“In Herat a man can’t stretch out his leg without touching a poet’s backside” - Babur It’s 1506, and Babur leaves... more

“To wander from mountain to mountain, hopeless and homeless, has nothing to recommend it” - Babur Before he became the father... more

J.M. Barrie, the fascinating Scottish writer, gave us Peter Pan - the boy who never grows up, and his notorious... more

Robert Louis Stevenson, a sickly boy with a vivid imagination, grew up along Scotland’s rugged coast, where tales of shipwrecks... more

For many years, commemorations of the two World Wars excluded the memorialisation of soldiers from the British Empire. But campaigners... more

After robbing the fleet in a brutal, barbaric fashion, Henry Avery caused a diplomatic incident of global proportions. The Mughals... more

One of the most notable pirates of his day, Henry Avery would go on to make potentially the most lucrative... more

William Kidd, a respectable Scottish privateer during the late 17th century, tasked with hunting down pirates on the orders of... more

Alongside legends like Blackbeard and Calico Jack, William Kidd is one of the most famous pirates to have entered the... more

“At our first salutation he drank damnation to me and my men who styled cowardly puppies saying he would neither... more

The history of pirates is a thrilling kaleidoscope of adventure, devastation, violence and political intrigue, and never more so than... more

When King Alfonso VI of León took Toledo from the Arabs in 1085, the history of western christendom changed forever.... more

Often called Arabic numerals, the modern number system we use today actually originates in India. Whilst in the west they... more

From India to Africa, the involvement and influence of Scots in the British Empire has been profound. In both arenas,... more

The extraordinary lives of three Scotsmen - John Henderson, Richard Oswald, and David Livingstone - encapsulate the polarities of the... more

In the wake of Culloden, much of Scotland was on its knees. Crippled by defeat and the subsequent backlash of... more

Few battles in history have been remembered as powerfully, nor been as mythologised, as Culloden on the 16th of April... more

In 1688 the Stuart King James II was ousted from the throne by his daughter Mary and her husband William... more

With the accession of James I and VI in 1603, Scotland was assimilated into the composite monarchy of the United... more

When charting the rise of Scotland’s global influence, few events have been as tragically remarkable as the Darien Scheme of... more

In the 9th century AD, two years after the Holy Roman Empire was established in Western Christendom, another world-shaking empire... more

While in the West the legends of King Arthur were being born, a Buddhist tantric magician of immense magical powers... more

India’s transformation of the ancient world is indisputable, and tangible evidence of this can be found in the magnificent Hindu... more

Having garnered absolute power through bloody means, Empress Wu Zetian begins seeing apparitions, haunted by her violent schemes. With her... more

The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s... more

It was actually India, not China, that was the greatest trading partner of the Roman Empire. During this era, it’s... more

For a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilisation, creating around it a vast... more

With Richard Nixon now in the White House and not wanting to have his presidency consumed by Vietnam like his... more

With the death of JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson took over the Presidency and immediately had to wrestle with America’s relationship... more

Vietnam, or Indochina as it was known, had been under French colonial rule since the nineteenth century. This was until... more

Following the fall of Batista, the Cuban revolution took a more radical turn. Castro was not a communist to begin... more

It’s 1959 and the swaggering Cuban revolutionary, Fidel Castro, has just overthrown the unpopular American backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Che... more

The Korean War was a brutal affair. It is estimated that 3,000,000 people were killed in the conflict that absolutely... more

Whilst we know the Korean Peninsula is split into two quite separate countries, North Korea and South Korea, that has... more

By 1943, the price of rice was beyond unaffordable for most in Bengal, and people were dying in the streets.... more

In 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, the British administration feared that Japanese forces would take India... more

By the end of the Spanish-US war, the Philippines was on the menu. Two battles played out simultaneously on the... more

In 1898, whilst his boss was on a break at the osteopath, Teddy Roosevelt basically started a war. A master... more

On 7th July 1898, President McKinley formally annexed Hawaii, making it a colonial territory of the USA. It was not... more

Not everyone agrees that the USA should be classed as an empire. But in the late 1800s, after white settlers... more

Arizona Territory, April 30, 1871. The canyon known as Aravaipa lies still in the predawn darkness, the only sounds to... more

A whole genre of movies is based on a relatively short period of nineteenth-century American history. But what is the... more

In 1850, 13-year-old Olive Oatman and her family set off on the perilous journey by foot from Missouri to Arizona.... more

Fort Laramie was once a stockade where European fur traders and Native Americans lived together peacefully. But by the 1850s... more

Despite having fought alongside them, President Andrew Jackson hated Native Nations. In the early 1800s, he sought to deceive Cherokee... more

North America was never virgin territory. For thousands of years it has been home to established nations of Indigenous people... more

The British have surrendered, they’ll be leaving soon. Now the Americans have a new and arguably harder task than before.... more

