It is early morning in Scotland, where acclaimed historian and writer William Dalrymple has logged on to Zoom for a conversation with The Indian Sun. Though the hour is early, his passion for history is wide awake. Ahead of his Australia tour this November, Dalrymple shares insights into his latest work, The Golden Road, and reflects on India’s profound yet often overlooked influence on global civilisation
For decades, Dalrymple’s richly detailed books have captivated readers, blending rigorous scholarship with vivid storytelling. In The Golden Road, he delves into a sweeping era from 250 BCE to 1200 CE when India’s ideas, art, and innovations spread across Asia and beyond.
The book grew out of two decades spent writing about the East India Company and the transformation of India, he shares. “In many ways, the East India Company is the forerunner and inspiration for these massive companies we see today, like Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet.
“By 1800, that army was twice the size of the British Army—200,000 troops compared to Britain’s 100,000.” He calls the Company’s conquest “an astonishing takeover” of a country that once produced about 40 per cent of the world’s GDP, achieved through “military force, clever political alliances, and a longstanding partnership with Indian moneylenders” to “seize the whole of India, asset-strip it, and loot it.”
After four books on the Company, Dalrymple returned to his first love: early India, a subject that had fascinated him since his teens.
“Back then, I was a keen student archaeologist, drawn to early India. When I first went to India, it was to Ajanta, Ellora, Sanchi—sites like that. My younger self would be very surprised that I spent my middle age studying the 18th century, which I once thought far too modern to be of interest. But this new work feels like going back to my first love. Going back to early India felt like coming home. Even if the sources are very fragmentary, the story is immense and profound.”
So, turning back the clock to explore early India’s influence, Dalrymple highlights how much of this legacy has been overlooked. He notes the world has largely forgotten India’s huge role in spreading Buddhism, Hinduism, and mathematics across Asia.
Dalrymple’s upcoming Australian tour promises to reveal how ancient India shaped much of the world—not through conquest, but through ideas, trade, and culture. Unlike European empires, India’s influence spread peacefully. “Buddhism didn’t spread by the sword—it travelled with merchants and monks,” he explains. “The same goes for mathematics, astronomy, and even the stories of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, which became part of cultures from Indonesia to Cambodia.”
One of his most surprising findings? The so-called “Silk Road” wasn’t the only—or even the main—path of exchange. “For centuries, we’ve been taught that China and Rome dominated ancient trade. But in reality, India was the great connector,” he says. “Roman coins have been found in Tamil Nadu, Indian spices reached Mesopotamia, and Sanskrit texts were studied in Baghdad.”
Yet Dalrymple is cautious about how this history is used today. He admits he was “very worried” that The Golden Road might be turned into a “chest-thumping nationalist exercise in ‘India, India first.’” Instead, he’s been “pleased to see a nuanced reception,” with many readers surprised by the book’s emphasis on Buddhism.
“In India, there’s already so much nationalistic political chest-thumping,” he says. “You’ve got a crazy uncle sending WhatsApp messages claiming India invented atomic weapons or the Internet.” That climate, he believes, is one reason “no Indian scholar has written this book.” His own answer has been to keep it “moderate” and evidence-driven— with “a quarter of the book” devoted to footnotes.
History, he insists, must be celebrated without becoming propaganda.
“The truth is, India’s greatness comes from its ability to absorb, adapt, and innovate,” he says, while at the same time rueing the neglect of India’s archaeological heritage. “We have world-class monuments, but many are crumbling. If India truly wants to celebrate its past, it must invest in preserving it.”
As Dalrymple looks ahead to his Australian tour, he recalls that one of his ancestors, Alexander Dalrymple, helped plan Captain Cook’s voyage to Australia. “History is full of strange connections,” he says with a laugh.
- William Dalrymple’s Australian tour begins in November.
- For dates and venues, click here
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