Mataram’ rends the air. The local English ADM negotiates with jailed mass-leader, Radhamohun Singh with an offer of freedom, provided, they pacify the Ballia crowds. The brave response is: Today Ballia is burning, tomorrow England will! The situation worsens and the authorities concede that the Ballia is out of control and the jail-gates are thrown open to free political prisoners. Nehru summarises that after prominent leaders were suddenly removed, no one seemed to know what should be done. Protests were spontaneous, and reactions were extraordinarily widespread both in towns and villages. It was remarkable how British authority ceased to function over many areas, both rural and urban. This happened in Bihar and Bengal, and the whole district of Ballia, had to be ‘re-conquered’. Nehru is released from the mountain prison of Almora on 15 June 1945, and walks out to the jubilant crowd sloganeering lustily: Mahatma Gandhi Zindabad! Karenge Ya Marenge!

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 16: The Sangam Period and Silappadikaram, Part II Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 16 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Song in praise of Devi Kavadi Song Dance in Pandya king’s court Kilattam Son on ethical values for a King

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 24: Delhi Sultanate Part I, The Arrival of Turk-Afghans & Prithviraj Raso (I) Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 24 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Firadausi and Asjadi’s song Song on Alexander’s victory Song in praise of Prithviraj Song on the battle of Prithviraj with Ghori Song in Praise of Prithviraj Song in Praise of Pritviraj Song on the condition of Sanyogita Love Song Prithviraj elopes with Sanyogita

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 26: Delhi Sultanate, Part III, Padmavat & The Tughlak Dynasty Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 26 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Queen Padmavati’s beauty Padmavati tensed about king’s order Raghavchetan plans to destroy Chittor Raghavchetan describes Padmavati’s beauty The war song Dance for Goddess of war Sultan sees Padmavati in a mirror Padmavati’s yearning Kathak dance in Alauddin’s court Palanquin departs to Delhi Battle for Ratansen’s freedom

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 37: Shivaji, Part I Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 37 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Bachai Dakkhin Desh Ki Laaj in Powada Style Dadoji Swarg Ko Sidhare in Powada Style Inhi Aankhon Se Dekhein Hum Use Bante

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 35: Aurangzeb, Part I [ ⇐ Episode 34 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 36⇒ ] [ Episode 35 Supplement ] With Om Puri as Aurangzeb, Sudhir Dalvi as Shah Jahan, Surekha Sikri as Jahan Ara, Ahmed Khan as Aquil Khan, Devendra Malhotra as Baba Lals Shah, Surendra Pal as Dara Shikoh, Ved Thapar as Shahbaz Khan, Sohaila Kapur Limaye as Roshan Ara, Shiv Sharma as Murad, Irfana Joshi as Mallika, and the script by Javed Siddiqi. Nehru remarked that Akbar’s empire spread far in north and south and his grand rule continued to evoke admiration all over Asia and Europe. The scene opens in 1656 with prince Aurangzeb, as Shah Jahan’s governor in Mughal Deccan, driving a hard bargain with Golconda’s queen. He demands a hefty indemnity, against acceptance of Mughal over- lordship by Golconda, which had put up a hard-fought resistance and colluded with Bijapur earlier. Their wealth had always been a preoccupation of the redoubtable Aurangzeb. But soon the interests of the empire and Deccan policy are subordinated to considerations of the succession. This happened under orders of Shah Jahan, at the behest of Dara Shikoh, Auragzeb’s eldest brother. The next year, exactly the same situation recurs when Aurangzeb invades Bijapur upon the death of Muhammad Adil Shah and Dara Shikoh intervenes anxious to thwart his brother’s chance of succeeding, Twice disappointed, Aurangzeb has to be content again with an indemnity plus territory. While Dara Shikoh is Shah Jahan’s favourite, his designated mouthpiece and heir, and the only Delhi-based contender with the reigns of imperial patronage in his hands, his one fault is that he is not an orthodox Muslim, As a scholar of some repute, he loves to consort with Sufis, Hindus and Christians. Shah Jahan is taken gravely ill in 1657. This information is willfully suppressed and Aurangzeb, already deeply frustrated, gets this news from his faithful sister Roshan-Ara. The suspicious Aurangzeb now fears the worst and writes to Dara, alleging suppression of the news of father’s death. The latter, preoccupied with a Kathak dance, is taken aback but being more interested in Peers and Fakirs, shows no inclination to take up the cudgels of the empire. Meanwhile, the rumour of the emperor’s death, or incapacity, spreads and the scare is enough to send the potential successors to arms. While the shrewd Aurangzeb bides his time, Prince Shuja, another brother and governor of Bengal, is quickly in the field after a hasty coronation. The youngest brother, Murad, follows suit in Gujarat anointed by Gujarati priests. However, on getting a conciliatory letter from Aurangzeb in which a division of the empire is offered, Murad commiserates and joins forces with him. Dara’s desperate attempts to save the situation with the Emperor’s knowledge and sympathy from the other sister Jahan-Ara is of no avail, as Aurangzeb is still distrustful of his placatory missives. While Aurangzeb and Murad are spoiling for fight, Dara is unwilling to battle. He is still keen to abdicate in favour of Aurangzeb and join the ranks of Fakirs. Aurangzeb’s pretense that he and Murad are coming to see an ailing father wears too thin. With great reluctance, Dara prepares for war, initially protesting his relative inexperience and with eventual courage born out of his desperation.