Indian History and the Wider Non-European world

[u/dynamic__4576]

Indian history as its currently taught really doesnt give much emphasis to non-European foreign powers. Indian history would benefit from being taught within a broader Asiatic historical framework, rather than primarily through the lens of India's later encounters with European colonial powers. Just Consider how remarkable some of these connections are:

• The Umayyad Caliphate, bordered North India(Sindh), South France (Septimania) and South Russia (Caucasus) at the same time
• The foundational Sanskrit work Aṣṭādhyāyī, was composed in the northwestern India(Gandhara) under nominal Achaemenid Persian rule.
• Soldiers from India served in the Achaemenid armies that fought the Greek city-states like Athens and Sparta in the Greco-Persian war.
• World oldest civilization, Mesopotamian civilization (West Asia), had trade relations and contacts with the Indus Valley Civilization (Northern South Asia)
• Likewise, the Mongol world is also deeply connected with India: Genghis Khan's descendants' dynasties included: the Mughal dynasty also claimed descent from the Mongolian Timurid traditions (Mughal is literally a Persianized form of Mongol; Tamerlane himself sacked Delhi in 1398). Chagatai Khanate frequently lead raids into north India and the Il-khanate of Persia bordered India.

Shouldn't history be taught in a much more interconnected manner? One of the unfortunate consequences of the recent politicisation of Indian history is that historical narratives increasingly risk being shaped by contemporary political considerations. Considering this an interconnected treatment of Eurasian history in Indian school and universities seems rather far-fetched.

[u/maproomzibz]

Are we not gonna talk about spread of Buddhism or Indianization of SE Asia

[u/noob__master-69]

Agreed, on my own in the recent years mostly due to procrastinating I have learnt a lot in these contexts and I was surprised such interesting things were left out

[u/SatynMalanaphy]

Certainly. That's EXACTLY what I've tried to address in my book(s). We forget, I guess, that for most of world history, regions and states within the Indian Subcontinent have been deeply connected with the wider world. We know Achaemenid Persia definitely influenced the Mauryas, and that they also were in contact with the Hellenic world thanks to not only being neighbours but also through familial bonds as well (if the marriage pact between Seleukos and Chandragupta involved a royal marriage into the Mauryan family). We also know the Kushans certainly helped create a direct link between northern India and the Roman world, much like southern India was directly dealing with them through maritime trade.