Although neither region experienced tremendous stability, the early states of China and modern-day India consistently followed their own styles of state-building practices. These powerful states in East and South Asia, respectively, used quite different methods of state-building, with their techniques greatly mirroring their different levels of desired interaction with outsiders. While the Chinese focused on state-building from within, the empires of modern-day India were more open to outsiders and their potential contributions to Indian society.
Still present in its attitude towards outsiders today, China has always frowned upon immense interaction with other societies. Even though China wouldn’t become fully isolated until Europe’s Age of
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This may be due to its position, as India was located directly between China and Europe and was situated on the Indian Ocean monsoon cycle. Especially under the Kushan Empire, trade helped India flourish and expand its influence. Although China certainly benefitted from its trade along the Silk Roads, external trade in China was never supported and used by the state to the degree that it was in India. In fact, the Kushan Empire acted as the middleman between Han China and Rome, and had a mutually beneficial relationship with the Silk Road. Similar to China, the states of India did not employ a substantial army. This trend arguably was caused under Ashoka of the Mauryan Dynasty, who was remorseful due to the violence he oversaw. Ashoka soon promoted Buddhism, which owns ideals that having a dominant army doesn’t fit with. It is interesting that neither the states of China nor India decided to grow their power through the use of an army. Unlike other successful empires, for example, the Spanish or the Ottomans, those of China and India felt that state building did not necessarily require the use of force, and thus were not known to conquer others. Even today, despite having the two most populous countries in the world, China and India do not have the same military culture that so many western countries have
So many of the people at that time would travel two the Middle East, East Africa and in Southeast Asia through the use of monsoons which would happen frequently in the Indian subcontinent. The vast subcontinent begins to see the emergence of different states and as we also begin to see the emergence of different religions such as Brahmin Jainism and Hinduism. In the Indus River Valley we begin to see that the city-state's are being formed into kingdoms and Empires. For example the kingdom of Magadha was one of the main reasons why Mauryan Empire was established is because Chandragupta maurya took control from the kingdom of Magadha. The Indus Valley Civilization end many of those who settled on the subcontinent of India flourished because climate and resources any world large populations of humans to be able to live on the subcontinent. All in all the Southeast Asian kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent were able to flourish because the land provided them with the right resources to be able to live and religions and cultural influences were synthesized and as a result the diversity of religion and culture were across the
Economic relationships between classical China and India were similar and almost seemed to rely on one another. India was considered “the center of trade”. Most trade routes were all passing through and dependent on India. Indian emphasis on trade and merchant activity was far more than in China, and also greater in the classical Mediterranean world. During the Maurya rule, India expanded their trade between the main centers of civilization Eurasia and Africa. Some products produced at one end of the system, such as Chinese silks and porcelains, were carried the whole length of the trading networks to be sold at the other end of the routes, in Rome. As a result, China and India both had to work together and figure out a way to make sure and help each other because both civilizations depended on each other for different things.
Another major similarity of India and China was the cause and effects of the declines of their golden ages. Both India and China had strong enough civilizations to withstand the challenges they faced and not completely fall. Because of China’s strong political system and because of India’s uniform religion, both civilizations were able to recover and revive themselves. Nomadic invaders attacked both civilizations and this was a setback but strong emperors helped regain order. The strength of the political systems was also challenged. Arab invaders tried to convert India to Islam but failed because Indian religious leaders worked to strengthen HInduism. In China bureaucrats became corrupt and started fighting for power and assassinating each other. Thankfully the Sui and Tang dynasties worked to regain power and they restored Confucianism because they knew it worked in the past. India and China lost power but they were able to maintain stability.
In ancient civilization, two important aspects that caused the civilizations to flourish or diminish were their political systems and their cultures. Many empires along with India and China were thriving during the time period of their existence. This allowed for ideas to be spread and trade to prosper. The connection between China in East Asia and India in South Asia allowed for the spread of religion, technology, and goods. Therefore, there were many similarities between the two empires, but they also contrasted in many ways. During the classical period the Han Dynasty in China and the Mauryan and Gupta Dynasties were similar culturally because women had few rights in both empires and they both made universities that were devoted to education. In addition, China and India both had strong emperors who were at the top of the social hierarchy. Despite the similarities, they differ culturally with the different advances in technology, and with the China focusing on a philosophy rather than a religion in India. They differed politically due to the different ways of trading and that China had a centralized government and India had a decentralized government.
3. a) Religion – Han China’s political system was directly influenced by Confucianism, and India’s political system correlated with Hinduism
In contrast, India created a bureaucracy allowing local rulers to maintain regional control. This concept of regionalism brought about political diversity in India. China was unified in relation to their ruler, code of law, and economical practices, but India was divided in relation to their rulers, codes of law, and economical practices. Because of this regional practice, the Indian empire continued to expand, adding more regions their area, and eventually leading to political instability. Han China used its centralized bureaucratic system to control the population by a unified code of law and a strong army. Classical India used the concept of regionalism to control a larger population by using local rulers that governed different areas by different laws and punishments.
