Early Far East
India: Maurya Empire
The Maurya (324 BCE to 184 BCE) were the first empire to unify large areas of India. There is some evidence that the founding emperor Chandragupta Maurya may have been inspired by Alexander the Great whose death left a political vacuum in Northwest India that the Maurya filled. The empire was ruled by a hereditary monarch aided by an elaborate bureaucracy made up of relatives and close associates who governed ethnicity based regional provinces. The central government was able to collect high taxes, issue a standard currency and maintain control of mining. This was facilitated by an extensive network of spies that kept the central government aware of disloyalty. Further, a powerful standing army that included elephant, chariot, and cavalry divisions helped secure this power.
While agriculture remained the primary economic activity, an extensive network of roads and maritime connections to Southeast Asia and the Middle East foster both internal and international trade. India profited from the export of cotton cloth, iron, and salt.
In 269 BCE, the Emperor Ashoka came to power ushering in a period of religious pluralism and tolerance. As a young man, Ashoka engaged in violent wars of conquest. Guilt associated with this violence drove Ashoka to convert to Buddhism. As a Buddhist emperor, he made it state policy to promote Buddhism throughout his empire by erecting pillars that promoted the teachings of the Buddha. This policy was an important factor in ensuring the longevity of Buddhism as a major world religion.
India: Gupta Empire
The Maurya Empire fell in 184 BCE as a result of dynastic disputes and invasions by outside enemies. Following a period of political disunity, the Gupta Empire came to power in 320 CE, ruling a portion of North Central India. The founder, Chandra Gupta modeled his rule on that of the Maurya. While the Gupta were able to collect high taxes, demand labor from subjects for state projects, and control metal mining and salt production they were never able to maintain the level of central authority that the Maurya enjoyed. Regional hereditary governors were only nominally under the control of the central government forcing the emperor to rely on diplomacy to maintain the unity of the empire.
Hinduism enjoyed a resurgence during the Gupta period leading to the strengthening of the Caste System and the intensification of patriarchy. The tradition of sati, widows throwing themselves on the funeral pyre of their late husbands, became common. Internal and international trade continued to flourish and major advances in mathematics were realized, including the development of the decimal system, Arabic numerals (wrongly named because of their diffusion to Europe through the Middle East), and pi.
The Gupta Empire fell in the 500s CE largely as a result of nomadic invaders from the northwest.
China: Zhou Dynasty
Fundamental elements of Chinese governance came with the second Dynasty, the Zhou (1027 to 221 BCE). These principles include the Mandate of Heaven which argues that the ruling dynasty has been charged by Heaven to rule the people with benevolence (called the Dao) and Confucianism. While Confucianism did not have a profound political impact until about 200 BCE the basic tenants of filial piety, adherence to tradition, patriarchy and duty were established during the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou were only able to maintain centralized authority until about 800 BCE, after that they relied on a system of feudalism to administer the empire and by 480 BCE civil war thrust China into the Warring States Period. This conflict lasted until the Shi Huangdi emerged victorious and established the Qin Dynasty.
China: Qin Dynasty
During these years of conflict, a new governing philosophy emerged in China called Legalism. Proponents of Legalism argued that humans were innately self-serving and destructive therefore societal order had to be maintained with strict laws and harsh punishments. Shi Huangdi, prescribed to these beliefs and built a highly centralized bureaucracy around these tenants. While the Qin Dynasty was short-lived it is given credit for unifying China politically, economically, and culturally. Under the Qin, weights, measures, coinage, laws, writing, and axle length were all standardized. The state directed the construction of extensive roads and canals, work on the Great Wall of China began, and land reform broke up the power of feudal lords. These reforms laid the foundations for the effective administration of the vast empires of the dynasties that followed.
The extensive use of forced labor and excessive taxation quickly led to rebellion after the death of Shi Huangdi in 210 BCE. Out of these rebellions, a peasant named Liu Bang emerged as the new emperor of China and established the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty maintained many of the policies of the Qin but tempered the severity of Legalism with the political use of Confucianism which required leaders to earn the respect of the governed. This combination proved durable and long-lived.
