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From the rock-cut cave temples of Ajanta to the soaring Gothic cathedrals of Europe, this show explores how faith and empire have been inseparable partners in building nations. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through civilizations where religion was not merely a personal belief but the very scaffolding of state power. We begin with the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great, who after the bloody Kalinga War (261 BCE) embraced Buddhism and inscribed his edicts on pillars across South Asia — a template for moral governance. Then we cross centuries to the Abbasid Caliphate, where the translation movement in Baghdad’s House of Wisdom fused Greek philosophy with Islamic theology, creating a golden age that influenced empires from Al-Andalus to the Silk Road. In Latin Christendom, we examine how Charlemagne’s coronation in 800 CE yoked the Frankish realm to papal authority, a political-religious fusion that persisted through the Investiture Controversy and into the Reformation. The Ottoman Empire’s millet system allowed religious communities legal autonomy, while the Mughal Emperor Akbar’s Din-i Ilahi syncretism attempted — and failed — to forge a universal faith. We also tackle the dark side: the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the 19th-century European missionary-colonial projects that weaponized Christianity. The conversation extends to modern nations: how did Hinduism shape Indian nationalism? How did the Islamic Revolution of 1979 redefine Iran? Each episode is a dialogue between two historians who disagree, dig deep, and ask whether any nation can truly be secular when its bones are made of faith.
Unknown Host hosts Religion and Empire: How Faith Built Nations — Fexingo History.
This episode explores how the Sassanid Empire under Khosrow I (531–579 CE) enforced Zoroastrian orthodoxy through the priest Kartir and the fire temple of Adur Gushnasp, impacting religious minorities like Christians and
In the aftermath of the Council of Chalcedon and the Nestorian schism, the Church of the East found itself navigating a precarious existence under Sassanid rule. This episode focuses on the reign of Khosrow I (531-579 CE
In 313 CE, two Roman emperors met in Milan and issued a decree that would change the course of Western history. The Edict of Milan granted Christians freedom to worship openly, restored confiscated property, and ended ce
In 1625, Jesuit missionaries in Xi'an unearthed a black limestone stele dating to 781 CE, inscribed in Chinese and Syriac. It told the story of a Christian monk named Alopen who arrived in Chang'an in 635, welcomed by Em
In 781 CE, a remarkable stone monument was erected in the Tang Dynasty capital of Chang'an. The Nestorian Stele, or Xi'an Stele, tells the story of how a branch of Christianity—the Church of the East—traveled the Silk Ro
Before the Arab conquests, the Sassanid Empire was a world power, and within its borders, a distinct Christian tradition emerged. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Church of the East, a community that navigated
In 390 CE, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I — fresh from imposing orthodox Christianity across the empire — found himself on the wrong side of a bishop. After his troops massacred thousands in Thessalonica, Bishop Ambrose
In 313 CE, the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius met in Milan and issued a decree that would alter the course of Western history. The Edict of Milan granted Christianity legal status throughout the Roman Empire, en
Before Islam, the Sassanid Empire was home to a thriving Christian community that developed its own identity, distinct from both Rome and Byzantium. This episode explores the rise of the Church of the East, its role in P
In 1501, a teenage warrior named Shah Ismail I conquered Tabriz and declared Twelver Shia Islam the state religion of the new Safavid Empire. This episode traces how a Sufi order became a military dynasty, how Ismail fus
In 1258, the Mongol army under Hulagu Khan besieged and sacked Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and the intellectual heart of the Islamic world. This episode explores the political and religious factors that
In 1575, the Mughal Emperor Akbar built a 'House of Worship' at Fatehpur Sikri, inviting scholars from every major religion—Sunni and Shia Muslims, Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Jesuit Christians—to debate theol
In 683 CE, the Umayyad Caliphate besieged the holy city of Mecca, bombarding the Kaaba with catapults and setting fire to its black cloth. This episode unpacks the politics behind that shocking act: the rebellion of Abd
In 1565, the Vijayanagara Empire, one of the largest and wealthiest states in Indian history, collapsed after a single battle. This episode explores the Battle of Talikota, where a coalition of Deccan sultanates defeated
In this episode of Religion and Empire, Lucas and Luna explore a remarkable experiment in interfaith dialogue: the Ibadat Khana (House of Worship) built by Mughal Emperor Akbar at Fatehpur Sikri in the 1570s. Initially c
In the late 12th century, the Khmer Empire lay shattered after a surprise Cham invasion that burned Angkor. Then a prince in his fifties, Jayavarman VII, took the throne. He didn't just rebuild — he transformed an entire
How did the Vijayanagara Empire, founded in the 14th century after the devastation of the Deccan by Muslim invasions, use Hindu religion to forge a powerful state that lasted over 300 years? This episode explores the sto
This episode of Religion and Empire picks up where the Edicts of Ashoka left off—not with the edicts themselves, but with the towering sandstone pillars that carried them across the Mauryan Empire. Lucas and Luna explore
In the 11th century, the Chola Empire of South India built the Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur—a masterpiece of granite and devotion that was also the engine of an imperial economy. This episode explores how Rajaraja Ch
When Rajaraja Chola I completed the Brihadisvara Temple in 1010 CE, he built more than a monument to Shiva — he built an economic engine. This episode looks at how the Chola dynasty used temple endowments, land grants, a
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