All starts from India?

The Golden Road - How Ancient India Transformed the World (2024)

Author: William Dalrymple

The author is quite unapologetic that his book would sound like an episode from the famous British desi sitcom, 'Goodness Gracious Me'. In fact, Sanjay Bhaskar, the main character in the above sitcom, was the invited guest to launch Dalrymple's latest book on Indian history.

This book is a joy to read. Packed with information from cover to cover, extensive research must have been conducted into the world of the Indosphere before waves of invaders destroyed it and rewrote its history.

Its cultural influence spread beyond its borders. Indian advanced navigational skills, using the seasonal monsoon winds to bring goods, knowledge, and culture to adjacent regions, were assets for mankind. India was a big brother figure to the Southeast Asian region, as far as the present Indochina region and even to China.

As early as the first century CE, the trade imbalance was so great, favouring India. A third of India's business was with the Romans. They traded pearls, gold, spices, diamonds, incense, eunuch slaves, ivory, perfumes, and even exotic animals like elephants and tigers. Imagine the sheer size of Indian ships that could carry elephants. Proof of these was found in the drawings in the Ajunta Caves. The Buddhists, contrary to the austere life that Buddhists are assumed to be living, encouraged trade and mercantilism. A Roman Emperor in the 1st century was reported to be incensed with his subjects' fixation with Indian spices (which he found distasteful) and almost transparent Indian cloth (that left nothing to the imagination). The image of Buddha in the Kushan Era had Greeco-Roman features.

It is said that British hunters' discovery of the Ajuntha Caves led to the discovery of India's long-forgotten tryst with Buddhism. Ironically, Buddhist monks have been found as far as Libya (sent by Asoka) and Alexandria. The Buddhists, it is said, had an influence on the Christian monastic movements.

It is perplexing that India was looked upon even by the Chinese as a cultured region. Its scholars endured treacherous land journeys to acquire knowledge from renowned universities like Nalanda and Taxila to learn and translate Buddhist scriptures. Sanskrit was viewed as the language of the elite. Travelogues of Xuanzang's 16-year journey against the restrictions imposed by the Sui Dynasty returns tells about a well-developed India with high intellect and culture. Buddhism was no longer popular in India and had moved eastwards.

There was a well-coordinated shipping line from the Bay of Bengal throughout the Straits of Malacca to Indonesia and China. Indonesia was a Sanskrit centre where scholars stopped over to master the language before going off to India. Buddhism soon competed with Confucianism and Taoism as the state's official way of life. The first female Empress of China, Wu Zetian, was instrumental in building innumerable Buddhist shrines in Loyang, China, in the third century CE. This colourful figure ruled for over 50 years. Many sculptures, scholars and astronomers from India were invited to set up offices in China.

By the 7th century CE, the likes of Brahmagupta and Aryabatta brought mathematics and astronomy to a different level. India's competence in architecture and science and its Ayurveda made it the most advanced country in the world at that time. Ujjain, in central India, had a space observatory centre then. They had advanced ideas of keeping time, the meridian, and shipping. 

Sailing sailors from Southern India mastered shipbuilding and navigational techniques. Their seamen brought Indian culture, influence, and civilisation to faraway lands like Indonesia, Cambodia, and beyond. Testimonies of Indian expertise are seen in many mammoth temples there—Angkor Wat, Borobudur, etc.

Observatory in Ujjain,

built by Maharaja Jai Singh II, 1725

When the Muslim invaders started attacking the northern part of India, the wealth of knowledge found here also fascinated Muslim scholars. An influential Buddhist family from northern Afghanistan, the Barmakids, are credited with bringing Hindu knowledge to the Abbasid Empire. They converted to Islam and helped to build the city of Baghdad. The Barmakids' descendants became important advisors to the rulers, but one fell out of favour with Harun al Rashid, and their legacy ended there. 

After falling out of favour of things from India, the Abbasids had sourced knowledge from Greek scriptures. 

Andalusia was a vital region which showcased the golden age of Islamic civilisation. With its serene gardens irrigated with advanced water pumps, it was heaven on Earth. In 1085, the Christian King Alfonso VI conquered Toledo. King Alfonso's attack left the libraries undisturbed, unlike the Muslim and Mongol invaders who destroyed everything in sight. European scholars found the Indian knowledge there profound. The earlier translated Indian wisdom was translated again into Latin and made its way to Oxford. They were erroneously labelled Arabic numbers. Fibonacci, credited for the numbers (of his namesake), apparently learned it from these books. He picked up the wonder of numbers from Algeria. Of course, the discoverers of trigonometry, zero and negative numbers were Indians. 

