The Boy From Pataliputra

by Rahul Mitra

  Takshashila University This was a world-renowned centre of learning in ancient India. The university was host to a number of gurukuls, where each teacher formed his own institution, enjoying complete autonomy in work, teaching as many students as he pleased, and teaching subjects that mattered to him, without conforming to a standardized syllabus. Knowledge was considered too sacred to be bartered for money, and hence, any stipulation that fees ought to be paid was vigorously condemned. Financial support came from civil society, as well as from rich merchants, and wealthy parents.

  More than ten thousand and five hundred students, from all over the world, studied here. Students came from far-off places such as Kashi, Kosala, and Magadha, as well as Persia and China. Takshashila not only had a huge influence on the development of Hindu philosophy and Sanskrit, but was also very significant in the progress of the Buddhist tradition, as it is believed that the Mahayana branch of Buddhism took shape here.

  In later centuries, Takshashila acquired specific renown for the teaching of medicine, along with sixty different courses in various fields, such as science, mathematics, medicine, politics, warfare, astrology, astronomy, music, religion, and philosophy. Some famous personalities associated with Takshashila include Chanakya, the author of the Arthashastra, the Ayurvedic healer Charaka, Vishnu Sharma, the author of the Panchatantra, Jivaka, and the grammarian Panini.

  Tamalatree This is the Indian bay leaf tree. Its bark is very dark and hence, its juice was often extracted, thickened to the right consistency and used as ink in Ancient India.

  Tamrapatra These were copper plates used to record land deeds, grants of land, or royal lineages. The earliest writing materials used in India were birch-bark and palm leaves inscribed with ink. The ink used in ancient India since at least the fourth century BC was called masi, and was made of burnt bones, tar, pitch, and other substances. Wooden boards called phalaka or strips of cloth were also used to write on. The Greeks described the Indian practice of using well-beaten cotton cloth to send letters. However, for recording things such as land deeds and grants, the need for permanence was paramount and these were mostly in the form of etchings on copper plates, which were then hidden in safe places. The earliest discovered copper plate in India is from the Mauryan period about thirty to one hundred years after the events described in this book.

  Teej A festival celebrated across northern India, western India, and Nepal to welcome the coming of the rainy season. It also celebrates the reunion of Goddess Parvati with her husband Lord Shiva.

  Thais A camp follower of the Greeks who is said to have incited them to set fire to Persepolis during a night of drinking and feasting. This was supposedly done as an act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis at Athens by the Persian King Xerxes.

  U

  Uttarapatha It literally means the Northern Road. It was one of the main trade routes of Ancient India (another important route being the Dakshinapatha) and connected to Northern India with Central Asia. This route ran from Tamraliptika or Tamluk in Bengal to Takshashila in Gandhara with further extensions leading to Purushpura (Peshawar) and all the way up to Zariaspa/Bahlika or Balkh. The Uttarapatha was a land-cum-river route, and is mentioned in Buddhist texts as facilitating the movement of traders and merchants over the Ganga. It is interesting to note that the highway built by Sher Shah Suri, upon which the British later constructed the Grand Trunk Road, followed almost exactly the same route as the Uttarapatha.

  Udabhandapura It was the present-day town called Hund in North Western Pakistan. It was one of the largest cities in the Gandhara Janapada.

  V

  Vanga One of the names of ancient Bengal or a region thereof.

  Vasant Utsav This is the festival of Vasant or Basant (spring season). Another name for the festival is Vasant Panchami, an Indian seasonal, cultural, and religious festival celebrated annually to welcome the coming of spring. In ancient Indian literature, Vasant Panchami is associated with Shringar Ras and the festival was celebrated in this tradition. In modern times, however, Vasant Panchami is more commonly associated with Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Today, it is celebrated with different rituals in different parts of India with kite flying, and importance given to the colour yellow (associated with Goddess Saraswati; or alternatively the colour of mustard fields in bloom) being some of the common features across regions. Interestingly, Basant is still celebrated as a cultural festival in the Punjab region of Pakistan.

