About this Event
We take it for granted that some historical figures become heroes, and others do not. Central to Chandragupta Maurya’s rise from obscure ruler to contemporary national icon was later historians’ imagination of his meeting with Seleucus, founder of the Seleucid Empire and one of Alexander the Great’s generals, in c.305-3 BC. British and Indian historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have interpreted what few reliable sources are available in radically different ways. With Chandragupta representing India and Seleucus standing in for Britain, British scholars argued that Seleucus defeated Chandragupta. Indian academics contended the opposite, however, and Chandragupta has been idealised as a hero who vanquished the foreign invader in contemporary popular culture.
Dr Sushma Jansari will be in conversation with Professor Phiroze Vasunia (UCL Department of Greek and Latin) and Professor Rachel Mairs (University of Reading)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Sushma Jansari is the Tabor Foundation Curator South Asia at the British Museum. She read Ancient History at UCL and completed her PhD in 2016. Sushma is currently planning an exhibition on the devotional art of ancient South Asia scheduled to open in May 2025. Besides her work at the British Museum, Dr Jansari is a Trustee at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
IAS Common Ground, G11, South Wing, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00