Chapter 15 India and the Indian Ocean Basin

Chapter 15 India and the Indian Ocean Basin 1

The Quest for Centralized Imperial Rule • Invasion of White Huns from central Asia beginning 451 C. E. • Gupta state collapsed mid-sixth century • Chaos in northern India • Local power struggles • Invasions of Turkish nomads, absorbed into Indian society King Harsha • Temporary restoration of unified rule in north India • Religiously tolerant • Buddhist by faith • Generous support for poor • Patron of the arts • Wrote three plays • Assassinated, no successor able to retain control 2

The Introduction of Islam to Northern India • Arabs conquered Sind (northwest India), 711 C. E. to make it part of the Umayyad Dynasty • Sind stood at the fringe of the Islamic world • Mixed religious population, but held by Abbasid dynasty until 1258 C. E. • Migration and invasion continued to spread Islam into India Merchants and Islam • Arabic trade with India predated Islam • Dominated trade between India and the west to fifteenth century • Established local communities in India • Port city of Cambay • Married Indian women 3

Mahmud of Ghazni • Leader of the Turks in Afghanistan • Built Ghazni in Afghanistan • Raids into India, 1001– 1027 C. E. • He was complex: Patron of arts and education but a ruthless warrior • Plundered, destroyed Hindu and Buddhist temples • Somnath Hindu Temple of Gujarat, 1025 C. E. • Killed 50, 000 people who tried to defend it • Wasn’t a good guy to represent Islam 4

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The Sultanate of Delhi • Consolidation of Mahmud’s raiding territory as an Islamic state • Capital: Delhi • Ruled northern India 1206– 1526 C. E. • Army of 300, 000 • Weak administrative structure • Reliance on cooperation of Hindu kings • Really only controlled Delhi • Nineteen out of thirty-five sultans assassinated • Built mosques and spread Islam 6

Hindu Kingdoms of Southern India • Chola kingdom 850– 1267 C. E. • Maritime power • Not highly centralized, allowed local autonomy as long as taxes were paid • Ruled the Coromandel coast • Conquered Ceylon and parts of South East Asia • Really just cared about profit from trade • Kingdom of Vijayanagar • Mid-fourteenth century to 1565 C. E. • Northern Deccan • Brothers Harihara and Bukka originally supported by sultanate of Delhi • Leaders renounced Islam in 1336 C. E. • Yet maintained relations with sultanate 7

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Agriculture in the Monsoon World • Spring/summer: rains, wind from southwest • Fall/winter: dry season, wind from northeast • Seasonal irrigation crucial to avoid drought, famine • Especially southern India • Massive construction of reservoirs, canals, tunnels • Artificial lake 250 square miles • Population boom: 600 CE 53 Million 1500 CE 105 Million Trade and Economic Development in Southern India • Indian regional economies largely self-sufficient • Certain products traded throughout subcontinent • Iron, copper, salt, pepper • Southern India profited from political instability in north 9

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Temples and Society • Population growth encourage urbanization • Delhi was the 2 nd largest Muslim city in dar-al-Islam • More than religious centers • Economic and social centers • Very similar to the Catholic church in Europe • Centers of coordination of irrigation, other agricultural work • Some temples had large landholdings • Education providers • Banking services 11

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Cross-Cultural Trade in the Indian Ocean Basin • Increased trade in postclassical period • Larger ships • Dhows, junks • Improved organization of agricultural efforts • Establishment of emporia • Cosmopolitan port cities as warehouses for trade • Specialized products developed (cotton, high-carbon steel) • Sugar refining, leather tanning, stone carving, carpet weaving 13

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The Kingdom of Axum • Example of trade-driven development • Founded in the highlands of northern Ethiopia about first century C. E. • Adopted Christianity • Displaced Kush as Egyptian link to the south • Destruction of Kushan capital Meroë ca. 360 C. E. • Major territorial expansion to late sixth century • Became isolated as Muslim forces tried to conquer and convert • Withheld invasion but shrunk in size and lost contact with other Christian cities • Continued to trade with the post classical world • Adulis was the most prominent port city in East Africa 16

Challenges to Caste and Society • Migrations of new groups, growth of Islam and urbanization all posed a threat to the caste system • Caste system adapted and integrated people to absorb threats and became a more complex system of social structure • Turkish and Muslim traders were put into a distinct group with established code of conduct • Economic development • Development of jati (subcastes), similar to workers’guilds • Guild members wielded economic and political power • Expansion of caste system from north to south as trade solidified contact between Caste Indians and non caste Indians • Promoted by temples, educational system 17

Religious Developments • Jainism, Buddhism lost much of their followers as Islam and Hinduism spread • Islam in Northern India and Hinduism in Southern India • Buddhism displaced as Turkish invasions destroyed holy sites, temples • Destruction of library of Nalanda by Muslim forces, 1196 • Thousands of monks exiled • Hindu and Islamic traditions prevailed The Increasing Popularity of Hinduism • Growth of devotional cults because they promised salvation • Especially Vishnu, Shiva • Especially popular in southern India • Expansion to north 18

Hinduism and Philosophy • Shankara, brahmin philosopher of ninth century • Devotee of Shiva • Synthesized Hindu writings in Platonic form • Preferred rigorous logical analysis to emotional devotion • Ramanuja, brahmin philosopher eleventh to early twelfth century • Challenged Shankara’s emphasis on logic • Laid philosophical foundations of contemporary Hinduism Conversion to Islam • Twenty-five million converts by 1500 C. E. (quarter of total population) • Possibilities of social advancement for lower-caste Hindus • In fact, improved social standing rarely achieved through conversion Sufis • Personal, emotional, devotional approaches to Islam • Important missionaries of Islam to India • Some flexibility regarding local customs 19

The Bhakti Movement • A cult of love and devotion • Attempt to bring Hinduism and Islam closer together • Blended the best parts of both Hindu and Islam together • Twelfth-century southern Hindu movement, spread to north • Guru Kabir (1440– 1518 C. E. ) • Taught that Shiva, Vishnu, Allah all manifestations of one deity • Largely unsuccessful but help create understanding between Hindus and Muslims 20

Indian Influence in Southeast Asia • Influence dates from 500 B. C. E. • Evidence of Indian ideas and traditions • • Kingship Religions (Hinduism, Buddhism) Literature Sanskrit The States of Southeast Asia • Funan • Lower Mekong River, first to sixth century C. E. • Kingdom of Srivijaya • Centered in Sumatra, 670– 1025 C. E. • Kingdom of Angkor • Region of Cambodia, beginning in ninth century • Magnificent religious city complexes • Abandoned 1431 C. E. 21

Early States of Southeast Asia: Funan and Srivijaya, 100– 1025 C. E. 22

Later States of Southeast Asia: Angkor, Singosari, and Majapahit, 889– 1520 C. E. 23