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 41: The Bengal Renaissance and Raja Rammohun Roy Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 41 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Nitya Niranjan - Bhajan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 2: The Beginnings [ ⇐ Episode 01 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 03⇒ ] [ Episode 02 Supplement ] With Harish Patel, Pallavi Joshi, Lalit Tiwari, Adil Rana, Pankaj Berry, Murari, Mahendra Raghuvanshi, Siraj Ahmad Khan When Nehru stood on a mound of Mohenjo Daro in the Indus Valley and all around him lay the houses and streets of the ancient city that existed over 5000 years ago, he had the astonishing thought, that any culture or civilisation that has a recorded history dating back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic rock-arts should have a millennium-old continuity, while changing and progressing all the time. India was coming into close contact with the Persians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Chinese, the Arabs, the Central Asians, and even the people of the Mediterranean. Spread as far apart as Kathiawar in the west and Ambala district of the Punjab, people of the Indus cities had many contacts with the Sumerian civilisation of that period. Indian manufacturers reached even the markets on the Tigris and Euphrates in ancient Mesopotamia. Our story unfolds lively transactions in commerce and art, exchange of silver- based currency, temple rituals and processions carrying living goddesses on sequined shoulder- thrones with scrumptious cross-country love affairs on the side. There is an overall stamp of sophistication in the decorated earthenware, the engravings on the seals, the humped bulls and the exquisitely supple-bodied dancing-female statuettes. There is a surprising wealth of ornaments of gold, silver, precious stones and vessels of beaten copper. Who were these Indus people with their unsurpassed glyptic arts? Where did they come from and how did they connect to their sister civilisations of Persia, Mesopotamia and Egypt? It was an urban civilisation where the merchants were wealthy and streets lined with small shops, giving the impression of an Indian bazaar today. How did it decline and yield to the hordes of horse-riding invaders looking aggressively for farming space and abundant animal-wealth? We see the enactment of an epic story, the mysterious figure of Gilgamesh, the superhuman warrior in a fearsome mask, being placated for mercy, when equestrian marauders suddenly overrun the venue of the drama. Between the Indus Valley civilisation and the present in India, there are many gaps about which we know little, felt Nehru. But there is always an underlying sense of continuity, of an unbroken link, which joins modern India to the far distant period of over half a millennium, when the Indus Valley civilisation probably began.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 14: Ashoka, Part-II [ ⇐ Episode 13 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 15⇒ ] [ Episode 14 Supplement ] With Om Puri as Ashoka, K.K. Raina as Radhagupta, Pankaj Beri as Town Crier, Nitin Kulkarni as Mahendra, Sadiya as Sanghmitra, Ila Arun as Asandhimitra, Aparajita Krishna as Devi, Achyut Potdar as Sukhvihar Virendra Razdan as Bindusara, Maqsoom Ali as Tissa, Anang Desai as Vikrambhatt, Lalit Tiwari as Agivika, and S.P. Dubey as Mahendrabhatt. Ashoka is now the Emperor and is relaxing with a Vina recital in court. There is an interruption by the Buddhist emissaries from Ujjain on a tiding of gratitude for the nearly-completed monastery. The fun-loving youngest prince Tissa is disrespectful to the visitors and makes matters worse by jocularly climbing on the imperial throne. The vexed Ashoka gives him capital punishment for the gross misdemeanour and mitigates it by granting a reprieve of seven days on the ‘throne’ with boundless merriment! Tissa, already under a Damocles’ sword, hardly enjoys the reprieve and, when finally pardoned, seeks solace in Buddhism. As Nehru notes, only the southeast and a part of the south were beyond the empire’s sway. The old dream of uniting the whole of India under one supreme government fired Ashoka. On the news of skirmishes against the business community by the small Kalinga- rulers and disruptions in trade, Ashoka mounted an all-out attack on Kalinga on the east coast and, despite brave resistance by the independent people of Kalinga, his armies triumphed. There was terrible slaughter in this war, as officially recorded in one of Ashoka’s edict, cited by Nehru: Kalinga was conquered. … 150,000 persons were thence carried away as captive; 100,000 were slain and many times that died. … Thus arose His Sacred Majesty’s remorse for having conquered the Kalinga, because the conquest of a country previously unconquered involves the slaughter, death and carrying away captive of the people. That is a matter of profound sorrow and regret… A highly penitent Ashoka, goes out to re-call his missing brother Tissa. Travelling over hills and dales, the emperor locates Tissa’s monastery, but the monk-brother declines to return, saying he has discovered the ultimate Truth in his new reclusive life under Buddha’s teaching. Ashoka dons monk’s robe himself and both brothers devote themselves to the spread of Tathagata’s gospels of righteousness and goodwill. Ashoka creates public works for the people by digging wells, building roads and hospitals, and planting trees. He creates a unique communication system, by issuing numerous edicts carved in rock and metal spread out all over India. These edicts that are still with us, exhort the cause of education, show respect for all faiths, prohibit animal sacrifice and encourage abstention from alcoholic drinks. Above all, he makes himself available at any hour and at any place to work for the commonwealth. As we see, an ardent Ashoka sends his own son and daughter, Mahendra and Sanghamitra, to Sri Lanka conveying his greeting and Buddha’s message. Nehru records how his ambassadors went to Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Epirus making an appeal to the mind and the heart. There was no compulsion. His messengers went to Central Asia also, beside Myanmar and Cambodia. Because of the growth of foreign contacts and missionary enterprises trade between India and other countries also grew.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 1: Bharat Mata Ki Jai [ Episode 02⇒ : ⇧Contents⇧ ] [ Episode 01 Supplement ] With Ravi Jhankal, Vijay Kashyap, Ram Moorti The scene opens with a panoramic visual of India and its colourful landscape. Occasionally, as Nehru reached a gathering, a great roar of welcome would greet him-‘Bharat Mata—ki Jai’! He would ask the crowd unexpectedly what they meant by that cry, I who was this ‘Bharat Mata’, whose victory they wanted? His question would surprise them, and then, not knowing what to answer, they would look at each other. He persisted in his questioning. At last a vigorous jat, wedded to the soil from immemorial generations, said that it was the Dharti (the good earth) of India that they meant. What earth was it? Their particular village patch, or all the patches in the district or province, or in the whole of India? Nehru would then endeavour to explain that India was all that they had thought, and much more. The mountains, the rivers, the forests, and the broad fields which gave them food, but what counted ultimately was the people like them who were spread out all over this vast land. Bharat