Around 1600 BCE, a massive volcano at Thera shook the foundation of a mystical civilization across Crete in mainland Greece. Once the masters of Aegean, the Minoan civilization was swept by the tsunami triggered by the catastrophic eruption.^[1] An entire culture in the Mediterranean collapsed under fire and water. The fall of mighty Minoans was speculated as the inspiration behind the legend of Atlantis.^[2] While there was no conclusive evidence that the Minoans belonged to the lost city, some scientists theorized that Minoan civilization on Crete was Atlantis. The Greek statesman Solon first mentioned Atlantis in the 3rd century BC, saying that he learned of it from Egyptian priests. While Aristotle believed that the aging Plato embellished the story, the Egyptian priest’s description of a devastating volcanic eruption that sank Mediterranean islands in the 15th century roughly coincides with the period that saw Minoan destruction. The grim end of Europe’s first civilization continues to pique the curiosity of mankind centuries later.

Of the destruction of Atlantis itself, Plato had observed “There were earthquakes and floods of extraordinary violence, and in a single dreadful day and night all your life [i.e. Athenian] fighting men were swallowed up by the earth, and the island of Atlantis was similarly swallowed up by the sea and vanished”.^[3] In the 20th century, ideas about Minoans being the lost civilization have faded with excavations at Knossos by Sir Arthur Evans. After archeological, geological and seismological research, it was concluded that volcanic eruption alone could not have caused the collapse. Material evidence suggests that Minoans survived the volcanic eruption of Thera and the weakened society fell more than a century later to invading Mycenaeans.^[4]

The pattern of Minoan civilization resembles that of several powerful civilizations in known history. The great Egyptian empire too faced centuries-long drought before human element made it weaker – the murder of pharaoh Ramses III in 1155 BC, the economic crisis and foreign invasion by the “Sea peoples”.^[5] Records also suggest a smallpox outbreak at the time. Once the political power was lost, Egyptians never reclaimed their civilizational identity. The Kushite kings took over as Pharaohs, then the Assyrians came in, followed by the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans and then Islamic rule.^[6] If history of civilizations teaches us anything, it’s that there is no turning back or recovering lost ground once things start going wrong. Resilience like that of Indian and Jewish civilizations or fight backs like Spanish Reconquista are rare. The key therefore, lies in strengthening the pillars of civilization so that it can withstand the bad times. Political intrigue, foreign invasions, civil unrest, epidemics, natural disasters like earthquake, volcanic eruption or tsunami cannot be preempted or stopped. In fact, a pragmatic civilization should expect it in the course of their history. India as the oldest existing civilization should make peace with the fact that there shall be attempts at invasions. India will face economic distress as the wheels of economic cycle turns just like in case of any other nation. India will continue to remain vulnerable to natural shocks like pandemic, earthquakes, tsunami and droughts. What are the pillars that India should strengthen today so that it can withstand the crisis that have led to wipe out of earlier civilizations?

Civilization Consciousness

The first slippery slope that a civilization should negotiate before strengthening itself is the vagueness of the definition. Defining Indian civilization is as difficult as defining Egyptian civilization. The term civilization is technically referred to as a human society with relatively high level of cultural advancement and technological development. In practical terms, civilization is merely a “shared identity often at a superficial level.” An ancient African tribe that traces its lineage and identity to a specific set of individuals and worshipping certain gods may have only rudimentary technology but still qualifies to be called a civilization. As long as there are cultural threads that bind a group of people together in a shared consciousness, it is a civilization regardless of facts like lineage or beliefs. In essence, Indian civilization exists because there are over a billion people who trace their origins and identity to the same set of people who wrote the earliest scripture like Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana etc. Indian civilization exists because Indians refuse to cut the ties to the ancient great men who built majestic temples, taught the scriptures, worshipped the hundreds of manifestation of gods, believed many things that we believe today and follow the rituals that are typical of our ancestors.

