1.3 AP Developments in South and Southeast Asia

Political Structures in South Asia

South Asia was only occasionally united as a single state in its history. After the Gupta Dynasty that had dominated South Asia collapsed in 550, ending the so-called Golden Age or Classical Era of Indian history, disunity returned to the region for most of the next 1,000 years.

North and South India political

developed separate political structures. However, Hinduism provided some cultural unity throughout the region. more stable than northern India. The first kingdom, the Chola Dynasty, reigned over southern India for more than 00 years

Second Kingdom Vijayanagara Empire

Harihara and Bukka were sent to the area because the Delhi Sultanate wished to extend its rule to southern India they were born as Hindus and converted to Islam for the sake of upward mobility. When they left the region controlled by the Delhi Sultanate, they once again embraced the religion of their birth and established their own Hindu kingdom. The vijayanagar Empire existed from the mid-1 00s until the mid-1500s, when a group of Muslim kingdoms overthrew it.

Political Structures in Northern India

Northern India experienced a great deal more upheaval than did southern India

Rajputa kingdom

gradually formed in northern India and present-day Pakistan. These were Hindu kingdoms led by leaders of numerous clans who were often at war with one another. Because of the competition among clans, no centralized government arose, once again demonstrating the diversity and the regionalism of South Asia. The lack of a centralized power left the kingdoms vulnerable to Muslim attacks.

Himalayas

protected India from invasions from the north and east, mountain passes in the northwest allowed invasions by Muslim armies. Each attack disrupted a region that had been mostly Hindu and Buddhist.

8th century

, Islamic armies invaded what is today Pakistan. However, they brought little change to everyday life. Located on the eastern fringes of the Dar al-Islam, the region was isolated from the center of the culture. In addition, the Rajput princes skillfully wielded their power to limit the Muslim conquerors’ influence

11th century

Islamic forces plundered northern India’s Hindu temples and Buddhist shrines for their riches. In addition, they erected mosques on Hindu and Buddhist holy sites²much to the anger of followers of those faiths.

Delhi sultanate

In the early 1 th century, Islamic forces managed to conquer the city of Delhi and much of the northern portion of South Asia. Bringing Islam into India reigned for 00 years, from the 1 th through the 16th centuries. The interaction of Islam and Hinduism in northern India dominated the political history of the era. While some Hindus converted to Islam, others resented Muslims and considered them foreigners. One factor contributing to this resentment was that the Delhi Sultanate imposed a tax, called the jizya, on all non-Muslim subjects of the empire.

Delhi sultanate region

never organized an efficient bureaucracy in the style of the Chinese. For this reason, sultans had difficulty imposing their policies in a land as vast and diverse as India. Despite the strong

Local kingdoms development

Islamic prencese continued to play a major role in the political landscape.

Sultans

wanted to extend their rule southward. Before they succeeded, though, they became focused on defending themselves from an onslaught by the Mongol army from the northwest

Mongols

Mongols themselves from conquering South Asia. However, in 1526, the sultans lost power to a new empire, the Mughals, whose leaders did trace their ancestry to the Mongols.

Religion in South Asia

Before the arrival of Islam, most South Asians practiced Hinduism, while a smaller number identified themselves as Buddhists. South Asians encountered a starkly different religion when Islam arrived.

The Arrival of Islam

The relationship between Hindus and Muslims shaped the history of South Asia beginning in the 7th century, and it continues to shape regional culture and politics today. Islam initially entered India forcefully yet eventually took on a more peaceful approach

Islam conversion

Islam was a universalizing religion, one that wanted to proselytize, or actively seek converts, Muslim rulers found early in their reign that forcing their Hindu and Buddhist subjects to convert was not successful. Thus, most converts came to Islam voluntarily. Many Muslim merchants in the Indian Ocean trade moved to Indian port cities and married. Their wives often ended up converting to their husband’s religion.

Social Structures in South Asia

The arrival of Islam alter the basic structure of society in South Asia. India’s caste system is its strongest historical continuity. it lent stability to a politically decentralized land. The caste system was flexible and able to accommodate newcomers. Muslim merchants and migrants, even though they were not Hindu, found a place for themselves within the caste hierarchy based on their occupation.These sub castes based on occupation operated like workers’ guilds, soon becoming absorbed into the social fabric of Indian society.

