The Wonder That Was India
—A L Basham
The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent Before the Coming of the Muslims, is a book on Indian history written by Arthur Llewellyn Basham and first published in 1954.
The book was aimed at a western audience. Basham, in the book, has attempted to correct the negative stereotypes of India created by authors like James Mill, Thomas Babington Macaulay and Vincent Arthur Smith.
The Wonder That Was India(an excerpt)
Hindu civilization will, we believe, retain its continuity. The Bhagavad Gita will always inspire men of action, and the Upanishads men of thought. The charm and graciousness of the Indian way of life will continue, however much affected it may be by the labour- saving devices of the West People will still love the tales of the heroes of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and of the loves of Dusyanta and Sakuntala and Pururavas and Urvasi. The quiet and gentle happiness which has at all times pervaded Indian life where oppression, disease and poverty have not overclouded it will surely not vanish before the more hectic ways of the West.
Much that was useless in ancient Indian culture has already perished. The extravagant and barbarous hecatombs of the Vedic age have long since been forgotten, though animal sacrifice continues in some sects. Widows have long ceased to be burnt on their husbands' pyres (Sati System). Girls may not by law be married in childhood (Child Marriage). In buses and trains all over India brahmans rub shoulders with the lower castes without consciousness of grave pollution, and the temples are open to all by law (Untouchability). Caste is vanishing; the process began long ago, but its pace is now so rapid that the more objectionable features of caste may have disappeared within a generation or so. The old family system is adapting itself to present day conditions. In fact, the whole face of India altering, but the cultural tradition continues, and it will never be lost.
The whole of South-East Asia received most of its culture from India. Early in the 5th century B.C. colonists from Western India settled in Ceylon, which was finally converted to Buddhism in the reign of Ashoka. By this time a few Indian merchants had probably found their way to Malaya, Sumatra, and other parts of South-East Asia. Gradually they established permanent settlements, often, no doubt, marrying native women. They were followed by brahmans and Buddhist monks, and Indian influence gradually leavened the indigenous culture, until by the 4th century A.D. Sanskrit was the official language of the region, and there arose great civilizations, capable of organizing large maritime empires, and of building such wonderful memorials as their greatness as the Buddhist stupa of Borobudur in Java, or the Saivite temples of Angkor in Cambodia. Other cultural influences, from China and the Islamic world, were felt in South-East Asia, but the primary impetus to civilization came from India.
Indian historians, proud of their country's past, often refer to this region as "Greater India"(South East Asia), and speak of Indian "colonies". Indian Colonies were not like British colonies, they were peaceful. Except Vijaya, the legendary Aryan conqueror of Ceylon, is said to have gained the island by the sword, but beyond this we have no real evidence of any permanent Indian conquest outside the bounds of India. The Indian "colonies" were peaceful ones, and the Indianized kings of the region were indigenous chieftains who had learnt what India had to teach them.
Northwards Indian cultural influence spread through Central Asia to China. There was weak contact between China and India was probably made in Mauryan times, if not before, but only when, some 2,000 years ago, the Han Empire began to drive its frontiers towards the Caspian did India and China really meet. Unlike South-East Asia, China did not assimilate Indian ideas in every aspect of her culture, but the whole of the Far East is in India's debt for Buddhism, which helped to mould the distinctive civilizations of China, Korea, Japan and Tibet.
As well as her special gifts to Asia, India has conferred many practical blessings on the world at large; notably rice, cotton, the sugarcane, many spices, the domestic fowl, the game of chess and most important of all, the decimal system of numeral notation, the invention of an unknown Indian mathematician early in the Christian era. The extent of the spiritual influence of India on the ancient West is much disputed. The heterodox Jewish sect of the Essenes, which probably influenced early Christianity, followed monastic practices in some respects similar to those of Buddhism. Parallels may be traced between a few passages in the New Testament and the Pali scriptures. Similarities between the teachings of western philosophers and mystics from Pythagoras to Plotinus and those of the Upanisads have frequently been noticed. None of these similarities, however, is close enough to give certainty, especially as we have no evidence that any classical writer had a deep knowledge of Indian religion. We can only say that there was always some contact between the Hellenic world and India, mediated first by the Achaemenid Empire, then by that of the Seleucids, and finally, under the Romans, by the traders of the Indian ocean. Christianity began to spread at the time when this contact was closest. We know that Indian ascetics occasionally visited the West, and that there was a colony of Indian merchants at Alexandria. The possibility of Indian influence on Neo-platonism and early Christianity cannot be ruled out.