In reality, there is not even a strict requirement of adhering to specific civilizational marker as long as there is consciousness of identity. We know that most Hindus haven’t read Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita or any of the four Vedas. Yet, they will ascribe their identity to it without even having read it. Too many Indians don’t do Yoga while many non-Indians perform Yoga without having their identity tied to the land of Bharata. While ritualistic markers are important, identity is crucial in determining continuation of a civilization. Thus we say that Egyptian civilization doesn’t exist now because nobody in today’s Egypt ascribes their identity to their beloved pharaohs nor treat cats like gods. At best, these pharaohs, their gods, clothes and pyramids are seen as relics of an ancient time. While the genetic makeup of today’s Egyptians maybe that of ancient Pharaohs and their subjects, they no longer are Egyptian civilization in the classical sense. The cat loving ancient people of Egypt have been replaced with a pig-hating people who owe their identity, belief systems, habits and cultural markers to an Arabian way of life. Whenever Egypt unearths a new mummy or discovers an ancient artifact, the ritualistic markers don’t appeal to the identity of today’s Egyptians. A modern Egyptian would look back at you with amusement if you ask him to revere a cat like his ancestors did. He may snap back if you ask him to worship the sun god Ra or any other among the rich pantheon of ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses. A Greek or Italian today might balk than worship the ancient pantheon of Roman Gods that their ancestors built temples for. Modern Egyptians don’t understand the language or script on the pyramids just like modern Romans don’t consider themselves Roman. For all the talk of civilization, it’s the superficial markers that make or break a civilization. Until the mass of men are conscious of this identity, the civilization continues to exist. Indian civilization will continue to exist regardless of archaeological findings until existing Indians appropriate the new discoveries under their legacy with pride. Regardless of natural evolution of a culture over a period of time, these markers would continue to exist and evoke consciousness of present-day identity not past-quirky behaviour.

Whenever a prevailing custom of ancient world becomes avoided like a quirky behaviour of the past, the ritual marker is lost. When all markers of rituals, beliefs and customs are lost and replaced, the civilization has ceased to exist. Thus, Indian civilization won’t cease to exist if one marker is eradicated say a specific god ceased to be worshipped or a custom is lost to time. In fact, a cursory reading of Indian scriptures reveal that ancient Indians worshipped God Indra more than any other deity. An evolving ritual markers or traditions doesn’t equal dilution of civilization nor does one factor make it civilization. The efforts of Israel in reviving the Hebrew language in the late 19th century was just a reclaiming of one civilizational marker by making it a spoken language. There could be numerous others that together constitute Jewish culture. Thus the first sign of existence or erasure of a civilization is its identity markers – namely the internal belief systems like philosophical ideas and the external markers like rituals, customs languages. Every civilizational battle is essentially a battle of ideas wherein philosophical beliefs and physical rituals compete for power.

Where more than one factor remains the same, the dominant identity of the class of people acquires importance in determining civilizational identity. The India-Pakistan case is an example where several civilizational markers remain the same but creates a civilizational divide because of identity. The Pakistanis may largely have the same genetics as Indians because both were part of a single nation for centuries. The food habits and languages have a lot of similarities especially in the Punjab region. Barring the religious identity, Pakistan has nothing to differentiate itself meaningfully from the ancient Indian civilization. However, nobody including present day Pakistanis consider Pakistan as part of Indian civilization because the dominant narrative of the pure Islamic land prevails in the ancient Sanatana land. The Sindh River flowing through Pakistan is no longer looked upon by the locals as the divine riverbank where the Vedas were first written. The Pakistani society has nothing but hatred for the religion, beliefs and customs of their ancestors because they are taught by their current education system to hate everything Indian. They are too eager to appropriate Arabian or Turkish ancestry than reclaim the Bharatiya values. The erasure of Indian civilization from the land today called Pakistan is thus a result of vanishing civilizational consciousness that can happen in any country in any era. It happened in Pakistan because the foreign invaders could effectively impose their identity markers and rituals on the captured subjects in India. In that sense, the partition of India in 20th century was not a cause but just the result of centuries of religious conversion and subversion of identity. Demography is destiny. The first pillar of strength of a civilization is to preserve its cultural markers, rituals, stories, language and pride over its identity.

