{"id":442,"date":"2006-04-23T03:11:54","date_gmt":"2006-04-23T03:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=442"},"modified":"2018-08-23T01:33:16","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T05:33:16","slug":"sunday-april-23-2006-the-cosmopolitan-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=442","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, April 23, 2006 \u2014 The Cosmopolitan Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friend, the artist Taral Wayne, recent\u00adly showed me some ancient Indi\u00adan coins and asked me what I could tell him about the city-state for which they were mint\u00aded. He thought I might be inter\u00adest\u00aded because he was sure they were from one of the ancient republics. He thought it might be named \u201cYaud\u00adhe\u00adva\u201d, which was what was scrawled by the coin deal\u00ader on its mount\u00ading card. There was also anoth\u00ader word describ\u00ading the fig\u00adure au ver\u00adso, but nei\u00adther Taral nor I could make it out clearly.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was all a bit mis\u00adlead\u00ading. Yaud\u00adhe\u00adva would mean some\u00adthing like \u201d \u2014 ? \u2014 which is god\u00adlike\u201d, an unlike\u00adly name for a city. But after look\u00ading through my old notes on ancient Indi\u00adan republics, it dawned on me that it must just be a mix-up between \u201cv\u201d and \u201cy\u201d by the dealer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once I knew that it was actu\u00adal\u00adly Yaud\u00adhiya, then it was sim\u00adple to untan\u00adgle. That is the name of one of the repub\u00adli\u00adcan con\u00adfed\u00adera\u00adcies of north-west\u00adern India. I have exten\u00adsive notes on the Yaud\u00adhiya republics. They are not as well-known as the Audum\u00adbara republics, but they are rea\u00adson\u00adably well-record\u00aded from the 5th Cen\u00adtu\u00adry BC<\/span> onwards. They are men\u00adtioned in lots of ancient lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, includ\u00ading the Mahab\u00adhara\u00adta, the Puranas and in Panini\u2019s trea\u00adtise on gram\u00admar. They acquired fame, and a rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion for val\u00adour, by defeat\u00ading Alexan\u00adder, halt\u00ading his progress into India. The coin is prob\u00ada\u00adbly from the Yaud\u00adhiyan repub\u00adlic of Rohti\u00adka (or Rohi\u00adta\u00adka), some ruins of which sur\u00advive in the minor provin\u00adcial city of Rohtak in the State of Haryana.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Yaud\u00adhiyan con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adcy was a col\u00adlec\u00adtion of city states shar\u00ading the same trib\u00adal ances\u00adtry, much like the ear\u00adly Latin cities. The Yaud\u00adhiyan tribes spread across what it now the Pun\u00adjab. They devel\u00adoped repub\u00adli\u00adcan forms of gov\u00adern\u00adment quite ear\u00adly, and main\u00adtained them quite late, despite tem\u00adpo\u00adrary sub\u00admis\u00adsions to the Kushan kings. When they threw off the Kushans, they proud\u00adly re-estab\u00adlished their repub\u00adli\u00adcan con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtions. But they con\u00adtin\u00adued to mint coins fol\u00adlow\u00ading the Kushan mod\u00adel, and cor\u00adre\u00adspond\u00ading rough\u00adly to the Greek drach\u00adma, on which the Kushan coin was based.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inscrip\u00adtion on the coin is in Brah\u00admi script, and this is fair\u00adly easy to trans\u00adlate, using an online san\u00adskrit dic\u00adtio\u00adnary. The kind of easy words that appear on coins did\u00adn\u2019t change much in the shift from San\u00adskrit to the Prakrits. Any\u00adway, the key words are real\u00adly obvi\u00adous. The inscrip\u00adtion reads \u201cyau\u00addia gana\u00adsia jaia<\/em>\u201d, which means, rough\u00adly \u201chail to the yaud\u00adhiyan peo\u00adple!\u201d. This clinch\u00ades the iden\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion of it as the prod\u00aduct of a repub\u00adlic. Such an inscrip\u00adtion would nev\u00ader appear on a coin struck for a king, and was, in fact, an explic\u00adit\u00adly repub\u00adli\u00adcan for\u00admu\u00adla phrase.<\/span><\/p>\n

