Book
The Golden Road
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The Golden Road argues that ancient India was a major intellectual, religious and commercial centre whose influence spread across Eurasia. Dalrymple follows the movement of Buddhism, Sanskrit literature, artistic forms, scientific knowledge and the Indian numeral system through merchants, monks, pilgrims and scholars.
The book ranges from the ancient Mediterranean and Central Asia to Tang China and the early Islamic world. By focusing on networks of exchange rather than conquest alone, it presents India as an active source of ideas and institutions that were translated, adapted and embedded in societies far beyond the subcontinent.