1: Beginnings | Michael Wood: The Story of India

Duration: 59'02''

Synopsis

Michael Wood journeys through the subcontinent, tracing the diversity of its peoples, cultures and landscapes. He charts the first human migrations out of Africa.

Further Information

More clips from Michael Wood: The Story of India

2: The Power of Ideas | Michael Wood: The Story of India

2: The Power of Ideas | Michael Wood: The Story of India

BBC Two | 2007 | 59'03''

Michael Wood shows how Alexander the Great's invasion of India inspired her first empire and how Buddha's ideas were...

3: Spice Routes and Silk Roads | Michael Wood: The Story of India

3: Spice Routes and Silk Roads | Michael Wood: The Story of India

BBC Two | 2007 | 59'05''

A look at India in the days of the Roman Empire. In Kerala the spice trade opened India to the world, whils...

4: Ages of Gold | Michael Wood: The Story of India

4: Ages of Gold | Michael Wood: The Story of India

BBC Two | 2007 | 59'02''

Presenter Michael Wood seeks out the achievements of India's golden age.

5: The Meeting of Two Oceans | Michael Wood: The Story of India

5: The Meeting of Two Oceans | Michael Wood: The Story of India

BBC Two | 2007 | 59'09''

The documentary series about the history of India charts the coming of Islam and one of the greatest ages of ...

6: Freedom | Michael Wood: The Story of India

6: Freedom | Michael Wood: The Story of India

BBC Two | 2007 | 59'02''

Michael Wood examines the British Raj and traces the events that led to the Partition of India in 1947.

More resources about Pre-history

1: Survival | Andrew Marr's History of the World

1: Survival | Andrew Marr's History of the World

BBC One | 2012 | 59'26''

Andrew Marr traces 70,000 years of history, beginning with the earliest humans. From Africa, they spread around the world, a...

Amanirenas | Africa's Great Civilisations

Amanirenas | Africa's Great Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 3'21''

Henry Louis Gates Jr investigates Amanirenas, the Queen of the Kingdom of Kush.

Bronze Age Britain | Learning Zone

Bronze Age Britain | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 5'55''

Life in Bronze Age Britain through the eyes of one family as they learn how copper and tin is mined, and make bronze using a furnace.

Bronze Age Stonehenge gold | Learning Zone

Bronze Age Stonehenge gold | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 4'46''

There are also lots of barrow burials around Stonehenge and one of them, Bush Barrow Man, is used to find out about Bronze Age times.

Bronze Age: making metal | Learning Zone

Bronze Age: making metal | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 4'45''

Raksha visits Butser Ancient Farm to make a bronze age axe head exactly the way Bronze Age man would have done so.

Bronze Age: wool | Learning Zone

Bronze Age: wool | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 2'45''

Raksha visits the Bronze Age at an ancient farm and learns how to make woollen cloth.

Early humans and the development of culture | Africa's Great Civilisations

Early humans and the development of culture | Africa's Great Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 5'06''

Henry Louis Gates Jr investigates early human migration from Africa and the development of culture...

Europe's first farmers | Europe: A Natural History

Europe's first farmers | Europe: A Natural History

BBC Four | 2007 | 3'17''

An exploration of the first farmers in Mesopotamia.

Flint | The Great British Countryside

Flint | The Great British Countryside

BBC One | 2012 | 3'45''

Julia Bradbury investigates flint and the ancient craft of arrowhead making that it was used for.

Iron Age Britain | Learning Zone

Iron Age Britain | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 5'51''

Life in Iron Age Britain through the eyes of one family, as the impact of the new, and cheaper, stronger, metal on their life is explored in...

Iron Age: daily life | Learning Zone

Iron Age: daily life | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 4'48''

Raksha visits re-enactors who build roundhouses and try to live as they think Iron Age people did.

Iron Age: iron | Learning Zone

Iron Age: iron | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 4'51''

People tried to keep the process of making iron secret to preserve their power. It was often regarded as magic.

Iron Age: tribes | Learning Zone

Iron Age: tribes | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 3'15''

Raksha explores Maiden Castle; the biggest Iron Age Hill Fort in Britain.

Iron technologies | Africa's Great Civilisations

Iron technologies | Africa's Great Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 2'22''

Henry Louis Gates investigates the early uses of Iron and the impacts it had on early societies in Africa.

Land of Giants | Walking with Beasts

Land of Giants | Walking with Beasts

BBC One | 2001 | 29'16''

25 million years ago in the Oligocene Epoch lived the Indricotheres. Weighing 15 tonnes and standing 7 metres tall, they were the larges...

Mammoth Journey | Walking with Beasts

Mammoth Journey | Walking with Beasts

BBC One | 2001 | 28'59''

Last in the series follows a herd of mammoths as they make their way south for winter, running a gauntlet of ice-age hunters including ...

New Dawn | Walking with Beasts

New Dawn | Walking with Beasts

BBC One | 2001 | 29'11''

The series following on from Walking with Dinosaurs. begins 49 million years ago. The world is heavily forested and birds rule the planet, pre...

New Stone Age | Learning Zone

New Stone Age | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2015 | 6'22''

Life in Neolithic Britain through the eyes of one family as they attempt to hunt and farm enough food to live on.

Next of Kin | Walking with Beasts

Next of Kin | Walking with Beasts

BBC One | 2001 | 29'02''

We travel back 3 million years to Ethiopia, where Australopithecus, one of the first upright apes, lived in danger of being hunted by sabre...

S1E1: The Cult | The Battle for Britain's Soul

S1E1: The Cult | The Battle for Britain's Soul

BBC Two | 2004 | 59'07''

With disease and famine a constant threat, superstitious Iron-Age Britons sought to appease their pagan gods through ritual sa...

More from Michael Wood

2: Silk Roads and China Ships | The Story of China

2: Silk Roads and China Ships | The Story of China

BBC Two | 2016 | 59'04''

Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. Michael tells the tale of China's first international ...

3: Aethelstan: The First King of England | King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons

3: Aethelstan: The First King of England | King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons

BBC Four | 2013 | 59'00''

Michael Wood tells the tale of King Alfred's grandson Aethelstan, showing how he fulfilled the fa...

The Grammar School: A Secret History

The Grammar School: A Secret History

BBC Four | 2012 | 58'56''

This part looks at the golden age of the grammar schools in the 1950s and 60s and their sudden demise. With contributions from Michael W...

Norman land ownership | Michael Wood's Story of England

Norman land ownership | Michael Wood's Story of England

BBC Four | 2010 | 2'04''

Records in the national archives detail how small villages were divided up after the Norman invasion.

Christina: A Medieval Life

Christina: A Medieval Life

BBC Four | 2008 | 59'21''

Historian Michael Wood presents a portrait of ordinary people living through extraordinary times, tracing the story of Christina Cok, a peasant of...

3: Spice Routes and Silk Roads | Michael Wood: The Story of India

3: Spice Routes and Silk Roads | Michael Wood: The Story of India

BBC Two | 2007 | 59'05''

A look at India in the days of the Roman Empire. In Kerala the spice trade opened India to the world, whils...

3: Across the Hindu Kush | In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

3: Across the Hindu Kush | In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

BBC Two | 1998 | 58'55''

Michael Wood treks over the Khawak pass, crosses the Oxus river and follows the golden road to Samarkand w...

Clues about Troy in Homer's language | In Search of the Trojan War

Clues about Troy in Homer's language | In Search of the Trojan War

BBC Two | 1985 | 5'28''

Michael Wood explores Homer's language in 'The Iliad' for clues about Troy.