The god on one face has to be Kart\u00adtikeya, an extreme\u00adly archa\u00adic avatar that prob\u00ada\u00adbly dates from the Indus civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtion, and was even\u00adtial\u00adly absorbed into Vish\u00adnu. He appears in the Mahab\u00adhara\u00adta as the son of Agni, rid\u00ading into the Yaud\u00adhiyan ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry on the back of a pea\u00adcock. The pea\u00adcock motif still appears in folk art around the city of Rohtak, to this day. Kart\u00adti\u00adka was the patron deity of the Yaud\u00adhiyan states, mak\u00ading the iden\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion pret\u00adty cer\u00adtain. The god\u00addess on the oth\u00ader side is prob\u00ada\u00adbly his con\u00adsort Devasan (known as \u201cKau\u00admari\u201d to the Yaud\u00adhiyans). The word that nei\u00adther Taral nor I could make out was most prob\u00ada\u00adbly \u201cnandi\u00adpa\u00adda<\/em>\u201d. This word referred to a sym\u00adbol used by the ear\u00adly Bud\u00addhists to des\u00adig\u00adnate an elect\u00aded coun\u00adcil, so it was yet anoth\u00ader bit of demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic sym\u00adbol\u00adism. This does not mean that it was a Bud\u00addhist coin\u2026 the ter\u00admi\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy was com\u00admon between Bud\u00addhists and the republics from which they drew their polit\u00adi\u00adcal ter\u00admi\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy. Kart\u00adti\u00adka is rec\u00adog\u00adnized in Bud\u00addhism as equiv\u00ada\u00adlent to the Hin\u00addu god Skanda.<\/span><\/p>\n

The coin is of north\u00adern (Pun\u00adjab or Haryana) ori\u00adgin, but Taral\u2019s obser\u00adva\u00adtion that it \u201clooked south\u00adern\u201d in style was very astute. The cult of Kart\u00adti\u00adka trav\u00adeled south and seems to have become pop\u00adu\u00adlar in the medieval Tamil Cha\u00adlyu\u00adka states, which lat\u00ader became very Shiv\u00adaist. Obvi\u00adous\u00adly the artis\u00adtic style and some of the sym\u00adbols became asso\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded with the strong Shi\u00adva wor\u00adship in the south.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taral enjoys col\u00adlect\u00ading coins. That par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar hob\u00adby has nev\u00ader attract\u00aded me, but I would def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly make an excep\u00adtion for this coin. It\u2019s an arti\u00adcle that I would cer\u00adtain\u00adly like to have, per\u00adhaps mount\u00aded on a frame and dis\u00adplayed in my liv\u00ading room, along with my Hausa sword, my Esch\u00ader print, and my vial full of Sahara sand. It is such an intense con\u00adcen\u00adtra\u00adtion of ear\u00adly demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic sym\u00adbol\u00adism! It would fit in well with an ancient greek ostra\u00adcon<\/em> (a bro\u00adken pot\u00adsherd used for vot\u00ading), or a tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal Amerindi\u00adan coun\u00adcil pipe.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it would mean more than that to me. It would be a reminder of a trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion in human soci\u00adety that has been in the works since the first mil\u00adlen\u00adni\u00adum BC<\/span>, and is only now start\u00ading to real\u00adly gath\u00ader steam.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ancient India, in that era, was a patch\u00adwork of city states and con\u00adfed\u00adera\u00adcies like Yaud\u00adhiya. Polit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, these states under\u00adwent con\u00advo\u00adlut\u00aded strug\u00adgles between monar\u00adchist, aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic, oli\u00adgarchi\u00adcal, and demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic fac\u00adtions, iden\u00adti\u00adcal to those record\u00aded in the his\u00adto\u00adry of Athens. The world reli\u00adgion of Bud\u00addhism emerged dur\u00ading this strug\u00adgle, and was close\u00adly iden\u00adti\u00adfied with the demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic fac\u00adtions. It was in this hotbed of con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsy that many cru\u00adcial\u00adly impor\u00adtant ideas made their first known appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ancient world had three major focal points of pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion, eco\u00adnom\u00adic activ\u00adi\u00adty, and cul\u00adtur\u00adal inven\u00adtion: the val\u00adleys of the Yel\u00adlow and Yangtze rivers in Chi\u00adna; the plains of north\u00adern India encom\u00adpass\u00ading the drainage of the Indus and Ganges; and the more dif\u00adfuse clus\u00adter of activ\u00adi\u00adty encom\u00adpass\u00ading the Tigris and Euphrates, the Nile, and the East Mediter\u00adranean Sea. Each devel\u00adoped ear\u00adly urban civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtions, writ\u00ading, and sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies. By the first mil\u00adlen\u00adni\u00adum BC<\/span>, the three foci began to have sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant inter\u00adac\u00adtions. A maze of trade routes, over land and sea, con\u00adnect\u00aded the three areas. Along these routes, addi\u00adtion\u00adal urban cen\u00adters and \u201cecho\u201d civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtions popped up, in due course. Thus came into being a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adum of inten\u00adsi\u00adfied human activ\u00adi\u00adty, with an east-west axis, along which trade goods, inven\u00adtions, artis\u00adtic motifs, and ideas could trav\u00adel. Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, this axis would extend ten\u00adta\u00adcles east\u00adward as far as Japan; south-east\u00adward into South\u00adeast Asia, Indone\u00adsia, and the Pacif\u00adic; south-west\u00adward along the coast of Africa; and north-west\u00adward into West\u00adern Europe. India, snug\u00adgly in the mid\u00addle, tend\u00aded to get every\u00adthing, and in the ear\u00adly phas\u00ades of this process, was prob\u00ada\u00adbly the glob\u00adal cen\u00adtre of both eco\u00adnom\u00adic and intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal activ\u00adi\u00adty. One has only to glance at the work of Pani\u00adni to see this: his San\u00adskrit gram\u00admar shows an ana\u00adlyt\u00adic approach, employ\u00ading the clear\u00adly artic\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded con\u00adcepts of root, phoneme and mor\u00adpheme which were only under\u00adstood by Euro\u00adpean lin\u00adguists two thou\u00adsand years lat\u00ader. In fact, mod\u00adern struc\u00adtur\u00adal lin\u00adguis\u00adtics devel\u00adoped from the study of Pani\u00adni, rather than from the usu\u00adal Greece-Rome-Medieval-Renais\u00adsance sequence of influ\u00adences. His use of metarules, trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtions, and recur\u00adsions hint\u00aded at things like the Tur\u00ading machine and the infor\u00adma\u00adtion the\u00ado\u00adry under\u00adly\u00ading mod\u00adern com\u00adput\u00ading. Pani\u00adni was able to oper\u00adate on this sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal lev\u00adel because he was not a hick. He was liv\u00ading in the most infor\u00adma\u00adtion-rich and cos\u00admopoli\u00adtan part of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly, almost all of our math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adics comes from India. The mod\u00adern numer\u00adi\u00adcal sys\u00adtem, with