He travels from the tropical backwaters of South India through lost ancient cities of the Indus Valley civilization in today's Pakistan to the vibrant landscapes of the Ganges plain.

Episode 3 describes how, after the bell rang and subsequent exploitation of the monsoon winds, trading of spices and gold with the ancient Romans and Greeks put the subcontinent at the heart of global commerce.

This episode also looks at how the invading Kushan empire from Central Asia, particularly the emperor Kanishka, established major trading cities in Peshawar and Mathura, as well as helping to take Buddhism to China.

I wanted to remind Western-centric audiences, who implicitly assume the superiority of Western modes of thought, that Tamil is one of 23 official Indian languages, with a literature comparable to any in the West.

Michael Wood visits Sufi shrines in Old Delhi, desert fortresses in Rajasthan and the cities of Lahore and Agra, where he offers a new theory on the design of the Taj Mahal.

Wood reveals how, in South India, a global corporation came to control much of the subcontinent, and explores the magical culture of Lucknow, discovering the enigmatic Briton who helped found the freedom movement.