Author · Storyteller · Broadcaster · Former Diplomat
Amish Tripathi
Amish Tripathi has been called “India’s Tolkien” by the BBC. In sixteen years he has written thirteen books, sold more than eight million copies, hosted five television documentaries, launched a podcast that reached a hundred thousand subscribers in five months, and served four years as a diplomat in London. Underneath all of it is one project: to take the ideas of an ancient civilisation seriously, and to tell them as stories that a modern reader cannot put down.
At a glance
- Born
- 18 October 1974, Mumbai
- Education
- St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai; Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- Before writing
- Fourteen years in financial services (Standard Chartered, DBS, IDBI Federal Life Insurance)
- First book
- The Immortals of Meluha, 2010
- Books
- 13 — fiction, non-fiction and children’s
- Copies sold
- Over 8 million
- Languages
- 21 Indian and international languages
- Public role
- Minister (Culture & Education), High Commission of India, UK, and Director, The Nehru Centre, London (2019–2023)
- Broadcasting
- Five documentaries with Warner Bros. Discovery and NDTV; host of the Immortal India podcast
Chapter 1
The Author
Amish published his first novel in 2010 after more than twenty publishers turned it down. The Immortals of Meluha — Shiva as a Tibetan immigrant hailed as a saviour — sold so quickly that the Shiva Trilogy became the fastest-selling series in Indian publishing history. The Ram Chandra Series followed, retelling the Ramayana from three points of view, and became the second-fastest.
Since then the work has widened rather than repeated itself: the Indic Chronicles turn to historical fiction and the invasions of the eleventh century; Immortal India, Dharma and Idols argue in essay and dialogue what the novels dramatise; and in 2026 Dhruv-Tara opened a seven-book series for children. Critics have described the books as backed by tremendous research, deep thought, a rooted pride in India and a liberal, progressive outlook.
Chapter 2
The Storyteller
Amish’s method is to treat myth as history remembered imperfectly, and history as myth in the making. His gods are people first — flawed, funny, uncertain — whose divinity is earned through choices. His villains are given reasons. His heroines carry swords and run states.
The result reads like a thriller and lingers like philosophy. Underneath the pace is a consistent set of questions: what is dharma when the rules run out; when does good become evil; what does a civilisation owe its past. He writes, as he has said, to make a new generation curious about ideas they were taught to find boring.
Chapter 3
The Broadcaster
Amish made his debut as a documentary host in April 2022 with Legends of the Ramayana with Amish on discovery+, the platform’s most-watched programme of that year. The same year he co-hosted The Journey of India with Amitabh Bachchan for Warner Bros. Discovery, presenting the episode on faith.
In January 2024 he hosted, conceptualised and co-produced Ram Janmabhoomi: Return of a Splendid Sun with Dilip Piramal for NDTV and JioCinema — the most-watched Indian documentary of the year. Mahakumbh Tales with Amish Tripathi (NDTV) and Legends of Shiva with Amish (Warner Bros. Discovery) followed in 2025. His podcast, Immortal India with Amish, launched in September 2024 and passed 100,000 subscribers within five months.
On location
Behind the scenes of the documentaries — from the ruins of Hampi to the ghats of Ayodhya.
On set of Ram Janmabhoomi: Return of a Splendid Sun 
Filming Ram Janmabhoomi: Return of a Splendid Sun 
In conversation during the Ram Janmabhoomi documentary 
Behind the scenes, Ram Janmabhoomi documentary 
Behind the scenes, Ram Janmabhoomi documentary 
Behind the scenes, Ram Janmabhoomi documentary 
On location for Legends of the Ramayana with Amish 
Among ancient ruins during filming 
Filming by the sea 
On location at a stepwell 
On location during filming 
On location on the coast
Chapter 4
Public Life & Cultural Work
From October 2019 to October 2023 Amish served as Minister (Culture & Education) at the High Commission of India in the United Kingdom and as Director of The Nehru Centre in London — a role within India’s Ministry of External Affairs. He led a programme of book launches, talks, panels, music and dance that reconnected the diaspora with its roots and introduced British audiences to Indian culture; when the pandemic closed the building, the Centre took its entire programme online and multiplied its reach.
He speaks regularly at literature festivals, universities and global forums, putting forward an Indian perspective on culture and civilisation. In 2014 he was selected as an Eisenhower Fellow, and in January 2026 the University of York conferred on him an honorary doctorate.
