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India's Forgotten Legacy: How It Shaped the Ancient World
14 Oct
Summary
- India was a cultural superpower in ancient Asia
- Innovations like chess, zero, and heliocentric model originated in India
- Sanskrit served as Asia's scholarly language for over a millennium
According to historian William Dalrymple, ancient India was a cultural superpower that played a pivotal yet often overlooked role in shaping the ancient world. In his new book "The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World," Dalrymple argues that many groundbreaking innovations, including chess, the concept of zero, and the idea of the Earth revolving around the Sun, actually originated in India, not Greece or Egypt as commonly believed.
India was a crucial engine of trade and cultural transmission in the ancient world, spreading its influence largely through commerce and ideas rather than conquest. Between 200 BCE and 1200 AD, Sanskrit served as the scholarly language across Asia, much like Latin did in medieval Europe. Dalrymple notes that if you were a scholar or ambassador in 10th-century Java or 7th-century Afghanistan, you would have been speaking Sanskrit.
India's impact extended far beyond its borders, with Hindu and Buddhist imagery and philosophies enduring across Southeast Asia. From Indonesia's national airline Garuda to Cambodia's Angkor Wat and Java's Borobudur, the ancient Indian cultural legacy is still visible today. Dalrymple argues that over half the world's population currently lives in countries once shaped by Indian religions and ideas.
