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Buddhism reaching China was in the 1st century CE. The Persians ruling over Egypt, the Punjab, and Mesopotamia was 509 years before that. And a 1000 years bef

Buddhism reaching China was in the 1st century CE. The Persians ruling over Egypt, the Punjab, and Mesopotamia was 509 years before that. And a 1000 years before that (1500 BC) the Mittani who had very similars gods and royal names that are very similar to Sanskrit had an Empire in the Middle East. Also, the Maury Empire had close links with the Seleucid Empire (the war elephants used in many of the Seleucid campaigns came from India) The Indo-Chinese links as can be seen from history are not nearly as old or as well attested.

enkid 5y ago
If we're comparing European contact to Indo-Chinese contact, your sense of when Europe was integrated with the Middle East/Mediterranean culture seems a bit off. The Persia, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea had a lot of contact prior to the 1st Century but "Europe" as a whole did not. For example, England was not Christianized until the 7th Century, Kievan Rus was the 9th Century, Scandinavia was started in the 10th Century, and the Baltic Crusades lasted until the 16th Century. Cultural exchange in "Europe" absolutely is newer than contact between India and China.
- ummonk 5y ago
  Bronze age Britain was involved in the Bronze age trade networks.
  - enkid 5y ago
    The above comment is explicitly talking about spread of religion, not trade networks.
    - ummonk 5y ago
      Are you claiming that there was zero cultural transfer along with the material trade happening in the Bronze age?
      - enkid 5y ago
        No, I'm saying one comment is saying contact can be seen by spreading of religion, and therefore Chinese and Indian contact were later than European spread. So, looking at the criteria of the above comments, taking them post at their own standards, which is spread of religion, Europe as an entity did not have "contact" in its entirety until a thousand years after China and India.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    Everyone everywhere is involved in the global trade network. It's no less true of the ancient past than it is today.

enkid 5y ago

If we're comparing European contact to Indo-Chinese contact, your sense of when Europe was integrated with the Middle East/Mediterranean culture seems a bit off. The Persia, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea had a lot of contact prior to the 1st Century but "Europe" as a whole did not. For example, England was not Christianized until the 7th Century, Kievan Rus was the 9th Century, Scandinavia was started in the 10th Century, and the Baltic Crusades lasted until the 16th Century. Cultural exchange in "Europe" absolutely is newer than contact between India and China.

ummonk 5y ago
Bronze age Britain was involved in the Bronze age trade networks.
- enkid 5y ago
  The above comment is explicitly talking about spread of religion, not trade networks.
  - ummonk 5y ago
    Are you claiming that there was zero cultural transfer along with the material trade happening in the Bronze age?
    - enkid 5y ago
      No, I'm saying one comment is saying contact can be seen by spreading of religion, and therefore Chinese and Indian contact were later than European spread. So, looking at the criteria of the above comments, taking them post at their own standards, which is spread of religion, Europe as an entity did not have "contact" in its entirety until a thousand years after China and India.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  Everyone everywhere is involved in the global trade network. It's no less true of the ancient past than it is today.