One has heard of and read in history books about the Indus Valley Civilization, Harappa and Mohenjodaro, as well as Indian Ocean traders. But ever wondered what was happening during the same period in other parts of the world? What was the lifestyle of people in the ancient Egyptian civilization? Or what was the model of cities in the Mesopotamian civilization? What type of tools the various civilizations used to hunt?

There are several such questions, many of them one has hardly thought about. But taking an indepth look, one can conclude that in all the civilizations, there is a remarkable similarity in royalty, court culture and traders. Taking an example from the three major civilizations ~ Harappa, Mesopotamia and Egyptian~the cities of all three bear a unique resemblance. The cities in all three were located in fertile river valleys that could produce plentiful crops. Similarly, all these cities had bureaucracy, priesthoods and ruling class.

The Harappans worshipped mother goddess and the Mesopotamians had an entire pantheon of different deities. Coming to later age, the similarities continue. The Mughal courts in South Asia were filled with intricate miniature paintings, while the Chinese were also creating exquisite scrolls on silk.

An ongoing exhibition in the Capital attempts to answer the various questions on civilisations down the ages in various parts of the world and their relationship with India. Divided into the nine parts, each gallery has 6-7 Indian objects that are centrally placed, which are encircled by objects from world cultures, belonging to the same period, for comparable viewing within a global context.

The purpose of this exhibition was to showcase a wide swathe of the millenniaold Indian civilization. The rare objects on display include the oldest known hand-axe in the world (1.7- 1.07 million years) from Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu; a replica of the Dancing Girl of Mohenjodaro (2500 BC); a goldhorned Harappan humped bull (1800 BC); a Mughal miniatureinspired work by Rembrandt; an Ashokan Edict (250 BC); and an imprint of the Constitution of India.

“The nine galleries in the exhibition highlight nine iconic moments in Indian history in the context of happenings in other parts of the world,” said Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Director General, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghahalaya (CSMVS). “It is an articulation of India’s place in the world and provides an opportunity for discourse and cross-cultural encounters.”

About the exhibition

The seven-week-long exhibition was first held in Mumbai with a primary purpose to commemorate 70 years of Indian Independence and a cultural exchange between India and the UK.

Organised in collaboration with the British Museum, London; National Museum, New Delhi; Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai; and some 20 private collections, the current exhibition has around 200 ancient and modern exhibits. It has a chronological and thematic depiction of the evolution of India with multiple expressions of art and artefacts, stories and aesthetics.

Each gallery represents an important moment in history, starting with Shared Beginnings (17 lakh years ago to 2000 BC), First Cities (3000-1000 BC), Empire (600 BC-AD 200), State and Faith (AD 100-750), Picturing the Divine (AD 200-1500), Indian Ocean Traders (AD 200-1650), Court Cultures (AD 1500-1800), Quest for Freedom (1800-Present), and Time Unbound.

“This is a history you will not find in textbooks and schools, in that it provides a better understanding of how one culture has been in communication and exchange with another. It marks a new dimension and new stage in cooperation between global museums,” said Hartwig Fischer, director of British Museum.

The British museum, with 124 objects, becomes the highest contributor to the show. It contains some of the exhibits that have never been shown in India earlier. Some of their iconic objects are the Greek copy of the Roman discus thrower Discobolus (2nd AD), Olduvai handaxe, Head in the style of Alexander, a fishtail dagger and the 2002 Throne of Weapons made from melted down machine guns and rifles used in Mozambique’s civil war.

“This is also a celebration of cultural exchanges and a moment to remember that our civilization has existed for millions of years and what it has given to the world in terms of culture, science and spirituality,” said Ram Bahadur Rai, president of IGNCA.

It took around two years of intense planning and curatorial brainstorming to conceive the exhibition. It was jointly curated by a team in the UK and India with Jeremy David Hill from the British Museum and Prof Naman P Ahuja of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, as the co-curators.

The nine steps

Each section of the gallery has a different history to tell. The first part, Shared Beginning, informs about the human origin. It tells the story of humans, how they originated in Africa, from there travelled into Asia and Europe, bringing with them the same common technology ~ the handaxe.

The same tools were made for tens of thousands of years wherever these distant ancestors travelled. Their makers came to India perhaps as early as 1.7 million years ago. Around 200,000 years ago, modern humans like ourselves evolved in Africa and spread in a second great wave of migration, approximately 70- 80,000 years ago.

Our recent ancestors lived a nomadic life until the end of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago, when new ways of living began to emerge. In this section, one can find different types of stone-made axes from Tanzania and India.

One can also find pots from Iraq, Japan and Balochistan, Though they were different in size or design but their purpose was same. The second part is dedicated to history of the first cities in the world. It has captured the history of the emergence of cities from 3000-1000 BC in ancient civilizations like Harappan, Mesopotamian and Egyptian.

As mentioned above, there were many similarities among them. On display here are Harappan bricks, Harappan heads, statue of woman in Iraq and dancing girl of Mohenjodaro. The third part of gallery was meant for different types of empire.

Covering the history during 600 BC to 200 AD, it has showcased large territories and rulers in the whole South- East Asia and their administration, military force, religious validation and self-publicity. Cited here are examples of Ashoka’s edicts, Roman Imperial inscription and Achaemenid Persian Empire Relief (550-330 BC).

The fourth part of the gallery informs about the history of State and Faith. It covers the history 100-700 AD, which was the period when religion gradually developed into a defining aspect of empires and states. Here one can see the Hindu Guptas, the Zoroastrian Sassanians and the Christian Roman Empire.

All used coins to spread religious imagery while advertising the ruler’s devotion to the faith. Picturing the Divine is the fifth part of the gallery, covering 200- 1500 AD. It has highlighted how religions across the world have sought to represent the divine.

The gallery has showcased crucifix; the chakra, or wheel; Islam’s written words; and statues of Buddha and Mahavir. The sixth part is dedicated to Indian Ocean Traders. This covers the history of 200-1650 AD. Indian Ocean trade increased around 2,000 years ago during the time of the Satvahana dynasty in India and the Roman Empire and saw the movement of both raw materials and manufactured goods.

This part has pictures of different seals, jewellery and pilgrimage manual among others. One exhibit is cloth made in India and found in Egypt. From 1500 AD, the history revolves around court culture and ruling of different kings.

This portion highlights the Mughals, Rajputs and other rulers. All their paintings and objects are testament that these Indian courts were in contact with the great empires of the Middle- East, Europe, Asia and Africa. This part has pictures of different courts representing their luxurious life and representation of their vast army.

The eighth portion, for 1800 onwards, was dedicated to Quest for Freedom. The last 200 years have seen people across the world fight for abolition of slavery, independence from imperial rule and personal freedoms. One of the most important stories of recent times is the quest for freedom.

In this section, paintings, photographs, posters, everyday objects and contemporary art provide different perspectives on these struggles from around the world. For instance, on display are Cuban One Peso, East and West German One Mark notes, the Constitution of India, Gandhi’s Charkha and many others. The last portion is named Time Unbound, representing our relationship with time, the living world and that which lies beyond. This can be viewed from many different perspectives.