Escape the grip of caste system

They failed. The low-caste Hindus who converted to Islam as a way to improve  their social status usually did not achieve that goal. Individuals required more  education and opportunities for better jobs, not just a new religion, to help  them escape their low status in life

Cultural Interactions in South Asia

People in South Asia and the Middle East shared their intellectual and cultural achievements with each other. For example, Arab astronomers and mathematicians added to the body of knowledge begun by their Indian counterparts. Indian developments in algebra and geometry were translated into Arabic, and spread throughout Dar al-Islam.

Dar al Islam movement

One result of this movement of ideas was that the numeral system referred to in the West as “Arabic numerals,” actually originated in India.

Indian sultans

erected buildings melding the intricate artistic details of Hindu art with the geometric patterns preferred by Islamic architecture. The city of Delhi is filled with examples of Islamic architecture built during the Delhi Sultanate

Qutub Minar,

stands in the southern part of the city. Rulers from the Delhi Sultanate built an elaborate mosque on top of a Hindu temple and used materials for the mosque from nearby Hindu and other religious shrines. Towering over the mosque is the Qutub Minar itself, a gigantic leaning tower, the tallest structure in India today.

Urdu

An entirely new language developed among Muslims of South Asia melded the grammatical pattern of Hindi the language of Northern Indians , and with the vocabulary of Arabic and some elements of Farsi the language of Persians . Today, Urdu is the official language of Pakistan.

The Bhakti Movement

Beginning in the 12th century, some Hindus began to draw upon traditional teachings about the importance of emotion in their spiritual life. Rather than emphasize studying texts or performing rituals, they focused on developing a strong attachment to a particular deity.

Southeast Asia

Like China, South Asia strongly influenced its neighbors, particularly the lands of Southeast Asia today’s Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and vietnam. Indian merchants had contact with these Southeast Asian lands as early as 500 B.C.E. The merchants sold gold, silver, metal goods,and textiles in the region and brought back its fine spices. Trade voyages introduced the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism to Southeast Asia. Much of the region became and remains today mostly Buddhist. The region, like Southwest Asia, was strategically significant. Whoever controlled this region could influence the valuable trade between South Asia and East Asia.

Sea-Based Kingdoms

Southeast Asia was so important, several kingdoms emerged there. Two were particularly long-lasting:

• The Srivijaya Empire (670–1025) was a Hindu kingdom based on Sumatra. It built up its navy and prospered by charging fees for ships traveling between India and China.

• The Majapahit Kingdom based on Java had 8 tributaries at its height. Like Srivijaya, Majapahit sustained its power by controlling sea routes. Unlike Srivijaya, Majapahit was Buddhist

Land-Based Kingdom

Other kingdoms in Southeast Asia drew power from their control over land.

The Sinhala dynasties in Sri Lanka

Had their roots in the arrival of early immigrants, most likely merchants, from north India. Buddhists arrived in the 3rd century B.C.E. and the island became a center of Buddhist study. Monasteries and nunneries flourished. Both men and women found a life of contemplation and simple living attractive.

Khmer Empire,

known as the Angkor Kingdom was situated near the Mekong River and also did not depend on maritime prowess for its power. had complex irrigation and drainage systems led to economic prosperity, making it one of the most prosperous kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Irrigation allowed farmers to harvest rice crops several times a year, and drainage systems reduced the impact of the heavy monsoon rains.The Capital was at Angkor Thom. The temples there showed the variety of Indian cultural influences on Southeast Asia. Hindu artwork and sculptures of deities abounded. But at some point the .khmer rulers became Buddhist. Starting in the 12th and 1 th centuries, they added Buddhist sculptures and artwork to the temples without destroying any of the Hindu artwork.

Sukhothai Kingdom

invaded the area, forcing the Khmers out. Nevertheless, ruins of the magnificent structures in Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat still stand, testifying not only to the sophistication of Southeast Asian culture but also to the powerful influence of Indian culture on the region.

Islam movement

movement into the Indian Ocean region paralleled its expansion elsewhere. The first Southeast Asian Muslims were local merchants, who converted in the 700s, hoping to have better trading relations with the Islamic merchants who arrived on their shores. Islam was most popular in urban areas at the time. Islam spread to Sumatra, Java, and the Malay Peninsula. Today, Indonesia includes more Muslims than any other country.

Sufis Sufis also did missionary work in Southeast Asia.