200. The East India Company’s Global Manhunt

“In Herat a man can’t stretch out his leg without touching a poet’s backside” - Babur It’s 1506, and Babur leaves his beloved base in Kabul to visit his cousins in Herat, Afghanistan. But whilst he is shyly standing in the corner at parties and receiving a speedy education in poetry and calligraphy, his nemesis Shaybani Khan sacks the city he had left behind. Babur is now one of the last Timurid princes left, and to ensure the power of his family lineage does not die out, he enters a controversial alliance to help him defeat Shaybani Khan. In 1511, Babur launches military campaigns in his homeland of Uzbekistan, but why does he turn his attentions to India instead? And how will he succeed in conquering this new land?  Listen as William and Anita discuss Babur’s life in Afghanistan, and the build up to his invasion of India. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“To wander from mountain to mountain, hopeless and homeless, has nothing to recommend it” - Babur Before he became the father of the Mughal dynasty, and the author of one of the most important memoirs in world history, Babur was a provincial young prince in modern-day Uzbekistan. His family tree stretches back to Genghis Khan and Timur, and his fighting spirit was as strong as his ancestors’. As a teenager he sets his sights on the capital city of Samarkand and lays siege to it. But he meets his match when faced with the great Uzbeg warlord, Shaybani Khan. At just 21 years old, Babur is left defeated and homeless, wandering as a nomad around Central Asia. How will he recover from this? Join William and Anita as they explore the early life of the first Great Mughal, Babur.  To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J.M. Barrie, the fascinating Scottish writer, gave us Peter Pan - the boy who never grows up, and his notorious pirate nemesis: Captain Hook. But where did this iconic rivalry come from, and how did Barrie’s fascination with both youth and pirates shape this timeless story? Barrie’s life, marked by personal tragedy and complex relationships, set the stage for a world where innocence meets adventure on the high seas. The figure of Captain Hook looms large over Peter Pan. Modelled partly on the infamous privateer Christopher Newport, who ruled Caribbean waters with a missing arm, Hook embodies the darker side of Neverland. Inspired by his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family, Barrie crafted Peter Pan as a tribute to these young boys who captured his heart. Yet, their lives would be marked by profound loss, shadowing the whimsy of the Lost Boys with tragedy.  Join William and Anita as they dive into the origins of Barrie’s Peter Pan and the history behind Neverland’s fictional pirates. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Louis Stevenson, a sickly boy with a vivid imagination, grew up along Scotland’s rugged coast, where tales of shipwrecks and buried gold stirred dreams of pirates and treasure. Out of this coastal world, Stevenson crafted Treasure Island - and with it, Long John Silver, a character who has since come to define the cunning, complex pirate in our imaginations. But what inspired Stevenson’s tale, and how did his own experiences, steeped in adventure and struggle, breathe life into one of literature’s greatest pirates? Tracing the origins of Treasure Island and its enduring characters, we learn that the stories are grounded in Stevenson’s Scottish roots, a tapestry of real pirate lore, and the influential writings of Daniel Defoe. We meet Jim Hawkins, the young hero, and Long John Silver, the peg-legged rogue inspired by stories of real marauders. Join Anita and William as they explore how Treasure Island came to shape the mythical pirate figure and inspire countless adventures. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For many years, commemorations of the two World Wars excluded the memorialisation of soldiers from the British Empire. But campaigners have gradually turned the spotlight on their experiences. In the First and Second World War, approximately 3.8 million soldiers from the Indian subcontinent served in the British Army. Indian and British troops often formed friendships that lasted beyond the wars, bonded in their camaraderie and bravery. Yet there was a ceiling for Indian soldiers, they would never go on to receive top jobs or become commanders. And despite camaraderie on the front, the top generals saw Indians as lesser. During the evacuation of Dunkirk, the British were given the order to “cut loose your Indians and your mules”. This horrified leaders in Delhi and despite Nehru’s passionate antifascism, the Congress began small acts of civil disobedience in protest of India being placed in a war that it didn’t sign up to. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Yasmin Khan to discuss the Raj at War, and how World War Two became a catalyst for the end of British rule in India… To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices