History is closer than it seems. It lives in the names of towns, the routes of old trade, the buildings we pass, and the languages we speak.
Vernacular History brings these stories together through articles, videos and quizzes in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. This English home is a meeting place for the editions: a way to discover a story before continuing in your own language.
One shared curiosity. Many ways of telling.
Our stories explore the people, places and ideas that shaped India, and the connections that carried them across the world. Each language edition gives readers and viewers a familiar way into that history.
Follow the evidence
We aim to connect stories to sources readers can explore for themselves. Articles include source links; historical pictures include credits. Where accounts disagree, the distinction between evidence, interpretation and later tradition matters.
History is not always a settled account. We seek to make uncertainty visible and avoid presenting an illustration or reconstruction as documentary evidence. Read more about our editorial approach.
Read, watch, remember
Read a story at your own pace. Watch its companion video. Try a quiz and return to the story behind an answer. Follow the links to explore further.
Get in touch
Have a question, a source to recommend, or a correction? Leave a comment on the relevant video on your language’s YouTube channel. Include the article title or link and, for factual corrections, a source we can check. You can find all five channels on the home page.