Cultural diplomacy, London 2019–2023
Four years at The Nehru Centre and the Indian High Commission: book launches, panels, music and dance, and conversations that took India’s culture to new audiences.
With former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, Lord Meghnad Desai and Lord Jeffrey Archer 
With Narotam Sekhsaria, founder of Gujarat Ambuja 
With Sajid Javid, former UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care 
With bestselling author Lord Jeffrey Archer 
Speaking at an event for the British Asian Trust 
At the BAPS Swaminarayan temple, Neasden, with Manoj Ladwa and trustees of the temple 
With author and philanthropist Sudha Murty 
With Pawan Munjal, CEO of Hero MotoCorp, at the India Global Forum 
Speaking at John Lyon School, Harrow 
With Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej 
With Tony Fadell, co-creator of the iPod and iPhone 
With Deepak Chopra
The journey
A career in chapters, not a CV.
- 1974Early life
Born in Mumbai
Amish Tripathi is born on 18 October 1974 in Mumbai.
- 1974
- 1997Early life
IIM Calcutta
Graduates from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, after St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Fourteen years in financial services follow, in senior roles at Standard Chartered, DBS and IDBI Federal.
- 1997
- March 2010Writing
The Immortals of Meluha
A debut rejected by more than twenty publishers becomes a phenomenon and the first book of the fastest-selling series in Indian publishing history.
- 2011Writing
The Secret of the Nagas
The second book of the Shiva Trilogy.
- 2013Writing
The Oath of the Vayuputras
The trilogy concludes. Amish leaves banking to write full time.
- 2014Recognition
Eisenhower Fellow
Selected for the Eisenhower Fellowships programme for outstanding leaders from around the world.
- 2015Writing
Ram: Scion of Ikshvaku
The Ram Chandra Series begins; it goes on to win the Raymond Crossword Book Award for Popular Fiction.
- 2017Writing
Sita: Warrior of Mithila and Immortal India
The second Ram Chandra novel and Amish’s first non-fiction collection are published the same year. IIM Calcutta confers its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
- 2019Writing
Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta
The third Ram Chandra novel.
- October 2019Public life
Minister (Culture & Education), High Commission of India, London
Appointed Director of The Nehru Centre and Minister (Culture & Education) at the Indian High Commission to the UK — a role he holds until October 2023.
- March 2010
- 2020Writing
Legend of Suheldev and Dharma
The Indic Chronicles begin with Suheldev; Dharma, written with Bhavna Roy, opens the epics’ philosophy to a general readership.
- April 2022Broadcasting
Legends of the Ramayana with Amish
Debut as a documentary host on discovery+, the platform’s most-watched programme of the year; co-hosts The Journey of India with Amitabh Bachchan. War of Lanka completes the Ram Chandra Series.
- 2023Writing
Idols
With Bhavna Roy, a companion volume to Dharma on why the worship of images endures.
- January 2024Broadcasting
Ram Janmabhoomi: Return of a Splendid Sun
Hosts, conceptualises and co-produces the most-watched Indian documentary of the year; launches the Immortal India podcast, which passes 100,000 subscribers within five months. Receives the Dwarka Prasad Agarwal Award at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
- June 2024Ventures
IGF Archer–Amish Award for Literature
With Jeffrey Archer, institutes an annual award for Indian fiction at the India Global Forum, carrying a US$25,000 prize.
- 2025Writing
The Chola Tigers
The second Indic Chronicle, published by HarperCollins India. On screen: Mahakumbh Tales (NDTV) and Legends of Shiva (Warner Bros. Discovery).
- July 2025Ventures
Global representation
Signs with Artist International Group, the Los Angeles-based management company, to take his stories to international film, television and games audiences.
- 2026Ventures
Age of Bhaarat
Co-founder and co-creator, with Tara Gaming and Amitabh Bachchan, of Age of Bhaarat — planned as the first AAA video game based on an Indian epic.
- January 2026Recognition
Honorary Doctorate, University of York
Receives an honorary Doctor of the University degree in the United Kingdom.
- May 2026Broadcasting
Infinite India — The Bharatiya Way
Hosts a new programme on DD News exploring Indian history and civilisation from an Indian point of view; Collective Artists Network launches an AI avatar of Amish for a short-form “Epic Stories” slate on history, legend and philosophy.
