Why we Indians take pride to demean our own great culture and history ..

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but it is the illusion of knowledge - Stephen Hawking

I have come across many who believe that Indian culture was very inferior to the European and Arab culture throughout history.

The chart given here was prepared out of research carried out of the economic history of the world by U of Groningen, Netherlands from 1 AD to 2000 AD.

Regarding the global educational scene, the Platonic Academy was founded by Plato in 387 BC. It lasted for another 900 years intermittently in Athens. Aristotle also set up school in around 335 BC for about 400 years. (ref. wikipedia) Organised learning happened around from 800 AD to 1200 AD, teaching diverse subjects, the only centres of education from India and the Indus valley, Nalanda, Taxila and the like.

By 12 th century, the first centre of modern day learning came up in the western world in England in Oxford and Bologna, Italy, from the ashes of Nalanda. Only from 1500 AD we find the Europeans copying discoveries, to start with the gun powder from China (without paying any patent fees) and some knowledge in medicine, astronomy etc from India and China, others coming from Greece and Persia. Harvard U in US followed up in late 17 th century ..

This also saw the beginning of colonisation of the East  because of developments from the scientific revolution of the 15 th century and Industrial revolution of the 16 th century. This was but a dark scar on Europe who aggresively colonised different parts of the world including the Americas. 

Pattanam excavations of earthen ware of 500-1000 BC
pic courtesy - The Hindu.

The trade that happened between South India, particularly Kerala, Coimbatore etc and the western world around 500-1000 BC is given in the text below as quoted by The Hindu in their link given here ..

"Gold coins, topaz, coral, copper, glass, wine and wheat were imported from Rome, while pearl, diamonds, sapphire, ivory, silk, pepper and precious stones were exported from the west coast. Casson estimates that a 500-ton ship could have carried goods equivalent to the price of 2,400 acres of fertile farmlands in Egypt. While another archaeologist, Federico Romanis, estimates that one ship carried nothing less than 68,000 gold coins worth of goods."

http://m.thehindu.com/features/magazine/in-search-of-muziris/article418904.ece

The prosperity of the state of Kerala 500-1000 years before Christ walked in Palestine is given in the link above..

By looking at the graph of research from U of Groningen, Netherlands, it is very clear which two countries of the world were the most prosperous till 1700 AD. We find that from 1 AD to 1700 AD, India (South Asia) and China controlled 75% of global GDP or wealth. The mighty Egypt and Italy (Roman empire) contributed barely 10%. What a concocted version of history we were made to believe ! South Asia generated at least four times the combined GDP of Europe, Italy and Egypt, year upon year ..

The holy sacred land of India was kind, open and tolerant enough to accept the migrants from the poverty stricken, war-torn, diseased, politically threatened, isolated people from Arabia, Europe and Africa. Trade also flourished with other countries. First they came as traders, religious leaders and then became aggressors and finally conquered our land and plundered our wealth. 

The United States, where Indians started migrating to from 60s, looking for jobs, education and economic prosperity, makes its appearance on the world scene only by 1700, just 300 years back, being the most immature of cultures and civilizations of the world. These Indians had no qualms of ditching their motherland and settling in another land, out of ignorance of the greatness of their land. It is a fact that in a short span of time US has influenced world culture and has made rapid strides in science and technology, helping the world go ahead. But who knows whether this is the knowledge that is needed for the survival of mankind and humanity in the long run or will result in its destruction !!

Let us not demean the great culture of our motherland because we were not given enough opportunities, treated unfairly by our motherland in terms of jobs and economic opportunities because of reservation system existing here that had noble plans to raise the status of the original owners of the land, the tribals. India is among the very few countries of the world, that even to this day, cares for these original owners of the land. Other great democracies have decimated them to beyond recognition and feel proud about his massacre.

Ask not what you coutry can do for you, ask what you can do for your country - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

It is the fault of contemporary society that we were made to believe that the Romans, Syrians and other white skins were a superior race, when we were tribals living in forest, at the mercy of nature and animals, superstitions and false beliefs. It was the kind heart of the white man and people from Europe and Arabia that actually saved us. What a debilitating and concocted thought ..

Without peace, understanding, tolerance, forbearance, liberality, open and broad mindedness, magnanimity, sympathy and charity in the society, how could a society be so thriving and advanced then ?

Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance - George Bernard Shaw

The Pattanam (in Cranganore area of Kerala) excavations to unravel the Muziris Indian heritage has just excavated 10% of great South Indian heritage. The other 90% is yet to be carried out and to see the light of the day ! Let us patiently wait to understand more of our ancestors and their version of life, trade and commerce..

Check out www.muzirisheritage.org in the coming days !!

george

PS : India as mentioned in UoG research comprises of South Indian kingdoms.