Shows / The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Bengal's history is far more than a footnote in the British Raj. This podcast explores the region's ancient kingdoms—from the Gauda and Pala empires to the Bengal Sultanate—and its pivotal role as a crossroads of trade, culture, and rebellion. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the rise and fall of dynasties like the Senas and the Mughal subahdars, the flourishing of Bengali literature under the Sultanate, and the catastrophic Bengal Famine of 1770. They delve into the Battle of Plassey…
Episodes
The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo HistoryShashanka: Bengal's First Independent King and the Gauda Kingdom
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the story of Shashanka, the first independent king of Bengal who ruled the Gauda Kingdom in the 7th century CE. They…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Mughal Bengal's Pirate Republic: The Madness of Musa Khan
In the early 17th century, as the Mughal Empire expanded into Bengal, it encountered a bizarre obstacle: a confederation of Afghans, Hindu zamindars, and…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Partition of Bengal 1905: Divide and Rule
In this episode of The Hidden History of Bengal, Lucas and Luna explore the 1905 Partition of Bengal, a watershed moment in British colonial policy that aimed…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Murshidabad Silk Trade and Bengal's Global Luxury
In this episode of The Hidden History of Bengal, Lucas and Luna explore the rise and fall of Bengal's silk industry, centered on Murshidabad. They trace…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Forgotten Sultans of Bengal
This episode dives into the history of the independent sultanate that ruled Bengal for over two centuries, bridging the gap between the early Muslim conquests…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Indigo Revolt: Bengal's Blue Dye Rebellion
In the mid-19th century, British indigo planters forced Bengali peasants to grow indigo under brutal conditions, leading to the Indigo Revolt of 1859–60. This…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The House of Jagat Seth: Banking Dynasties of Mughal Bengal
Before the Battle of Plassey, Bengal was the banking capital of Asia. This episode dives into the House of Jagat Seth, the Oswal Jain family from Marwar who…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Calcutta Madrasa: Warren Hastings and Muslim Education in Bengal
In 1781, Warren Hastings founded the Calcutta Madrasa (now Aliah University), the first modern institution of Islamic learning in British India. This episode…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Battles of Plassey and Buxar: The End of Bengal's Independence
In this episode, we explore the pivotal battles that sealed Bengal's fate under British control. We begin with a brief recap of the Battle of Plassey in…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: Widow Remarriage in Colonial Bengal
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life and legacy of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the 19th-century Bengali social reformer, educator, and champion of…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Bengal Renaissance: Tagore, Science, and a New Identity
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Bengal experienced an extraordinary cultural and intellectual flowering known as the Bengal Renaissance. This episode…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Samyasi Rebellion: Bengal's Holy Warriors vs the East India Company
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Sannyasi Rebellion of the late 18th century, a fascinating and often overlooked uprising against the British East…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Battle of Udayagiri: Kalapahad's Invasion
In this episode, Lucas and Luna journey to 16th-century Bengal, exploring the little-known invasion by Kalapahad, the Hindu-turned-Muslim general of the Bengal…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Palas of Bengal: Buddhism, Empire, and the Lost University of Somapura
Before the Senas and the Sultans, Bengal was ruled by the Pala Empire — a Buddhist dynasty that dominated North India for four centuries and built one of the…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Mughal Defector: Mir Jafar and the Partition of Bengal 1765
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad, the agreement that handed the diwani—the right to collect revenue—of Bengal, Bihar, and…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Last Hindu King of Bengal Lakshmanasena's Fall
This episode explores the dramatic end of the Sena dynasty and the fall of Lakshmanasena, the last Hindu king of Bengal. We trace his reign from the capital at…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Rise of the Senas: How a South Indian Dynasty Remade Bengal
The Sena dynasty ruled Bengal from the late 11th to the early 13th century, but their origins lie in the Carnatic region of South India. This episode explores…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Great Bengal Earthquake of 1897: When the Earth Shook the Raj
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the cataclysmic 1897 Assam earthquake, also known as the Great Bengal Earthquake, which devastated the northeastern…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Sher Shah Suri: The Afghan Emperor Who Built Bengal's Grand Trunk Road
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the transformative reign of Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan emperor who briefly but decisively conquered Bengal in the 16th…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Permanent Settlement: How Cornwallis Reshaped Bengal's Countryside
In 1793, Governor-General Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, fixing land revenue forever and creating a new class of zamindar…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Titumir's Revolt: The Whip of God in Colonial Bengal
In this episode, we uncover the story of Titumir, a peasant leader who led a millenarian uprising in the early 19th century Bengal. Born in 1782 in the 24…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Bengal Famine of 1770: Drought, Tax, and the Great Mortality
In this episode of The Hidden History of Bengal, Lucas and Luna explore the Bengal Famine of 1770—also known as the Great Famine or Chhiattorer Manvantar…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Pirates of Bengal: Arakan, the Portuguese, and the Sundarbans
This episode dives into the little-known world of Bengal's pirates during the 16th and 17th centuries—the fierce Arakanese raiders and the Portuguese…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Forgotten Battle of Plassey's Prelude: What Happened at Palashi