China: Han Dynasty
The Han were able to maintain control of an empire even larger than the Qin. From their capital in Chang’an, the Han directed a vast bureaucracy organized into nine ministries and regional authorities. This bureaucracy was staffed by educated civil servants who received their appointments based on their score on a rigorous civil service examination. The state operated an effective tax collection system, a postal service, built extensive roads, canals, and defensive walls, and protected the empire from the constant threat of nomadic invaders from the north.
The security of the Han period led to a thriving economy that engaged in extensive internal and international trade, profiting tremendously from the export of silk. Economic growth was also aided by advancements in farm technology like the horse collar and better irrigation.
The Han Dynasty began to decline around 200 CE, contributing factors included: bureaucratic corruption and infighting, food shortages, epidemic disease, banditry, and pressure from nomadic invaders along the northern border.
India: Hinduism
Indo-European religious traditions, preserved in the Vedas, blended with the indigenous traditions of the Dravidian population to create a nascent form of Hinduism. These religious traditions began to formalize around 750 to 550 BCE with the writing of the Upanishads. This faith centered on the basic belief that all living things are reincarnated after death with the quality of the next life based on the deeds (Karma) of the individual in the previous life. Humans are expected to live according to the Dharma and good conduct is rewarded with an eventual release from the cycle of reincarnation called Moksha.
This faith, combined with the dominance of the Indo-European Aryans over the indigenous Dravidians led to the creation of a rigid social class system called Caste or Varna. The population was divided into five hereditary social classes based on ethnicity and occupation.
Hinduism fully developed during the Gupta Dynasty (320 CE to 550 CE). During this period the hereditary nature of the occupational classes of the Caste System, patriarchy, the belief in a pantheon of Gods, a rich tradition of epic literature and the construction of monumental Hindu architecture became commonplace. These traditions, established Gupta Dynasty, endured for centuries among the population of South Asia.
Hinduism’s dominance in the region was challenged by the emergence of new faiths including Jainism and Buddhism in around 500 BCE. While Buddhism had little success in gaining adherents in South Asia it did spread along trade routes and become a major faith in East and Southeast Asia. Buddhism was founded by a Hindu prince named Siddhartha Gautama who rejected the caste system and the pantheon of Hindu Gods and taught instead that spiritual enlightenment (Nirvana) and escape from the cycle reincarnation could be reached in a single lifetime by accepting the Four Noble Truths and following the Eightfold Path.
India: Buddhism
In the period after c. 500 BCE Buddhism offered an alternative to the sometimes oppressive nature of Hinduism's caste system and patriarchal traditions. The popularity of Buddhism reached its peak in the Mauryan Dynasty (324-184 BCE) under the Emperor Ashoka. Ashoka made it state policy to promote the spread of Buddhism. These policies ensured that Buddhism would endure as a major world religion. During the Gupta Dynasty (320 CE-550 CE) Buddhism fell out of favor in South Asia but endured as a major faith along the trade routes in the Indian Ocean and the Silk Road. This endurance was facilitated by the tradition of monasticism in the Buddhist faith. Buddhist nuns and monks established monasteries in remote areas along major trade routes. These monasteries spread the faith among traveling merchants and offered a life free of the traditional confines of patriarchy and caste for both women and men.
China: Confucianism
Confucius (c551-479 BCE) lived in the waning days of the Zhou Dynasty, a period of social and political upheaval. His philosophy, recorded by his followers in the Analects, proposed a solution to this unrest. He argued that the long-established traditions of filial piety and the Mandate of Heaven held the key to social order. For Confucius, the family served as a model for society as a whole. The eldest male of the family held a moral obligation to lead and care for his household with wisdom and benevolence in exchange each member of the family was obliged to obey. Confucius believed that the hierarchy of family could be expanded to bring order to society as a whole. Arguing that humans were innately good and that if treated with respect would obey righteous leaders, the Analects laid out five relationships that were rooted in long held Chinese traditions and would bring peace and order to society. Each relationship was based in reciprocal respect and duty, they include ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, and friend and friend. In an ideal Confucian society, wise superiors protect and respect their subordinates, subordinates obey and respect their superiors and all obey the golden rule: “never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.” Confucianism created a fairly rigid social hierarchy, strongly supported patriarchy, encouraged education, and supported the tradition of ancestor veneration in China from the Han Dynasty onward.