  W

  Women in Takshashila University There is no concrete evidence of women being taught in gurukuls in ancient India. However, in the Rig Veda and various ancient texts, we do find scattered mentions of individual women, who were said to surpass many in their knowledge and mastery of particular disciplines. The Rig Veda mentions scholars like Gargi, Maitreyi, Ghosha, and Lopamudra while Buddhist texts mention learned women like Dhammadinna, Sona, and Kisa Gotami. If the women mentioned were indeed scholars, we can assume that they must have acquired some form of formal training. It is based on this assumption, that I have created the character of Radha.

  Wootz steel An ultra-high carbon steel manufactured in India. It was forged in a crucible through a process that has been lost to time. Wootz steel exhibited properties such as superplasticity and high impact hardness that for long, gave Indian steel a reputation as the finest in the world. It remained a much sought-after material for almost a millennium, and was regularly exported to Europe, China, and West Asia. The Arabs are believed to have introduced it to Damascus, where an entire industry developed, creating the famous ‘Damascus swords’ from this material.

  Archaeological evidence suggests that crucible steel manufacturing process involved in making this steel, was first developed in present-day Tamil Nadu and later spread all over India. The use of high carbon alloys was not known in Europe previously, and thus, the research into wootz steel played an important role in the development of modern English, French, and Russian metallurgy. In fact, Michael Faraday, who discovered electricity and electromagnetism, was said to have spent four years studying the properties of Indian wootz. Under colonial rule, the exact process of creating wootz steel was lost, and has not been recreated till today, though many attempts have been made in that direction.

  X

  Xyston Xyston was a type of long, thrusting spear, usually used by cavalrymen in ancient Greece. It usually had a spear point at both ends, so that if one end was broken, the other end could be used.

  Xiphos This was a type of double-edged sword used by the ancient Greek armies that could be used both for cutting, as well as thrusting.

  Y

  Yavanas A group of people frequently referred to in ancient Indian literature and mythology. Initially, it was used to refer to the Greeks, and later to Greek-influenced Bactrians and Indo-Greeks who had settled in the western regions of India. The theory is that since ancient Indians were only familiar with Ionians (easternmost Greeks residing in Ionia in Asia Minor) all Greeks came to be called Yavanas. In fact, cognate words were used by the Egyptians, Persians, Arabs, and Assyrians to refer to the Greeks.

  Alexander was desperate for this alliance.

  Acknowledgement

  Writing this book and getting it published took an enormous amount of effort and there was no way I could have done it alone.

  Thanks are owed, above all, to the three people who stood by me throughout this long and arduous process: Sanjeev Kaushik, for his excellent ideas and advice about the book and its characters; Manali Bisht, for her constant encouragement and support; and Partha Bopaiah, just for being Partha Bopaiah.

  I would also like to thank my editor, Lakshmi Gopal, who even went to the extent of checking each of my historical references. Also to Shikha Sabharwal. Her involvement in the book was more than I could have hoped for. The inputs from both of you have definitely helped in making this book better.

  Thanks to my literary agent, Kanishka Gupta, without whom none of this would have been possible.

  To all my ea
rly readers who read the first drafts and gave an encouraging feedback—Sudeep Debnath, Soumya Ramasamy, Shera Mukherjee, Shailesh Bhide, Rajnish Kishore, Hitesh Chaurasia and Vikram Rozario.

  To Chippy and Nandini at Frog Pond Creative for their work on the book trailer.

  To Bhumika Anand for all her help and support.

  To Ina for first pushing me to take my writing seriously and to all the wonderful people at Bangalore Write Club. Seriously, if you are in Bangalore and like writing or want to write, look up for the Bangalore Write Club. If you feel out of place during lunch conversations with colleagues, then check this place out—you might just find your own tribe.

  Rahul Mitra grew up in Delhi and is currently working as an IT Marketing Professional with a multinational company in Mumbai. Passionately interested in all things Indian, Rahul is vociferous in his opinions about India, its people, and its culture. Like many others before him, he believes he can change the world and influence people though his writing.