The Tale of Khun Chang and Khun Phaen is the seminal work in Thai classical literature. The romance between Khuns Chang and Phaen and the female love interest Wanthong are our window into Ayutthayan gender and social class. While what we find may be disagreeable to modern sensibilities, we are nonetheless compelled to bear witness and learn more - …

In which we reveal the identity of Series 4 - along with an announcement of the schedule.

Ayutthaya is gone, but Siam lives. A new kingdom, forged by two capable generals, restored Thai authority over their country. That New Siam would survive, stronger than ever, to the present day, becoming modern Thailand. Series Website

Ayutthaya would fall in much the same way it did in 1569: at the hands of an ambitious Burmese King. But this time, there would be no comign back. Ayutthaya was no more, and the future of Thai history would be entirely new. Series website

The reigns of Thai Sa and Borommakot were peaceful and prosperous. The half-century before the city's fall thus became a golden age for art, literature and religion. This "Age of Culture" would last just until the collapse, but would forge Thai culture as it exists today. Series website

No, not that one. The Ban Phlu Luang, founded by the usurper Phetracha, would be Ayutthaya's last. They oversaw an era of social upheaval which fundaentally altered Thai society. Their first two kings, if the chronicles are to be believed, were cruel and violent men, though, and the bane of decency. Series website…

Half a world away, four months before the famous "Glorious Revolution" another revolution had taken place in Siam. King Narai, bereft of an heir, had perhaps bequeathed too much power to his Greek minister, Constantine Phaulkon. Soon, irate court ministers would rally against the minister - and his French allies. Series Website…

Throughout the middle of Narai's reign, court intrigue plagued the Palace in Lopburi. Ministers vied for power over the King, with their factions waxing and waning in turn. Amidst the King's failure to produce an heir, and increasing harshness and paranoia, this feuding paved the way for a new advisor to enter the fray - Constantine Phaulkon. Serie…

Narai "the Great" is Ayutthaya's most famous King outside of Thailand. But he cuts an unusual figure, breaking with the pattern of his predecessors. Warlike to a degree not seen since Naresuan, and unconcerned with tradition, he followed his own desires and interests. Foreign visitors and communities in Ayutthaya never found a firmer friend than Ki…

A quick appendix to 3.12 + schedule announcements for 2021/22

You arrive in Ayutthaya, April 1685, along with the French embassy to King Narai. While in the city, you are treated to a tour of the capital by an Englishman in the service of the European Mahatthai. What do you see there? And what are your impressions? Series Website

The early 17th century was an age of contradictions - peace abroad and prosperity at home contrasted with political intrigue and civil wars upon the death of kings. Illustrative of this was the coup of King Prasat Thong - "Golden Tower" - a distant relative who utilized wealth and influence to steal the throne for himself. Series Website…

Naresuan's death spells the death of the Age of Warfare. In its place: the Age of Commerce. Trade, diplomacy, and urbanization are the defining order of the day. Merchants from all across Asia congregated in Ayutthaya to exchange goods - with the King of Siam reaping the profit.

The Age of Warfare dies with King Naresuan. The final years of his reign were marked by the reestablishment of Ayutthayan supremacy across the region. Old vassals were restored to subservience, trade routes were brought back under central control, and rebels were snuffed out in an instant. But King Naresuan garnered a reputation for being quick to …

Ayutthaya was a husk of its former self. A burnt out shell, ruled by a puppet king installed by their conquerors in Burma. But that puppet would not sit dormant. He rebuilt the city, drove off attackers from Cambodia, and prepared the way for an Ayutthayan resurgence. But this is not, really, his story. The liberation of Ayutthaya would not have ha…

Southeast Asia in the 16th century was a playground for ambitious kings hoping to build their empires. The kings of Ayutthaya, Burma, Lan Xang and Cambodia vied for dominance - to become a Chakkavatti - a "Wheel Turning King" from Buddhist philosophy. From the many, only one would stand victorious. The question is: Who would it be? And what would b…

A brief lull in the fighting presents an opportunity to discuss the Ayutthayan military in the so-called Age of Warfare. The reforms of Trailokanat and his successors enabled the kingdom to muster larger armies than ever before. The result was greater bloodshed, longer wars and widespread suffering. Little more than a half century after Trailok's d…