India should inculcate Indian cultural values, beliefs and rituals in its citizens from a very young age so that India continues to share the common markers that define India. In the modern Indian constitution, education is under concurrent list of Schedule 7 enabling both Centre and States to enact laws.^[7] The Kothari commission (1964-66) had emphasized the importance of a common educational framework across states to foster national integration and cultural exchange.^[8] While the concurrent list enables Centre to instill civilization consciousness, the States too are empowered to instill essential knowledge of the states’ rich history and linguistic skills to the students. Education should never be transferred to the state list no matter how many controversies the Union government has to weather.^[9] The Union Government should mandate a uniform curriculum apart from state syllabus to ensure that civilizational markers get as much importance as regional identity. Indian civilization can sustain attacks on itself only when regional pride is accompanied by a larger nationalistic vision of our place in history. The first pillar of strength of Indian civilization is the extent to which our future generations will retain their identity in the face of threats or reclaim their heritage after setbacks. Indians are already proud citizens for having survived despite the relentless invasions and slavery it endured. An education system that values Indian identity will ensure the continuance of a thriving civilization.

Scientific Temper

While inculcating civilization consciousness ensures continuation of a shared identity, a conflicting impulse ensures a thriving of any civilization. Civilisation consciousness is essentially a ‘’preserving instinct’’ to protect past ideas. Scientific temper is about generating new ideas. Until a civilization can create new scientific ideas, discoveries and technological feats, the preserving instincts alone would lead to stagnation of the society. When society stagnates, a scientifically superior force can subjugate and destroy the people who form part of Indian civilization. To understand the dual conflicting role of civilizational consciousness and scientific temper, an example can help provide context in the modern world. In a hypothetical situation where the ancient Crusades recurs today, the Western civilization comprising European nations can deal a heavy blow to Muslim nations simply because the West today has superior technology and digital might. Whether it’s the AI revolution, military manufacturing or Big Tech, the Islamic civilization is completely dependent on the West for everything from AK-47s to fighter planes. The Islamic identity or dreams of Ummah is unlikely to help preserve Islamic civilization if they don’t have modern equipment to fight. Ironically, the terrorists dreaming of Islamic dominance themselves are equipped with high-tech devices smuggled from the so-called land of infidels like US & Europe. A nation or civilization with inferior scientific system and poor military technology cannot defeat a superior society.

In 1453, the eastern Roman empire known as Byzantium saw their massive walls being breached by a superior technology and a passionate army. An engineer named Orban had requested an audience with the neighbouring Ottoman emperor Mehmed. The engineering skills of Orban impressed Mehmed the Conqueror who asked if it’s possible to build cannon powerful enough to breach the great walls of Constantinople. Having examined the walls previously, Orban assured the Ottomans that his cannon balls can lay to dust not just the walls of Constantinople but that of Babylon itself.^[10] It is said that Orban had earlier approached the Eastern Roman Emperor and offered his engineering skills himself but couldn’t make a deal. The superior canon fire thus ended up in the hands of Ottomans who made good use of it to destroy the walls and shake the very foundation of Roman empire from Eastern Europe. Science defeated a powerful empire and brought Islam to the borders of present-day Europe.

Indian civilization is a naturally scientific civilization that has lost its edge with time. Unlike other civilizations, Karma or the science of cause and effect forms cornerstone of our culture. Most Indians don’t believe that a supernatural being gives handouts to their devotees by answering their prayers. In fact, even our gods like Shri Krishna demonstrated that there is no escaping the laws of Karma as he left body after an arrow pierced his feet.^[11] If there is any civilization that can preserve its ancient wisdom without compromising on scientific thinking, it’s the Indian. Unfortunately, prolonged slavery and inadequate research in recent times has made India a laggard in technological area. No earth shaking discovery like internet, GPS or DNA has come from Indian soil for a long time now. Until India makes progress in science, Indian civilization will remain vulnerable.

From the standpoint of success of a civilization, science is equally important to consciousness but isn’t as malleable to belief systems. For example, a civilization that unscientifically believes that the earth is flat may retain its civilization consciousness in the short term but won’t outlast a more scientific civilization that updates its identity after examining fresh evidence. In Western parlance, it can be explained with a quote attributed sometimes to Aldous Huxley and sometimes also to George Orwell "Facts don't cease to exist because they are ignored.’’ In India, Swami Vivekananda summed up the need to retain a scientific temper by writing “Truth does not pay homage to any society, ancient or modern. Society has to pay homage to Truth or die. Societies should be moulded upon truth, and truth has not to adjust itself to society’’.^[12]

In today’s India there are no dearth of spiritual leaders who brag about everything ancient as if nothing of value exists in modern age. While a vast majority instill pride in our culture, some even promote unscientific notions bordering on superstition. An India that is proud of its culture and legacy without the need for bashing every modern idea as a western conspiracy is the civilization that has highest chance of surviving the scars of history. Ancient India didn’t hesitate to co-opt foreign ideas just because it was foreign. A hymn in the Rigveda says ‘ano bhadra kratavo yanto visvato’ (let noble thoughts come to us from all directions).^[13] Modern India too should keep its mind open to ideas everywhere so that our civilization lasts.

