In Empire of Shiva, David Childress, popular author and star of the History Channel’s show Ancient Aliens, brings us the evidence for a global civilization that worshipped the Hindu god Shiva—a civilization that is over 20,000 years old. Childress shows us how Shiva, also known as Shankar, was the main deity of a collection of Hindu Shivites who ranged across continents and oceans. They sought after gold and other metals, jade, obsidian, granite, diamonds and other gems. They also brought numerous plants and animals with them and utilized the many plants in new worlds including magic mushrooms, chocolate, vanilla, maize, potatoes, yams, coconuts and more. These Shiva worshippers came from across the Indian subcontinent, Tibet, Turkey, and the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Pacific Islands, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru, Madagascar, and other areas. They had huge fleets of oceangoing ships that traversed the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. They also colonized, establishing satellite state cultures in present-day Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria, Ethiopia and Egypt.