Most know the Battle of Plassey in 1757 as the event that delivered Bengal to the British East India Company. But the real story began months earlier—in the…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Rise and Fall of the Bengal Navy: Khwaja Alimullah's Last Stand
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the remarkable story of Khwaja Alimullah, the Nawab of Dhaka, who built a formidable naval force in the 18th century to…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Bengal Sultanate: A Forgotten Medieval Power
This episode of The Hidden History of Bengal explores the Bengal Sultanate, a powerful but often overlooked medieval kingdom that ruled the region for over two…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Murshid Quli Khan: The Founder of Independent Bengal
Before the Nawabs of Bengal became famous for Plassey and decline, there was Murshid Quli Khan — the man who built the financial and administrative foundation…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Bengal Famine of 1943: Churchill, War, and the Great Calcutta Deaths
In 1943, a catastrophic famine struck Bengal, killing an estimated 2–3 million people. Unlike earlier famines caused primarily by drought, this one was…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Siraj ud-Daulah's Calcutta: How a Fort Became the Jewel of Empire
In 1756, the British settlement of Calcutta was a modest trading post with a small fort. When Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah attacked and took Fort William, the East…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Partition of Bengal 1905: Divide and Rule in the Raj
In 1905, the British Raj partitioned Bengal, splitting a 180-million-strong region along religious lines. This episode explores the scheme drafted by Lord…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Revolt of the Bengal Sepoys: 1857's Forgotten Front
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the lesser-known story of the Bengal Army's rebellion during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. They focus on the 19th…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Forgotten Goddess: Durga Puja and Nationalism in Colonial Bengal
In this episode of The Hidden History of Bengal, Lucas and Luna explore the transformation of Durga Puja from a private aristocratic ritual into a powerful…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Bengal Renaissance: Reform, Religion, and the Dawn of Modernity
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Bengal Renaissance of the 19th and early 20th centuries, a period of profound social, religious, and intellectual…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Portuguese in Bengal: Pirates, Merchants, and the Fall of the Sultanate
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the shadowy role of the Portuguese in 16th and 17th century Bengal. They arrive as traders, but soon become pirates…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Bengal's Buddhist Legacy: The Pala Empire's Lost Golden Age
Long before the Mughals and the British, Bengal was the heart of a vast Buddhist empire that shaped the destiny of South Asia. In this episode, Lucas and Luna…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The First War of Independence: Bengal's 1857 Rebellion
While the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 is often seen as a northern Indian affair, Bengal played a crucial role that is frequently overlooked. This episode dives into…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Mughal Prince Who Became Bengal's Rebel Emperor: Shah Shuja
In 1658, as the Mughal Empire tore itself apart in a war of succession between Shah Jahan's sons, one prince made a desperate gamble that would reshape…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Salt Satyagraha of Bengal: How Geopolitics Shaped a Rebellion
While the Dandi March is remembered as India’s iconic salt protest, Bengal’s own salt satyagraha of 1930 was a massive, decentralized uprising that drew on…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Bengal Navy That Defied the British: Khwaja Alimullah and the Last Naval Battle
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a forgotten chapter of Bengal's resistance: the naval campaign led by Khwaja Alimullah, the Nawab of Dhaka, in…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Silk of Bengal: Muslin, Trade, and the Weavers Who Built an Empire
Before the battles and famines, Bengal was the world's leading exporter of fine cotton — especially the legendary Dhaka muslin, a fabric so delicate it…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Battle of Buxar: Bengal's Last Stand for Sovereignty
The Battle of Buxar in 1764 was a decisive conflict that completed the British East India Company's conquest of Bengal, yet it remains overshadowed by…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Nawab Alivardi Khan: The Forgotten Guardian of Bengal
This episode of The Hidden History of Bengal explores the life and legacy of Nawab Alivardi Khan, the independent Mughal governor who ruled Bengal from 1740 to…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Chittagong Armoury Raid 1930: Bengal's Armed Revolutionaries
In April 1930, a band of young revolutionaries in Chittagong, led by Surya Sen (Masterda), launched a daring raid on the police and auxiliary forces'…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
Wahhabi Roots and Peasant Revolts: The Faraizi Movement in 19th Century Bengal
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Faraizi movement, a religious and peasant uprising in 19th-century Bengal led by Haji Shariatullah and his son Dudu…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Forgotten Rebellion: Titumir and the Bengal Peasant Uprising
In 1831, a lone charismatic leader named Syed Mir Nisar Ali, better known as Titumir, led a brief but fierce peasant uprising against the British East India…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Bengal Famine of 1770: A Colonial Catastrophe
When the East India Company tightened its grip on Bengal after Plassey, the consequences were devastating. In 1770, a famine killed an estimated 10 million…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Tiger of Bengal: Siraj ud-Daulah and the Fall of a Kingdom
In this episode of The Hidden History of Bengal, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic story of Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal. They…
- The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History
The Hidden History of Bengal: River Kingdoms to Revolution
In the pilot episode of The Hidden History of Bengal, Lucas and Luna begin at a specific moment: the monsoon of 1576, where the last independent Sultan of…