The New India has woken to the awareness of its glorious past. After being a leading force for thousands of years, it is amazing how it had fallen off the pedestal. With new leaders who vow to return the nation to its past laurels, it is marching towards a new dawn.

(PS. When I was young, I was curious to see Roman coins being part of the ornaments adorning my Amma's thali chain. How did Roman symbols come to be part of Indian jewellery? When we learnt history in school, it was so fragmented and compartmentalized, and the two regions were different like night and day. Of course, there were huge trades between Tamil Nadu and the Roman Empire then. And possessing foreign goods must have been an item to flaunt around. Hence, the desire to thread it into the thali chain and inadvertently let it slip out  occasionally for full view of others to be jealous.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

A land of the holy...

Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (2009)

Author: William Dalrymple

This is a true travelogue—one in which the writer has all the time in the world to identify what he wants to write about and knows the best places to source his writing materials. Of course, being a historian, a prolific award-winning author, and a podcaster on the side helps.

This book is a nice, readable one that looks at some of the sacred practices in India. The writer's job is just to tell things as he sees fit. He respects the local culture and does not insert his elitist twang to belittle the traditions that have gone on for generations. That is the trouble with most anglophile travelogues. They give their condescendingly haughty views on the happenings on the ground. Foreigners and sometimes the English-speaking Western-educated local punks are guilty of this. For the record, Darylmpol was born in Scotland and now resides in Delhi. I guess he is one of the many Caucasians, like François Gautier, Mother Theresa and perhaps Annie Besant who received a calling to reside in India. In the days of the East India Company, James Mills would call this Brahmanisation of the superior European minds. In his syllabus for young officers who were to be posted in the Empire, John Mills told the recruits to beware of being charmed by the mystic of the East. Warren Hastings, who started off hating India, ended up singing praises of the superiority of the Indian culture and the Sanskrit language.

Digambara Nun

In the first description, 'The Nun's Tale', we see a young, intelligent lady with an excellent future paved in front of her, deciding to give it all up for a life of celibacy and sacrifice as a Jain nun in Sravanabelagola, Karnataka. The most extreme of the Jain ascetic monks are the Digambaras, the completely nude male monks who have reached a level of consciousness where there is a total lack of external appearance in exchange for inner beauty. This youthful nun went fully bald by plucking her every scalp hair follicle. As a Digambara nun @ Mataji, she lives on a rigorous diet that avoids anything that grows below the ground. By plucking these subterrestrial plants, the plants die. By harvesting rice or wheat, the plant does not die, so it is alright to consume these cereals and fruits. The monks and nuns cannot beg for their meals but instead eat what the general public gives them, preferably uncooked.

Another thing that came up is the concept of sallekhana, an act of embracing death by starvation. After performing his worldly duties when he thought it was time, Chandragupta Maurya withered away in this manner. Sallekhana is done voluntarily under the guidance of a guru and, the Jains emphasise, is not a form of suicide. Sravanabelagola is the very place where Chandragupta Maurya decided to end his life.

Theyyam dancer

In the following story, 'The Dancer of Kannur', the author spends time with a man who spends three months of a year as a Theyyam dancer. Theyyam is a religious ritual in Kerala. The dance gives the dancer so much purpose in life. His other jobs are as a jail warder and a well builder. None of the other jobs gives him as much satisfaction. Something that strikes him is that, as he is all dolled up in the outfit of Theyyam and goes in a trance, people look at him beyond his Dalit caste. At that time, he feels like a conduit to connect with the Divine. The concept of Theyyam (God in Sanskrit) is something that popped out of non-Brahminic places of worship. Since it has spread to become a local attraction, its practice continues. In a way, it empowers the Dalits to hold the mantle in worship. Theyyam worship transcends all religions and castes. The Theyyam performers can tell the worshipper's plight to God and the Dalits' to the world. The three months just whizzed through, and he did not realise what he had done throughout.

In 'The Daughters of Yellama', the author speaks to and learns about the plights of sex workers in Karnataka. He goes on to discover the concept of devadasis, when young girls are offered to serve in temples. What started as a noble intention to serve God, pre-pubescent girls were packed off to live in temples, akin to Nuns in a Catholic Church. Some took charge of the temple's upkeep, some helped out the Brahmin priests, and others danced to show their devotion to God. When the Portuguese came to India and saw the grand Chola temples with buxomly murals and statues lining the walls, their first impression was that these temple girls were courtesans, dancing girls or concubines. The erotic Sangam poems cemented their opinions. For information, the female statue that we frequently attribute to Mahinjo-daro is said to be that of a dancing girl.

