Welcome to The Caravan & The Throne!

The Caravan & The Throne is a journal of culture, empire, and memory written by Akhi Pillalamarri. I write about cultures that have risen and fallen, structures and institutions that have shaped states and peoples, the intersection of history and geography, and the journeys of language and tradition across civilizations. From India and Persia to the steppes of Turkestan, the rainforests of Java and the sands of Arabia, from the Bosphorous to Tsushima, this is a search for origins, customs, and trends across the Old World oikumene — with a focus on the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

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The Darius Naqsh-e-Rostam Inscription in Iran listing the countries Darius I ruled. “King Darius says: By the favor of Ahuramazda these are the countries which I seized outside of Persia; I ruled over them; they bore tribute to me; they did what was said to them by me; they held my law firmly; Media, Elam, Parthia, Aria, Bactria, Sogdia, Chorasmia, Drangiana, Arachosia, Sattagydia, Gandhara, India, the haoma-drinking Scythians, the Scythians with pointed caps, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, Lydia, the Greeks, the Scythians across the sea, Thrace, the petasos-wearing Greeks, the Libyans, the Nubians, the men of Maka and the Carians.” Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

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Reflections on empire, culture, memory, and language across civilizations.

People

Akhi Pillalamarri

@akhipill

Writer, journalist, analyst.