(www.historyofindiapodcast.com) This week, the end of the Kushan empire. The old order is crumbling. Roman emperors are slaughtered, China splinters, and the Kushan empire is beaten by a new menace from the west. What was it like to live in the age when empires die? Listen, and find out.

(www.historyofindiapodcast.com) Kanishka the Great has conquered India. This week, we get to know him intimately, by getting to know his friends: the doctor, the minister and the poet-monk. We hear their stories, how they influenced the great warrior, and how ignoring their advice lead to his death.

(www.historyofindiapodcast.com) The story of the Kushans. An empire caught between two continents: its body is in India, but it left its heart back in central Asia. So all its central Asian customs are brought into India: warm clothes, pointy hats, and kings who think they are gods.

(www.historyofindiapodcast.com) We travel with a tribe of nomads from China across the vast grasslands to central Asia. There, they finally settle down into the cities on India's doorstep. They unite, form an empire, and get ready to invade India itself. This is the story of the Kushans.

(www.historyofindiapodcast.com) India is being invaded by outsiders. But the rulers of its last empire are distracted by more sensual matters. As the invaders close in, we listen to the rulers and their people on matters of love and loss. And we track the progress of the invaders as they wash over the land.

(www.historyofindiapodcast.com) Sovereignty is only possible with assistance; a single wheel cannot move alone. Ashoka the Great took this maxim to heart, and built a huge government machine to assist him. This week, Ashoka must struggle to avoid being crushed by the wheels of his own machine.