- July 2026Writing
Dhruv-Tara & The Great Indian History Quiz
Amish’s first children’s book, the first of a planned seven, is published by Westland.
- 2020
Recognition
Awards & honours
- Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of the University, honoris causa)University of York, United Kingdom
- Best Factual Presenter — IndiaAsian Academy Creative Awards
- Dwarka Prasad Agarwal AwardJaipur Literature Festival
- Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagruti Popular Writer AwardAaj Tak
- Golden Book Award — Legend of SuheldevGolden Book Awards
- 21st Century Icon Award21st Century Icon Awards, London
- Leaders of the Decade in CultureWomen Economic Forum
- Listed among the Top 50 Most Powerful People in IndiaIndia Today
- Honorary Doctorate for outstanding contribution to Art & LiteratureJharkhand Rai University
- Hello! Hall of Fame Award for Literary ExcellenceHello! magazine
- Listed among the 100 Most Influential Celebrities in India (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)Forbes India
- Ustad Bismillah Khan Award for contribution to Indian culture
- Kalinga International Literary AwardKalinga Literary Festival
- Jashn-e-Youngistan AwardJashn-e-Youngistan
- Distinguished Alumnus AwardIIM Calcutta
- Icon of the Year Award
- Dainik Bhaskar Literature AwardDainik Bhaskar
- Raymond Crossword Book Award (Popular Fiction) — Scion of IkshvakuCrossword Book Awards
- Pride of India Award (Literature)Pride of India
- Eisenhower FellowEisenhower Fellowships, USA
Ideas
Philosophy & Ideas
A few ideas recur across everything Amish writes and says. That India is the only pre-Bronze Age culture still alive, and that this is worth understanding rather than merely celebrating. That dharma is not a rulebook but a question asked freshly in every situation. That the opposite of love is not hate but apathy. That a civilisation which forgets its heroes will be taught someone else’s.
He is liberal in temperament and rooted in tradition, and sees no contradiction in that — the epics, in his reading, were always arguments rather than orders.
Questions people ask
Quick answers
- Who is Amish Tripathi?
- Amish Tripathi (born 18 October 1974, Mumbai) is an Indian author, broadcaster and former diplomat. He is known for the Shiva Trilogy and the Ram Chandra Series, has written 13 books that have sold over 8 million copies in 21 languages, hosted five television documentaries, and served as Minister (Culture & Education) at the Indian High Commission in London from 2019 to 2023.
- Which books has Amish written?
- The Shiva Trilogy (The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas, The Oath of the Vayuputras); the Ram Chandra Series (Ram: Scion of Ikshvaku; Sita: Warrior of Mithila; Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta; War of Lanka); the Indic Chronicles (Legend of Suheldev; The Chola Tigers); the non-fiction titles Immortal India, Dharma and Idols (the last two with Bhavna Roy); and the children’s book Dhruv-Tara & The Great Indian History Quiz.
- In what order should I read the books?
- Start with The Immortals of Meluha and read the Shiva Trilogy in order. The Ram Chandra Series can be read next (Ram, Sita, Raavan, then War of Lanka); its first three books run in parallel and can be read in any order before War of Lanka. The Indic Chronicles and the non-fiction books stand alone.
- What is the Shiva Trilogy about?
- It reimagines Shiva as a Tibetan immigrant in the ancient empire of Meluha who is hailed as the prophesied Neelkanth and must decide what evil truly is. Published 2010–2013, it is the fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history.
- Which documentaries has Amish hosted?
- Legends of the Ramayana with Amish (discovery+, 2022); The Journey of India (Warner Bros. Discovery, 2022, with Amitabh Bachchan); Ram Janmabhoomi: Return of a Splendid Sun (NDTV/JioCinema, 2024, which he also conceptualised and co-produced); Mahakumbh Tales with Amish Tripathi (NDTV, 2025); and Legends of Shiva with Amish (Warner Bros. Discovery, 2025).
- Was Amish a diplomat?
- Yes. From October 2019 to October 2023 he was Minister (Culture & Education) at the High Commission of India in the United Kingdom and Director of The Nehru Centre, London.
- What is Amish working on now?
- The Dhruv-Tara children’s series (seven books planned; the first published in July 2026), the Immortal India podcast, essays on Substack, and Age of Bhaarat, a video game based on an Indian epic co-created with Tara Gaming and Amitabh Bachchan.
Journalists: the Press & Media centre has official biographies and approved photography.