“India’s history is a curiously unpeopled place. As usually told it has dynasties, epochs, religions, and castes—but not that many individuals,” Sunil Khilnani writes in his book “Incarnations: India in Fifty Lives.” In “Incarnations,” also released as a BBC radio series and podcast, Khilnani explores how the lives of fifty Indians across 2,500 years have shaped India’s history as we know it. We hear from Khilnani about a few of these figures, including the Buddha, poet Mirabai, and filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Khilnani is author of “The Idea of India” and professor of politics and director of the India Institute at King’s College, London.