The Declaration of Independence establishes the ideals on which this break away nation founds itself on. But it’s full of... more

The infamous Boston Tea Party sees colonists dressed as Native Americans dump British tea in the surrounding waters. Calls of... more

From sugar to paper, a series of taxes in the 1760s spark outrage amongst American colonists that snowball into a... more

We're all about the Benjamins. Franklin is unquestionably the most well-rounded of the Founding Fathers. Not only did he help... more

Often given less attention than the other Founding Fathers, John Adams is no less significant. Not only did he go... more

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot... more

Thomas Jefferson is one of the most complex figures in the whole American Revolution. A child of the enlightenment, it... more

Everybody knows Washington as the strapping, powerful general and then president who helped to overthrow the British and forge America,... more

Deerfield, February 1704. The small, puritan town of roughly 300 inhabitants in western Massachusetts has been riven with tension ever... more

One of the most famous names in American history, Pocahontas had an extraordinary life. She was the daughter of Powhatan,... more

The Empire that dare not speak its name. America was born through an explicit rejection of empire as it forced... more

In 1877 Queen Victoria took on the title Empress of India, a nation which she undoubtedly had close to her... more

Across 1851, over 6,000,000 people went to London to see the Great Exhibition. Designed to showcase the very best of... more

It is one of the great love affairs of history. Upon meeting again shortly after her 18th birthday, Victoria and... more

Born on the 24th May 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was fifth in line to the throne at a time in which... more

For centuries Spain had been an outlier in Europe due to its religious diversity; Christians, Jews, and Muslims all existed... more

To some she is Europe’s first great queen, to others she is one of history’s great villains, but there is... more

With Jahangir sliding into more of an opium and alcohol fuelled slumber with each passing day, Nur Jahan took the... more

Nur Jahan was born on a roadside as her well-to-do parents fled from Safavid Persia for the tolerant court of... more

Börte came from a powerful nomadic tribe and in many ways her marriage to Genghis Khan set him up to... more

Sold as a slave to the great Abbasid Caliph, al-Khayzuran quickly rose to the very top of the pyramid. Through... more

The Empress Theodora is often unfairly remembered for the salacious stories that have been told about her when she was... more

Placed by her mother into a brothel when she was just a child, Theodora was born into the most brutal... more

Born in poverty at a time when the Roman Empire was in danger of cracking up and disintegrating, Helena was... more

With Julius Caesar dead, Cleopatra turned to another of Rome’s dominant figures. She became entwined with Mark Antony, the ruler... more

Born in the romantic splendour of Ptolemaic Egypt, not far from the Library of Alexandria, Cleopatra was destined for greatness.... more

In late autumn, 629 AD, Xuanzang set out for the great university of Nalanda from Chang’an. Across the desert, over... more

Buddhism reached China in the 1st century AD, yet it remained a minor, foreign religion for the next 100 years.... more

In the 1st century AD, the nomadic Kushans settled in what is now Afghanistan and established settlements and trade. From... more

Ruling in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka was one of India’s greatest ever rulers. Under his rule, the Mauryan Empire... more

India was the forgotten heart of the ancient world. For a millennium and a half, from about 250 BC to... more

From the beginning of the Raj, British tastes began to turn away from Indian cuisine towards a European palate. The... more

When the East India Company first arrived on the shores of India, the food they ate in their first factories... more

Since November 2023, the Houthis have been attacking international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. They set off from the... more

In September 1980, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces invaded neighbouring Iran and so began the longest conventional war in modern history.... more

In June 1982, Israeli tanks rolled over the Lebanese border. Soon after, Iran sent 1,500 Revolutionary Guards into Lebanon to... more

1979 was the year that set the Islamic world on the path to today. In Iran, the revolution established the... more

The Shah cracks down on dissent, to the point even his great ally Jimmy Carter begins to cool on the... more

With the Last Shah’s reforms - known as the White Revolution - starting to take effect, Iran looked to be... more

Reza Pahlavi rules but he is still bedevilled by the interference of the great powers. Britain has its claws in... more

Throughout the 19th century, Iran was a pawn of the great colonial powers. It failed to industrialise, its economy stagnated,... more

Nader Shah was not born to rule. He was poor, the son of a shepherd in a semi-nomadic tribe, and... more

Isfahan, half of the world. It had been a city for years, but at the end of the 16th century... more

How did the great divide within Islam, the split between Sunni and Shia, develop? We trace how the great 16th... more

After conquering much of Eurasia, Timur showed no interest in building institutions and so after his death, like the Mongol... more

Timur, known to many as Tamburlaine the Great from the iconic Marlowe play. Despite having a limp and struggling to... more

After the Arab conquest, Persia was turned upside down. Patronage went to Islam as opposed to Zoroastrianism. The official language... more

As the timber creaked under the pressure of the Antarctic ice, Shackleton knew his voyage aboard the Endurance was doomed.... more

