Research

As per the latest V-DEM report, in 2020, the third wave of autocratisation has accelerated considerably and now engulfs 25 countries and 34 per cent of the world population

At a time when the political landscape of Bengal is witnessing the possibility of inroads being made by the Bharatiya Janata Party, adherents of Brahmoism say the party will be unable to understand the liberal

The street gets its name from the weight and might of the academic institutions that were first established here some two centuries ago. Specifically, Hindu College, established in 1817, now called Presidency University.

Regarding vaccine passports, the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised concerns surrounding the operational, ethical and diplomatic consequences of allowing certain individuals to avail of privileges that others face hurdles to access.

Though his ancestry could be traced back to Queen Victoria, Prince Philip’s family was in fact spread out over all of Europe and was testimony of widespread intermarriages between royal families in the 18th and

The proposal of a United Bengal and its rejection thereafter though, was rooted in years of communal conflict that had emerged in the province, especially since the mid-1930s.

Because of its popularity, the British recognised that the festival was a carrier for “news, rumours, sedition, and eventually nationalism, and they consistently sought to control the pilgrimage”

The West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes lists the Ostagars as a ‘backward class’ in the state and mentions that the community’s traditional occupation has been “tailoring in its different forms and standards”.

The technique of steaming rice flour shapes (idlis, puttu) arrived on India’s coastlines from East Asia, especially China, and was adapted to India’s non-sticky rice flours. As per local beliefs, puttu is offered to African

In the 1890s, Hadji Zakaria was an important member of the Kutchi Memon community in Calcutta that was centered around the Chitpur neighbourhood in the north of the city.

Mujib spent the years between 1942 and 1947 in Calcutta, as a boarder in Baker Hostel. Though a relatively short period of time, it was a crucial phase both in Bangabandhu’s life and in the

The weight of the history of the institutions that call this street home are almost distracting, making it easy for pedestrians to miss its name while walking down this road.

Directives regarding who wears what has come up on several occasions in the Indian past, including those imposed by Gandhi himself. What politicians must wear was also briefly discussed in the Constituent Assembly.

Queen Victoria adopted several children from across the British Empire. Despite being celebrated, each of these wards of the Queen had troubled lives as they struggled to deal with the pressures of how they were

In the second part of Kucini Tales, we look at how some creole dishes across India have the same name but different ingredients.

Worship of the feminine form and in particular the celebration of Durga has deep historical roots in the Bengal region.

Kucini Tales is a five-part flash fiction series, based on research on creolised food histories of India. The first story focuses on Vinegar which unites Indic creolised cuisines, be it Goan, Pondicherrian, Anglo-Indian, or even

A special place among non-Bengali voters, who constitute approximately 15 per cent of the vote bank, is reserved for the Marwari community, which practically built Kolkata as we know it today.

It is interesting that while the Chauri Chaura incident was abhorred by Gandhi, in the memory of post-Independent India, it has been commemorated with two memorials and a train being named after it.

Although Wilson's budget did receive some criticism for not taking into consideration Indian conditions, it did lay down the foundations of the way in which several economic institutions in India would go on to function,

Ambedkar opposed the imposition of ban on cow slaughter as a fundamental right, Rajendra Prasad came up with Directive Principles of State Policy as a solution.

The excavation at Lal Pahari is yet another clue found in recent years as part of a larger effort by researchers and government officials to resurrect a long-forgotten, prosperous city called Krimila, which has been

The fact that two-third of the more than 34,000 Indian immigrants settled down in Suriname and gave up their free passage back to India is to some extent proof of the fact that life in

Known for its Taj Mahal styled 17th-century marble Bibi ka Maqbara and ancient Ajanta-Ellora caves, the present-day Aurangabad was originally built in the early 16th century by Malik Ambar–an African slave turned warrior.

Taken together, the European cemeteries, tell a story of the aspirations, hardships, and the cultural exchange that went into creating a pluralistic India.