What was life in an ancient Indian city like? What were its sights and smells, and what kind of eccentric characters would it have been home to? Join us on a walk through Ujjain, one of South Asia's oldest cities, to find out.
Notes and Sources below.
Voice Credits (in order of appearance):
Narrator - Anirudh
Palace Chamberlain - Manoj
Syamilaka - Sreeram
Bhashpa - Keshav
Notes
On the fortifications of ancient Ujjain, see Schlingloff, Dieter. Fortified Cities of Ancient India: a Comparative Study. Anthem Press, 2014. This is a fascinating interdisciplinary work, like most of the best stuff about ancient India, and I highly recommend it.
I also used Schlingoff for the description of the palace and the layout of the city.
Bhashpa and Syamilaka's gossip has been adapted and reworked from the Padataditaka of Syamilaka. I used GH Schokker's translation, which is available on archive.org. Some descriptions of the city are also taken from there.
A somewhat Orientalist but nevertheless useful resource (which I used for the wrestling match and description of entertainers) is Auboyer, Jeannine. Daily Life in Ancient India: from 200 BC to 700 AD. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2002.
The most sympathetic portrayal of a courtesan that I've seen yet is in the Mrcchakatikam by Sudraka. It's also objectively a very good play. I used the translation by Padmini Rajappa.
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