In the treacherous Great Basses Reef in Sri Lanka, renowned author Arthur C. Clarke finds a submerged treasure ship with a hoard of silver coins

In a windswept mountain pass, more than a hundred years ago, a towering Afghan man hacks a Scottish trader to death. Then the killer disappears. A British officer is determined to track him down and rides along the old Silk Route into western China. No si

When the British Empire abolished slavery in 1833, it found that African slaves would much rather not work on its colonial plantations -- even for a salary. It had to find a new source of labourers and hired workers from India, Java, China and elsewhere.

The worlds borders are clamping down for un-vaccinated people, most of whom are poor and/or from the Global South. This echoes events following a 19th century pandemic of cholera which killed millions of people worldwide. The colonial power improved wate

The Curse of the Kohinoor is this: Any man who wears the diamond will suffer a terrible fate. But is this true? Or was this simply a story that conveniently allowed the British Empire to justify the colonial appropriation of the diamond? Maharaja Ranj

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the last Indian owner of the Kohinoor diamond. He was a fair and secular king -- one of the greatest rulers of all time. When he dies in 1839, his 9-year-old son Duleep Singh takes over the throne. The British East India Company

The Jewels of the Maharajas symbolized power and a connection with the divine. Anyone who wanted to be a greater ruler would want them as a symbol of sovereignty. In 18th century Persia, there was a great King who wanted to rule all of Asia. This is the s

For more than a decade, archaeologists have been searching for the lost port of Muziris on the southwest coast of India. Incredible finds point to maritime trade and links with many ancient cultures,

Not many people know of histories from the majority world, where 80% of all people live. We will tell you some of these stories in Season 1, Trade Winds. Each episode tells a story set on the Indian Ocean as global civilizations connect with South Asia. H