"The Golden Road" demonstrates India's role in Civilization

 This book is quite different from what I learned during my school years in history and even a little bit since then.  The role of India was overlooked and more often credited to some other nation. 

 As the west subjugated the east we at first extracted as much wealth as we could.  As we progressed to modern times we realized much of the wealth was not material.  We also realized that the east has a long intertwined history. In many ways Asia for over a thousand years had a more advanced society than Europe.

The Monsoon winds were a key to developing trade routes.  For part of the year the wind blows to the east and for the other part it blows to the west.  Traveling by sea enabled traders to cover a greater distance and carry a bigger load.  Westerners soon developed a liking for spices, cloths, ivory, drugs and jewels.

Emperor Ashoka (ca 304-233 BC) was a most unusual ruler.  In his early days he expanded his empire, but at one point was overwhelmed with guilt feelings for all the deaths he had caused.  He listened to a commoner Buddhist and took it to heart.  In Bollywood he was portrayed by my favorite actor, Shah Rukh Khan.  He encouraged more people to convert, but did not use force.

Over the centuries India reverted to Hinduism while China with a lot of input from India became Buddhist including large sections of South East Asia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.  Empress Wu Zeitian started as a fifth concubine and with a combination of circumstances manoeuvred her way to being the first and only woman to be an empress in China.  Influenced by missionaries from India she fostered Buddhist scholarship and encouraged missionary activities that eventually reaped results in China.

A lot of mathematics many westerners credit Arabs for actually originated in India.  Zero opened up many doors.  Adding and subtracting using zero as an anchor gave more flexibility.  The zero actually led to decimal and infinite numbers.  Of note is that in part of Hinduism, destruction is as important as construction in understanding infinity.  The so called Arabic numbers were based on Indian symbols.  Even the beginnings of algebra can be traced to India.  The Fibonacci sequence is credited to an Italian, but the beginnings were again in India. Their mathematical contributions led to better book keeping and tracking astronomy.  Earth rotation was better understood long before Copernicus and Galileo.  Two names that stand out are:  Bramagupta (598-670) and Aryabhata (476-550).

Indians were also advancing on medicine.  They developed what is called Ayurveda.  They established hospitals in the Arab world that became models and expanded.  Many Indian medical documents were translated from Sanskrit on such concerns as poisons and how the heart works.

The largest religious structure in the world is Hindu, but not in India.  The design allows for astronomical measurements and Angkor Wat is located in Cambodia. Many interesting architecture is found in India including buildings carved in rock.  

Perhaps the most identifiable India legacy is chess, one of the most popular game in the world.

Most Canadians are given the European perspective on history.  The truth is cultures inter mingled and trade was an important element.  Ethiopia, Persia, Turkey, Arabs, Greeks and Romans all gathered ideas and information from each other.  Europe learned and improved.

I am always looking for personal connections and will confess I have been interested in India since my early youth and her is an explanation:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/08/gandhi-life-long-fascination.html

The author, brought up a relationship between King Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Jerusalem and Sicily withArabs.  Much of the knowledge the Arabs brought to Europe originated in India.  When in Palermo we were shown a UNESCO site of a church that had been built by Normans and Arabs.  A quote from King Frederick II that symbolizes some of what this book taught me "..the possession of knowledge is not weakened when shared with others, but made more fruitful and more enduring."