Acclaimed popular historian Anirudh Kanisetti, in conversation about his debut book that brings alive the early medieval Deccan, with Sarada Natarajan and Uthara Suvrathan.

The Azim Premji University Humanities Seminar Series will commence this Friday, 26 August 2022. Our first event will feature acclaimed popular historian Anirudh Kanisetti, in conversation about his book with our own Sarada Natarajan and Uthara Suvrathan.

Anirudh’s recently published debut work, Lords of the Deccan: Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas (Juggernaut Books), has been received well by not just lay readers but also scholars of medieval India. 

The book brings alive the early medieval Deccan, from the sixth century CE to the twelfth century CE in all its splendour and riotous glory, as Kanisetti takes us into the minds of powerful rulers of the Chalukya, Pallava, Rashtrakuta and Chola dynasties, and animates them and their world with humanity and depth. 

In doing so, not only does Kanisetti make critical scholarship on ancient and medieval India more accessible to the public, but by emphasising the complicated, relatable lives that our ancestors lived, he also tries to tackle the nationalist-political rewritings of Indian history. 

Anirudh is currently an editor at the Museum of Art and Photography, Bengaluru. His writings have been published in Mint, The Print, The Deccan Herald, The New Indian Express, and Pragati. He is the host of two podcasts: Echoes of India and YUDDHA: The Indian Military History Podcast, and maintains a blog at www​.anirudhkaniset​ti​.com