its all-impor\u00adtant \u201czero\u201d, seems to have orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded in the ear\u00adly Bud\u00addhist uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adties (such as Nalan\u00adda) in cen\u00adtral India, and rapid\u00adly evolved into an advanced math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adics. Indi\u00adan math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adics dis\u00adsem\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded over the web of trade routes, along with the close\u00adly asso\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded game of chess and the prac\u00adtice of mul\u00adti\u00adple-entry book-keep\u00ading, dis\u00adplac\u00ading crud\u00ader sys\u00adtems of math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adics. Try doing alge\u00adbra with Roman numer\u00adals! The whole world now does its math with San\u00adskrit numer\u00adals, trans\u00admit\u00adted through Per\u00adsia, the Arab world (hence they are called \u201cAra\u00adbic Numer\u00adals\u201d in Eng\u00adlish), and ulti\u00admate\u00adly every\u00adwhere. When we cash a \u201ccheck\u201d at a bank, we are using the Per\u00adsian word for it, as it was for\u00admu\u00adlat\u00aded by Par\u00adsi mer\u00adchants in the city of Broach, not far from mod\u00adern Bom\u00adbay. And we use the same word when we make a win\u00adning move in chess, for the same reason.<\/span><\/p>\n

The impor\u00adtant thing about this \u201cworld-wide web\u201d of trade routes was that it didn\u2019t mat\u00adter where some\u00adthing was invent\u00aded. Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, any\u00adthing cre\u00adat\u00aded any\u00adwhere would find its way to every place on the con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adum. Whether it was a man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00ading process, like silk-mak\u00ading, an idea, like alge\u00adbra, or an artis\u00adtic style, it would spread like a good joke on the internet.<\/span><\/p>\n

What I am lead\u00ading up to, here, is a dis\u00adcus\u00adsion of what, for want of any bet\u00adter word, I will have to call Cos\u00admopoli\u00adtanism. Actu\u00adal\u00adly, I wish I could coin a more dis\u00adtinct and appro\u00adpri\u00adate term. But let\u2019s use cos\u00admopoli\u00adtanism for now.<\/span><\/p>\n

There have always been peo\u00adple who were not con\u00adtent to live out their lives in one val\u00adley, or to con\u00adfine their thoughts to the tra\u00addi\u00adtions of one place. No mat\u00adter what sen\u00adti\u00admen\u00adtal attach\u00adments to their ori\u00adgins they might have, they need the stim\u00adu\u00adlus of the new, the dis\u00adtant, the exot\u00adic, to make their lives com\u00adplete. They need to be able to choose from a big smor\u00adgas\u00adbord, to make their own par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar sand\u00adwich. They want more than just the same old baloney.<\/span><\/p>\n

Per\u00adhaps the first place that any large num\u00adber of peo\u00adple could express this atti\u00adtude was Afghanistan and Cen\u00adtral Asia in the peri\u00adod 300BC<\/span> to 700AD<\/span>. Dur\u00ading this peri\u00adod, the cities of this region were the Grand Cen\u00adtral Sta\u00adtion of world civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtion. It was here that Bud\u00addhism became a world reli\u00adgion, spread\u00ading east\u00adward into Chi\u00adna and the Far East. It was here that chains of silk road cities con\u00adverged from five direc\u00adtions. It was here that the clas\u00adsi\u00adcal art of the Greek world fused with Indi\u00adan and Chi\u00adnese styles to form what is some\u00adtimes called \u201cGre\u00adco-Bud\u00addhist\u201d art. The ear\u00adli\u00adest ver\u00adsions of this art style have tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sub\u00adject mat\u00adter from India inter\u00adpret\u00aded with sculp\u00adtur\u00adal tech\u00adniques and pos\u00ades almost iden\u00adti\u00adcal to those in Greek sculp\u00adture. By the end of the peri\u00adod, the var\u00adi\u00adous influ\u00adences were so inter\u00adwo\u00adven that, look\u00ading at one Bod\u00adhisat\u00adva from Sev\u00adenth Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Afghanistan,<\/span><\/p>\n