The foundations were set for these two Classical developing empires: China, separated from other developing empires and India, supported by them. While both Classical China and India had hierarchy’s based on agriculture and organized patriarchal societies, India developed multiple institutions, such as language, while China developed one united dialect.
Furthermore, the economy in both civilizations was important to their survival. India and China’s populations were made up of mainly farmers. Their main cash crops were millet and rice. India and China traded via the Silk Road. Because of the geography and different weather patterns of each ancient society, China grew crops that required little moisture while India was not as restricted. India grew wheat and barley in addition to the millet and rice mentioned above. Ancient India and China imported and exported goods differently, too. India traded by camel caravans and by sea. China mainly traded via the Silk Road.
8. Indian influence registered in Southeast Asia by causing political change. Its rulers became more ambitious due to the wealth accrued and tried to construct larger more centrally governed cities and states. Local people were attracted to foreign religious ideas like Confucianism or Buddhism.The inland states of Southeast Asia were more reliant on domestically preduced rice particiaped in international trade and many of them flourished. Trade also spread Indian culture across Southeast Asia. Indian alphabets were used to write numbers and Indian artistic forms provided models for Southeastern sculptures. Southeast Asia also adopted the Indian philosophy of rulers being “good-kings” and having good morals. Rulers
Even though religion was an important part of the Indian political system, neither rajas nor later emperors established a theocracy, while the Egyptian pharaohs did. In Egypt the pharaohs were religious and political figures, in fact, during the New Kingdom they had no standing army, while Rajas were warriors and the authority of Indian emperors also derived from military power. This is due because Egyptian civilization was peaceful through most of its history, so religion, rather tan an army was used to justify the pharaohs rule. In India, on the other hand, Indo-Aryan tribes spread through war, and the Indian empire was established by overthrowing the Macedonians through military conquest. So in both the positions of the Raja and the emperor were sustained by their ability to conquer and subdue others, even during the reign of Asoka diplomacy was used to expand the empires domains.
Hinduism is known as the world's oldest religion. According to ISKCON Educational Services (2004), it is hard to construct a timeline because Hinduism has no identifiable human founder or specific origin in history. It is so old that its past goes into pre-history. It is extremely diverse with the Hindu people being more interested in the meaning of events than in providing first hand records. There is also no clear-cut divide between history and myth.
While both countries have troubling history with foreigners, China appears to be less welcoming to outside influences than India. The Chinese often call their history a “century of humiliation” (23) and, unlike the Indians, show ideals to cover up the past hoping to prosper in the future. Unfortunately, China’s need to cover up their past, could potentially cause reluctance to collaborate or compromise with any other countries. The fear is that if tensions do rise, the U.S. would most likely ally with India due to common economic beliefs which could cost all countries excessive military expenses that should be spent in other places such as education and infrastructure. Moreover, in chapter two and three, Manuel writes about China and India’s kick off to their economic reign. China is still under rule of the communist party while India is attempting to run a British inspired democracy. The issue with China is that they seem so petrified by their history, that they are doing everything seemingly necessary to avoid a relapse, some of China’s leaders “argued that permitting free expression could result in chaos like the Cultural Revolution” (49). India, on the other hand, is still trying to perfect their democracy but often struggle to have enough time to look into long term issues. Many people fear that China’s economy is doomed because growth has decreased severely over the past few years and is projected in the same direction for years to come. Ultimately, chapter three ends with hopeful projections for the fate of the U.S., China, and India. However, concerns are that the U.S. and the British will lose the advantages in global governance they once had as China and India emerge as powerful
India and China are two republics that have experienced very opposing political regimes throughout history. China has been fundamentally stable country with a lack of a distinct authority figure (Desai, 2003). Being a single party state China has been controlled by the Chinese Communist Party since the 5th National Congress held in 1927 (Wang, 2013). Correspondingly India, have always been a federal parliamentary democratic republic where the President of India elected is head of state and the Prime Minister elected is the head of government (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). This
China and India share many identities. They are two of the oldest civilizations. Both countries have a complicated relationship with the West because of imperialism. Currently, China has the largest population at around 1.4 billion people. India’s population is likely to succeed China in the coming future. The enormous labor force of China and India has allowed them to
At the corner of a busy intersection stands a masterpiece of architecture made of white marble: Mandir. My temple. My lifeline. However, this was not always the case. While living a life influenced by western culture, I often found myself struggling to maintain my Hindu identity. I felt as though I was bound by rules that anchored my feet to the ground. I was not allowed to eat out, yet I was expected to network. I was to perform morning rituals, yet not look like a creep to everyone. I often found myself living two lives: religious and social. Indulged by my ignorant state of being, little did I know that Mandir would soon become my motivation to soar in the sky.