Category: History

** 1900 to 2016: India’s history, medal winners at Olympics

India have won 28 medals at the Olympic Games.

The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896 and it took India only four years before seeing their first representation at the Summer Olympic Games. It all started for India in 1900 when they sent lone athlete Norman Pritchard to Paris where he won two medals in Men’s 200 metres and Men’s 200 metre hurdles.

India has participated in every Summer Games since then, sending their first Olympic team in 1920 comprising four athletes and two wrestlers. It was, however, not till 1928 when they saw their next medal and thus began the domination of the Indian hockey team.

…..

** Explained: Who was Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, who took on the British in their own courts

Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair was known for being a passionate advocate for social reforms and a firm believer in the self-determination of India.

Johar announced that his film will “unravel the legendary courtroom battle” that Nair fought. The film is adapted from the book, ‘The case that shook the empire’ written by Nair’s great-grandson Raghu Palat and his wife Pushpa Palat in 2019.

** After centuries, palm civets with coat variations seen in Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve

The first photographs of a partial albino individual of common palm civet were captured at two locations in Majhipada reserve forest of Satkosia wildlife division in March last year.

** Army Chief to inaugurate Indian Army memorial in Italy

Gen. Naravane to visit U.K. and Italy this week

Army Chief Gen. Manoj Naravane will inaugurate an Indian Army memorial in the Italian town of Cassino during an official visit to U.K. and Italy from July 5-8, the Army said on Sunday.

Italy has pushed for a central role for India in the European Union’s Indo-Pacific Initiative which is congruent with India’s own vision for the region.

** New book maps south Indian clans’ 6,000-year-old Gandhara trek

About 6,000 years ago, some clans of forest settlers from South India set out on a great journey, which took them along the coast, traversing through several areas up North, and reaching as far as Gandhara (Kandahar in present-day Afghanistan). It is one of the great adventures involving movement of people, etched in India’s prehistory, at a time when even the wheel was not invented. Research has thrown light on certain facts, such as the families which embarked on the journey along the coast, crossed rivers either by boat, walk, or on the backs of animals.

Several such unknown intricate bits of knowledge on prehistoric India, dating back some 10,000 years, are now being preserved and compiled by noted linguistic anthropologist, and Padma awardee Ganesh N Devy. His book titled, ‘India Before History’, will be a 1,500-page documentation-orientated work, which will also involve close to 70 articles from the country’s eminent scholars.

** Greeks bearing gifts: Understanding the history of Indo-Greek cuisine

Alexander the Great would be pleased with London-based Indian cuisine mogul Arjun Waney whose brand portfolio reads like the Debrett of fine dining—Zuma, Roka, La Petite Maison, The Arts Club, Il Baretto, Oblix at The Shard and Coya.

One of his vast global holdings is Meraki, a salute to Greek cooking in Fitzrovia, in the heart of London, which opened in 2017 and is still going strong.

** 4,000-year-old settlement found during Odisha excavation

Archaeologists encounter distinct traces of three cultural phases at the excavation site at Durgadevi village

The Odisha Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies (OIMSEAS), an archaeological wing of the State government, has discovered a 4,000-year-old settlement and ancient artifacts in Balasore district.

After uncovering traces of fortified early historic sites near Balasore town, the OIMSEAS had sought permission from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to document the site at the Durgadevi village in Remuna tehsil.

** The journey of the Thoothukudi Macaron: From Italian nunneries to the Coromandel coast

The final Kucini Tale tells the story of the creolised macaron uniting the Coromandel and Canara coasts, Portuguese and Muslim traders, Arabs and Jesuits, Italy and France, and, finally, our elusive lovers.

When the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama disembarked near Calicut in 1498, he inaugurated a new phase in history. The sea routes were opened up, and the Dutch, French, Danes, and British soon followed. The coastal enclaves they founded became hubs of cultural exchange. Their economic potential attracted many kinds of people, including merchant communities, from outside and within India. ‘Creolisation’ resulted. New, unexpected cultural products sprang up from this interaction between different languages, different gods, different ways of living, and different ways of cooking and preparing food.