Origins of Dowry in Bharat

This short-form explainer was created to trace the actual origins of the dowry system in India—an idea often misattributed to native Hindu culture. The starting point was a set of foreign travel accounts—Megasthenes, Al-Biruni—who explicitly mention the absence of dowry in ancient Indian society. From there, the research moved into 19th-century British legal reforms in India, especially the inheritance laws that made male heirs a necessity, reshaping societal behavior.

The script was structured to contrast these timelines and highlight how colonial legal structures shifted the material dynamics of inheritance and gender. Visual support was developed using minimal animation and quick transitions, keeping the tone tight and the pace brisk for a short attention-span audience.

Voiceover pacing, asset sourcing, graphic overlays, and final editing were all managed in-house. The content was built to be direct, referential, and self-contained—something that can circulate independently while sparking deeper interest in Indic civilizational history.