Mata was essentially these millions of people, and victory to her meant victory to these people! Travelling by train, the landscape and the landmarks flash past his eyes. He wanders over to the Himalayas and sees the mighty rivers - the remote Brahmaputra, the Yamuna, and the Ganga - that flow from this great mountain barrier into the plains of India, from their source to the sea. India unfolds with its waterfalls, rivulets and seas, with her richness of life and its renunciation, of growth and decay, of birth and death. He visits old monuments Ajanta, Ellora and the Elephanta Caves. He sees the lovely buildings in Agra and Delhi where every stone tells its story of India’s past. At Saranath, near Banaras, he could almost hear the Buddha’s first sermon. The inscriptions on the Ashoka Pillars of stone make their inscriptions speak to him. At Fatehpur—Sikri, he almost hears Akbar converse with the learned of all faiths. Slowly, the long panorama of India’s history unfolds itself before him with its ups and downs, its triumphs and tragedies. To him, there is something unique about the continuity of a cultural tradition through 5000 years of an unbroken history.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 7: Ramayana, Part-I [ ⇐ Episode 06 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 08⇒ ] [ Episode 07 Supplement ] With Salim Ghouse as Rama, Pallavi Joshi as Sita, Ravi Jhankal as Lakshmana, Pankaj Berry as Bharata, Devendra Malhotra as Dasharatha, Ila Arun as Kaikeyi, Ajit Karkare and Ravindra Sathe as Singers O hunter, don’t dare break the love-chain, by killing the male-dove immersed with its consort in the conjugal bliss, proclaims the meditating sage Valmiki, outraged by the sudden forest-carnage and is amazed at his own utterance, for, he has just composed the world’s first lines of verse! Nehru considered the Ramayana, written by Valmiki, as a unique epic poem and loved by the people. He quoted from the French historian Michelet extolling the Ramayana: There lies my great poem, as vast as the Indian Ocean, blessed, gilded, with the sun, the book of divine harmony wherein is no dissonance. A serene peace reigns there, and in the midst of conflict an infinite sweetness, a boundless fraternity, which spreads over all living things, an ocean of love, of pity, of clemency… Here are the Ramkatha singers from the north, with Rama’s name emblazoned on their apparels, praising enthusiastically the sterling virtues of Rama, the Maryada Purushottam - one of infinite purity, self- control, sincerity, affection and boundless love. In the production of Bhasa’s play, Abhishek, Sita is playfully trying out a valkal (arboreal skin) and accosting Rama on his impending abhishek (coronation). There is an evasive reply from Rama referring to a whisper of the maid Manthara into King Dasharatha‘s ears and the foreboding of evil in Rama’s asking for a valkal, meant only for mendicants. Soon the premonitions prove true with brother Lakshmana storming in and accusing Rama of his nonchalance, when there is a conspiracy going on against his coronation. Rama stands by the parental commitment and abdicates the throne in favour of brother Bharata. It is clear now, Rama is proceeding to the forest for 14 years, and wife Sita and brother Lakshmana have insisted on joining him. The repentant king, having taken to his deathbed, is ranting about Rama. Bharata, on return, is beside himself with rage at his mother’s machinations and refuses to recognise her. In the eventual coronation as there has to be a king on the throne to protect the subjects, as inevitably as clouds have to be present to yield rains, he resolves to put Rama’s footwear on the throne and remain its ‘patron guardian.’ Next, the forest-dweller Rama is seen to protect the meditating sages against the marauding Rakshasas (demons) against Sita’s remonstrations. Interesting contrast is visible between the urban Ayodhya and the thickly-wooded Dandakaranya, and the forest-dweller demons are perhaps non-Aryans; then part of an ‛Aryanisation’ process. Yet Sita’s argument is quite valid: what is the rationale for Rama to take upon himself the task of eradicating the forest-dwellers who are disturbed by the Aryans: advancing into forests with their occupations and ritual? The drama ends on the note of ‘clash of civilisations’.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 29: Feudalism in India [ ⇐ Episode 28 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 30⇒ ] With Salim Ghouse as Ramaraya, Ila Arun as Heggaditi, Pallavi Joshi as Mallige, Siraj Khan as Saguna, Ajay Kumar as Achyutadevaraya, Vijayan Nair as Pedda Tirumala, Vijay Rani Nair as Varadamba, Sudhir Kulkarni as Selappa, and Bhupendra Sandhu as Javara. Nehru recounts that while India had widespread monarchy, the hold of its power differed from that of European feudalism where the king had the authority over all persons and things within his domain. In a hierarchy of authority, both the land and the people belonged to the feudal lord. In India, in contrast, the king had the right only to collect taxes from the land and the revenue-collecting power was all he could delegate to others. Thus, the individual peasant paid his due to the aristocrat revenue-collector who, in turn, paid it to the king. The scenario opens with a bullock-cart race, which the common man is hugely enjoying. Enacting episodes from Masti’s Kannada novel Mallige, the landless labourer, Saguna, and his fiancee are accosted by the revenue-collector’s wife who lords over them, having fixed Mallige’s marriage somewhere else. The Iovelorn couple takes recourse to a holy Swamiji who advises prudence and declines to intervene. Undeterred, they pursue Swamiji to his urban ashram and he now advises them not to go against the lady for six months. The lady still insists on getting Mallige settled after five months, when the desperate couple catches hold of the Naik, the higher intermediary and seeks his intervention, which finally comes. The scene shifts to the declining Vijaynagar Empire and its decadent feudalism. Rama Raya, Krishna’s powerful son-in-law, thwarts Achyuta Deva Raya, royal treasurer and the nominated successor of Krishna Deva Raya, in his aspiration for the throne. Trouble is brewing in Chudamandal under Udaya Varman and needs to be subjugated. In the ensuing battle under Achyuta Raya, the ace rebel Shilappa is taken prisoner. Achyuta dies in 1542. Nehru notes that amidst all these internecine feuds, the peasant is unaffected, as there is no advantage in dispossessing him. The twin concepts of landlord system as well as full ownership by the individual peasant of his patch of land were both introduced much later by the British and had disastrous results.