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you could hard\u00adly guess where it was from. A rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion of the Greek hero Her\u00adcules act\u00ading as pro\u00adtec\u00adtor of the Bud\u00addha speaks for itself, and anoth\u00ader Bod\u00adhisat\u00adva (not shown) from near\u00adby Xin\u00adjiang, in west\u00adern Chi\u00adna, would look at home in a Euro\u00adpean church.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pub\u00adlic in these cities had access to every\u00adthing that could be had in the world. They attend\u00aded the\u00adatres that played the tragedies of Sopho\u00adcles and Euripi\u00addes, the come\u00addies of Aristo\u00adphanes, the dance dra\u00admas of Bhara\u00adta Muni, and the San\u00adskrit plays of Bhasa and Kali\u00addasa. They wore silks from Chi\u00adna and cot\u00adtons from Egypt. They wor\u00adshiped, at var\u00adi\u00adous (and over\u00adlap\u00adping) times in Zoroas\u00adtri\u00adan, Mithraist, Hin\u00addu and Bud\u00addhist tem\u00adples, Bon and shaman\u00adis\u00adtic sacred sites, Jew\u00adish syn\u00ada\u00adgogues, Chris\u00adt\u00adian church\u00ades, and Mus\u00adlim mosques. Zoroas\u00adtri\u00adan\u00adism, per\u00adhaps the first of the \u201cuni\u00adver\u00adsal\u201d reli\u00adgions (that is, meant to be applic\u00ada\u00adble to any peo\u00adple, regard\u00adless of local\u00adi\u00adty or eth\u00adnic\u00adi\u00adty), orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded there. Euro\u00adpean, Chi\u00adnese, and Indi\u00adan trav\u00adel\u00aders fre\u00adquent\u00aded these regions. Some of the texts from the region include sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded debates between Bud\u00addhists and Greek Philoso\u00adphers. As late as the twen\u00adti\u00adeth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, huge caches of such cos\u00admopoli\u00adtan texts were found in remote moun\u00adtain villages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even when Islam came to dom\u00adi\u00adnate the region, in the mid\u00addle ages, some of the great\u00adest minds of the Islam\u00adic world, such as Ibn-Sina (Avi\u00adcen\u00adna) and Al-Fara\u00adbi flour\u00adished in the Cen\u00adtral Asian silk road cities. It was not until the dis\u00adas\u00adtrous Mon\u00adgol inva\u00adsions that the region began to decline.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not sur\u00adpris\u00ading that the Tal\u00adiban, today\u2019s quin\u00adtes\u00adsen\u00adtial ene\u00admy of every\u00adthing that is civ\u00adi\u00adlized, tol\u00ader\u00adant and cos\u00admopoli\u00adtan, destroyed the colos\u00adsal Gre\u00adco-Bud\u00addhist stat\u00adue at Bamyan, a mas\u00adter\u00adpiece of that won\u00adder\u00adful syn\u00adcretism. This was a dis\u00adgust\u00ading act of igno\u00adrance, fanati\u00adcism and barbarism.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Islam\u00adic world, at its height, cre\u00adat\u00aded an atmos\u00adphere con\u00adducive to cos\u00admopoli\u00adtanism. One of my child\u00adhood heroes was Ibn-Bat\u00adtuta. If ever there was a \u201cman of the world\u201d, it was he. Abu Abdul\u00adlah Muham\u00admad ibn Bat\u00adtuta (\u0623\u0628\u0648 \u0639\u0628\u062f \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u0645\u062d\u0645\u062f \u0627\u0628\u0646 \u0628\u0637\u0648\u0637\u0629 ) was a native of Tang\u00adi\u00ader, Moroc\u00adco, of Berber ori\u00adgin (as was St. Augus\u00adtine, btw). Addict\u00aded to trav\u00adel, he cov\u00adered rough\u00adly 117,000 km (73,000 miles) over a thir\u00adty-year peri\u00adod, mak\u00ading copi\u00adous notes of his obser\u00adva\u00adtions, which were, on the whole, urbane and humane. Unlike most medieval trav\u00adel\u00aders, he was inter\u00adest\u00aded in the tex\u00adture of dai\u00adly life.<\/span><\/p>\n

