BENGALURU: Finding well-researched, engaging books on Indian history isn’t a difficult task today, but try to find videos and the content is less than appealing. If you find it. Which is why, citybased researcher, writer and public historian, Anirudh V Kanisetti has launched Connected Histories, a YouTube channel that attempts to tell South Asia’s stories in a way that appeals to both global and Indian audiences. According to Kanisetti, popular English Youtube channels such as TED-ed, Invicta, and Kings and Generals tell Europe’s history in an engaging and visually appealing manner, backed by excellent narration and research.
“But their content on India is relatively lacklustre. It also promotes a somewhat Eurocentric view of the world - the fact that India is as large as Europe and many times as diverse - practically a continent in and of itself - is not apparent,” he says. Indian channels that discuss history, on the other hand, tend to be opinion- focussed, politically and religiously charged, and based on poor research. This is the gap that Connected Histories aims to bridge, he says, by producing videos that help Western audiences understand India. That, however, is only the beginning.
“Every video we publish will also be produced in Indian languages, hopefully giving folks who are more comfortable with regional tongues a way to learn more about their heritage,” Kanisetti says. The first video, released on May 2, on the Battle of Talikota in present-day northern Karnataka, uses a compelling narrative and animations to discuss this 16th century battle in just 19 minutes. Kanisetti, Arjunan Ullas, a teacher and history educator, and Keshav Rajendran, a film professional, brainstorm to zero in on topics that explore South Asia’s interconnectedness with the world.
Kanisetti handles research, script writing and consulting on historical accuracy, while Ullas does research, script editing, and coordinates with volunteers. Video production is done by Rajendran. The team also works with volunteers for translations and dubbing. “We have a video lined up on the trading and political history of Kodungallur (Kerala), for example, and the Malayalam version is going to come out first,” says Kanisetti. He is also working on two books, one of which is a volume on medieval Deccan to be published by Juggernaut this year.
The other, to be brought out by Penguin Random House, is about ancient India, but with a twist. “I focus on the period from roughly 200 BCE- 200 CE - a time when Greeks, Scythians, Parthians, Kushans and dozens of other ethnicities lived in Northwest India and contributed to a very eclectic culture, as well as a time when the Deccan was first beginning to urbanise and the Sangam period in Tamilakam was reaching its climax. It is amazing how many of the things we associate with Indian-ness today happened in this time. Yet it takes up little space in our imagination of how India became India,” he says.