A review of the book 'The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World' written by William Dalrymple.
'The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World' reveals how Indian ideas transformed the world, crossing political borders to influence everything from the statues of Indian ascetics in Roman seaports to Buddhism in China, and the observatories of Baghdad to crucial mathematical concepts such as ‘zero’ ─ and even the very numbers we use to this day. Drawing from a lifetime of scholarship, award-winning historian William Dalrymple argues that India is one of the two great intellectual and philosophical superpowers of Asia.
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Coming up: A review of the book 'The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World' written by William Dalrymple.
Namaste Friends. My name is 'Shinil Subramanian Payamal' and you are listening to the Historylogy podcast.
Before I proceed, a full disclosure: This book was bought with my own money and not been provided to me by the author or publisher.
Little bit about the author:
William Dalrymple is one of Britain’s great historians and the bestselling author of the Wolfson Prize-winning White Mughals, The Last Mughal, which won the Duff Cooper Prize, and the Hemingway and Kapuściński Prize-winning Return of a King.
A frequent broadcaster, he has written and presented three television series, one of which won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary Series at BAFTA. He has also won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award, the Foreign Correspondent of the Year at the FPA Media Awards, and been awarded five honorary doctorates.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and has held visiting fellowships at Princeton and Brown. He writes regularly for the New York Review of Books, the New Yorker and the Guardian. In 2018 he was presented with the prestigious President’s Medal by the British Academy for his outstanding literary achievement and for co-founding the Jaipur Literature Festival. He is the co-host of the chart-topping podcast Empire with Anita Anand. William lives with his wife and three children on a farm outside Delhi.
Let me read a brief description of the book:
QUOTE
India is the forgotten heart of the ancient world.
In the millennium and a half from c. 250 BC to 1200 AD, Indian art, religion, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics and mythology blazed a trail across the world ─ a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific.
Like ancient Greece, ancient India came up with a set of profound answers to the big questions about what the world is, how it operates, why we are here and how we should live our lives. Today, over half the world’s population lives in areas where Indian religions and culture are, or once were, dominant.
The Golden Road reveals how Indian ideas transformed the world, crossing political borders to influence everything from the statues of Indian ascetics in Roman seaports to Buddhism in China, and the observatories of Baghdad to crucial mathematical concepts such as ‘zero’ ─ and even the very numbers we use to this day. Drawing from a lifetime of scholarship, award-winning historian William Dalrymple argues that India is one of the two great intellectual and philosophical superpowers of Asia.
UNQUOTE
One of the strengths of Dalrymple's narrative is his ability to blend history with engaging storytelling. He brings to life the vibrant world of ancient India, filled with complex characters and dramatic events. His detailed descriptions and well-researched anecdotes paint a vivid picture of India's role in shaping the ancient world, making the book not only informative but also deeply engaging.
Dalrymple’s examination of the Indian Ocean trade networks and the cultural exchanges that occurred along them is particularly fascinating, shedding light on how these interactions influenced global history. He meticulously details how Indian concepts seeded in the Indosphere — a term he uses to describe the cultural sphere influenced by India — have shaped contemporary civilizations.
The book challenges the Eurocentric narrative that often sidelines the achievements of other regions, presenting India as not just a passive recipient of foreign influence, but an active participant in shaping the course of history.
Dalrymple's writing is, as always, rich with vivid descriptions and a deep understanding of the lands and peoples he writes about. His exploration of the diverse and complex cultural exchanges along these ancient trade routes is both accessible and thought-provoking, making the book an excellent read for history enthusiasts and general readers alike.
However, the book at times does feel like a "laundry list" of India's contributions without the personal touch or storytelling flair that Dalrymple's previous works are known for. One book that instantly comes to my mind is the author's brilliantly written third book, ‘From The Holy Mountain: A Journey In The Shadow Of Byzantium.’
Conclusion:
Overall, "The Golden Road" is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of cultural exchange, the spread of Indian thought, or the broader narrative of how civilizations interact and evolve. It's a testament to Dalrymple's scholarship and his ability to weave a compelling argument from the threads of ancient history.
I give this book 4.25/5.
I would like to make a special mention of the high production value of the book. It has 48 beautiful colour plates showing historical places and figures like Chinese monks who visited India through the ages, the university of Nalanda, Adi Varaha cave in Mamallapuram, Borobudur in Indonesia, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Ajanta Caves near Sambhaji Nagar, Bhaja Caves near Pune, rock-cut caves in Western China, etc… Apart from this, there are almost 100 pages of ‘Notes’ and over 50 pages of ‘Bibliography.’
The book is available in Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle and Audible formats. I have given the respective buy links in the show notes. Please check them out for the latest prices.
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