Devadasi

Devadasi (servants of the Gods) were once held in high esteem as intermediaries between the general public and the ruling class. Now, they must resort to begging or entering the flesh trade for survival. They compare themselves to the Goddess Yellama. Yellama was Lord Parashurama's (Vishnu's 7th avatar) mother. Yellama's husband was a sage who delved deep into spiritual practice and practised celibacy. Once, when walking to fetch water from the river, Yellama saw a couple embraced in passionate lovemaking. After years of celibacy, she momentarily longed for intimacy. Her husband, Jamadagni, a powerful sage, knew of this from his high level of spirituality. After much melodrama of the obedient Parasurama axing his mother and obtaining a boon to revive her, Yellama was sent off by her husband wandering in the wilderness. The devadasis compare themselves to Yellama (their patron goddess), pushed astray when not needed anymore.

In the next stop, the author takes us to the deserts of Rajasthan to tell us 'The Singer of Epics'. Here, we meet a singer of ancient epic poems. It has been his family tradition to sing a 600-year-old oral tradition of Pabuji, a protector deity that protects them from the elements of the harsh Rajasthani elements. The 4,000-line poem is committed to memory, and no one can continue the tradition. It is not merely a song; it is divinity. There were other such poems like 'The Epic of Dev Narayan'. There is a real risk that these poems will lose out to Bollywood songs.

'The Red Fairy' is about the activities in a Sufi shrine in Sindh. The Indian brand of Islam has spread to Southeast Asia. The Muslims I knew when I was growing up were quite accommodating of others and others' way of life. They had no qualms about having non-Muslims consult their holy men in their compound to seek blessings and obtain holy water for ailments from their holy men. One of the reasons for this was the spread of Sufism in India. The Sufis in India accepted mysticism as part of divinity and a legitimate way to reach divinity. In a way, it bridged the demarcation between Hinduism and Islam. Some even tried incorporating Lord Siva's tandava (cosmic dance) into Sufi's journey to divine bliss with music and poems.

Nadaraja

Slowly, the Iranians showed the world that the Muslims could stand alone. The Saudis, too, started sending their brand of radical Islam, Wahabbism, worldwide. In the end, we have ended up with a fire-brand intolerant form of Islam that wants to have sharia law the world over.

'The Monk's Tale' narrates a monk's dilemma when he had to pick up a rifle to protect his monastery in Tibet from the invading Chinese Red Army in the 1950s. He became one of the Tibetan refugees who became natives of Dharamsala. In a rather fateful turn of events, he was utilised by the Indian Army to fight Pakistan. Imagine a person who gave up his life for ahimsa having to kill a man.

The intricate art of murti making is described in 'The Maker of Idols'. In Swamimalai, Tamil Nadu, the forefathers of the Stpathys have been making murtis since the reign of the Chola dynasty. Bronze casting was perfected at the time of Rajaraja of the Chola Empire. Witnessing 'Valli Thirumanam' (Valli's wedding to Murugan), the author discusses the finer aspects of murti making, the worship of the Lord, Chola poetry and many more. The future of idol-making is in limbo as the descendants are keener to obtain tertiary education and keep their hands clean, away from this divine art form.

In 'The Lady Twilight,' the scene moves to a Calcutta temple notorious for Tantric practices and animal sacrifices. Followers there speak of getting the blessings of Ma Tara, the sometimes embracing matriarch and sometimes the ferocious protector, who empowers them to combat the toughness of daily life. Even though the learned and the communists scorn such beliefs, these very same people throng the temple to make animal sacrifices and gain blessings from the Goddess to succeed in their endeavours.

Lord Muruga @ Swamimalai

'The Song of the Blind Minstrel' talks about the several thousand saffron-clad wandering minstrels or Bauls found wandering about in the middle of January and gathering around near Shantiniketan, Tagore's famous home (and school). The author speaks of three singing holy men armed with a miniature cymbal, drum and a single-stringed musical instrument (ektara) with perfect voice to match, going around pulling a crowd with their captivating songs praising the divine. Each has a tale of how they ended up doing what they were doing. One was blind by smallpox and inflicted with a spell of bad luck. Another, born to a Brahmin priest, was ex-communicated for being too friendly with other castes. Much like a singing band, the trio travel from place to place, singing and spreading the words of a secular divine being. They mostly travel free, given Indian's reverence for holy men. Old Munk rum and ganja provide much-needed inspiration for their song and relief from life's hardship.

A good read and highly recommended. A template for how travelogues should be written.

(P.S. Many years ago, I asked my housemate, who had spent many years studying in India, for his honest opinion about India. His reply stayed with me, "If you want to learn humanity, go to India!")

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.