THE GOLDEN ROAD

A historian argues for the vital impact of India on the ancient world.

In his latest book, the esteemed author of The Anarchy (2019) and other titles makes a case for the “centrality of the Indian subcontinent as one of the two ancient economic and cultural hubs of Asia.” Because the 19th-century concept of the “Silk Road”—the overland trade route from China to the Mediterranean—is so universally recognized, the influence of India, to the south, is often overlooked, says Dalrymple. The Scottish historian, who lives in India, posits that the “regularity and predictability of [Asian monsoon] winds…have allowed millennia of Indian sailors to raise their sails and propel themselves at speed across the oceans that surround them; then, when the winds reverse, safely back again.” With them, they brought pepper, spices, ivory, cotton, gems, teak, and sandalwood—all in great demand in the Roman Empire. The resulting trade vastly enriched Indian coffers, subsidizing artistic output. This “Golden Road” then ferried Indian religious beliefs and culture eastward to China and Southeast Asia, where the “spectacular” temple complexes of Borobudur in Java (Buddhist) and Angkor Wat in Cambodia (Hindu) are evidence of the “ever-widening Indosphere where ideas and forms and stories first dreamed up in South Asia were being discussed, appreciated, adopted and adapted very far from home.” Perhaps the most influential of all exports, according to the author, are mathematical concepts such as zero, fostered by thinkers like Aryabhata (476-550) and Brahmagupta (c. 598-c. 668), which made their way to the Arab world and then to Spain and the West. The ancient world, too, was a global village. Although the book is dense with far-flung names, dates, places, and ideas, Dalrymple’s writing is always animated, enlivened by color plates that allow readers to readily envision the sights evoked here.

A passionate tribute to the glories—and influence—of ancient India.