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 44: Indigo Revolt [ ⇐ Episode 43 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 45⇒ ] [ Episode 44 Supplement ] With Om Puri as Nabakrisima Banergee., Virendra Saxena as Madhav, Tom Alter as Larmour, Achyut Potdar as Damga, Vijay Kashyap as Harish Mukheriee, Devendra Malhotra as Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Ranjana Gaur as Malati, Satish Kaushik as Ramgopal Ghosh, Irfan Khan as Michael Madhusudan Butt, and the script is by Gulan Kripalani. Nehru observes that when the English first occupied India, there was a sufficiently developed base of industry and the chief business of the East India Company was to carry Indian manufactured goods like textiles and spices to Europe. With the industrial revolution taking place in England, the Indian market was to be opened to British manufacturers. This exclusion extended to other foreign markets as well and the flow of Indian goods was prevented within the country itself. Consequently Indian textile industry collapsed, affecting a vast number of weavers and artisans, followed by other industries like shipbuilding, metalwork, and crafts. Nehru further observes that with the rapidly increasing unemployment and poverty, the classic colonial economy built up.-India then became a predominantly agricultural country supplying raw material to Industrial England at a low price and in turn, providing a market for England’s finished goods. The hapless peasants are stopped from cultivating rice and, instead, forced to switch over to indigo, a necessary raw material for the British industry, to be purchased at a low price. Refusal is met with stern admonition and even physical torture. The intellectual weapon to counter the evil is a compelling Bengali play Neel Darpan (The Indigo Mirror) by Deenabandhu Mitra. The first scene shows the oppression of a poor peasant by the British contractor, making indigo cultivation obligatory unless he is provided the services of a comely maiden. The second scene displays the common man’s perception of resistance through humour and banter, until the stick- wielding police close down the play already declared illegal. The helpless peasants rue their fate of giving up rice—cultivation in favour of Indigo—farming and recall the meaningful efforts of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the noted philanthropist and social reformer. The British officials use Indian spies to collect information on organised resistance. Educated Indians send mass—petitions to British India Association drawing Lord Canning’s attention. Meanwhile, the torture-machinery continues unabated to provide punitive punishment to the opposing leaders. The scared villagers maintain stoic silence, till they find the ringleader Madhav tortured to death, his corpse thrown into the river and his widow sneering in the face of the dumb society. They revolt by setting indigo godowns and houses of the scheming English contractors on fire and rampaging the British property. Eventually, the Indigo Revolt has the desired impact - making the British stop forced indigo cultivation altogether. Vidyasagar’s efforts for widow remarriage, promotion of women’s education, abolition of Koolin polygamy and child-marriage are seen. As Nehru notes, the 19th century saw in India two Englands living side by side: one of high intellectual attainment and political maturity and the other of savage penal codes and brutal behaviour.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 10: Acceptance and Negation of Life Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 10 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Dance of Ajivikas Siddharth watching dance Mahabhinishkramana: Sereikella Chhau Mediating Siddharth: Sereikella Chhau

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 25: Delhi Sultanate Part II, Prithviraj Raso (II) & Alauddin Khilji With K.K. Raina as Shahabuddin Ghori, Vijay Kashyap as Chand Bardai, Achyut Potdar as Makwana, Ravi Jhankal as Prithviraj, Ahmed Khan as Mahmud Gazni, S.K. Makhija as Jaichand, Suman Dubey as Vasir, Nisha Singh as Sanyukta, Irfan Khan as Al-Beruni, and Salim Arif as Firdausi. We eavesdrop into the bedchamber of Prithviraj and his lovely bride having an idyllic union, with Samjukta serenading her lover. But the bliss is short-lived, as there are rumblings of war needing him to march out, but without any support from other kings due to his illicit affair. The Langa song narrates his fateful fight against Shahab-ud-Din Ghori once again when Prithviraj is defeated and held captive. There is no reciprocation of the earlier chivalrous treatment meted out to the Afghan Sultan, and the Rajput king is blinded and thrown into prison. He is repentant for neglecting his fighting skills by being immersed in dalliance. The song revives a legend that Prithviraj avails of an offer to hit his target blindfolded and strikes a fatal arrow on the Sultan’s heart by following his voice of command. Nehru muses that Prithviraj lost his life, throne and Delhi, the seat of empire all for the love of a woman. But his love story is still sung and he is a hero, while Jaichand is looked upon almost as a traitor. As noted by Nehru, Delhi passed into the hands of invaders and the throne was captured by the Slave dynasty ruler Qutb-ud-Din Aibak who started building the famous Qutb Minar. 1290 AD saw the end of the Slave dynasty and a great Afghan ruler, Alauddin Khilji, ascended the throne in Delhi. The Afghans, initially rigid in their faith, came as fierce warriors and made India their home and many of them even married Indian women. Alauddin himself married a Hindu lady, and so did his son. The unfolding drama shows how Alauddin plans with his minister to develop espionage network, watch the aristocrats and their social relationships like marriages and keep the army in battle-ready condition. On the economic front, he arranges control of prices and market norms for ‘profit plus’ for conducting business. On the religion front, mass conversions take place, as this helps the Hindus to avoid the vexatious Jiziya tax. The drama also shows the Sultan’s rapid reprisal system on receiving complaints of bribery and use of force, wherever called for. His policy helps in extracting largesse from Gujarat and South Indian kingdoms.