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lorantffy 's review for:
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World
by William Dalrymple
informative
The Golden Road, William Dalrymple
Dalrymple’s newest book presents a compelling thesis. That from several centuries BC until at least the 12th century, the main communication between Asia and the West was via the maritime trade routes established by India. He marshals a huge amount of scattered evidence and information to support this revolutionary idea. The book itself, while substantial, is 30% notes and references, which underlines the thoroughness of his historical research and strengthens his argument. He shows convincingly that India was Rome’s most important trading partner-for spices, luxury goods, silk etc, accounting for as much as 30% of the Empire's customs revenue! As such it financed much of the Empire's infrastructure. India did this without conquest or war, but by the export of ideas and goods through trade. Dalrymple casts doubt on the idea of the Silk Road, which he shows is the fantasy of a late 19th century German historian, with little evidence for its actual existence during the period covered by this book.
India not only exported goods, but also ideas. The first was Buddhism, and with such success that the largest religious monument in the world-Angkor Wat, dwarfs the Vatican fourfold. It was refreshing to read about T’ang Dynasty Empress Wu Zetian, who made Buddhism one of China’s three state religions in the 7th century. In fact, as I look at so-called historical pages on social media I am appalled by how phallocentric they are. Roman Empire pages for example, contain nothing but praise of war, gladiators, etc. Run by guys, these pages just post guy-stuff. There’s nothing there to interest women or anyone else, though undoubtedly there was at the time and still is. Dalrymple’s book was so refreshing by contrast! It presents history through the lens of trade and ideas, not just war and conquest.
The final 3 chapters cover the invention of the numerical and calculation systems we use today. They, with the concept of zero and its use as a number, which underlies them, were developed in India, though they are called “Arabic numerals” since they were exported first to the Arab world and thence to Europe. They enabled complex mathematics and are in effect a universal language. This system was finally introduced in a practical form in Italy by the mathematician Fibonacci, with the sponsorship of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, aka the “Stupor Mundi” (The Wonder of the World), a title which he richly deserved and one of my favorite characters in history! There are many detailed reviews online. I can only say that as an Indian, it was really refreshing to finally see the great civilization of India given its due. I recommend The Golden Road highly-the book’s thesis will result in much discussion and an overhaul of the way we view this ancient world.