Ancient India's Imprints and Influences on the World

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Nitin Mehta, MBE, was born in Kisumu, Kenya. He speaks fluent Swahili, Gujarati, Hindi, and Punjabi. As soon as he was old enough to understand that, by heritage, he was Indian, he became fascinated with the land of his forefathers. At the age of eight, his parents took him to India. His impressions of India left a mark on him which continues to this day. When he moved to the UK at a young age Nitin delved deep into the philosophical and spiritual wisdom of India.

In this book Nitin presents a history of ancient India not known to many. Ancient India had its cultural, spiritual and civilisational impact on a huge part of the world. In the field of Science, Mathematics, Geography, Medicine, Astronomy, Politics, Architecture, Conflict Resolution, Peaceful coexistence as well as Philosophical and Spiritual values, India led the world. As a result of foreign invasions India's rich heritage was stifled and its legendary wealth plundered by the conquerors. History was rewritten by the occupiers. Sacred scriptures and manuscripts with priceless knowledge on almost every aspect of Human civilization were destroyed. This book traces Indian's influence in ancient times from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It will help people in India, especially the young generation and people all over the world to look at India in a new enlightened way. This book should be part of the school curriculum in India.

The secret of the immortality of the Indian civilization is Ahimsa or non-violence, towards all living beings, including animals and insects. It is the Ahimsa of the brave. It is about not harming or exploiting anyone, in any shape or form. It does not mean pacifism or not retaliating against aggression. Ahimsa is about peace and compassion. India is now on the cusp of becoming a world leader again and its values will guide an increasingly unstable and violent world. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in History when India will fulfil its responsibilities to mankind.

Throughout history, many nations and civilisations have been born, some of which have flourished and established their presence across large parts of the world. Inevitably, however, with the passing of time, they flounder and a new force emerges in a different part of the world, which reaches even more parts of the globe and establishes its hegemony. In some cases, the domination over other nations and races lasts for hundreds of years. Nonetheless, there is nothing permanent in this impermanent world. This is a core belief of Eastern religions. Unstoppable time ushers in new situations and circumstances that lead to the decay of the old and the creation of the new. Civilisations have appeared and disappeared without a trace. The Aztec, Roman, Greek, Mughal, British and many other empires have become a footnote in history.

The Indian civilisation - which is the oldest living civilisation, going back tens of thousands of years - has reached its zenith too, and it has impacted almost all the continents of the world. There is one crucial difference between the Indian empire and the other powerful empires throughout history: the latter conquered with the might of the sword, but India conquered through its ancient heritage, which had an immensely rich culture, an advanced knowledge of science and mathematics, and a mature, well-established political system. Non-violence and respect for indigenous cultures are the hallmarks of how India established its influence over many different races and cultures throughout the world. For many, India was the cradle of human civilisation.

India's downfall started with the invasion from Arabia in the 12th century, and continued through the rule of the Mughals - the Muslim dynasty of Turkic-Mongol origin who ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. Next came the Persian invasion under Nader Shah, who defeated the Mughals, and, ultimately, the invasion and rule of the British from the 18th century onwards for around 200 years. Crucially, though, unlike other civilisations, the Indian civilisation did not perish. The reason for its survival lies in the depth and strength of India's heritage.

This book takes the reader on a journey through ancient India's influences and imprints on the rest of the world. There have been many thinkers, philosophers, archaeologists, geographers and historians in the West who have spared no words in their praise of what India represented. However, these voices were drowned out as the mighty British Empire conquered a huge swathe of the globe.

One thing I have learnt from writing this book is that the things people do in the name of their country or religion or race and the extent to which people are motivated to kill hundreds of thousands of people in the name of an ideology is so unfortunate, not least because their own future generations will turn against what was so sacred to them. Almost 500 years ago, Ireland was a non-Christian country with its own set of beliefs and traditions. The advent of Christianity, its split between Protestants and Catholics, and the violence that has taken place between the factions would not be comprehensible to the pre-Christian generations. Similarly, tens of thousands of British youth turned against colonialism and slavery, which was something that was so important to their forefathers. With the arrival of the ideology of communism, tens of thousands of youth became iconoclasts, smashing statues of Buddha in China, who was such a revered figure for the forefathers of these youths. From the 1950s onwards, the ideological divide between capitalism and communism was so great that a nuclear war was a distinct possibility. For today's youth, this seems to be the most frivolous thing that could have been done, which would have killed tens of thousands of people in the name of an ideology. In an impermanent world, your own will turn against you!

The only solution is non-violence, which should justify the means to an end. This is not pacifism. Violence could be justified to defend the nation or your heritage, but only as a last resort.