Richard likes History

Few people know the Napoleonic Era better than my host today, Everett Rummage, who has spent the last 10 years of his life studying it and making his research available through his excellent podcast: "The Age of Napoleon".

One word. India.YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/y2Xrgn2wFaE(0:00) Intro(1:20) Origins of the British East India Company(2:25) The majesty of the Mughals(5:07) Back to the East India Company(7:46) The British beg Aurangzeb's forgiveness(9:37) Chaos after Aurangzeb's death(12:13) Enter Robert Clive(15:36) WWI: The Seven Years' War(17:55) The Battle of Palashi ('Plassey')(20:34) Shah Alam signs over the Diwani(22:45) India: Britain's golden goose(30:18) What happened to the Spanish?

My retelling of the events described in "Return of a King" by William Dalrymple.(0:00) Lords Auckland, Wellington, and Melbourne(5:38) The British East India Company(8:46) What is a sepoy?(11:55) 1858-1947: The British Raj(12:50) Back to the Koh-i-Noor(16:58) Kabul: an ancient crossroads(21:24) The British and their Russophobia(23:47) India: the British Empire's golden goose(25:13) Let's reinstall Shah Shuja(28:19) The disastrous retreat of 1842(33:45) The accursed Eden family(37:50) More horrors of war(39:09) Don't f**k with the Afghans

Spoiler Alert: the Ark is from Iraq (love how that rhymes).YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/TU2QiCFzykAIf you would like to get in touch:Email: [email protected]: @Skerkwagga1939Instagram: @richardlikeshistoryProduced by Richard Marais(0:00) 3,600 years of flood myths(2:27) Sîn-lēqi-unninni(3:34) The Atrahasis: Babylon's flood myth(6:39) Sîn-lēqi-unninni: Iraq's Homer(8:01) The Epic of Gilgamesh(15:00) Ashurbanipal of Nineveh(19:26) Old Persian helps decipher cuneiform(24:51) The Rigveda of Hinduism

We should all know that humanity's oldest author was the formidable high priestess of Ur, who lived 4,300 years ago.YouTube link for this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzVvk73X1iISpeaking of rivers, here is a really cool and quirky video by one of my favourite YouTubers, Beau Miles: https://youtu.be/GnSUre9C_Nc?si=g46hXW-2ie-hpXekIf you want to get in touch:Email: [email protected]: @richardlikeshistoryX: @Skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Enheduanna's exaltation(4:36) Sargon of Akkad(5:59) Uruk: the first city?(7:12) The people of Enheduanna's time(10:49) Enheduanna's fate

The very symbols that I have used to write this description have a more fascinating past than almost anything you can imagine.YouTube link to this episode: https://youtu.be/tyOJPYqKqcEIf you want to get in touch:Email: [email protected]: @richardlikeshistoryX: @Skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Back to the Bronze Age(3:22) Ancient Egypt(9:48) The people of the Bronze Age(14:07) The Homeric Epics(15:57) Origin of the Turks(16:39) Who had writing in the Bronze Age?(20:49) Bronze Age Collapse(29:24) Enter the Chinese(30:11) Phoenicia saves our ass(38:00) Greeks add vowels(40:28) The Alphabet spreads(45:30) The exceptions(48:09) Epilogue

What was the world really like 5,000 to 3,000 years ago, when Odysseus supposedly sailed back from Troy?YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/_Gihp_OUye0Email: [email protected]: @RichardLikesHistory ⁠X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) The Fertile Crescent and Egypt(3:30) Europe and 'Ancient Greece'(7:29) China(9:13) The Indus(12:38) Southern Africa: Earth's first iron smelters(14:16) South America and the 'quipu' system(17:52) Russia and the Siberian frontier(20:21) Australia(22:39) Pasifika(25:19) Southeast Asia and its "Peaceful Bronze Age"(27:19) North America: hunter-gatherer metropolis

Why is the Israeli flag blue? Was Yahweh from Arabia or Egypt? And when did the Israelites stop worshipping his wife, Asherah?YouTube link for this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLswO5O2FfoEmail: [email protected]: @RichardLikesHistory X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) 5,000 years of Arabian Sea trade(2:57) Indigo: India's blue gold(3:56) Murex snails in the Mediterranean(5:06) Tekhelet: Biblical blue(6:01) The secret recipe for Tekhelet is lost(6:40) God mandates blue fringes(11:31) Otto Elsner rediscovers Tekhelet after 1,300 years(12:31) Where the hell does Yahweh come from?(15:48) Moses, Midian, and the Burnish Bush(17:59) Yahweh becomes El and marries Asherah(20:50) Babylonian defeath turns Israel monotheistic(23:34) What do we actually know about Moses?

