Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

Last updated on 6th July 2022 From my recent Facebook post:  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid02YoK1JJisb69qP96MyytWrsCwM4rBdX3rsnCFU64WnB3dxqJFz5iRTZbbMdSy8iNxl  : Fascinating to read/view about coinage of ancient India A hoard of mostly Mauryan empire coins (322-185 BCE) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hoard_of_mostly_Mauryan_coins.jpg . An extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_of_India : The Coinage of India began anywhere between early 1st millennium BCE to the 6th century BCE, and consisted mainly of copper and silver coins in its initial stage.[1] The coins of this period were Karshapanas or Pana.[2] A variety of earliest Indian coins, however, unlike those circulated in West Asia, were stamped bars of metal, suggesting that the innovation of stamped currency was added to a pre-existing form of token currency which had already been present in the Janapadas and Mahajanapada kingdoms of the Early historic India. The kingdoms that minted th...

Thapar says in her Early India book, "In relation to the early past an empire is recognized as a more evolved and complex form of state .." and that empires involve a "differentiated economy" whereas kingdoms usually have a more uniform economy. Thapar does not refer to the Nanda kingdom that was captured by Chandragupta Maurya, as an empire. While I could not locate a sentence where Thapar specifically refers to Chandragupta Maurya as an emperor, the following sentences from her book imply it: "The empire was founded by Chadragupta Maurya, who succeeded to the Nanda throne in c. 321 BC." (After various expansions of the area under Chandragupta Maurya's rule around 303 BC) "The territorial foundation of the Mauryan empire had been laid, with Chandragupta controlling the Indus and Ganges plains and the borderlands - a formidable empire by any standards." (Encyclopædia) Britannica also refers to him as emperor,  https://www.britannica.com/biogr...

As per historians, one of the earliest documented important political & military events of ancient India which seems to be part of world history, is Alexander the Great's invasion of North-West India where he won the battle with King Porus who ruled over a small part of North-West India, but after which Alexander turned back, giving up on further invasion into India. This happened in 326 BCE. I am referring to the above as part of world history as Alexander the Great is a famous figure in world history. He seems to me to be the first important European invader of Asia, and is a figure that seems to be admired by at least some Europeans and some parts of Western society. Along with Alexander's invasion and conquest of parts of Asia and installation of his satraps (governors) in conquered parts, there seems to have been a significant cultural and intellectual exchange between Greeks and Indians. I don't recall reading about any significant intellectual/cultural contact be...

I am browse-reading Romila Thapar's "The Penguin History of Early India; From the origins to AD 1300". I am doing this to get the historian view of Early India. Note that historians do not view Lord Rama as an (established) historical figure nor do they view Mahabharata kings as (established) historical figrues. Of course, based on revelations and other statements of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I believe Lord Rama and Lord Krishna to have been historical figures (real persons and not mythical persons). Yesterday night I read the section on (early) kingdoms of (early) India. Thapar writes, "In contrast to the gana-sanghas, kingdoms registered a centralized government with the king's sovereignty as its basis. The polity in the kingdoms was slowly transmuted from chiefship to kingship. The change carried with it a ritual status that added another dimension to the authority of the king. Power was concentrated in the ruling family." She writes that succession t...

When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer). To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers may have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link. ==========================================   On FB post: https://www.facebook.com/eve.gardener.980/posts/2207598062730635 , I wrote (slightly edited): So sorry to know that you have to endure pain/suffering due to long wait times for dental and cataract surgery/work. ... A private dental surgery appt. having 6 weeks wait time is rather shocking for me to know. ... All the best ---. ----------------------------- FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/3378074959075724 Nice text typing shortcut feature on Samsung mobile (similar seems to be available on other smartphones too) I am not so savvy about smartphones. Today I learned about a nice ...