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 12: Chanakya and Chandragupta, Part II [ ⇐ Episode 11 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 13⇒ ] With Satyadev Dubey as Chanakya, Ravi Jhankal as Chandragupta, Anjan Shrivastava as Dhanananda, Meeta Vashisht as Suvasini, Lalit Tiwari as Rakshasa, Vijay Kashyap as Shakatara, Devendra Malhotra as Ashvalayan, Zarvan Patel as Alexander, Irfan as Malayaketu, and Padmanabhan as Seleucus. The scene now opens with a special entente with Virochak, son of the deceased King Porus, for jointly if ruling the kingdom with Chandragupta on an equally shared basis. This is agreed and Chanakya plans a ‘pincer movement’ of troops with an element of surprise into Pataliputra. Emperor Nanda and queen Suvasini are caught totally unawares. The royal couple, while fleeing the capital in disguise, is discovered and Nanda killed with a poison arrow. Obviously, in Chanakya’s grand stratagem, honesty and humanity come only next to the ‘empire’. A squirming Chandragupta accuses Chanakya to have a heart of stone. The bereaved queen spurns both Chandragupta’s offer, and Malayaketu’s more politically motivated offer of marriage and seeks refuge in the Buddhist monastery. In a last encounter with Suvasini, now a Bhikshuni (nun), Chandragupta, while looking for patronage of the Buddhist Sangha (organisation), shares his personal disillusionment with grandstand politics with her. In a last act of diplomatic skullduggery, Chanakya prevents Rakshasa from fleeing and, instead, persuades him to utilise his ample talents in the service of now Emperor Chandragupta, his erstwhile archenemy! As Nehru summarises, like Machiavelli in Europe, Chanakya was bold and scheming, proud and revengeful, never forgetting his purpose, availing himself of every device to delude and defeat the enemy. He sat with the reins of the empire in his hands and looked upon the emperor more as a beloved pupil than as a master. Chanakya’s final victory was obtained by sowing discord in the enemy’s ranks. At the victorious moment, he induced Chandragupta to hand over the insignia of his own high office to the rival prime minister Rakshasa, whose intelligence and loyalty to his old chief Nanda had impressed him greatly. So the story ends: not in the bitterness of defeat and humiliation, but in reconciliation and in laying the firm and enduring foundation of a state. The curtain is drawn when Chanakya demits office. In Nehru’s words, simple and austere in his life, uninterested in the pomp and pageantry of high position, Chanakya redeemed his pledge and accomplished his purpose, and then retired, withdrawing himself, Brahmin-like, to a life of contemplation and completion of his first love, writing Artha Shastra. Nehru describes Chandragupta’s empire covering the whole of India except for south, from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, and extending in the north up to Kabul. For the first time in recorded history, a centralised state rose in India, with its capital in Pataliputra. While the state was an autocracy, there was a great deal of local autonomy in the towns and village units, and elective elders looked after the local affairs. This local autonomy was highly prized and hardly any king or emperor interfered with it. In a purely agricultural age, there was nothing like the control of the individual by the state.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 20: Harshavardhana [ ⇐ Episode 19 : ⇧Contents⇧ : Episode 21⇒ ] [ Episode 20 Supplement ] With Pankaj Berry as Harshavardhan, K. Makhija as Prabhakaravardhan, Aparajita as the Queen, Mansi Upadhyaya as the Maid,Chandra Mohan as Rajyavarman, Vasant Soman as Banabhatta, and Milan Barua as Hsüan-tsang. Nehru notes that from the 4th century onwards the Guptas ruled for about 150 years over a powerful and prosperous state in the north. For almost another 150 years their successors continued but the empire shrank and became smaller and smaller. New invaders from Central Asia were pouring into India and attacking them. When some of their chiefs became aggressive in the 7th century, they were crushed by the King of Kanauj, Harsha Vardhana, who thereafter built up a powerful state right across Northern and Central India. Although an ardent Buddhist, he encouraged both Buddhism and Hinduism. A poet and dramatist himself, he gathered round his court many artists and poets, making his capital, Ujjaayini (now Ujjain), a famous centre of cultural activities. In the new artistic revival, Banabhatta from Thaneshwar was an important literary figure. Besides authoring Kadambari, India’s first novel in prose, he penned Harsha Charita, the emperor’s biography. Here we witness Katha Vachan (story-telling) by Banabhatta to his avid listeners. Finally, Harsha’s position was consolidated with Ujjain as the seat of a powerful kingdom spread over entire North India up to the eastern and western seas, from the Himalayas to Vindhyachal and contained in the south by Pulakesin II of the Chalukya Empire. Nehru notes that when Harsha was reigning over his powerful kingdom, Hsüan-tsang, the Chinese scholar-pilgrim was studying at Nalanda University. Hsüan-tsang came overland and crossed the Himalayas into India. As an ardent Buddhist he travelled all over the country. In a grand congregation of Shamans, Brahmins and Bhikshus in a Buddhist monastery on the Ganga-banks, ‘Mahayana’ wins. But when the monastery is gutted by fire caused by the opponents, Hsüan-tsang serenely infers that it only proves the point of mortality of everything: a ‘Mahayana’ conviction! While the arsonist-leader is banished, the local prince arranges a dramatic-show for entertaining Hsüan-tsang and other dignitaries of his own play Nagananda, where he himself participates as an act of atonement. The play depicts the fiery antagonism between Vasuki, the king of Nagas (snakes) and Garuda, the bird-mount of Vishnu. The compromise reached is that a snake would be offered as food to Garuda everyday. Moved by the wailing of an old woman whose son is about to be devoured, the pious prince offers himself clad in symbolic red as a sacrifice to Garuda. Nehru recorded that Hsüan-tsang returned the way he came via Central Asia, carrying a large number of manuscripts with him. Harsha died in 648 AD, after which his empire disintegrated into small principalities.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 52: Do or Die Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 52 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Sundar Subhumi Maiya

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 15: The Sangam Period and Silappadikaram, Part I Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 15 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: "Akam" Poem "Puram" Poem Song- Jai Jai Jai Puhar ki Jai Ho Madhavi’s Arrangetram Madhavi dances for Kovalan Kannagi’s agony Madhavi performs as courtesan Song on faithful wives Kannagi and Kovalan leave for Madurai

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 44: Indigo Revolt Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 44 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Deenbandhi Mitra’s "Neel Darpan"

