I've had the pleasure of reading "The Golden Road : How Ancient India Transformed the World" by William Dalrymple. In this tale of 'Indosphere', quoting from voluminous sources, (the Notes run for almost one third of the book), William Dalrymple weaves an intricate, rich tapestry of how ideas of Ancient India (c.250 BCE - 1200s CE) transformed the then known world; from the Castles of Europe to the temples of Kampuchea, through the palace intrigues of China & the entrepots of Ancient Rome. Knowledge systems and innovations like Mathematics, Sanskrit ("Language of Gods in the World of men", as noted by Prof.Sheldon Pollock), Buddhism, Chess, Architecture, Art etc marked the influence of 'Indosphere'.
The author proposes that this Golden Road is much more relevant than the so called Silk Road, a term coined by Baron Von Richtofen in 1870s. The influence of Indic ideas permeated through time and space. For instance, Buddhism took birth in Ancient India, but the World's largest Buddhist Monument is in South East Asia (Borobudar, Java), and it was able to compete with Confucianism and Daoism as State patronized religion in Ancient China, beginning with Tang dynasty. The World's largest Hindu Temple / Monument still standing is also located in South East Asia (Angkor Wat, Siam Rep Province, Kampuchea - attributed to Emperor Suryavarman II of Khmer). Indo-Arabic Numerals, introduced in the West quickly replaced Roman Numerals and were much simpler to master, ushering in a sort of mercantile revolution.
Apart from known and well read personalities of Huien Tsang, Brahmagupta, Kumarajeeva, etc, the sketch of the lesser known (atleast in India) personalities of Empress Wu Zetian of China (7th/8th centuries CE), Barmakids of Nav Bahar and Baghdad, the industrious irrigantion engineers of Khmer dynasty make for an interesting read.
"The Golden Road : How Ancient India Transformed the World" William Dalrymple is worth readable.
Maheeth Veluvali (Sonu)
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