For over two millennia, India has been at the centre of world history. But how did India come to be? What is India?
These are the big questions behind historian Michael Wood’s intrepid journey around the contemporary subcontinent, revealed in a six-part documentary series called The Story Of India, which premieres on SABC2 next month.
India is poised to become the next superpower and the reasons lie not just in the present, but in the past.
As the brief heyday of the West comes to a close, the big players in history are coming again – civilizations whose creativity can be traced back thousands of years.
India is now well known across the globe for its domination of job outsourcing and computer technology, as it is for its many armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions.
But India is also the world’s most ancient surviving civilization, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.
This documentary series shows the wonders of India; the incredible richness and diversity of its people, cultures and landscapes; and the intense drama of its past, including some of the most momentous, exciting and moving events in world history.
In this landmark six part mini-series, historian Michael Wood embarks on a dazzling and exciting journey through today’s India looking to the present for clues to her past, and to her past for clues to her future.
The series is part of the pan-BBC India & Pakistan 07 season, marking the 60th anniversary of Partition. It premieres on BBC2 in the UK later this month.
The Story Of India premieres on SABC2 on Thursday 6 September, at 22h00. There are six episodes in the series, which will air weekly.