The Sikh Empire

In Our Time: History

04/07/16

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44m

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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise of the Sikh Empire at the end of the 18th Century under Ranjit Singh, pictured above, who unified most of the Sikh kingdoms following the decline of the Mughal Empire. He became Maharaja of the Punjab at Lahore in 1801, capturing Amritsar the following year. His empire flourished until 1839, after which a decade of unrest ended with the British annexation. At its peak, the Empire covered the Punjab and stretched from the Khyber Pass in the west to the edge of Tibet in the east, up to Kashmir and down to Mithankot on the Indus River. Ranjit Singh is still remembered as "The Lion of the Punjab."

With

Gurharpal Singh Professor in Inter-Religious Relations and Development at SOAS, University of London

Chandrika Kaul Lecturer in Modern History at the University of St Andrews

And

Susan Stronge Senior Curator in the Asian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Previous Episode

Agrippina the Younger

March 31, 2016

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46m

Agrippina the Younger was one of the most notorious and influential of the Roman empresses in the 1st century AD. She was the sister of the Emperor Caligula, a wife of the Emperor Claudius and mother of the Emperor Nero. Through careful political manoeuvres, she acquired a dominant position for herself in Rome. In 39 AD she was exiled for allegedly participating in a plot against Caligula and later it was widely thought that she killed Claudius with poison. When Nero came to the throne, he was only 16 so Agrippina took on the role of regent until he began to exert his authority. After relations between Agrippina and Nero soured, he had her murdered. With: Catharine Edwards Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London Alice König Lecturer in Latin and Classical Studies at the University of St Andrews Matthew Nicholls Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Reading Producer: Victoria Brignell.

Next Episode

1816, the Year Without a Summer

April 21, 2016

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45m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the impact of the eruption of Mt Tambora, in 1815, on the Indonesian island of Sambawa. This was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history and it had the highest death toll, devastating people living in the immediate area. Tambora has been linked with drastic weather changes in North America and Europe the following year, with frosts in June and heavy rains throughout the summer in many areas. This led to food shortages, which may have prompted westward migration in America and, in a Europe barely recovered from the Napoleonic Wars, led to widespread famine.

With

Clive Oppenheimer Professor of Volcanology at the University of Cambridge

Jane Stabler Professor in Romantic Literature at the University of St Andrews

And

Lawrence Goldman Director of the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London

Producer: Simon Tillotson.