The Discovery of India (1988)

Original title: Bharat Ek Khoj

Bharat Ek Khoj is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, that dramatically unfolds the 5000 year history of India from its beginnings to the coming of independence in 1947. The drama was directed, written and produced by Shyam Benegal with cinematographer V. K. Murthy in 1988 for state-owned Doordarshan. Benegal's regular script collaborator Shama Zaidi also co-wrote the script.

The Discovery of India

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as Jawaharlal Nehru

as Ashoka as Patel Range Gowda as Soldier-1 as Aurangzeb as Narrator as Raavan as Agulimal as Krishnadevaraya as Raj Raja Chola as Narrator (voice) as Duryodhan / Narrator as Nigam (Ballia DM) as Allauddin Khilji as Nabakrishna Banerjee as Alauddin Khilji as Duryodhan

as Chandragupta as Soldier-2 as Laxman as Mir Sadiq as Balram as Suteja as Superintendent of Police as Kalidasa / Dushyanta as Prithviraj as Rana Sanga as Prithviraj Chouhan as Villager #1

as Gangamma as Asandhimitra as Heggaditi as Sarma as Passion as Sheelwati as Gandhari as Jodhabai as Kaikeyi

as Shahabuddin Ghori as Radhagupta as Vidur as Majid Ali as Priyamedha as Azimullah Khan as Devarishi Narad as Materialist (Charvaka) as Virudhaka

as Ram Mohan Roy as Vikrambhatta as Vajrabandhu as Nana Saheb as Vajashravasa as Effandi Aslam Beg as Dadoji Konddeo as Chandraprabha as Appar as Sumantra as Ibrahim Lodi as Gautam Buddha

as Shakatara as Mahendravarman as Chand Bardai as Chenna as Purnaiyya as Shakuni as Villager #2 as Harish Mukherjee / Mukhopadhyay

as Arjun as Rakshasa as Arjuna as Announcer as Ajivika as Babur as Vilom as Shulgi

as Ramaraya as Krishna as Rama as Sri Krishna as Tipu Sultan as Lord Rama

as Ab'ul Fazal as Lorik as Towncrier as Bharat as Ashwathhama as Ramanand as Ibrahim Qutub Shah as Harshavardhan

as Wellesly as British Officer I as Journalist as Verelst as Mr. Shakespeare / Lord Canning as Colonel Outram as Thomas Roe as Bentinck as Simon

Aanjjan Srivastav

Aanjjan Srivastav

as Dhrutarashtra as Dhanananda as Yama as Wajid Ali Shah as Sansthanaka as Appaji

as Kannaki as Ratna as Seeta as Bade Khan as Mallika / Shakuntala as Mallige

Devendra Malhotra

Devendra Malhotra

as Ashwalayan as Baba Lals Shah as Ishanashiva as Chitto Pandey as Ajjaji as Dashrath as Acharya Vararuchi

as Bade Khan as Saleem as as Badayuni as Al-Beruni as Michael Madhusudan Dutt as Malayaketu

Veerendra Saxena

Veerendra Saxena

as Rachanna as Birbal as Mahanaman as Matul as Madhav

as Sukhvihara as Daroga as Govindrao as Sarangdev Makwana as Prof. Jinsivale as Shahaji

Sudhir Kulkarni

Sudhir Kulkarni

as Bhatt as Bal Gangadhar Tilak as Sarat Chandra as Shantidas as Selappa

as deRozio as Sykes as Colonel Smyth as Larmour as Dubuc as Henry Lawrence / Collector of Kanpur as Chairman

Surendra Sharma

Surendra Sharma

as Yuvak as Messenger as Unmattak as Eklavya as Tantya Tope as Dilawar Khan

Aparajita Krishna

Aparajita Krishna

as Vasantsena as Devi as Khursheed as Ruqqaya as Nadira as Maina

as Anand as Street Singer as Radheyshyam Sharma as Street Singer (Saint Poet Basavanna) as Shah Alam as Messenger

as Shahbaz Khan as Qasid (Khalifa-e-Abbasid's ambassador) as Quli as Abdu' Rahim as Dr. Gehraula

as Lingamma as Bereaved Woman as Brahmin Mother as Maid

as Tissa as Paras as Manaswamin

as Draha as Lala Makhanlal as Todarmal as Buddhist Monk as Nai

as Yudhishthir as Nawab Mehmood as Hussain Nizam Shah as Aqil Khan

as Dronacharya as Vasakara as Dwarakanath

as General as Mahadev as Asaf Khan as Miyan Bhuva

Rakesh Srivastava

Rakesh Srivastava

as Raghav Chetan as A Shudra as Chandal as Alissa

Mahendra Raghuvanshi

Mahendra Raghuvanshi

as Darbari as Bantha as Makkali Gosala as Uma Shankar

as Dara Shikoh as Man Singh

Akhilendra Mishra

Akhilendra Mishra

as Councillor as Narayana as Soothsayer as Divakar (Larmour's Diwan)

as Mahmud Ghazni as Dr. Ahsan as Aqil Khan

as Soldier-3 as Qawali Singer as Bajur

as Ramoshi-1 as Prithviraj as Kishorichandra Mitra as Maharaja Mangal Singh

as Vishnu Pant as Gopal Krishna Gokhale as Vishnu Pant Thatte

as Roshan Ara as Janki Devi as Nafisa

as Jain Muni as Brahmin Father

as Suvasini as Devasoma

Virendra Razdan

Virendra Razdan

as Bahadur Shah Zafar as Bindusara as Ambarish

as Salima as Sumitra as Khanzadi

as Chandal as Saudagar as Miyan Kakkar

Siraz Ahmed Khan

Siraz Ahmed Khan

as Gandhardittan as Saguna as Hari Vaishya

as Mahendravarman's Commander as Chandrarao More as Qilij Khan

Kulbhushan Kharbanda

Kulbhushan Kharbanda

as Shodhanaka as Old Man as Shivappa

Khemendra Ganjoo

Khemendra Ganjoo

as Champat Rai as Pracharak as Ahmed Khwaja

as Vasitthaka as Rash Behari Ghosh as Keshubchandra Sen

Naseeruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah

as Vishnu Shastri as Villager as Rajendralal Mitra

as Pandit as Judge as Ramgopal Ghose

Rana Jung Bahadur

Rana Jung Bahadur

as Jaswatn Singh as Babu Saheb as Azeez Koka

as Devendranath Tagore as Samant Veer Singh as Madanna

as Nanjamma as Malati as Tirumalamba

as Cornwallis as Mr. Hastie

as Soldier-4 as Murthy

as Jagirdar as Dwarpala

as Brihaspati as Bindusara's Wife

as Kirtidhwaj as Danishmand Khan

as Tirumala as Kovalan

K.K. Raghuvanshi

K.K. Raghuvanshi

as Ambassador as Anuswara

as Physician as Pashupata

as Sanyukta / Sanyogita as Sanyukta

Virendra Razdan

Virendra Razdan

as Bhishma as Bahadur Shah Zafar

as Mahadji Shinde as Sariputta

as Sheikh Mubarak as Kapalik Satyasoma

Ashutosh Pathak

Ashutosh Pathak

as Swami as Vaman

Vaishali Dandekar

Vaishali Dandekar

as Jogan as Dancer

as Jijabai as Mahadevi

as Raja Nandkumar as Ratansen

as Salim as Jehangir

Dharmesh Tiwari

Dharmesh Tiwari

as Qutbuddin as Uday Martand Varman

as Virabhadra as Radhakant

as Srinivas Rao as Pedda Tirumala

as Woman-I as Maid

Narayan Bhandari

Narayan Bhandari

as Shaista Khan

as Ramoshi-2 as Roopchand

as Ali Adil Shah as Maharaja of Khetri

as Qazi as Hamid Ali

as Shaheen as Chanda

Ratna Pathak Shah

Ratna Pathak Shah

as Rani of Jhansi

Prabhakar Patankar

Prabhakar Patankar

as Govande as Nana Phadnavis

as Wagle as Dr. Visharam Ghole

as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa as Seenu

as Raj Narain as Annasaheb

as Siddayya as Agyat Baba

Anuradha Tarafdar

Anuradha Tarafdar

Shreechand Makhija

Shreechand Makhija

Virendra Razdan

Virendra Razdan

Sulakshana Khatri

Sulakshana Khatri

Utkarsh Mazumdar

Utkarsh Mazumdar

Champak Banerjee

Champak Banerjee

Ashutosh Gowariker

Ashutosh Gowariker

as Prince Siddhartha / Buddha

Hemendra Bhatia

Hemendra Bhatia

Inayatullah Kantroo

Inayatullah Kantroo

as Mahendrabhatta

Sulabha Deshpande

Sulabha Deshpande

Kanchan Gharpure

Kanchan Gharpure

as Priyangumanjari

Meenakshi Thakur

Meenakshi Thakur

as Queen Yashovati

as Rajyavardhan

as Achyutdevaraya

Vijay Rani Nair

Vijay Rani Nair

Bhupendra Sandhu

Bhupendra Sandhu

as Chinna Tirumala

as Admiral Saldana

Kanwaldeep Singh

Kanwaldeep Singh

as Mirza Mahmood

as Malik Jeevan

Mahendra Raghuvanshi

Mahendra Raghuvanshi

as Robert Clive

as Najm-ud-daulah

as Mangal Pande

Devendra Malhotra

Devendra Malhotra

as Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar

Sadashiv Amrapurkar

Sadashiv Amrapurkar

as Mahatma Phule

Shubhangi Gokhale

Shubhangi Gokhale

as Govind Ranade

Parvez Merchant

Parvez Merchant

Mohan Maharishi

Mohan Maharishi

as Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

as Begum Syed Ahmed Khan

as Mahendra Gupta

as Govind Ranade

Kapil Kumar Kochar

Kapil Kumar Kochar

as Surendranath Banerjee

Bhavna Mukatiwala

Bhavna Mukatiwala

as Radha Mohan Singh

Shankar Sachdev

Shankar Sachdev

Chandrakant Thakkar

Chandrakant Thakkar

as ADM Mr Kakkar

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Seasons

Season 1

The Discovery Of India

Episodes season 1

1x1

Bharat mata ki jai
1x2

The beginnings (indus valley civilization)
1x3

The arrival of the vedic people (the rigveda)
1x4

Caste formation
1x5

Mahabharata part 1
1x6

Mahabharata part 2
1x7

Ramayana part 1
1x8

Ramayana part 2
1x9

Republics and kingdoms
1x10

Negation and acceptance of life
1x11

Chanakya and chandragupta part 1
1x12

Chanakya and chandragupta part 2
1x13

Ashoka part 1
1x14

Ashoka part 2
1x15

The sangam period: silapaddirakam part 1
1x16

The sangam period: silapaddirakam part 2
1x17

The classical age
1x18

Kalidas and shakuntala part 1
1x19

Kalidas and shakuntala part 2
1x20

Harshavardhana
1x21

Bhakti
1x22

The chola empire part 1
1x23

The chola empire part 2
1x24

The delhi sultanate and prithviraj raso part 1
1x25

The delhi sultanate and prithviraj raso part 2
1x26

The delhi sultanate and padmavat
1x27

Synthesis
1x28

The vijayanagar empire
1x29

Feudalism
1x30

The fall of the vijayanagar empire
1x31

Rana sanga, ibrahim lodi and babur
1x32

Akbar part 1 (din-e ilahi)
1x33

Akbar part 2
1x34

Golden hind
1x35

Aurangzeb part 1
1x36

Aurangzeb part 2
1x37

Shivaji part 1
1x38

Shivaji part 2
1x39

Company bahadur (east india company)
1x40

Tipu sultan
1x41

The bengal renaissance and raja ram mohan roy
1x42

1857 part 1
1x43

1857 part 2
1x44

Indigo revolt
1x45

Mahatma phule
1x46

Sir syed ahmed khan
1x47

Vivekananda
1x48

Extremists and moderates
1x49

And gandhi came part 1
1x50

And gandhi came part 2
1x51

Separatism
1x52

Do or die
1x53

Epilogue

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