India has long been considered a land of wonders in Russia. For example, in the 13th century, a translated “Tale of the Indian Kingdom” circulated in Rus'. It said that the mysterious land was inhabited by bird people, people with six arms and other fantastic creatures. Over time, superstitious ideas about a distant country became a thing of the past, facts, albeit no less surprising, took their place. And in many respects this happened thanks to Indologists.

How did they discover India for Russians? How did the formation of Indology in the academic humanities environment take place in the 19th century? And which of our scientists have contributed to world science? We will talk about this and more in the studio of the "BRICS: In the Mirror of Times" project with Natalya Emelyanova, Candidate of Political Science, Vice-Rector for Strategic Communications and Information Policy at the State Academic University of Humanities, Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophical and Political Oriental Thought at the Faculty of Philosophy and Head of the Master's Programme at the Faculty of Political Science of the State Academic University for the Humanities (GAUGN).

The joint TV BRICS and GAUGN project received grant support from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science under the federal project "Popularisation of Science and Technology".