Letter 21 | China and India (In English) Letters From a Father to His Daughter

In this letter, Jawaharlal Nehru discusses the early civilizations of China and India. He explains that around the same time as the rise of civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt, advanced cultures were also developing in China and India. In China, Mongolian settlers thrived along river valleys, creating beautiful bronze vessels and constructing canals and buildings. They developed a unique form of picture-based writing, which remains in use today, unlike similar ancient scripts from Egypt and Babylon.

Nehru also mentions India's early civilization, predating the Aryan arrival, and highlights the Dravidians, who had a rich culture and traded goods like rice, spices, teak wood, and gold with Mesopotamia and Egypt. Trade, Nehru notes, is a hallmark of civilization.

Both China and India were originally composed of small city-states, many of which functioned as republics with elected governments rather than kings. In China, these states eventually unified into an empire, during which the Great Wall was built to protect against invasions. Nehru emphasizes the enormous scale of the Great Wall and its lasting presence as a symbol of Chinese strength and resilience.