How did a group of Khoekhoe cattle herders, armed with only fire-hardened spears, scare Western Europe to the extent that the colonisation of South Africa was abandoned for the next 142 years?If you are interested in learning more about the Battle of Salt River, have a look at this video with Tauriq Jenkins, the Supreme High Commissioner of the Goringhaecona Khoena Council. Really gives you a feel for the place where this extraordinary event took place on March 1, 1510. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkAtFeIN2PgYouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/Nxda95VUYtUEmail: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) The Malabar Coast and the pepper trade(6:26) Vasco da Gama opens a back door for Portugal(9:53) Francisco de Almeida: the fearless admiral(14:22) Albuquerque arrives and gets arrested(17:24) The Battle of Salt River(19:50) Correction: Cochin not Calicut(20:24) The Battle of Salt River - continued(22:17) Interlude: South Africa's human past(25:42) Almeida meets his end(28:30) Legacy of the Khoekhoe resistance

Des is an amazing South African historian, covering topics as diverse as the Faulklands War and the geology that created the Southern African inland plateau.

If you like what you hear, there is a never-ending amount of fascinating history to unpack and explore. I welcome any suggestions on what to cover as well! At the moment, I'm just doing whatever takes my fancy - I'm particularly in love with the Age of Exploration (15th - 17th centuries AD) at the moment.

Des is an amazing South African historian, covering topics as diverse as the Falklands War and the geology that created the Southern African inland plateau in his broadcasting and podcasting career. Today, we discuss the complex past of the place we both call home, and the stories that have always been far to convenient to ignore.Please check Des out on his website (https://desmondlatham.blog/), YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.YouTube link: https://youtu.be/qfnhQOkcZJ4Email: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Introducing Des(1:47) Roots and identity(8:02) Dispassionate history(16:11) The story of Shaka Zulu and Mkabayi(20:23) Looking at the past with an open mind(23:50) Coenraad de Buys(33:28) South Africa's cultural melting-pot(43:41) The importance of geography(46:26) The clicks of the Khoisan languages(47:32) The Khoe kill some Portuguese slavers(55:37) Trade in Southern Africa before Europeans(1:00:10) The San and the Khoekhoe ('Khoisan')

The final chapter in this epic 3-part series. Featuring Atahuallpa's infamous ransom, the rise of Manco, the civil war between the Pizarrists and the Almagristas, the demise of all four Pizarro brothers, the abject failure of King Charles I's 'New Laws' that were meant to improve the lives of indigenous Peruvians, and much more.YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/bmfoOLYuQfoEmail: [email protected]:  @RichardLikesHistory  X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Atahuallpa's infamous ransom(4:34) Hernando Pizarro's visit to Pachacamac(6:49) Chalcuchima's capture(8:49) Atahuallpa realises he is screwed(11:12) Diego de Almagro arrives, Atahualpa dies(13:02) The long march down to Cuzco(15:11) The Battle of Vilcaconga and the end of Quizquiz(18:12) Manco is installed at Cuzco(21:18) What about Chalcuchima and Rumiñahui?(24:14) Almagro's fateful journey across the Atacama(25:27) The Pizarro brothers humiliate Manco into revolt(28:19) Almagro saves the day(30:12) Civil War: Almagristas vs Pizarrists(33:53) Manco's murder(36:23) Francisco Pizarro's murder(38:04) New laws spark a conquistador revolt(42:26) Pedro de la Gasca repeals humanitarian reforms(45:02) The end of the Neo-Inca State

The story of the most famous diamond in the world. How did the eye of the Mughal Emperor's dazzling Peacock Throne end up in the Tower of London?YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/MQTQBn-f8BMEmail: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistoryX: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) What is the Koh-i-Noor?(3:36) The Peacock Throne of the Mughal Emperor(4:44) Nader Shah sacks Delhi(5:40) Ahmad Shah Durrani founds Aghanistan(7:20) Ranjit Singh, Maharajah of the Sikhs(10:30) Duleep Singh gets conned by Dalhousie(12:45) Queen Vic's terror and Albert's blunder(15:12) Who has the strongest claim?

