Three-day international seminar on ‘Cross Cultural Exchange in Antiquity’ begins at NMI
New Delhi, Jan 7: India experienced historical encounters with the Iranian, Greek and Chinese civilizations in pre-historic times with tremendous cross-cultural impact, a panel of historians and academicians from India and abroad told an international meet here today, making a strong case to further validate this phenomenon with rigorous historical research.
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| Dr. Venu Vasuden, VC, National Museum Institute, delivering the welcome address on the inaugural day of the 3 days seminar at NMI today |
The conclave of formidable array of historians also sought to debunk the colonial historical narrative that the oriental culture, which flourished in India, China and Iran, was greatly influenced by the Hellinistic culture of classical Greece. On the contrary, the Greek civilization reached its apogee when it came in contact with the Asian countries during the antiquity (5 BCE to 5 CE).
The interesting observation was made at the three days-seminar on “Cross Cultural Knowledge Exchange in Antiquity: Interactions between Greece, Iran, India and China”, which got underway at the National Museum Institute (NMI) here.
NMI is organising the multi-venue seminar as part of its Silver Jubilee celebrations and in collaboration with the Centre for Community Knowledge, Ambedkar University, Delhi and Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Delhi.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. U P Arora, Professor, Greek Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, said several historians from Europe had extolled the Greek civilization by saying that it greatly influenced the oriental cultures.
“Their conscious attempt to demean and degrade the oriental cultures continues in European discourse and books. It smacks of a blinkered view and grossly overlooks the seminal contributions of Iran to the Greek culture,” he said, adding: “It was through the Iranian empire that India and Greece came into contact with each other.”
Explaining, he said India, Bactria, Iran and Mesopotamia formed an ‘Oriental Continuum’ and Greece was part of it. “Greeks pride on Alexander the Great and their small police states, hailing them as examples of democracy in the pre-historic times. But the fact is Alexander destroyed democracy,” he contended.
“It is imperative for historians to look beyond the timeframe and geographical boundaries and reassess the interconnectedness of civilizations through multicultural perspectives,” he told the gathering that saw the attendance of Dr Satish Mehta, DG, Indian Council of Cultural Research (ICCR) , and Dr Lotika Varadarajan, noted historian and a Tagore Fellow.
In another keynote lecture, Dr. Daryoosh Akbarzadeh, Professor, Iranian Studies, Teheran, said the texts and archaeological evidences from the Sasanian Empire (224-651 AD), the most significant milestone in ancient Iran, showed strong relations that Sasanian had with India, China and the Hellenic World.
“There are references of exchange of embassies between Iran and China during the Sasanian period. Further, When the Sasanian Empire collapsed, Zorastrians living in Iran were forced to migrate to India,” he said.
There was a continuous interplay of cultural elements between Greece, Iran, India and China, he noted. Substantiating, he said the images of Hindu god Shiva and his Nandi, the sacred bull, had distinct echoes in the Sasanian texts.
Earlier, in his welcome address, NMI Vice Chancellor Dr Venu Vasudevan said the seminar was a stellar example of partnerships between academicians and institutions across India and outside to look afresh into multiculturalism.
He said the academic initiative would promote a more unified perspective, and help further collaboration of the discourse among ancient Indian, Iranian, Chinese and Greek studies as also in the study of a shared ancient cultural-cum-technological heritage of the modern world.
The seminar aims to view the past through presentations on Medicine, Mathematics and Astronomy, Trade Routes, Technology and Material Cultures, Epigraphy, Linguistics and Numismatics, Knowledge Systems, Institutions, Ideologies of faith, Culture, Tradition and Transmission.
Five presentations were made by historians and academicians on the inaugural day of the seminar. They included Prof. Ranbir Chakravarti (Situating a Buddhist Avadana Tale: South Asia’s links to West and Central Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean during 1-3 C.E); Dr He Zhang (The Significance of Hindu Iconography and Khotan-Saka Scripts in the Carpets of Tarim) and Prof. Naman Ahuja (The British Museum Hāritī: Towards Understanding Trans-culturalism in Gandhara).
The second day of the seminar will be held at the Ambedkar University tomorrowwhile INSA will host the valedictory proceedings on the concluding day (Jan. 9).
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