Masala History by Siva

Masala History by Siva

By Sivakumar SethuramanHistory
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Masala History by Siva episodes

  • The Korean Connection (The Tamil Princess who ruled Korea)

    In Bollywood movies, it is not uncommon where a long lost family reunites with a 'family' song. Or that someone finds a brother (whom he has never seen from childhood) by identifying that they have same mannerisms. Even a case where someone remembers something random so vividly only to be explained that it is from his former birth. In short, these are some interesting connections.



    In today's Masala History by Siva, I will try to explain to you some interesting connections between 2 far away countries/communities of India (Tamilnadu) and Korea -  and trace back to the event that could have sparked it in the first place. I will admit that some of these are educated guesses and conjectures with lighter evidence, nevertheless something definitely to consider;  Perhaps will give you a wow moment. So buckle your seatbelt and set the time dial to 45 CE as we travel to the Kingdom of Geumgwan Gaya which is the southeast part of modern day South Korea.

    Listen to the rest of the story here on in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in


    #tamilhistory #indianhistory #koreanhistory #korea #pandyas

    #gaya #suro #heohwangok #suriratna #ayuta #ayodhya #ayuthya
    #southkorea #gimhae #twinfish #culture #southkorea

    11 min
  • First Woman Monarch in India

    Pop quiz.


    Who is the first woman monarch in India?

    If you said Jhansi Rani Lakshmi Bai, try again. Although, a solid percentage of randomly polled people said that. If you said Rani Mangammal or Rani Velu Naachiyaar, it still isn't the right answer  - but you certainly deserve an applause for knowing these terrific queens. If you said Razia Sultana, I would disagree - although the topmost search results in Google for the above question points to her. If you said Rani Rudramma Devi, I am impressed of your knowledge of the Kakatiyas - we would do a podcast on her some day, she has a very interesting history too. Nevertheless, you have to try harder.

    Welcome to Masala History by Siva. We are celebrating International Women's day this week and March 2021 is Women's History Month -  and let's do that by knowing a little more about India's first woman ruler. Until some historical seals were discovered a couple of years ago near Nagpur, her reign was largely underrated and forgotten. And to learn more about her, we will travel 1600 years back, to the golden age of India - the times of the Gupta empire.


    Listen to the story here on in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorbysiva.in


    #gupta #internationalwomensday #prabhavatigupta

    #vakataka #guptaempire #indianfemalemonarch
    #history #indianhistory #razia #jhansirani #womenleader

    9 min
  • The resident of Baker Street

    "I am in Baker Street, London - been here for 180+ years. Anyone who has visited London has possibly visited my place. And even those who haven't visited England have most likely heard of me. In today's edition of Masala History by Siva, I chose to tell my strange story. So travel with me 250 years back as I narrate what I have seen, done and continue to do today."


    Come and listen to the creepy story of the resident of Baker Street here or in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in .


    #ukhistory #history #historystories #masalahistory

    #madametussaud #tussaud #waxmuseum #londonwaxmuseum
    #england #bakerstreet #ukhistory #frenchrevolution
    #taleoftwocities #Paris #robespierre #guillotine
    #waxsculputure #tourism #bakerstreet

    8 min
  • The Head without a Crown and the body

    The United Kingdom is one of the oldest constitutional monarchies in the world. Starting with Magna Carta in 1215 CE, England went slowly but surely in the direction of having an overseeing community and then a constitution that kept the power of crown under check. And with that in place, they also were the first power perhaps to try their own King, a sovereign, in a court of law and sentence him to death. When King Charles I was executed as Citizen Charles Stuart by his own people, it was unprecedented.


    In today's episode we are going to talk about a brief period where England had no formal monarch. You will see that the person who was the leader of this period was a head of state, head of government and once monarchy was resorted, all was left was just his head, quite literally. So get on your time machines and lets travel to London exactly 361 years back to the day to view the stomach churning story of Mr. Oliver Cromwell.

    You can listen to the story here on in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in


    #ukhistory #england #cromwell #englishhistory

    #kingcharles #revenge #head #headofstate
    #masalahistory #unitedkingdom #royalty
    #commonwealth

    10 min
  • A masala history of time - Happy new year? 2021? everyone?