Less than 200 Spaniards march into an encampment of over 80,000 Inca warriors. How will they play their cards, and what was Atahuallpa thinking?YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/iIHHigeQab8Email: [email protected]: ⁠ @richardlikeshistory X: @Skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Human sacrifice in the Inca Empire (1:57) The Conquistadors come to Cajamarca (7:22) The two Hernandos meet Atahuallpa (12:02) A plot is hatched (13:51) Atahuallpa and his entourage come unarmed (15:53) Atahuallpa meets the Bible (19:01) Chaos and slaughter

Who really was the first circumnavigator of the globe? The name every child in the West knows is Magellan, but he died in the Philippines before making it back to Portugal. So who was it? Could it be that we never even knew his real name?YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/gyhXVEj4PxEPlease go and see Filipino director Lav Diaz's film 'Magellan' if you get the chance. My description of it really does it absolutely no justice. For reference, it has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is almost certainly the most accurate portrayal of Magellan's life ever to take the screen. No English is spoken in the film. It's all in local Filipino and Indonesian languages, Portuguese, and Spanish, so it really feels like an authentic window into the past.Email: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory⁠X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) The spread of Islam (3:48) The Straits of Malacca and the Spice Islands (12:03) The Venetian Spice Monopoly (14:42) The situation in Iberia (15:41) Manuel I makes his gamble (17:36) Enter Dom Afonso Albuquerque (18:59) Enter Fernão de Magalhães (20:01) Enter Enrique of Malacca (21:02) Manuel I is having none of it (21:57) Enter Don Carlos (23:33) Magellan sets off (24:31) The mystery of Tierra del Fuego (25:35) Mutiny and the Pacific Voyage (26:43) The Philippines (31:26) The First Circumnavigator

Most people have no idea that China even had an empress. And what an empress she was. Wu Zetian was part Daenerys Targaryen, part Cersei Lannister - a dragon queen with a vicious streak, and an eye for capable advisers and good scholarship. Joining her in this episode is the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, whose journey from Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an) to the world-famous university of Nalanda (near Patna in India's northeast) in Wu's time was the stuff of legend.YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/VtrwvFUCLKYAlso, here is the link to the 'Empire' podcast's episode on Wu as well: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iRb679pji7fXa9g93zoUF?si=ebBZCTt_SMSSjzhPERlIGwAlso, please check out Tristan G. Brown's lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dT8Wm5oI_oYou can tell just by looking at him on this video that this man goes to sleep every night knowing he is doing what he loves :)Email: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) The Dynasties of China (3:07) Nalanda and the Buddhist Golden Age (6:26) Buddhism in China (9:10) Wu Zetian: China's Queen Cersei (10:02) Xuanzang: the Traveller Monk (17:34) Wu's early life (20:57) Navigating the Emperor's death (24:50) Cersei rears her head (29:04) Wu at the top (31:46) Wu's legacy

I'm very excited to present the first episode (PART 1/3) of a new mini-series! Strap yourselves in for some violence (TRIGGER WARNING), terrible human tragedy, and more treasure than you could ever imagine. This is the tragic story of how European diseases crippled the Inca Empire before the conquistadors even set foot on their lands - meaning Francisco Pizarro was one lucky bastard.YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/atuUkFp5Sh8Here is a also link to the first episode of the 'Fall of the Incas' series recorded a couple of years ago by Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland on "The Rest is History". Listening to them inspired me to do my own version of this cataclysmic period.https://open.spotify.com/episode/6h0MXSTuQH5yPkSQSYo4CO?si=i-i7-nZcTN-96Dr5ObxT-gEmail: [email protected]: ⁠ @richardlikeshistoryX: @Skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais ⁠ (0:00) Origins of the Inca (7:54) What was Tawantinsuyu really like? (11:54) European disease decimates America (14:28) European malaria(20:33) Smallpox: the wave of death (24:24) Civil War ravages Tawantinsuyu (29:58) Pizarro arrives in Peru

The curious story of how Madagascar came to be the centre of global vanilla production.YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/saMmAdQibuIEmail: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠ X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Vanilla's origins(2:31) Enter the French(3:59) Origins of the Malagasy people(4:34) The pollination problem(5:13) Edmond Albius: the enslaved boy wonder(7:25) Modern synthetic vanilla

You have probably used the phrase "draw a line in the sand" at least once in your life. This is the fascinating story of how this idiom came to enter the English language, with a healthy dose of treasure hunting and Spanish conquistadors to boot.YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/XDpn1D4-A9IEmail: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠ X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Francisco Pizarro(4:43) Charles I: The Big Boy in Europe(7:12) Charles I has beef with everyone(10:41) The Americas: Charles I's treasure chest(13:24) Convincing Panama that the Incas are real(16:14) Pizarro draws a line in the sand

