Stories
The long version
Some histories do not fit in ninety seconds. These are the written ones — researched from the sources, told at length, with the evidence left visible.
The battle Wellington called his finest
23 September 1803 · Second Anglo-Maratha War — Asked late in life to name the best thing he ever did in the way of fighting, the Duke of Wellington did not say Waterloo. He said Assaye.
The army that had to be invented
1761 – 1794 · After Panipat — Panipat destroyed a way of fighting, not just an army. Mahadji Scindia spent thirty years building the answer — and it was still standing at Assaye.
The pass that was renamed
13 July 1660 · The retreat from Panhala — A gorge narrow enough for a few men to close, held to the hour, until the cannon of Vishalgad said it could stop.
The year the map reached the Indus
April – May 1758 · The north-west frontier — Lahore, Attock and Peshawar in under three weeks. The phrase outlived the fact by a long way.
The admiral the Company called a pirate
1669 – 1729 · Sarkhel of the Maratha fleet — For three decades the East India Company tried to remove Kanhoji Angre from the Konkan coast. He died in his bed, undefeated.
More stories are being written. New films appear first on Instagram — the written histories follow.