00:00We all know about the Great Wall of China, but what about a massive Indian wall that
00:05was created from thorny shrubs and brushwood? This wall ran through the heart of India.
00:10It was smaller than the famous Chinese wall, but still extremely long and impressive.
00:14Why did we hear nothing about it, and why did it disappear? Let's figure it out.
00:21So, it all began in the 19th century. The British Empire decided to create a large
00:26barrier along a customs line right in the heart of India. This line stretched from the state of
00:32Punjab in the northwest to Madhya Pradesh. But what was the problem with this line?
00:37In India, salt was one of the most expensive products in the country, and the tax on it was
00:43very high. People didn't want to pay these taxes, so many smugglers transported salt from coastal areas
00:49to central regions. As a result, salt lost its value, and Britain incurred significant financial losses.
00:56That's why the idea of creating a living hedge to stop smuggling appeared.
01:01The point was not to waste time and effort building a stone wall,
01:05but instead to create a barrier made of trees, plants, and dense thorny shrubs. A barrier that
01:11could grow on its own. The idea of building a living hedge only seems simple. In reality,
01:18the builders faced enormous difficulties. At first, it was built mainly from dry branches
01:24that were brought in and piled into tall heaps, but such a wall quickly fell apart and the branches
01:29had to be replaced again and again. Then, a government official and botanist named Alan Octavian Hume
01:35was appointed Commissioner of Customs. He decided to use his knowledge of gardening and botany to
01:41strengthen the hedge. Which trees were better suited for dry soil and which for wetter areas? How could the
01:48most resilient species of shrubs be grown? How to destroy parasites and how to thicken the walls so
01:53that no one could pass through it? Alan Octavian Hume had to solve these and many other questions.
02:00That is why he is credited with the greatest contribution to the creation of this project.
02:06People used various Indian trees and shrubs, including dwarf plum trees and bamboo,
02:12as well as many local plants. They did not simply pile everything together, but focused on planting and
02:18cultivation. Eventually, the length of the hedge exceeded 1,100 miles, which is roughly the distance
02:25between New York and Miami. The average height of the barrier was about 8 feet, but in some places,
02:31it reached 12 feet in height and 14 feet in width. It was guarded by around 12,000 British soldiers
02:38stationed along its entire length. The cost of maintaining the wall amounted to approximately
02:44$220,716 in today's currency. Of course, this didn't stop the smugglers. Caravans of camels loaded
02:54with salt broke through the hedge. Officers often clashed with locals. The wall was destroyed not only
03:01by people but also by natural disasters. In some areas, trees don't grow because of the hot, dry
03:07climate. In other places, the wall was washed away by floods. In some regions, the soil was simply not
03:14fertile enough. They planted again and again, dug trenches, brought ground from other areas, and worked
03:19tirelessly until they found the ideal solution for each climatic zone. To create just one mile of the wall,
03:27builders used about 250 tons of thorny brushwood and other organic material. Each year, people
03:35transported around 100,000 tons of plant matter to reinforce weak sections of the hedge. They used
03:41almost every type of local thorny shrub. In some areas where the soil was especially dry, the trees
03:47couldn't grow. Builders brought in tons of other soil, dug up the top layer, and replanted everything.
03:54In addition to this, people faced many problems that interfered with construction. For example,
04:00white ants attacked the hedge and destroyed large sections of the wall. Forest fires burned trees for
04:06many miles and deprived builders of construction material. Storms, hurricanes, and whirlwinds tore down
04:12parts of the wall. Builders had to construct large embankments to protect the wall from floods.
04:18One of the most unpleasant challenges was locust invasions. Just imagine millions of flying,
04:24buzzing insects swarming the wall and eating all the vegetation. Parasitic vines grew around the
04:30trees and simply destroyed them. In one area, rats appeared and builders brought in a group of wild
04:36cats to fight the rodents. All the work to build the hedge took about 30 years. When the wall was
04:43completed,
04:44it was divided into about a hundred sections, each guarded by patrol services. Of course,
04:50gaps still remained in the wall. Smugglers broke through it, throwing sacks of salt over the top
04:55or climbing the trees within the wall. Officers constantly clashed with them.
05:00After such massive and exhausting work, the wall was expected to last a very long time. But in 1879,
05:07it was no longer needed. The salt tacks began to be collected directly at production sites,
05:13making smuggling pointless. Once the wall stopped being maintained, it began to deteriorate and overgrow.
05:20In some places, it was dismantled and used for firewood. In other areas, natural disasters finished
05:26it off. In modern times, it's almost impossible to find the remains of the hedge. Some sections of it
05:32were turned into roads. All the information we know about this fence is stored in the books and
05:37records of various researchers who communicated with local people or were directly involved in the
05:43process. Now, let's learn something about another, much more famous wall located in China. This wall
05:51still remains the largest and most extensive structure ever built by humans. Its length is about
05:5713,000 miles, roughly the distance from Alaska to South America. But it's not just a wall along a
06:03straight flat road. It goes up and down, twists and straightens across mountains and plateaus.
06:10It's no surprise that this massive construction was built over a span of 2,000 years.
06:16The Great Wall of China is divided into many sections and consists of towers, watchpoints, garrison
06:22stations and barracks. All of this was built from bricks and cut stone blocks. To bind them together,
06:29builders used lime mortar. But not every part of the wall consists of structures with towers like
06:34the ones you see in photos and on the internet. In some areas, it's simply massive ridges of compacted
06:40ground. It's hard to imagine how titanic this labor was. All of these construction materials had to be
06:47transported into the mountains. People didn't just stack bricks on top of each other.
06:51They leveled the ground, reinforced the foundation, and built day after day, year after year,
06:58generation after generation. Today, many parts of the Great Wall of China are destroyed. Some elements
07:06were ruined by natural disasters, others by erosion, and many sections were destroyed by people. Some of
07:12the damage is connected to interesting legends. One of them tells the story of Lady Ming Zhang. Her husband
07:19was sent to build the Great Wall of China. For a long time, she received no news from him,
07:24so one day, she decided to visit him and bring him winter clothes. When she arrived at the wall,
07:29she learned that her husband was no longer alive. Lady Ming Zhang wept bitterly in her grief.
07:36According to the legend, her sorrowful crying caused part of the wall to collapse.
07:42Millions of people built the wall over the course of 2,000 years. And this raises a question. Why?
07:49What was the point of all this construction? One of the main reasons was to protect the country from
07:55enemies. Essentially, the entire Great Wall of China is a long defensive line. The wall also helped
08:01unite and preserve the unity of fragmented states that eventually formed a single China. But what purpose does
08:08it serve today? It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It represents a symbol of culture, unity, and the
08:15history of the country. And from an economic point of view, it attracts millions of tourists from all over
08:21the world. That's it for today. So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and
08:29share
08:30it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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