An omnibus edition of Professor Sunil Khilnani's audio portraits of figures who have shaped the arc of Indian history over two thousand years. He starts with the Buddha, founder of a way of living with nearly 400 million followers, who turns out to be more interesting than the popular image of a simple figure in the lotus position.

His second subject is Mahavira Jain who was born around the same time and is the inspiration for millions of followers of the Jain religion, which teaches that the way to liberation and bliss is to live a life of harmlessness and renunciation - at its heart is a belief that the entire world, from the ground we tread on to the air we breathe, is filled with life: our duty is to protect this universe of living souls through non-violent action.

People in the West tend to look at India through the prism of religion but that's to ignore contributions made in the field of science, medicine and the world of ideas. Professor Khilnani ends this programme with a portrait of the political strategist known variously as Chanakya or Kautilya and the emperor Ashoka who provided an inspiration for modern day India, set in stone.

Produced by Mark Savage. Show less