"The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World" by William Dalrymple explores the profound impact of ancient India on global civilization. The book highlights India's contributions to art, science, religion, philosophy, mathematics, and culture, demonstrating how the Indian subcontinent influenced and shaped the ancient world across vast distances.
Dalrymple works into his text the lives of key individuals—Xuanzang, Wu Zetian, Mahendravarman Pallava, Khalid ibn Barmak, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II among them—who were instrumental in the spread of Indian knowledge.
Dalrymple begins with a stirring account of the discovery (in April 1819) of the caves of Ajanta near Aurangabad, and uses this to pole-vault into a discussion on the origins and development of Buddhism in India with 'The Gale of Stillness'. He ties this into some factors that led to the spread of Buddhism outside India: the travels of Buddhist traders, for instance, and the proselytization by monks. This story of Buddhism as an export comes into its own later in the book, when Dalrymple discusses the close connections between ancient China and India as a result of Buddhism: the life and times of the famous Xuanzang, who travelled, a fugitive from Tang China to Nalanda to study at the university; and Xuanzang’s later patroness, the ambitious Empress Wu Zetian, whose work to propagate Buddhism was a major factor in its spread in China. in 4th chapter The Sea of Jewels: Exploring the Great Library of Nalanda cover, followed by the Fifth Concubine on Wu Zetian, a fifth-grade concubine in the Chinese royal harem in the 7th century who rose to become China's only empress.
India: 'The sink of the World's Most precious metals' - Cover how Thomas brought Christianity to India
The Great King, King of Kings, Son of God speaks about connection with Rome and Ceaser
Woven in, too, are descriptions of the trade with Europe: with the Greeks, and with the Roman Empire, importing everything from ‘Indian ivory mirrors, boxes and carved furniture’, to wild animals, spices, and pepper: expensive luxuries that drained (according to Pliny) the Empire of ‘at least fifty-five million sesterces’ a year. India and its goods were all the crack in Rome, and in the areas dotting the sea route between India and the Mediterranean.
Caligula’s consort Lollia Paulina, for example, wore forty million sesterces’ worth of Indian emeralds and pearls, and carried around the receipts to prove it
With the collapse of the Roman Empire, this trade declined, but Dalrymple explains how, in the meantime, India’s links with South-East Asia strengthened, both through flourishing trade networks as well as through the dissemination of Hinduism. This, combined with the impact of Indian influences on art, language, architecture, etc, created an Indosphere that is palpable even to this day.
Then there are chapters titled The Diaspora of the Gods, In the lands of God, 'He who is protected by the Sun, 'The Treasury of the Books of Wisdom'.
Among the most interesting, and far-reaching, effects of India on the world, however, is what Dalrymple ends the book with 'Fruits of the Science of Numbers': the gift of mathematics, and of its related field of astronomy. How zero made its way West, how Indians were once acclaimed far and wide as the best mathematicians around, and how, in essence, India’s contribution to accountancy helped facilitate commerce in Europe.
Dalrymple examines how Indian ideas, technologies, and cultural practices spread across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe through trade, migration, and conquest.
The book traces the routes of cultural diffusion, such as the spread of Buddhism to East Asia and Hindu influences on Southeast Asia; discusses India's role as the birthplace of major world religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and how these ideas transformed societies far from their origin and celebrates the artistic and architectural achievements of ancient India, showcasing their influence on other cultures.
Dalrymple combines historical analysis with storytelling, using vivid descriptions and historical anecdotes to make the material accessible and engaging. He draws on extensive research, archaeological findings, and his deep understanding of South Asia to provide a nuanced view of India's global legacy.
If you’re interested in history, culture, and the interconnectedness of ancient civilizations, this book offers a fascinating perspective on how India shaped the broader world.
As Harish say:
"Over the centuries many of the merchants who pulled in to take in water and food supplies carved their names into the walls and stalagmites of the caves in a variety of languages: Persian, Palmyrene Aramaic, Ethiopic Aksumite, Arabian and Nabatean. But most of the graffiti has been left by Indians"
How typical! I'm now convinced our habits date back centuries....
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