In 1448 King Trailokanat ascended to the Ayutthayan throne. His 40 year reign would see Ayutthaya transformed from just-another-Muang city state to a centralized, autocratic kingdom. Bolstered by intensifying commerce, his armies would fan out across the Northern Cities in a great war with Lan Na, expanding Ayutthaya's borders and forcing the city …

The foundation of Ayutthaya - parsing history from legend, and surveying the city's first 100 years. A curious blend of maritime commerce, with Tai martial culture, Ayutthaya would go on to become the greatest kingdom of the Southeast Asian mainland in the Early Modern period. Series website

The Tai migrated into Southeast Asia over the course of centuries. During that time, they became transformed as a people through their encounters with the hostile Chinese and the indigenous peoples they found in Southeast Asia.

The Classical Age of Southeast Asian history laid the foundation for the future Tai kingdoms of the Chaophraya, the Khmer and Dvaravati civilizations especially. Today, we explore these cultures and their legacy on the region. Series Website

Introducing Southeast Asia: The land and people who live there. The history of Ayutthaya begins with the peopling of the Indochinese Peninsula, ca. 40,000 years ago. Since then, the development of agriculture, metalworking and urbanization led to the rise of states and kingdoms. Before we learn about Ayutthaya, we have to set the stage for its emer…

In which we see what Tibet was up to ca. 842-1642, starring old friends like the Fifth Dalai Lama and new ones, like the mystics Atisha and Tsongkhapa, or Emperors like Kubilai Khan and Jangchub Gyaltsen. Series Website

The last Emperor of Tibet, Darma "the Bull", waged a campaign of persecution against the Buddhists of Tibet. In doing so, he opened the floodgates to chaos and instability that would cost him his life - and the Empire itself. Series Website

Ralpachen, son of Sadnalegs, was the last Dharma king - and the last Buddhist Tsenpo - of a united Tibetan Empire. His reign is remembered for his religious contributions, but his death did as much to define Tibet as his life. Series Website

In which we look at legal and medical knowledge in the Tibetan Empire. Tibet was a litigious society, and to remedy this, widespread use of contracts, legal documents and complex civil and criminal codes were used in order to make sense of it all. Combined with the deep medical traditions, borrowing from three distinct backgrounds, the Tibetan Empi…

Trisong Detsen, Second Dharma King of Tibet, is not long for the world. But of the four sons who he fathered, who would succeed him? One died a premature death, another exiled for a vile act, still another a hopeless dreamer, and the last too young to take up the throne. Tibet would see its first Tsenpos raised in the Buddhist faith in the early 9t…

In which we discuss the Bon religion of Tibet, its past and present, and unpack how much we can know about a religion whose identity has changed so much over the last thousand years. Series Website Check out the History of Africa Podcast!

In which we announce our third season of History Unwritten.

In which we cover the life of the historical Buddha, the context in which he lived, and the meaning and significance of the belief system he founded. Buddhism is complicated, too much so to truly cover in just 40 minutes. But we do our best to lay the foundation of a faith so often misunderstood by western observers. Check out the series page, incl…

Trisong Detsen is Tibet's second - and most famous - Dharma King. How did he acquire this title? It wasn't for his military achievements, the conquest of Chang'an or victories over the Chinese. No, he earned the appellation because he solidified Buddhism's hold over the country. Trisong Detsen is credited with building Tibet's first monastery and h…

The Tibetan flag, adorned with the celestial Snow Lion, flies above the cities of the Tarim Basin once again. Over the 40 years of Trisong Detsen's reign, he took the Tibetan Empire from its lowest to its highest point. The signs were clear from the earliest days, as the Tang Empire descended into chaos with the An Lushan rebellion, the Tsenpo sent…

The young Trisong Detsen is alone in his gilded cage. Having survived a violent coup that claimed his father's life, he must now contend - at the ripe age of 15 - with the greatest struggle since Tibet's unification. A battle for the soul of Tibet, waged between the anti-Buddhists and the followers of the Dharma. How will the new Tsenpo wage this w…

In which we break to study the Tibetan royal family and imperial court. The men and women following the Tsenpo's mobile city were integral to our story, it's important we spend some time getting to know them.