Many authorities may doubt that Indian thought had any effect on that of the ancient West, but there can be no doubt of its direct and indirect influence on the thought of Europe and America in the last century and a half, though this has not received adequate recognition. This influence has not come by way of organized neo-Hindu missions. The last eighty years have seen the foundation of the Theosophical Society, of various Buddhist societies, and of societies in Europe and America looking for inspiration to the saintly 19th-century Bengali mystic, Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, and to his equally saintly disciple, Swami Vivekananda. Lesser organizations and groups have been founded in the West by other Indian mystics and their disciples, some of them noble, earnest and spiritual, others of more dubious character. Here and there Westerners themselves, sometimes armed with a working knowledge of Sanskrit and first-hand Indian experience, have tried to convert the West to a streamlined Yoga or Vedanta. We would in no way disparage these teachers or their followers, many of whom are of great intellectual and spiritual caliber; but whatever we may think of the Western propagators of Indian mysticism, we cannot claim that they have had any great effect on our civilization. More subtle, but more powerful, has been the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, through the many friends of India in the West who were impressed by his burning sincerity and energy, and by the ultimate success of his policy of nonviolence in achieving India's independence. Greater than any of these influences, however, has been the influence of ancient Indian religious literature through philosophy.
The pioneers of the Asiatic Society of Bengal quickly gained a small but enthusiastic following in Europe, and Goethe and many other writers of the early 19th century read all they could of ancient Indian literature in translation. We know that Goethe borrowed a device of Indian dramaturgy for the prologue to "Faust" and who can say that the triumphant final chorus of the second part of that work was not in part inspired by the monism of Indian thought as he understood it? From Goethe onwards most of the great German philosophers knew something of Indian philosophy. Schopenhauer, whose influence on literature and psychology has been so considerable, indeed openly admitted his debt, and his outlook was virtually that of Buddhism. The monisms of Fichte and Hegel might never have taken the forms they did if it had not been for Anquetil-Duperron's translation of the Upanisads and the work of other pioneer Indologists. In the English-speaking world the strongest Indian influence was felt in America, where Emerson, Thoreau and other New England writers avidly studied much Indian religious literature in translation, and exerted immense influence on their contemporaries and successors, notably Walt Whitman. Through Carlyle and others, the German philosophers in their turn made their mark on England, as did the Americans through many late 19th-century writers such as Richard Jeffries and Edward Carpenter.
Though in the contemporary philosophical schools of Europe and America the monistic and idealist philosophies of the last century carry little weight, their influence has been considerable, and all of them owe something at least to ancient India. The sages who meditated in the jungles of the Ganges Valley six hundred years or more before Christ are still forces in the world.
It is today something of an anachronism to speak of Western civilization or Indian civilization. Until very recently cultures were sharply divided, but now, when India is but a thirty hours' journey from London, cultural divisions are beginning to disappear. If a modus vivendi is reached between liberal democracy and communism, and civilization survives, the world of the future will have a single culture with, it is to be hoped, many local differences and variations. India's contribution to the world's cultural stock has already been very large, and it will continue and grow as her prestige and influence increases. For this reason, if for no other we must take account of her ancient heritage in its successes and its failures, for it is no longer the heritage of India alone, but of all mankind.