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 28: The Vijayanagar Empire With Om Puri as Krishnadevaraya, Salim Ghouse as Ramaraya, Anjan Srivastava as Appaji, Richard Lane-Smith as Father Luiz, Fr. Tasso as Domingo Paes, K.K. Raghuvanshi as the Ambassador, Ajay Kumar as Achyutadevaraya, and Muneera Surati as Mother. Nehru records how, late in the 14th century, Timur Lang, the Turk, swooped down from the north and smashed up the Delhi Sultanate. After this terrible affliction, North India remained weak and divided into small potentates. But South India was comparatively well off with Vijaynagar as the largest and most powerful of the southern kingdoms. This state and the city attracted many Hindu refugees from the north. From contemporary accounts, it appears that the city was incredibly rich and beautiful. Said Abdur-Razzak, a traveller from Central Asia: The city is such that eye has not seen nor ear heard of any palace resembling it upon the whole earth. There were arcades and magnificent galleries for the bazaars, and rising above them all was the palace of the king, surrounded by many rivulets and streams flowing through channels of cut stone, polished and even… With splendid aerial views of Vijaynagar, we can hear Nehru approvingly quoting Domingo Paes, the Portuguese visitor who came in 1522 AD after visiting the Italian cities of the Renaissance: The city of Vijaynagar is as large as Rome and very beautiful to the sight; it is full of charm and wonder: with its innumerable lakes and waterways and fruit gardens. It is the best-provided city in the world and everything abounds. The chambers of the palace are a mass of ivory, with roses and lotuses carved in ivory at the top; it is so rich and beautiful that you would hardly find anywhere another such… In the ensuing drama, Krishna Deva Raya is seen occupying the throne after some palace intrigues upstaging the aspirant Achyuta Deva Raya. Nehru quotes Paes: He is the most feared and perfect king that could possibly be, cheerful of disposition and very merry: he is one that seeks to honour foreigners, and receives them kindly, asking about all their affairs whatever their condition may be. We witness the king watching classical Kuchipudi dance presenting Mandodari Sabdam and eulogising Ravana in the same breath as the King and confabulating on expanding the northern boundaries to Bijapur. To ‘honour the foreigners’ is evidenced in receiving the Portuguese delegation and their gifts. Deals are struck with their Governor Albuquerque of Goa to procure horses and guns, beside trade relations, in preference to the Arab trade for horses. Events noted in the Portuguese diary are: retention of an outstanding swordsman from Malaysia for training the infantry and arrangements made with Albuquerque to get Portuguese expertise for improving Vijaynagar’s water distribution system. Bijapur is subjugated and so is Kalinga, with the latter’s prince held captive. In the widespread kingdom, many temples are built with the king emerging to represent godhead. The haughty Kalinga prince’s duel with the Malaysian swordsman results in the former’s defeat, followed by suicide. Bijapur’s recalcitrant rebel Adil Khan is subjugated. The ageing king is taken ill and his attempts to fix the succession issue prove futile, with the vast empire showing signs of decay. Even when the Deccan kings began teaming up among themselves, the sprawling empire refused to read the signs on the wall.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 14: Ashoka, Part-II With Om Puri as Ashoka, K.K. Raina as Radhagupta, Pankaj Beri as Town Crier, Nitin Kulkarni as Mahendra, Sadiya as Sanghmitra, Ila Arun as Asandhimitra, Aparajita Krishna as Devi, Achyut Potdar as Sukhvihar Virendra Razdan as Bindusara, Maqsoom Ali as Tissa, Anang Desai as Vikrambhatt, Lalit Tiwari as Agivika, and S.P. Dubey as Mahendrabhatt. Ashoka is now the Emperor and is relaxing with a Vina recital in court. There is an interruption by the Buddhist emissaries from Ujjain on a tiding of gratitude for the nearly-completed monastery. The fun-loving youngest prince Tissa is disrespectful to the visitors and makes matters worse by jocularly climbing on the imperial throne. The vexed Ashoka gives him capital punishment for the gross misdemeanour and mitigates it by granting a reprieve of seven days on the ‘throne’ with boundless merriment! Tissa, already under a Damocles’ sword, hardly enjoys the reprieve and, when finally pardoned, seeks solace in Buddhism. As Nehru notes, only the southeast and a part of the south were beyond the empire’s sway. The old dream of uniting the whole of India under one supreme government fired Ashoka. On the news of skirmishes against the business community by the small Kalinga- rulers and disruptions in trade, Ashoka mounted an all-out attack on Kalinga on the east coast and, despite brave resistance by the independent people of Kalinga, his armies triumphed. There was terrible slaughter in this war, as officially recorded in one of Ashoka’s edict, cited by Nehru: Kalinga was conquered. … 150,000 persons were thence carried away as captive; 100,000 were slain and many times that died. … Thus arose His Sacred Majesty’s remorse for having conquered the Kalinga, because the conquest of a country previously unconquered involves the slaughter, death and carrying away captive of the people. That is a matter of profound sorrow and regret… A highly penitent Ashoka, goes out to re-call his missing brother Tissa. Travelling over hills and dales, the emperor locates Tissa’s monastery, but the monk-brother declines to return, saying he has discovered the ultimate Truth in his new reclusive life under Buddha’s teaching. Ashoka dons monk’s robe himself and both brothers devote themselves to the spread of Tathagata’s gospels of righteousness and goodwill. Ashoka creates public works for the people by digging wells, building roads and hospitals, and planting trees. He creates a unique communication system, by issuing numerous edicts carved in rock and metal spread out all over India. These edicts that are still with us, exhort the cause of education, show respect for all faiths, prohibit animal sacrifice and encourage abstention from alcoholic drinks. Above all, he makes himself available at any hour and at any place to work for the commonwealth. As we see, an ardent Ashoka sends his own son and daughter, Mahendra and Sanghamitra, to Sri Lanka conveying his greeting and Buddha’s message. Nehru records how his ambassadors went to Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Epirus making an appeal to the mind and the heart. There was no compulsion. His messengers went to Central Asia also, beside Myanmar and Cambodia. Because of the growth of foreign contacts and missionary enterprises trade between India and other countries also grew.