Ever wonder how the Spanish Empire got so rich? Well, the truth is even more strange than you can imagine, and the answer isn't gold, but a different precious metal - one that inspired the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise, and cult classics in the West like 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' (a particular childhood favourite of mine). Please share the podcast and subscribe if you enjoyed this one :) You can also find me under "Homo complexus" on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.Here is the YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/QZab3OYqmIkPlease also have a look at Thomas Kole's breathtaking 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan here (you will be dumbstruck, I guarantee you): https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/For more on Hernán Cortés and his conquest of Tenochtitlan, tune in to the 8-part miniseries presented by "The Rest is History" podcast. First episode linked below :)https://open.spotify.com/episode/31UJnWYKW4mDSULtKyQXOk?si=c353584694ad4fc6Email: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Cristóbal Colón(5:01) Hernán Cortés(10:50) Tenochtitlan(15:40) Potosí: the silver mountain(19:02) The Land of Silver

(EXTENDED VERSION)In this opening episode, we will sweep through the mists of time, from Greece, to Rome, to Islam's Golden Age - which spanned a full six centuries from roughly 750 - 1350 AD. What would Europe look like today if it weren't for the treasure trove of knowledge housed in Baghdad in the 10th century? And, more importantly, how have we all been affected by the polymath geniuses of the Central Asian Steppe, like Ibn Sina, that the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad patronised? Leave your comments below. And please share the podcast and subscribe if you enjoy the episode :)Here is the YouTube link for this episode as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Nqf7ovSm4If anyone is super interested in this stuff go and read "The Golden Road" by William Dalrymple. It's such a good book. Dr. Roy Casagranda also has an excellent lecture on Ibn Sina here (all of Roy's stuff that I have seen so far is truly excellent, and free for us all to enjoy on the internet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8s_qxWcN9IAlso, here is further justification for why flattened maps suck and are actually deeply insidious in my opinion (since there is so much more land mass in the northern hemisphere, incidentally also where all major colonial powers come from): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIID5FDi2JQ&t=6sEmail: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠ X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais(0:00) Intro to Ibn Sina(1:23) Ancient Greece(4:18) The Roman Empire (6:48) The fall of Rome(7:52) The Eastern Roman Empire(10:40) Europe's Dark Age(12:28) Ibn Sina: Europe's Saviour(12:45) Flattened maps suck!(14:00) Early Islam(15:53) The Abbasids in Baghdad(19:24) The Barmakids(21:55) Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine(26:44) Islamic Spain(28:32) Michael Scot (not The Office)(30:27) Final Ode to Ibn Sina

In this opening episode, we will sweep through the mists of time, from Greece, to Rome, to Islam's Golden Age - which spanned a full six centuries from roughly 750 - 1350 AD. What would Europe look like today if it weren't for the treasure trove of knowledge housed in Baghdad in the 10th century? And, more importantly, how have we all been affected by the polymath geniuses of the Central Asian Steppe, like Ibn Sina, that the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad patronised? Leave your comments below. And please share the podcast and subscribe if you enjoy the episode :)If anyone is super interested in this stuff go and read "The Golden Road" by William Dalrymple. It's such a good book. Dr. Roy Casagranda also has an excellent lecture on Ibn Sina here (all of Roy's stuff that I have seen so far is truly excellent, and free for us all to enjoy on the internet):    • The 1,000-year Legacy of Ibn Sina – Dr. Ro...  Also, here is further justification for why flattened maps suck and are actually deeply insidious in my opinion (since there is so much more land mass in the northern hemisphere, incidentally also where all major colonial powers come from):    • Why all world maps are wrong  For a longer discussion on this topic, see the EXTENDED version of this episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4PSlDB65VOJLfZrD613mZL?si=P0XtgootTgebgqCFRqqzzQ (which is also on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Nqf7ovSm4)Email: [email protected]: ⁠ @RichardLikesHistory ⁠ X: @skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais

My name is Richard, and I want history to be fun and interesting for everyone, because when told accurately, it is genuinely one of the most fascinating and deeply human topics that exist. Perhaps even the most.Other places to find me:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SapiensRichardApple Podcasts (audio only): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/homo-complexus/id1896160168If you want to get in touch:Email: [email protected]: @richardlikeshistoryX: @Skerkwagga1939Produced by Richard Marais