Wealth-orientedness

While the first and second pillars are the basic foundations on which a successful civilization lasts, the third and fourth pillars are closely interconnected with the first two. Apart from that, third and fourth pillars applies to nation states and not just to civilization. A direct result of superior technological might is the ability of nations to accumulate wealth. It’s no coincidence that wealthiest nation on earth at any point were the countries with the most scientific development. India was the wealthiest country in ancient times because we had the best science at that point. The invaders like Mughals and British came in and destroyed the thriving system but made progress themselves. The result was the wealthy British empire and an impoverished India. The British made tremendous progress in scientific development before Americans took over the mantle developing everything from nuclear weapons, computers, internet, DNA, AI and space technology. The remaining countries merely adopted and were trailing behind the American scientific hegemony. The US still is the technological superpower of this generation.

The third pillar of strength of a civilization is the effectiveness of wealth creation in the economy. Economic strength makes a civilization powerful enough to retaliate against invasion. Wealthy civilizations can allot resources to expanding its geographical and cultural territory. Trade routes can spread beliefs, traditions and ritualistic markers beyond the homeland of a civilization. Conversely, a civilization bereft of materialistic comforts and economic heft can be captured and looted by the superior power centers. Unlike Western civilization built with the lionizing of suffering inbuilt into ancient Christian values, India isn’t a civilization that considers suffering as a virtue. When Buddha said root cause of life suffering is Trishna or yearning for material desires, he never meant to encourage it. In fact, the Indian civilization whether Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain school of thought never considered poverty as a virtue. On the contrary, Indian philosophy preaches detachment or renunciation from material desires. It doesn’t glorify suffering as the Western civilization does while asking the faithful to emulate the Christ. Fittingly for a glorious civilization like India, the first verse of Rig Veda is in praise of Agni the possessor of wealth and reads, “Agnimīḷe purohitaṃ yajñasya devamṛtvijam. Hotāraṃ ratnadhātamam” (I adore Agni, the high priest, the divine messenger of the sacrifice, the invoker, the bestower of treasures.)

A Compulsory Military Training System

The fall of Constantinople is a landmark date in the history of Islamic civilization. Constantinople was the seat of power of the powerful Byzantines that constantly struggled with the Roman Catholic Church. The conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453 brought the Muslim army deep into European territory i.e. Western civilization that were essentially Christians.^[14] After conquering Constantinople, Mehmed himself rode through the streets of the city to the great cathedral in Christendom – the Hagia Sophia.^[15] The majestic Church was converted into Mosque and continues to be a marvel to this day. The original church of Hagia Sophia was said to be built on the foundations of a pagan temple by Constantine I in 325. Hagia Sophia thus remains a remarkable structure that belonged first to the ancient pagan Romans, then the middle ages of Christendom and now stands tall as part of the Islamic civilization. Constantinople is today known as Istanbul and the current residents of Istanbul don’t identify themselves as Pagans, Christians or Byzantines. They are firmly in the camp of Islamic civilization that captured the historical city. The fall of political power usually accompanies the fall of a civilization. Therefore, a civilization that prioritizes military education for all its people can successfully prevent a loss of political power indirectly increasing the odds of success of the empire.

When invasions completely sack the territory held by a civilization, it destroys it completely. When foreign invasions partially control the territory, it breaks apart the land mass like it happened in India-Pakistan case. Fortunately for the Byzantines, the Orthodox Church found a new home at the impregnable Russia than getting lost in history as a mere footnote. The fall of Constantinople also solidified the Christian civilizational identity that was politically divided by two competing Roman seats of power – the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church of Byzantine empire. In Indian history too, there are no dearth of foreign powers profiting out of internal squabbles among Indian rulers. The resulting losses have sometimes solidified the identity of Indian civilization while also creating irreversible territorial losses. The rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is one such symbol of resistance of Indian civilization against the conquering forces. It fortified Indian identity around certain core values while unifying the masses against the invaders. The Maratha empire was Indian civilization reasserting itself under a new political structure and a new name. Just like Christendom solidified under Catholicism after loss of Orthodox Christian territory to Muslim civilization in Istanbul, Indian identity crystallized against the foreign enemies after the heroic struggles of Hindu rulers like Maharana Pratap and Shivaji Maharaj.

