So I promised you a second post. Then I got distracted by emails from clients. Sorry, back on it now.

In fact, here it is. Treasure of the Indus is another 3-part history series. It is part of BBC4’s India series. The history of women rates a show on BBC2. The history of India and Pakistan does not. This is a shame, because this too is a very good series.

It is presented by Sona Datta who has the benefit of Indian ancestry, though she was born in London. Her family are from Kolkata, which puts her right in the mix as far as the whole India/Pakistan/Bangladesh situation goes. Yes, I know that is very recent history, but current affairs tend to have their roots in the past, if only because the idiot British will have messed things up with their inept colonial rule.

Episode 1 is all about Pakistan. Two things stand out. Firstly the people of Pakistan were building enormous cities 5,000 years ago when Europe was still in what gets called the Stone Age. Check out Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Secondly, Pakistan was a Buddhist country long before the invention of Islam, and indeed it exported Buddhism to the rest of the world.

Episode 2 is all about the Mughal Empire; that is, the Islamic conquest of Pakistan and Northern India, and the subsequent flowering of a truly magnificent civilization. Someone had to build the Taj Mahal, right? And of course the Taj was a tomb for a much loved queen. Mughal emperors had lots of wives, but they were more fond of some than others. If you want to learn much more about Nur Jahan than Amanda Foreman had time for in Ascent of Woman, watch this program.

The final episode is about the rest of India, which today is predominantly a Hindu culture. Given the polytheistic nature of Hinduism, I had always assumed that it was a survival of more ancient beliefs. I was very surprised to find out that it is a more recent religion than Buddhism, and indeed displaced Buddhism in much of India. Hindiusm has a very neo-pagan approach to religion, allowing people to find their own path to God through a bewildering choice of deities. Datta couldn’t resist having a go at Western religions for their inability to adapt to a scientific worldview, and threw in some stuff that would make Fritjof Capra proud (yes, I’m am aging Hippy, sue me).

I love that we are getting more documentaries fronted by women, and by people of color telling their own cultures’ stories. There is so much history that we didn’t get taught in school.