He crossed North Africa, explored the Nile, toured through the Mid\u00addle East, then trav\u00adeled the Silk Road to Cen\u00adtral Asia. After liv\u00ading in Mec\u00adca for awhile, he began anoth\u00ader jour\u00adney, explor\u00ading Ethiopia and much of East Africa. A third voy\u00adage took him through the Byzan\u00adtine Empire. He met the Emper\u00ador Andron\u00adi\u00adcus III<\/span> Palae\u00ado\u00adlo\u00adgus dur\u00ading his month stay in Con\u00adstan\u00adtino\u00adple. He went north, to the mid\u00addle of Rus\u00adsia, across Cen\u00adtral Asia again to Afghanistan, then down to India, where he held a posi\u00adtion as judge in an Indi\u00adan sul\u00adtanate. Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, leery of the insta\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of the regime, he talked the Sul\u00adtan into appoint\u00ading him ambas\u00adsador to Chi\u00adna, which he reached after a long and adven\u00adtur\u00adous detour to Indone\u00adsia and Viet\u00adnam. Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, he grew home\u00adsick, and re-crossed the entire\u00adty of the hemi\u00adsphere, while the Black Death was sweep\u00ading ahead of him. How\u00adev\u00ader, he could not resist side trips to Italy and Spain. Bare\u00adly home long enough to catch his breath, he real\u00adized that there was a whole unknown world to the south need\u00ading explo\u00adration. His jour\u00adney to West Africa is our first his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal source for that region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final\u00adly, he returned home to Tang\u00adi\u00ader for a qui\u00adet, and well-earned retire\u00adment. He pub\u00adlished his adven\u00adtures in A Gift to Those Who Con\u00adtem\u00adplate the Won\u00adders of Cities and the Mar\u00advels of Trav\u00adel\u00ading<\/em>. I am hap\u00adpy to say that there is a crater on the Moon named after him. [6.9\u00b0 S 50.4\u00b0 E, in Mare Fecun\u00addi\u00adtatis<\/em>, if you want to look for it]. He would have loved going to the Moon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even among peo\u00adple whom he found rather crude (he was not impressed by the stan\u00addards of per\u00adson\u00adal hygiene among Euro\u00adpeans, for exam\u00adple), Ibn-Bat\u00adtuta was unusu\u00adal\u00adly sym\u00adpa\u00adthet\u00adic and hope\u00adful for the best. When kid\u00adnapped, attacked by pirates, or threat\u00adened with exe\u00adcu\u00adtion (which hap\u00adpened now and then), he showed lit\u00adtle ran\u00adcor. Though he always assumed the reli\u00adgious supe\u00adri\u00ador\u00adi\u00adty of Islam, he knew the dif\u00adfer\u00adence between a prin\u00adci\u00adple and an arbi\u00adtrary cus\u00adtom. He was a true cosmopolitan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ibn-Bat\u00adtuta was, of course, an excep\u00adtion\u00adal per\u00adson. When he under\u00adtook his trav\u00adels, the phys\u00adi\u00adcal dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adties involved were mind-bog\u00adgling. He usu\u00adal\u00adly jour\u00adneyed alone, at his own expense, and entire\u00adly on per\u00adson\u00adal whim, moti\u00advat\u00aded by pure curios\u00adi\u00adty. We can say this of no oth\u00ader great trav\u00adel\u00ader before recent times.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are now enter\u00ading a new cen\u00adtu\u00adry, and a new millennium.<\/span><\/p>\n