Multiple-Choice Questions:
1. Who is the author of "The Wonder That was India"?
a) R.K. Narayan
b) R. N. Tagore
c) J.L. Nehru
d) A.L. Basham
Answer: d) A.L. Basham
2. How does the text describe the Indian way of life?
a) Hectic
b) Oppressive
c) Gracious and charming
d) Modernized
Answer: c) Gracious and charming
3. What will always inspire men of action according to the text?
a) The Mahabharata
b) The Ramayana
c) The Bhagavad Gita
d) The Upanishads
Answer: c) The Bhagavad Gita
4. What will always inspire men of thought according to the text?
a) The Mahabharata
b) The Ramayana
c) The Bhagavad Gita
d) The Upanishads
Answer: d) The Upanishads
5. What is the status of caste in modern India according to the text?
a) Strengthening
b) Vanishing
c) Unchanged
d) Irrelevant
Answer: b) Vanishing
6. What language became the official language of Southeast Asia by the 4th century A.D.?
a) Hindi
b) Pali
c) Sanskrit
d) Tamil
Answer: c) Sanskrit
7. What was the primary cultural influence in Southeast Asia?
a) Chinese influence
b) Islamic influence
c) Indian influence
d) European influence
Answer: c) Indian influence
8. What Indian epic is mentioned as a source of inspiration for tales of heroes?
a) The Vedas
b) The Upanishads
c) The Mahabharata
d) The Bhagavad Gita
Answer: c) The Mahabharata
9. Who is described as acquiring Ceylon by the sword?
a) Chandragupta Maurya
b) Ashoka
c) Vijaya
d) Akbar
Answer: c) Vijaya
10. Which Indian emperor is mentioned in connection with the spread of Buddhism to Ceylon?
a) Chandragupta Maurya
b) Ashoka
c) Harsha
d) Kanishka
Answer: b) Ashoka
11. What was one of the practical contributions of India to the world mentioned in the text?
a) Paper
b) Gunpowder
c) Decimal system
d) Compass
Answer: c) Decimal system
12. What was the primary connection between the Hellenic world and India?
a) Greek traders
b) The Achaemenid Empire
c) Roman legions
d) Chinese envoys
Answer: b) The Achaemenid Empire
13. Which German philosopher openly admitted his debt to Indian philosophy?
a) Kant
b) Schopenhauer
c) Hegel
d) Nietzsche
Answer: b) Schopenhauer
14. Who was inspired by the monism of Indian thought for "Faust"?
a) Schopenhauer
b) Nietzsche
c) Goethe
d) Hegel
Answer: c) Goethe
15. Who was the saintly 19th-century Bengali mystic mentioned in the text?
a) Sri Aurobindo
b) Swami Vivekananda
c) Paramahamsa Ramakrishna
d) Rabindranath Tagore
Answer: c) Paramahamsa Ramakrishna
16. What method did Mahatma Gandhi use to achieve India's independence?
a) Military force
b) Political alliances
c) Nonviolence
d) Economic sanctions
Answer: c) Nonviolence
17. What game, invented in India, spread to the world?
a) Checkers
b) Chess
c) Backgammon
d) Go
Answer: b) Chess
18. What structure in Java is mentioned as a memorial to the greatness of Indian influence?
a) Angkor Wat
b) Borobudur
c) Prambanan
d) Bagan
Answer: b) Borobudur
19. What is described as vanishing in India at a rapid pace?
a) Western influences
b) The caste system
c) Industrialization
d) Family traditions
Answer: b) The caste system
20. What area is referred to as "Greater India" in the text?
a) South Asia
b) Southeast Asia
c) Central Asia
d) The Middle East
Answer: b) Southeast Asia
21. Who was the disciple of Paramahamsa Ramakrishna mentioned in the text?
a) Sri Aurobindo
b) Swami Vivekananda
c) Rabindranath Tagore
d) Mahatma Gandhi
Answer: b) Swami Vivekananda
22. Which cultural practice is no longer performed by law in modern India?
a) Meditation
b) Sati (widow burning)
c) Yoga
d) Vegetarianism
Answer: b) Sati (widow burning)
23. Which temple complex is mentioned as an example of Indian influence in Cambodia?
a) Borobudur
b) Angkor Wat
c) Bagan
d) Prambanan
Answer: b) Angkor Wat
24. According to the text, what will the world of the future likely have?
a) A single culture with local differences
b) Multiple isolated cultures
c) Dominant Western culture
d) Predominantly Eastern culture
Answer: a) A single culture with local differences
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