Incarnations: The 50 men and women behind India's story

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-32700958

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An epic new series on the men and women who made India has been unveiled on BBC Radio 4.

Incarnations: India in 50 Lives - being presented by historian Sunil Khilnani, director of the India Institute at King's College, London - takes listeners on a journey from ancient India to the 21st Century through the life stories of 50 of India's major figures, series producers told the BBC.

The series aims to explain how these ancient, historical individuals have been "re-incarnated" in modern India and continue to impact and inspire life.

The series begins with Buddha, founder of one of the world's major religions.

Prof Khilnani says outside of India, Buddha is known for his ethical teachings, but in modern India, he has been reinvented as a symbol of someone who "opposed the oppressive inequalities of the caste system".

"Buddha's solution to suffering lay in the individual mind. But he was also sketching a new form of society. He was a moral meritocrat, and to an extent a social one too," Prof Khilnani told Radio Times.

Mahavira is one of the founders of the ancient Jain religion which has millions of followers in India.

Prof Khilnani told the BBC he chose to include him in the list of 50 greats because apart from his mythic reality, "he also existed as a real human being".

"What fascinated me as a historian was the fact that he lived more or less at the same time and in the same region as Buddha. There must have been something special in the water to have produced in such proximity two extraordinary thinkers about the nature of life and how to live.

"Gandhi called Mahavira a 'soldier of non-violence' and his militant commitment to caring for all life, despite the personal costs, is deeply impressive."

Charaka, sometimes described as the "father of Indian medicine", helped in the development of Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of healthcare.

"Traditions like Ayurveda survive in India, in part because they offer real assistance, but also because India's health care system is a disaster, and Ayurveda is a desperate lifeline for many," says Prof Khilnani.

"Charaka's work is important not so much for its cures and remedies, but for its philosophical views about what it is to lead a well-judged life," he adds.

Rani Laxmi Bai, the queen of Jhansi in central India, was a "badass queen" who fought the British in 1857 - she was turned into a "villainess" by the British and "mythified into goddess" by Indians, says Prof Khilnani.

"But that leads us to forget what she was like as a real woman, and her story is a reminder of how often the voices of women get written out of the historical record," he adds.

Statesman and philosopher Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, was celebrated for his political acumen and is the author of the "amazing" political treatise, The Arthashastra.

Written about 2,000 years ago, it went out of circulation for a long time until it was rediscovered in the early 20th Century.

"This book makes Machiavelli look like a lamb," says Prof Khilnani. "It is not about how a king can be virtuous, but how he can win power."

Today, The Arthashastra is much sought-after as a "self-help guide" by Indian politicians and even business leaders looking to strategise and get ahead of their rivals.

Shivaji was the 17th Century Indian king who founded the Maratha kingdom.

The warrior king is often invoked by Hindu nationalist groups for fighting against the Mughal oppression and religious persecution of the Hindus and his statues can be found in many cities across India.

"He's widely celebrated as a defender of Hindu pride, but his story and its meaning is more complex than that - it's the story of a self-made man using all means to rise from humble origins to success, and it's that dimension that inspires many Indians today," Prof Khilnani says.