And in this new peri\u00adod, trav\u00adel any\u00adwhere around the world is rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly easy. Many of the total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan regimes of the last cen\u00adtu\u00adry have fall\u00aden, open\u00ading up new areas for rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly unhin\u00addered trav\u00adel. Eng\u00adlish has become the \u201cLatin\u201d of the world, a con\u00adve\u00adnient sec\u00adond lan\u00adguage, used almost every\u00adwhere, and it is grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly los\u00ading its his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtions with colo\u00adnial\u00adism and cul\u00adtur\u00adal arro\u00adgance. At the moment, there are sev\u00ader\u00adal com\u00adpet\u00ading \u201ceco\u00adnom\u00adic engines\u201d pro\u00adduc\u00ading rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly high stan\u00addards of liv\u00ading, and gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adlar and high cul\u00adture. Much of the world is well-edu\u00adcat\u00aded. There are already many fam\u00adi\u00adlies that have come to think of them\u00adselves as essen\u00adtial\u00adly glob\u00adal cit\u00adi\u00adzens. A Gujarati Hin\u00addu fam\u00adi\u00adly that spent four gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions in Ugan\u00adda, then dis\u00adpersed to Lon\u00addon, Ams\u00adter\u00addam, Syd\u00adney, Los Ange\u00adles, Trinidad, Van\u00adcou\u00adver, Mon\u00adtre\u00adal, and Sin\u00adga\u00adpore will, by neces\u00adsi\u00adty, have a world\u00adli\u00adness pre\u00advi\u00adous\u00adly known only to mul\u00adti-mil\u00adlion\u00adaires, roy\u00adal\u00adty and diplo\u00admats, though they may be doing noth\u00ading more spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar than own\u00ading cor\u00adner stores, run\u00adning muf\u00adfler shops, clerk\u00ading in banks, or pro\u00adgram\u00ading computers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Above all, the inter\u00adnet now allows any child in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to chat with anoth\u00ader in Tuvalu as eas\u00adi\u00adly as if they lived next door. Those chil\u00addren are not going to grow up in the same way, or think in the same way, or expe\u00adri\u00adence the world in the same way, as any of those who lived in the last ten thou\u00adsand years. We will soon have thou\u00adsands of Ibn-Bat\u00adtutas, then mil\u00adlions of them, then hun\u00addreds of mil\u00adlions of them. Even the cur\u00adrent pull-blan\u00adkets-over-your-head trend in today\u2019s Amer\u00adi\u00adca, and the ret\u00adro\u00adgres\u00adsive parox\u00adisms of Islam\u00adic and Chris\u00adt\u00adian fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adism that we are cur\u00adrent\u00adly expe\u00adri\u00adenc\u00ading, are prob\u00ada\u00adbly just the death rat\u00adtles of expir\u00ading men\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adties. It is hard to imag\u00adine a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion raised to matu\u00adri\u00adty on the inter\u00adnet tak\u00ading them seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

This does not mean that a major\u00adi\u00adty of peo\u00adple will exhib\u00adit much cos\u00admopoli\u00adtan sophis\u00adti\u00adca\u00adtion. Most of us tend to fit in to what\u00adev\u00ader pat\u00adtern of tastes and cus\u00adtoms sur\u00adrounds us at first hand, and most of us want to have a home and a fam\u00adi\u00adly and a neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood that remains fair\u00adly sta\u00adble. Only a few of us are afflict\u00aded with chron\u00adic wan\u00adder\u00adlust, or feel a per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adal yearn\u00ading for nov\u00adel\u00adty and the exot\u00adic. But if you walk through a mod\u00adern city like Toron\u00adto, or Ams\u00adter\u00addam, nei\u00adther of which is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly large or polit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly pow\u00ader\u00adful, you will not only see a tremen\u00addous vari\u00adety of peo\u00adple and cus\u00adtoms, but a lev\u00adel of per\u00adson\u00adal idio\u00adsyn\u00adcrasy, and tol\u00ader\u00adance for it, that would have been impos\u00adsi\u00adble only a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion ago. The park down the street from me, a small neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood gath\u00ader\u00ading place, seems to accom\u00admo\u00addate a bible study group, gay sun\u00adbathers in thongs, a Fil\u00adipino fam\u00adi\u00adly bar\u00adbe\u00adcue, school chil\u00addren play\u00ading ball hock\u00adey while chat\u00adter\u00ading in Russ\u00adian and Tamil, some oth\u00aders play\u00ading bas\u00adket\u00adball, moth\u00aders mind\u00ading babies in strollers while read\u00ading paper\u00adbacks, chess-play\u00aders, kids smok\u00ading mar\u00adi\u00adjua\u00adna in a cir\u00adcle, a girl danc\u00ading, a cou\u00adple of surly-look\u00ading punks, old men pass\u00ading around a bot\u00adtle of scotch in a paper bag, a man in a jelebi read\u00ading the Qur\u2019an, small chil\u00addren splash\u00ading in a wad\u00ading pool, and a group of drag queens rehears\u00ading a per\u00adfor\u00admance of As You Like It<\/em>, with\u00adout any\u00adone feel\u00ading par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly out of place, and with\u00adout any\u00adone even think\u00ading they are in any\u00adthing but a nor\u00admal situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was a child, in North\u00adern Cana\u00adda, I might as well have been liv\u00ading on an unchart\u00aded desert island. The world was as remote and unreach\u00adable to me as the plan\u00adets in the sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion sto\u00adries I read. For all intents and pur\u00adpos\u00ades, New York City, or for that mat\u00adter, an ordi\u00adnary sub\u00adurb, might as well have been Isaac Asimov\u2019s Tran\u00adtor. The world was some\u00adthing I deduced exist\u00aded from the vague hints sup\u00adplied by a hand\u00adful of library books, and a pic\u00adture ency\u00adclo\u00adpe\u00addia my moth\u00ader bought in installments.<\/span><\/p>\n

I have react\u00aded to this, per\u00adhaps to the amuse\u00adment of oth\u00aders, by attempt\u00ading to absorb as much of the world as I can. I\u2019m deter\u00admined to treat my whole plan\u00adet with the non\u00adchal\u00adlance of a city-dweller drop\u00adping into anoth\u00ader neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood to check out a new restau\u00adrant, to feel \u201cat home\u201d any\u00adwhere on Earth. Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu? Kath\u00adman\u00addu? Tegu\u00adci\u00adgal\u00adpa? Just anoth\u00ader \u201cneigh\u00adbour\u00adhood\u201d, with its own style, its own pecu\u00adliar\u00adi\u00adties and attrac\u00adtions, but just as much where I have a right to be as any\u00adplace else. This is, of course, not real\u00adly pos\u00adsi\u00adble. The world is too com\u00adplex, has too many cities, too many coun\u00adtries, too many won\u00adders, and too many secrets for me to expe\u00adri\u00adence them all before I drop dead of exhaus\u00adtion, just as I will nev\u00ader be able to read all the books I want to, or hear all the music I want to. My cos\u00admopoli\u00adtan expe\u00adri\u00adence will always be superficial.<\/span><\/p>\n

But then, if I were to enclose myself in one place, fol\u00adlow some rigid and con\u00adformist pat\u00adtern of behav\u00adiour, restrict myself to a nar\u00adrow range of expe\u00adri\u00adence, and main\u00adtain only a hand\u00adful of friend\u00adships with peo\u00adple of sim\u00adi\u00adlar back\u00adground, age, and local\u00adi\u00adty, I would still be just as super\u00adfi\u00adcial. Because the infi\u00adnite sub\u00adtle\u00adty of human indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty would defeat me just as thor\u00adough\u00adly. A per\u00adson is lucky if they think they can under\u00adstand one human being oth\u00ader than themself.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend, the artist Taral Wayne, recent\u00adly showed me some ancient Indi\u00adan coins and asked me what I could tell him about the city-state for which they were mint\u00aded. He thought I might be inter\u00adest\u00aded because he was sure they \u2026<\/p>\n

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