Anirudh Kanisetti

Anirudh Kanisetti is a public historian specialising in ancient and early medieval India. He is the author of Lords of Earth and Sea: A History of the Chola Empire (2025) and Lords of the Deccan: Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas (2022). He writes the Thinking Medieval column for ThePrint, a leading Indian news publication, and hosts two popular podcasts: Echoes of India and YUDDHA: The Indian Military History podcast.

Anirudh’s books have won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, the Ramnath Goenka Sahitya Samman, and Tata Literature Live’s Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award. He was an Open Mind of 2022, and on the New Indian Express’ 40 Under 40 list. His work has received grants from Princeton University, MAP Academy and the India Foundation for the Arts. He has extensive knowledge of the Ajanta and Ellora caves, and his work filming a documentary at Ellora further enriches the insights he can offer.