The fourth pillar of civilizational strength is the military might to fight the threats and the political will to remain united. A nation can be economically powerful but militarily naïve. A constant force in a thriving civilization is the strong military that protects its territory and expands on the territory. Indian civilization will remain powerful only if the warrior mindset and unity attitude prevails among the Indian population as a cultural marker itself. Our education system should emphasize unity of identity and train citizens to fight for it. Unless the average person on the street is instilled with the warrior mindset to use violence effectively to guard his terrain, Indian civilization will remain vulnerable. Unless modern Indians can cast away the identity that they are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas or Shudras and uniformly be trained for Kshatriya Dharma, Indian society cannot be an egalitarian militant society. The fault lines of caste system should be overcome because any Indian today can access the granthas online and read the shastras regardless of the caste he identifies with. Today’s Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras can instantly download and read our scriptures just like Brahmins. The Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Shudras are free to run a business just like Vaisyas. As the ritualistic markers of caste identity cease to exist, India should strengthen identity as a martial civilization.

History teaches us that weaker civilization often trump stronger ones if it has a fighting spirit to resist a stronger power. By inculcating this fighting nature and eliminating victim mentality, we are increasing the odds of survival of Indian culture through the highs and lows of historic tides. A civilization can never remain at the peak of military power forever. A civilization cannot sustain economic growth for too long. A civilization can't always withstand the forces of nature. The Kaal Chakra or the cycle of time perpetually swings back and forth smiling at certain population and frowning at others. We can only prepare to withstand the brunt of oscillation. A compulsory military training of every Indian citizen can help our civilization to take on any invasions in future.

Conclusion

To sum up the complex interplay of historical events and sustainability of a civilization, the four pillars that can strengthen Indian civilization (or any other civilization) are by achieving the following:

1. Indian civilization will continue to exist as long as there are people who proudly identify with it, claim to belong to the ancient culture and adopt at least some of its ritualistic markers and beliefs in their present-day life.
2. Indian civilization will thrive if people who identify themselves as Indian develop scientific temperament to generate scientific advancements, so as to leave behind the rest-of-the-world in science, resulting in a situation where no potential invaders have superior technology to destroy us.
3. Indian civilization will survive only till people belonging to this civilization are wealth oriented and materialistically prosperous enough to sustain by feeding its people, and to buy or manufacture required weapons to defend itself.
4. Indian civilization will last only if the average people belonging to this civilization have been inculcated with the warrior mindset in their culture to unitedly fight back recurring crisis like economic turmoil, epidemic, natural disasters, inadequate arms and ammunition or unfavourable political environment.

When the four pillars are strengthened with conscious effort by Indian government, our civilization can withstand the test of time. We can’t control the nature’s fury that so often destroys civilization. We can prepare with an adaptive culture to sail through the crisis.

References

^[1] A Grim End for Europe's First Civilization: The Fall of Minoan Crete
^[2] Rise and Fall of the Mighty Minoans | National Geographic
^[3] BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Echoes of Plato's Atlantis
^[4] A Grim End for Europe's First Civilization: The Fall of Minoan Crete
^[5] What Caused Ancient Egypt’s Decline? | HISTORY
^[6] What Caused Ancient Egypt’s Decline? | HISTORY
^[7] Demand of restoring 'Education' to the State list | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
^[8] Debate Around Education as a ‘State Subject’
^[9] Debate Around Education as a ‘State Subject’
^[10] Orban: The Man Whose Cannon Brought Down the Walls of Constantinople – Part I | Ancient Origins
^[11] Mahabharat Episode 61: Krishna’s End
^[12] Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Truth - VivekaVani
^[13] Let noble thoughts come to us from all directions - Rig Veda 1.89.1 - Cultural Samvaad| Indian Culture and Heritage
^[14] Fall of Constantinople | Facts, Summary, & Significance | Britannica
^[15] Fall of Constantinople | Facts, Summary, & Significance | Britannica

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