    Happy new year 2021 everyone.


    Wait!! Is that wish right? In this complex and diverse world, does a statement like the above generically apply?  Let's validate every word up there.

    "Happy" is a state of mind, so let's keep it aside for a history blog and hope that is true for everyone.
    "New year" -  Does the year get new on January 1? Why? Since when? And for whom?
    2021 - is this the current year? How and why? For whom?
    everyone - Does the wish apply to everyone? Who does everyone refer to? After all, we as a human race can't still standardize date formats (dd/mm v. mm/dd). So how do we come together on this?

    Welcome to Masala History by Siva. Lets do a quick time travel for a couple of thousand years as we try to make sense of why dates are hard (no pun intended ;)).

    You can listen to the story here or in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in .

    We the people of the world, have not come into agreement even today on a topic like timekeeping, which some might consider simple and straightforward. We are so diverse that it is not surprising we simply cannot agree to one uniform thing.. But perhaps in this diversity lies the colourfulness and fun of life. Possible that it is a new year in some calendar every single day; and if so, so what? Maybe we can wish every single day as if it were a fresh beginning, start of a brand new year.

    On that note, Happy new year everyone. Stay safe and may 2021 be kind to us all. 


    #masalahistory #history #historynerd #historybuff

    #calendar #Julian #gregorian #juliuscaesar #timekeeping
    #europeanhistory #historyoftime #rome #romancalendar
    #PopeGregory #dateformats #happynewyear #newyear

    9 min
  • The Mystery Man of Brihadeeswara

    Welcome to Masala History by Siva. Travel with me to the modern day Tamilnadu state of India, as we discuss some interesting secrets of a UNESCO World Heritage site. As promised in one of my earlier podcasts on  Rajendra Chola, this edition is based on the magnum opus of the Chola reign - the grand Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur. Just like the first podcast where we discussed a foreign statue in the Srirangam temple, in today's show we will be talking about another foreigner image in the Brihadeeswara Temple. 


    Rajaraja Chola was one of the greatest Chola emperors who took the Cholan glory beyond the borders of Indian subcontinent. He was a great patron of arts and commissioned to build what was then called the Southern Meru, the tallest temple ever attempted. Construction of the Peruvudaiyar temple started in 1003 CE and ended by 1010 CE, into Rajaraja's 25th year of rule. The temple was called Rajarajeshwaram during the Chola days. In later years, when a part of Marathas setup shop in Tanjore, they gave the name Brihadeeswara to deity and the temple. Listen to its mysteries here or in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in .

    And with this podcast, I will say goodbye for this year and our first season of Masala History podcasts. Thanks a ton to all of you for being supportive by listening, commenting, messaging, sending candidate topics and providing feedback.  Happy holidays, stay safe and I will see you with a fresh season of Masala History in 2021.

    12 min
  • The Zimmermann Telegram - that brought America to World War I

    Today, Telegram stands for the app/product that is trying to compete with WhatsApp or Messenger. For those of you who can remember, telegram was one of the earliest instant communicator - it stood for the telegraphed messages that passed from one user to another via telegraphic offices globally.


    Today we will be seeing significant big world event caused by a telegram. This telegram was sent from Germany, intended to a recipient in Mexico in the middle of the Great War.

    Germany decided that the best way to keep America from dedicating men and arms to the War is to keep them busy on their side of the Atlantic. So they decided to get America's neighbour Mexico involved. The plan was simple - lure Mexico to attack the Southern United States by offering them support to reclaim lands in Nevada & Texas by offering ammunition support. This will ensure US will divert all its attention to Mexico and will not interfere in the ongoing European situation.

    So Zimmermann, Secretary of State for the German Empire sent a telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico.

    Listen to what happened here or in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in


    #zimmermann #telegram #germany #worldwar1 #greatwar

    #unitedstates #history #worldhistory #ushistory
    #historybuff #historynerd #historypodcast #podcast
    #england #britishhistory #ukhistory #room40
    #codebreak #code #army #militaryhistory #mexico
    #worldwarhistory #curioushistory #tuchman

    11 min
  • Lord Masala Mountbatten - the untold stories

    With the first episode of The Crown - Season 4 starting with events of 1979,  I found myself remembering the histories of this flamboyant fellow Gemini, who was a part of several remarkable events of 20th century. The spicy histories of this person practically started when he was born and followed him until his death. He had controversies for breakfast and gossips for dinner with no shortage of any drama in between. It is inconceivable that he  could have had it any other way and is perhaps more eligible to have the title of 'Masala' before his name than anyone else in recent history.


