A visual history of India narrated through TV series

Rare archival material and footage have been used to bring alive history and narrate the story of the birth of independent India besides commemorating the nation's 69th Independence Day in a new TV special.
"India Emerges: A visual history" upcoming on Discovery Channel showcases the country's journey from being the jewel in an imperial crown to emerging as an independent nation.
The three-part series scheduled to air from August 14 - August 16, attempts to place viewers at the epicentre of the story of contemporary India and also marks 20 years of the Discovery Channel in the country.
The show spans the period of the British Raj in India, and winds its way through tumultuous decades of the freedom movement. It talks about the battles of 1948, 1965 and 1971, the regime of Indira Gandhi, the period of Emergency, and Operation Blue Star among others.

Exclusive footage is set to take viewers to the stroke of midnight and also along new borders where a devastating partition unfolds.
"It's a proud moment for us as we complete 20 glorious years in India. What further amplifies the excitement is we celebrate this day on the 69th year of our independence," says says Rahul Johri, EVP and GM South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.

"Marking this momentous occasion, we are happy to bring forth a programme that will narrate the stories of India and its emergence. The special line-up will revive the many memories of independence and unveil some of the intriguing facts of India's freedom," he says.

The first episode 'The Raj' narrates an era that predates the idea of India as a single entity, when a fractious political landscape was ripe for the colonial ambitions of European imperialists.
Through the 17th and 18th centuries, the film tracks the rising influence of the British East India Company, from purely mercantile to political, until finally in the 19th century, when the Queen Victoria officiated the transfer of power from 'Company to Crown'.