‘The Golden Road’ by William Dalrymple: An information-rich narration of knowledge in ancient India
Dalrymple’s book argues that ideas originating in India have influenced a wider swathe of the world around it, rewiring cultures and civilisations.
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In the year 773, a group of Brahmin astrologers from Ujjain arrived at the court of the Abbasid Empire (the third Caliphate of Islam) in the glittering Iraqi city of Baghdad. The visitors were carrying a rare manuscript called “The Great Sindhind”, a treatise on sciences, mathematics, astrology and astronomy composed in India. “It contains everything,” one Arab commentator wrote, “the Hindus had known about the spheres and stars.”
The manuscript was intended for the perusal of Khalid ibn Barmak, the illustrious chief vizier of the Abbasid court, who was remarkably fluent in Sanskrit. Barmakids, Khalid’s extended family, were originally from Afghanistan. They were the hereditary rectors at Naw Bahar, a large Buddhist monastery in Balkh that was also a great centre of learning. Barmakids were previously Buddhists and, giving in to the raiding parties of the Arab Umayyads, had converted to Islam.
On account of their passion for arts and sciences, Barmakids rose to become central figures in the caliphate. By the time the Umayyad state fell and Abbasids took over, the Barmakid scion commanded such an influential position that he would be assigned the responsibility for designing the architectural plan for Baghdad city, the new seat of an Islamic caliphate.
But what was the...