    Welcome to Masala History. In this episode, we will take a whirlwind trip of 20th century following the animated saga of a fascinating British Imperialist -  Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. For those hoping for some juicy gossips, let me disappoint you upfront  - I will not be discussing Lady Edwina. That topic needs its own podcast. But believe me, Mountbatten's story of amusing incidents has a lot more outside of Edwina's stories too.  We will look at the various spices that when brought together form this unique gourmet, the Spice Guy called Masala Mountbatten.

    So lets get on our time machine and set the dial to June 1900 and start our cooking recipe at Windsor.

    Our ingredients are -  
    1 tbl spoon of Name Spice: What's in a name?
    2 tbl spoons of Media Spice: Lights, camera, action!
    3 tbl spoons of Military & Strategy Spice: The International politician
    4 tbl spoons of Multi talents Spice: Master of Many Arts
    5 tbl spoons of Romance Spice: Casanova Royale

    Like him or hate him, but you cannot deny that you admire how Lord Masala Mountbatten lived a full life and on his own terms.

    You can listen to the story here or from a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in

    12 min
  • The Emperor and the Raider

    Welcome to Masala History by Siva. Travel with me a 1000 years back as we explore the real life Bahubali - Rajendra Chola, the son who eclipsed his illustrious father, the great Arunmozhi Varman or more commonly known as Rajaraja Chola.


    Rajaraja Chola is considered the greatest Chola King. He expanded his empire substantially in the south, organized a naval force and stormed northern Ceylon. Rajaraja also built the then tallest structure of Asia - the Brahadeesvara temple, an engineering marvel and still stands proud today.

    But arguably, the greatest Chola was his son Rajendra, the Emperor who would end up conquering 58 other Kings and will remain undefeated. Rajendra Chola spent 20 years of his adult life in battlefields. Under him the Chola military gained its peak strength. The army consisted of the Infantry, Cavalry and Elephant corps alongwith specialists like bowmen. The  Chola army is said to have had over two million ie 20 lakh soldiers simultaneously fighting for their kingdom.

    In the exact same time when Rajendra was expanding Chola boundaries, there was a very famous raider from modern day Afghanistan. He raided India 17 times, looting and plundering temples all along the way, the last one being the desperation of Somnath temple. The raider was the ruler of Ghazni empire, Mahmud and was the first King to style himself as Sultan in the whole world. Now why am I talking about Mahmud of Ghazni suddenly?

    In one of the most curious and unexplainable incidents in history, Rajendra Chola and Mahmud of Ghazni were just 200 kilometres apart - and yet they did not meet at battle. How did Rajendra,  being a staunch Shivite king, not go fight the man who just destroyed the most popular Shiva temple in North of India? And why did Mahmud, whose main aim was to loot, not attack Rajendra and subsequently go South, which was known to have vast wealth in forms of gold & diamonds?

    15 min
  • Culture Shock - the modern European lands in India

    As I was reading through the story of Estado da India or Portugese India, I came across very interesting material around how the modern Europeans, who arrived in the Indian Malabar coast via the Oceanic routes, found themselves totally unaware of the Indian culture and customs. I found it fascinating and thought I will share it with all of you.


    In today's edition of Masala History by Siva, we will travel back in time to when Vasco da Gama landed his fleet for the first time at Southwest India. Travel with me here on in a platform of your choice (from www.masalahistorybysiva.in , link in bio) to see how the modern European travelers completely fumbled in their first trade mission with this country, all because they didn't understand the culture.


    #history #indianhistory #portugal #vascodagama #culture

    13 min

About Masala History by Siva

From the publisher's feed

Interesting, lesser known histories backed by research, presented for easy consumption. Just like masala spices up food, I hope these stories add spice to the learning of history. Hopefully you start…