In which tensions break at home and abroad for the Tibetans. On the domestic front, conflicts over religion and culture result in the expulsion of the Chinese and two coup attempts. Internationally, the three Asian Great Powers break into total war over the Silk Road. In the middle, Tibet finds itself on the losing side of nearly every conflict. Bu…

In which Tibet recovers from the disastrous end of the Gar Regency. The Emperor Dusong seized power from Gar - only to die some six years later, leaving control of the empire in the hands of a regent. Meanwhile, in the east, the Tang prepared to make war, even while negotiating a marriage alliance with the new Tsenpo. And in the west, a new player …

Blood stains the Silk Road, while at home in Tibet the Tsenpo's chafe under the yoke of their regents. The death of Songtsen Gampo left a power vacuum, one filled by the most powerful man in Tibet, the Prime Minister Gar Tongtsen. Amidst the backdrop of war, the Gar clan would consolidate control in their own hands, quietly sidelining the Yarlung D…

In which we discuss the government of the Tibetan Empire. From provincial divisions to the men staffing the bureaucracy, Tibet was a centralized and powerful state capable of punching well above its weight.

In which we conclude our story of the first Tsenpo of the Tibetan Empire. Songtsen is known today as "Songtsen Gampo" which means Songtsen "the Wise". He earned this title for his contributions to Tibetan culture, especially the introduction of writing and the construction of Buddhist temples. But Songtsen did not work alone - his many talented min…

Shortly after his ascension to the throne of the Yarlung Kingdom, the new Tsenpo Songtsen set about transforming his minor state into a great power. His key to success were three strategic marriages - one between his sister and a neighboring king, one between himself and a Nepalese princess and the third between his son and heir and the adopted dau…

Tibetan unification played out across the reign of three generations of kings of the Yarlung Dynasty. The backdrop for this dramatic event were two Tibetan kingdoms ruled by tyrants - the Zinporjes, a title meaning warlord. The Yarlung kings would fight against these brutal rulers and bring together most of the plateau in just a few short years. An…

In which we meet our protagonists - the Tibetans themselves and their future rulers, the Yarlung Dynasty. From the mating of a monkey and ogress, to the coming to earth of God Kings, ancient Tibet is shrouded in myth and legend. But beneath the stories we find kernels of forgotten history.

In which we embark on our second series on the Tibetan Empire. Before we launch into the history however, we ought to understand what we mean by "Tibet" and why we're telling this history, and what this history means to the Tibetans of today.

In which Mali disappears from the stage, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Facing a century of unparalleled suffering at the hands of the Songhai Empire, Mali came close to the brink of collapse time and time again. But ultimately, the disintegration of the empire came in the form of anticlimax.

The late 14th century was the beginning of the end for Mali, as a series of incompetent kings bankrupted the Empire and weakened its hold over its provinces. But the 15th century was more of a mixed bag - Malinke expansion towards the coast coincided with the arrival of Portuguese traders. The two would inevitably butt heads throughout the course o…

In which we learn the identity of our next season's focus: the Early Medieval Tibetan Empire. We also cover a brief background on this choice. Note: There may be a hiatus between seasons one and two, a month at most. This is to ensure that there is a backlog of written episodes that are ready to record and upload at any given time. I work full time…

Social History Part 2. In which we discuss the religious and commercial lives of Malians in the medieval era. From desert mystics to forest traders with packs of donkeys, the lives of the Malinke and other ethnicities under the Mansa were rich and fascinating.

In which we discuss the nature of kingship, the rituals of court and political life, and spend some time getting to know average Malians during the Medieval period. Slaves, blacksmiths and farmers - these are the everyday, normal people who lived in this vast empire. Reconstructing their lives is challenging, but important work. The lives of the el…

Meet Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta is a world famous traveler who ventured across the globe in the early 14th century. Turns out, he went to Mali too! Ibn Battuta, however, had some... Opinions on Mali and its king, Mansa Suleyman. Today, we follow his trek into Mali as a way to experience the kingdom on the ground during its golden age.…

The famous Mansa Musa ruled Mali from c. 1312 to 1337. His reign was defined by the world-famous pilgrimage he made in 1324 to the holy city of Mecca. Today we hear that story and learn a bit more about the real Mansa Musa. Between intrigue, diplomacy and war, Musa was a busy king. But under him - and his immediate successors - Mali was at the peak…