Antarctica, the great land of ice. It was first spotted in the early years of the 19th century but it... more

With Alexander Dalrymple sidelined, Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks are ready to set off on an expedition to track... more

In the 1760’s a clever, young, ambitious Scotsman named Alexander Dalrymple began advocating a theory as to the existence of... more

In the 15th century, Admiral Zheng He, on the orders of the Emperor of China, embarked upon a series of extraordinary... more

With the Sassanian Empire defeated and the Byzantine Empire exhausted, there is a power vacuum in the centre of the... more

Eurasia is divided into two great superpowers. Khusrow II rules the Sassanian Empire. Maurice, the last of the Justinian dynasty,... more

Three great religions have come out of Persia and all of them have influenced world history. First there was Zoroastrianism,... more

Darius has already been defeated by Alexander. His wife has been kidnapped and has now died in childbirth. The omens... more

Darius III rules Persia and he has already demonstrated his heroism and skill in battle. The Empire itself, despite having... more

Leonidas and the 300 have been defeated at Thermopylae, leaving the way to Athens open. With the Persians advancing, many... more

August 480BC; the might of the Persian army, roughly 100,000 soldiers, face down a few thousand Greeks, led by Leonidas... more

Ionia has revolted and so Darius turns his gaze away from India and towards Greece. He crushes the rebellion, quelling... more

The Persian Empire that Darius took control of was already mighty and powerful; his predecessor, Cambyses, had conquered Egypt, further... more

Born the son of a khan, a tribal chieftain, Cyrus would go on to be a titanic figure of world... more

Persia was the first great superpower. The empire built by Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and the rest of the Achaemenids stretched... more

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022, but how did we get to this point? After the brutality of... more

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Empire Club. Do you want bonus episodes? Do you want discounts on the... more

The history of Russia and Ukraine has been irrevocably entwined for centuries. When the Bolsheviks took over and Civil War... more

Dawn breaks on 16th July 1918. For Nicholas, Alexandra, and the rest of the Romanov family this is just another... more

Born in Siberia to a peasant family, Rasputin was an incredibly charismatic, physically striking, and politically savvy figure. He was... more

The Tsar has abdicated and the provisional government rules Russia, but Petrograd is overflowing with revolutionaries who want more radical... more

Russian politics is fast destabilising. Strikes, assassinations, and famines have made Russia increasingly turbulent at the turn of the century.... more

Fearing Russian designs on the region, the eyes of the British turn towards Tibet. Francis Younghusband, the Victorian adventurer and... more

1905 was one of the most pivotal moments in history. Japan, the supposedly weaker Asian power, overwhelmingly defeated the mighty... more

Tolstoy was one of the greatest writers of all time. His books have constructed how we think about Russian imperial... more

As the other European empires were consolidating their holdings in Asia, Russia took 1.5million square miles of territory. Moving south... more

In the 18th century Vitus Bering went from Russia's east coast and landed in America. Over the next 150 years,... more

The Lady with the Lamp, the great nurse who forever changed public health for the better: Florence Nightingale lives large... more

The Crimean War continues to drag on. The allies' siege of Sevastopol is grinding to a stalemate. The Russians seek... more

A slow grind of sieges and massacres. Long distance bombardments and gruelling inch-by-inch trench warfare. Battles for Sevastopol, Odessa, and... more

After the calamitous retreat from Kabul left thousands of British dead, the East India Company wants revenge. They will call... more

As the British occupation of Kabul collapses, the troops flee. What follows is one of the darkest events in British... more

It is 1839 and Britain has declared its intention: to invade Afghanistan and return Shah Shuja to the throne. Despite... more

The rivalry between Russia and Britain continues to grow as both of their attentions begin to centre more and more... more

It will all begin on the banks of the River Niemen. Tsar Alexander forms a pact with Napoleon; the Russian... more

With her reign in peril in three separate arenas, Catherine begins to turn her attention to a young soldier, Grigory... more

Not a drop of Russian blood. A woman in a world ruled by men. A loveless marriage to a man... more

A giant of Russian history, and a giant of a man. Peter the Great, standing at 6'8, established Russia as... more

Subjected, downtrodden, brutalised. The principality of Muscovy had long suffered at the hands of the Mongols. But as their overlords... more

The story of the Russian Empire spans centuries and continents. It is one of tsars and revolutionaries. Sex and power.... more

Did the Nazis use slave labour? Should Britain pay reparations? What is the origin of the Portuguese phrase 'just for... more

What happened to the Caribs, the indigenous people of the Caribbean? Why did indentured labour become so prominent? What is... more

Slavery may have been abolished in 1838, but its legacy lives on in Britain today. A lot of the nation... more

Emancipations are never clean, they don't happen overnight. Instead, they are long, drawn-out, messy processes that leave many still oppressed.... more

The slave trade has been abolished, but the number of slaves within the British Empire remains colossal. Thomas Fowell Buxton,... more