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 51: Separatism With K.K. Raina as Majid, S.M. Zahee as Hamid Ali, Harish Patel as Lala Makhanial, Ahmed Khan as Dr. Ahsan, Aparajita Krishna as Khursheed, Irfan Khan as Saleem, Sohaila Kapur-Limaye as Nafisa, Lubna Siddiqi as Shaheen, and Satish Kaushik as Pandit. The script is by Javed Siddiqi and the consultant is Asghar Ali Engineer. Nehru notes that during the post-mutiny period, all the leading men among Indian Muslims, including Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, were products of the old traditional education, although some of them were influenced by new ideas. Thanks to Gandhi’s leadership, a united Hindu-Muslim front was forged against the British. The Congress spearheaded the non—cooperation movement, started in 1920 by Gandhi and the Khilafat Committee. In 1922, Gandhi announced a new phase of civil disobedience leading to the ultimate defiance of paying taxes, but called it off later. Amidst the Hindu-Muslim collaboration crumbling at the edges, M.A. Jinnah, the Muslim League leader, walked out of the Congress. While Gandhi languished in jail, a parliamentary commission under Sir John Simon arrived in 1928 to make a review of the Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1927 only to be greeted by massive demonstrations throughout India. The Congress, with Gandhi released, rallied around a boycott of Simon Commission. An angry mob shouts slogans: ‘Simon! Go back’ against stiff police resistance. Sir Mohammad Iqbal (who wrote the fiery nationalist poem Sare jehan Se Achha…) plays a vital role in influencing the newly growing middle class and the younger generation. Emerging leaders like Dr. Ansari are confabulating to provide a sense of direction to the Muslim masses at nodal centres like Allahabad and Aligarh. They discuss how Ali Brothers (Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali) had played a prominent role in the Khilafat movement and suffered imprisonment for the Congress in the 1920’s. When, in 1930, news comes that Mohammad Ali is no more, the condolence meeting resolves that Lucknow city would observe a a total closure as a mark of respect to his departed soul. But some Hindu shopkeepers object on the ground that Ali was a Muslim. This takes most leaders by surprise,’as Ali,’ besides having chaired a Congress session, Harish Patel was part of Gandhi’s no tax agitation and Nehru’s socialistic campaign. In retaliation against this Hindu resistance, many Muslim shopkeepers Ahmed Khan refuse to bring down shutters for Bhagat Singh, even though he died for the cause of India’s freedom. Enforced closures result in riots, to the utter dismay of the higher leadership who declare that Hindus and Muslims are as indivisible as the air and the sky. The drama takes the separatism forward, in holding central and provincial elections under the Act of 1935. Muslim League is revamped under Jinnah and the rivalry between the Congress and the Muslim League gathers momentum in the electioneering campaigns. The results go overwhelmingly in favour of the Congress in most provinces and their government is established in 1937. Nehru observes that Indian Nationalism, as represented by the Congress, opposed British imperialism. Jinnah had propounded a theory that India consisted of ’two nations‘: Hindu and Muslim. From this theory developed the concept of ‘Pakistan’, or the splitting up of India: as a direct offshoot of the ‘Divide-and—rule’ policy of the British. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 38: Shivaji, Part II With Naseeruddin Shah as Shivaji, Om Puri as Aurangzeb, Achyut Potdar as Shahfi, Sunila Pradhan as Jiiabai, Ahmed Kahn as Afzal Khan, Sudhir Kulkarni as Gopinath Pant, Chandrakant Kale as Shridhar Pant, Ravindra Sathe as Sampat Rao, Vishwajit Pradhan as Rustam Khan, and Ayub Khan as Yaqub Khan. Playback by Ravindra Sathe, Chandrakant Kale, and Madhuri Purandhare. Script by Govind P. Deshpande. Nehru noted that Shivaji, having openly raised the standard of revolt, sacked the city of Surat, sparing the English and their factory, and enforced the Chowth (one-fourth) tax payment, as he did in other distant parts of the Mughal dominions in western India. Since the Marathas stood no chance of driving them off, there is negotiation conducted by Afzal’s trusted envoy Krishnaji Shastry. Shivaji would make a token recognition of Bijapur’s suzerainty and Afzal would leave Shivaji in undisturbed possession of his forts. In making Shivaji’s personal submission, the two men meet at the foot of the Pratapgarh hill after supposedly dispensing with their individual attendants and weapons. When they embrace, Shivaji lethally sinks a hidden weapon into Afzal’s abdomen killing him, and leads the Marathas to victory. The Mughal army relentlessly harries every fort and captures Pune, Shivaji’s capital, where Shaista takes residence. As the ballad describes the events, Shivaji enters the heavily fortified city in disguise, crawls into Shaista’s bedroom, and injures him. Shaista escapes, and the raiders withdraw without plunder but the affair is a blow to Mughal pride. Breaking out of the hills in 1664, Shivaji leads his forces north into Gujarat and ransacks the great port of Surat for forty days, sparing only the well- defended English ‘factory’ (fortified warehouse). Aurangzeb now sends another large Mughal army, under the valorous Jai Singh who secures fort after fort. By 1665, Shivaji, cornered near Purandhar, sues again for terms. A sincere jai Sigh counsels Shivaji to combine Shakti (might) with Yukti (logic). jai Singh also advises him to travel to Agra to attend the emperor in person, and sends his son Ram Singh as a surety for Shivaji’s safety. Shivaji feels slighted at Aurangzeb’s court where his presence is barely acknowledged as a 5000-Mansabdar. After an angry encounter with the emperor, he is detained in a virtual house arrest. True to form, the mortified Shivaji escapes buried in a basket of confectionary and reaches Maharashtra unharmed. In 1674, Shivaji appoints himself as Chhatrapati (king) and remains an independent sovereign till his death in 1680, leaving a Maratha kingdom of great but ill-defined extent. In the early decades of the 18th century, the Marathas act collectively, but by 1740, the big Maratha families begin to peel away, although they recognise the authority of the Peshwa of Pune. In the wake of Ahmed Shah Abdali’s plunder of Delhi in 1756 and subsequent withdrawal, Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao pushes into the Punjab. But without the support of the Rajputs and Jats, the political advantage is lost and the Marathas go under decisively to Abdali’s Afghan army at Panipat in 1761. As Nehru comments, the Panipat defeat of the Marathas weakened them no end, just when the British East India Company was emerging as an important territorial power of India. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 36: Aurangzeb, Part II With Om Puri as Aurangzeb, Sudhir Dalvi as Shah Jahan, Surekha Sikri as Jahan Ara, Ahmed Khan as Aquil Khan, Ved Thapar as Shahbaz Khan, Sohaila Kapur Limaye as Roshan Ara, Surendra Pal as Dara Shikoh, and Aparajita Krishna as Nadira. The dancers are Anita Ordia, Gauri Sharma, and Yuvak Biradari. Playback by Afroze Bano and Shobha Joshi. The script is by Javed Siddiqi. The denouement leads inexorably to Aurangzeb imprisoning his father and not sparing any of the brothers. After Murad joins action with Aurangzeb both move north together to fight Shah Jahan’s army with a strong artillery-detachment and ample cash enrichment from Bijapur and Golconda indemnities. They win hands down. In 1658, a second and more decisive battle finds the dilettante Dara with a dazzling array of 50,000 facing the resolute Aurangzeb with his dust- smothered veterans from the Deccan. The gunners are allowed to wreak devastation and Dara’s forces are decimated. Aurangzeb occupies Agra. Dropping all pretense of rescuing Shah Jahan from the ‘infidel’ influence of Dara, he besieges the fort and denies even supply of water bargaining for opening the fort-gates. He then confines the ailing emperor amongst the marble- terraces of his Agra fort, where he remains under the lonely care of daughter Jahan-Ara as a semi—senile spectre of his former glory, until death comes eight years later. The feckless Murad is warned by his well-wishers and still enjoys Kathak dance in his court. During another spree of drunkenness and Kathak Mujra, he is inveigled by Aurangzeb’s men and unceremoniously beheaded. Shuja, re-emerging from Bengal, is defeated once more, and Aurangzeb flees to the distant Arakans and finally unto oblivion. Dara continues to flit from camp to camp through the Punjab, Sind and Gujarat, and is engaged in Ajmer. Having lost his beloved wife en route, he is betrayed and turned over to Aurangzeb. Still a popular figure especially with Delhi’s non-Muslims, he is paraded through the streets in chains to their utter dismay and is hacked to death. Nehru notes that the last of the ‘Grand Mughals’, Aurangzeb, tried to put the clock back and, in the process, broke it up. The Mughal rulers were strong, so long as they put themselves in line with the genius of the nation and tried to work for a common nationality and a synthesis of the various elements in the country. When Aurangzeb began to oppose this movement and suppress it, and to function more as a Muslim than an Indian ruler, the Mughal Empire began to break up after he died as a broken man at the age of 90, in 1707. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 47: Vivekananda Supplemental Materials [ Return to Episode 47 ] Song, Dance, and the Theatre Arts: Tu Janani Hai Janmabhumi Mata Mita Timir Ka Ghera Gyan Do Abhigyan Do Ghar Chalo Mann Humare Prabhu Avgun Chitt Na Dharo

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 40: Tipu Sultan With Salim Ghouse as Tipu Sultan, Tom Alter as Dubuke, Vijay Kashyap as Purnaiyya, Ravi Jhankal as Mir Sadiq, Aparajita Krishna as Ruqqaya, John Holyer as Weliesly, Brian Canavan as Cornwallis, Declan Hill as Stuart, S.C. Makheeja as Mahadji Shinde, Lalit Tiwari as Announcer, and the script is by Javed Siddiqi. There is an opening panorama of several Impressionist paintings showing, as Nehru observes, the 1st to 4th Mysore Wars towards the closing years of the 18th century fought by Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. They were formidable adversaries, who inflicted severe defeat on the British and came near to breaking the power of the East India Company. In the scene, we see Haider on his deathbed extracting promises from son Tipu to continue resistance to the British and motivate men to draw inspiration from the American War of Independence. If they could defeat the English, why not us? Upon Haider’s demise in 1783, Tipu symbolically forsakes the throne until the last rites and concentrates on organising joint efforts to drive the British out. For this purpose, he sends envoys to the Peshwa Nana Sahib of the Marathas, the Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Oudh. With remarkable prescience, he plans to mobilise foreign powers too against his adversary by sending missions to the Ottoman Sultan of Turkey in Constantinople and to King Louis XVI of France in Versailles. While, on the home front, he attempts to re-organise the governance of his kingdom on systematic basis, his joint efforts prove futile with Nana Sahib refusing to trust him and the Nizam openly preferring the English to Tipu. His overtures abroad in Turkey come to nothing and Louis XVI, despite professing friendliness, sends only skilled technicians and gardeners but no army. Tipu, outnumbered and outgunned, is faced with a treaty on humiliating terms - an eight-figure indemnity, the surrender of half his territories, and British custody of his two sons, aged only 8 and 10, as surety. Unexpectedly the terms are all complied with by the ‘Tiger of Mysore’ and while he is busy restoring his truncated kingdom to an enviable prosperity, there is an extenuating fact that the victorious Napoleon has made no secret of his design on the British in India. Governor General Wellesley hails Napoleon’s correspondence with Tipu as the needed pretext to lay siege on Mysore. Srirangapatnam is stormed and sacked with devilish ardour. Tipu fights bravely to the end, is betrayed and goes down with a rare show of bravery along with some 9000 Mysore troupes. Nehru notes that Tipu’s final defeat in 1799 by the British left the field clear for the final contest between the Marathas and the British East India Company. Every other ruler acknowledged the influence of one or the other. While the Nizam bought permanent peace by ceding territory, the Marathas, after some notable initial victories over the British, were finally crushed by 1818 and accepted the overlordship of the East India Company. The British then became the unchallenged sovereign of a great part of India, governing the country directly or through puppet princes. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan