Episodes

  • The Missing Maps: How Partition's Cartographers Drew Chaos

    The Missing Maps: How Partition's Cartographers Drew Chaos
    Jul 4 2026
    In the summer of 1947, Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer who had never set foot in India, was given five weeks to draw borders that would divide over 400 million people. But behind the rushed lines on maps lay a deeper cartographic confusion: the instruments themselves were faulty. The Survey of India maps used by the Radcliffe Commission were based on outdated surveys, often from the 1890s, and many villages appeared on no map at all. This episode follows the surveyors, the missing tehsil maps, and the clerks who improvised borders using inaccurate sketches while millions moved and died. We also explore the infamous 'Carambolim' error in Bengal, where a cartographic blunder nearly handed a strategic railway to the wrong country. A story of ink, empire, and the human cost of hasty geography. #PartitionOfIndia #CyrilRadcliffe #RadcliffeLine #SurveyOfIndia #Cartography #MissingMaps #CarambolimError #Bengal #Punjab #1947 #BoundaryCommission #MapsOfPartition #GeorgeAbell #VPMenon #BritishRaj #CartographicChaos #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • The Sikh Cavalry That Defended Lahore 1947

    The Sikh Cavalry That Defended Lahore 1947
    Jul 4 2026
    In August 1947, as British India crumbled into chaos, a small band of Sikh horsemen launched one of the last cavalry charges in military history. This episode follows Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and his makeshift squadron of 200 troopers from the Patiala State Forces, who rode out to defend refugee columns near Lahore against armed mobs. We examine the tactical reality of horse-mounted troops in the age of armored vehicles, the political maneuvering that left the Sikh princely states stranded between India and Pakistan, and the forgotten legacy of the Patiala Cavalry — known as the 'Patiala Peg' of the Sikh Empire's martial tradition. Drawing on regimental records and survivor accounts, we uncover how this final charge became both a desperate act of mercy and a symbolic end to centuries of Sikh cavalry warfare. A story of courage, irony, and the violent birth of two nations. #PartitionOfIndia #SikhCavalry #PatialaStateForces #ColonelGurbakshSinghDhillon #Lahore1947 #LastCavalryCharge #SikhEmpire #MaharajaYadavindraSingh #RadcliffeLine #Punjab1947 #OperationPolo #FexingoHistory #IndianHistory #PakistanHistory #Decolonization #RefugeeColumns #PatialaPeg #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • The Last Sikh Maharaja of Patiala: Partition's Punctured Pride

    The Last Sikh Maharaja of Patiala: Partition's Punctured Pride
    Jul 3 2026
    In 1947, the Sikh kingdom of Patiala was one of the largest and richest princely states in India. Its Maharaja, Yadavindra Singh, was a towering figure—a cricketer, diplomat, and the man who chaired the committee that drafted the Indian Constitution's directive principles. Yet when Partition hit, his kingdom was carved up by the Radcliffe Line, his Sikh subjects fled in terror, and his own cousin, the Maharaja of Faridkot, was forced to abdicate. This episode tells the story of Patiala's lost grandeur: the Patiala Peg, the Moti Bagh Palace, the Sikh Empire's collapse, and the bitter cost of accession. We explore how Yadavindra Singh navigated the chaos—offering refuge to thousands in his palace, but ultimately surrendering his sovereignty to India. Why did the Sikhs, who had ruled Punjab for centuries, end up with no state of their own? And what does the fate of Patiala tell us about the tragedy of 1947? Join Lucas and Luna as they unearth a saga of loyalty, betrayal, and the death of a royal dream. #Patiala #YadavindraSingh #SikhEmpire #PartitionOfIndia #1947 #PrincelyStates #InstrumentOfAccession #RadcliffeLine #MotiBaghPalace #PatialaPeg #SikhHistory #Maharaja #Punjab #IndiaPakistan #ColonialHistory #SouthAsia #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 mins
  • Operation Madad: The Untold Story of the Indian Navy on Partition Day

    Operation Madad: The Untold Story of the Indian Navy on Partition Day
    Jul 3 2026
    In August 1947, as India and Pakistan celebrated independence, the Royal Indian Navy faced a quiet crisis. While the nation's eyes were on the Radcliffe Line and the Punjab violence, a small flotilla of ships — including HMIS Sutlej, HMIS Kistna, and HMIS Cauvery — were tasked with a secret mission: Operation Madad. Their objective was to patrol the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Kutch, preventing the smuggling of arms and the influx of refugees by sea. Led by Commodore Sir Henry St John Fancourt, the last British officer to command the Bombay flotilla, these ships intercepted dozens of dhows and steamers, rescuing thousands of stranded Hindus and Muslims. But the operation also had a darker side: the division of the navy itself. Ships, officers, and even the backbone of the Muslim ratings were split between the two new dominions. This episode uncovers the forgotten naval dimension of Partition — the heroic rescues, the mutinies, and the birth of the Pakistan Navy from the men who once served the Raj. #OperationMadad #RoyalIndianNavy #PartitionOfIndia #1947 #HMISSutlej #HMISKistna #CommodoreFancourt #GulfOfKutch #ArabianSea #PakistanNavy #MuslimRatings #BombayFlotilla #MaritimeHistory #SouthAsia #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast #NavalHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 mins
  • The Barrister Who Drew the Line: Cyril Radcliffe's Lonely Partition

    The Barrister Who Drew the Line: Cyril Radcliffe's Lonely Partition
    Jul 2 2026
    In this episode, we unravel the story of Cyril Radcliffe, the English lawyer who drew the borders of India and Pakistan in just five weeks. With no prior knowledge of South Asia, Radcliffe arrived in Delhi in July 1947 and was given maps, conflicting claims, and a deadline. We explore his isolation, his reliance on incomplete data, and how his ignorance shaped the Radcliffe Line. Luna asks why he never returned to India, and Lucas explains his guilt, his burned papers, and his silence. We also touch on the tragic irony: the man who split a subcontinent never saw the consequences. A story of haste, hubris, and human cost. #CyrilRadcliffe #Partition #RadcliffeLine #1947 #India #Pakistan #BoundaryCommission #Punjab #Bengal #Mountbatten #Jinnah #Nehru #Kashmir #Gurdaspur #History #FexingoHistory #SouthAsia #ColonialLegacy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 mins
  • Partition's Unmade Food: How a Nation Starved at Birth

    Partition's Unmade Food: How a Nation Starved at Birth
    Jul 1 2026
    In 1947, as millions crossed the new border between India and Pakistan, a silent crisis unfolded alongside the violence: food. This episode dives into the collapse of the Punjab grain surplus, the mad scramble for ration cards, and the refugee kitchens that fed millions. We follow the story of Bhai Mohan Singh Vaid, a little-known Sikh relief worker who ran a massive free kitchen in Amritsar, and the British food commissioner Sir John Thorne, who tried to avert famine with a doomed grain-sharing plan. Along the way, we uncover the forgotten role of the Gurudwara Langars, the communal kitchens that became the last resort for the displaced, and the bitter irony that Punjab—once the breadbasket of India—could not feed its own people. A story of scarcity, survival, and the quiet heroism of those who cooked when all else failed. #PartitionFoodCrisis #BhaiMohanSinghVaid #SirJohnThorne #PunjabGrainSurplus #RefugeeKitchens #Langar #Gurudwara #Amritsar #1947Famine #IndianPartition #FoodSecurity #Rationing #IndiaPakistan #SouthAsia #History #FexingoHistory #ForgottenStories #Humanitarianism Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • The Last Sikh Maharaja of Kapurthala: Partition's Forgotten Royalty

    The Last Sikh Maharaja of Kapurthala: Partition's Forgotten Royalty
    Jun 30 2026
    In 1947, as the Radcliffe Line carved up Punjab, the princely state of Kapurthala faced a unique dilemma. Its ruler, Maharaja Jagatjit Singh, a Francophile who built a palace inspired by Versailles, ruled a state with a Muslim-majority population but a Sikh royal family and a Hindu elite. Partition split Kapurthala's territory into two disconnected halves: the Phagwara and Sultanpur Lodhi tehsils went to India, while the rest became part of Pakistan. Jagatjit Singh, who had signed the Instrument of Accession to India, watched his state rent apart. This episode explores how Kapurthala's cosmopolitan court, its railway, and its Ahmadiyya Muslim community navigated the chaos, and how the maharaja's personal friendships with Jinnah and Nehru shaped his decisions. We also look at the untold story of Kapurthala's Sikh soldiers who protected Muslim refugees, and the forgotten 'Kapurthala Award' that redrew a border within a border. #Kapurthala #JagatjitSingh #PrincelyStates #PartitionOfIndia #Punjab #RadcliffeLine #SikhHistory #IndianRoyals #VersaillesOfPunjab #Ahmadiyya #Jinnah #Nehru #Phagwara #SultanpurLodhi #1947 #SouthAsia #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 mins
  • The Lion of Kashmir: Sheikh Abdullah's Partition Gambit

    The Lion of Kashmir: Sheikh Abdullah's Partition Gambit
    Jun 30 2026
    In August 1947, as India and Pakistan split along religious lines, one princely state held the fate of South Asia in the balance: Kashmir. This episode tells the story of Sheikh Abdullah, the charismatic Kashmiri leader who tried to carve a third path—an independent, secular Kashmir—before the guns of tribal raiders and the politics of partition forced his hand. We trace his journey from a young firebrand in Aligarh to the 'Lion of Kashmir,' his alliance with Maharaja Hari Singh, the National Conference's land reforms, and the secret deal with India that led to accession—and decades of conflict. Along the way, we uncover the lesser-known 1947 standoff in the Kashmir Valley, the role of the Gilgit Scouts, and how Abdullah's dream of 'Naya Kashmir' was shattered by the very borders he tried to escape. This is a story of a leader caught between empires, ideologies, and an impossible choice. #SheikhAbdullah #Kashmir #PartitionOfIndia #HariSingh #NationalConference #NayaKashmir #GilgitScouts #1947 #KashmirConflict #JammuAndKashmir #SouthAsiaHistory #PrincelyStates #Accession #TribalInvasion #LionOfKashmir #Plebiscite #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 mins