Silk Roads
The vast open steppe land of Central Asia was home to numerous nomadic societies. These societies relied on a pastoral economy that exploited the natural resources of the open steppe. This reliance on pastoralism made these societies experts on the use of pack animals including horses, camels and oxen. These transport technologies combined with potential for vast profits from the trade in silk, glassware, cotton cloth, horses, spices, perfumes and slaves led to the rise of the Silk Road. The Silk Road operated in two principle phases, the first from about 100 BCE to 800 CE. In this period the trade route linked the Roman Empire in the west, the Chinese dynasties of the Han, Sui and Tang in the East, the Indian empires of the Mauryan and Gupta in the south, and the Persians in the middle. The Silk Road peaked again from 1200 to 1500.
During the first phase of the Silk Road, it functioned primarily as a relay system with each merchant only traveling a portion of the full length of the road. Major trading cities developed as a result of this system like Chang’an, Samarkand, and Bukhara. While individuals rarely traveled the full length of the trade routes, elements of culture and technology did. Some key examples of this include: -Buddhism spread from India to China -Christianity spread to the east -the stirrup spread from Central Asia to Europe, China, and the Middle East -horse technology spread to China -New crops were introduced to China (alfalfa, grapes), Rome (peaches, apricots), and the Middle East (rice, sugarcane, and cotton).
Indian Ocean Trade
The predictable nature of the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean eased open-water navigation and led to the rise of a vast network of exchange between East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China in the Classical Age. Mariners, motivated by potential profits from the exchange in goods like ebony, ivory, copper, myrrh, frankincense, dates, spices, jewels, cotton cloth, and silk developed technologies that capitalized on the monsoon winds and allowed the efficient transport of massive amounts of goods. These technologies include the dhow and lateen sail developed by Arab sailors and the junk developed by the Chinese.
The seasonal nature of the monsoon winds forced long stays by sailors in their various ports of call. This led to the establishment of diasporic communities in the major ports of the Indian Ocean Maritime System. Several of the diasporic communities left an enduring impact of the host culture. For example the Swahili language of East Africa is a product of the blending of Arabic with indigenous Bantu languages and the Malay Peninsula has a Chinese community that endures to this day.
Peninsula has a Chinese community that endures to this day.
The Maurya (324 BCE to 184 BCE) were the first empire to unify large areas of India. There is some evidence that the founding emperor Chandragupta Maurya may have been inspired by Alexander the Great whose death left a political vacuum in Northwest India that the Maurya filled. The empire was ruled by a hereditary monarch aided by an elaborate bureaucracy made up of relatives and close associates who governed ethnicity based regional provinces. The central government was able to collect high taxes, issue a standard currency and maintain control of mining. This was facilitated by an extensive network of spies that kept the central government aware of disloyalty. Further, a powerful standing army that included elephant, chariot, and cavalry divisions helped secure this power.
While agriculture remained the primary economic activity, an extensive network of roads and maritime connections to Southeast Asia and the Middle East foster both internal and international trade. India profited from the export of cotton cloth, iron, and salt.
In 269 BCE, the Emperor Ashoka came to power ushering in a period of religious pluralism and tolerance. As a young man, Ashoka engaged in violent wars of conquest. Guilt associated with this violence drove Ashoka to convert to Buddhism. As a Buddhist emperor, he made it state policy to promote Buddhism throughout his empire by erecting pillars that promoted the teachings of the Buddha. This policy was an important factor in ensuring the longevity of Buddhism as a major world religion.
India: Gupta Empire
The Maurya Empire fell in 184 BCE as a result of dynastic disputes and invasions by outside enemies. Following a period of political disunity, the Gupta Empire came to power in 320 CE, ruling a portion of North Central India. The founder, Chandra Gupta modeled his rule on that of the Maurya. While the Gupta were able to collect high taxes, demand labor from subjects for state projects, and control metal mining and salt production they were never able to maintain the level of central authority that the Maurya enjoyed. Regional hereditary governors were only nominally under the control of the central government forcing the emperor to rely on diplomacy to maintain the unity of the empire.
Hinduism enjoyed a resurgence during the Gupta period leading to the strengthening of the Caste System and the intensification of patriarchy. The tradition of sati, widows throwing themselves on the funeral pyre of their late husbands, became common. Internal and international trade continued to flourish and major advances in mathematics were realized, including the development of the decimal system, Arabic numerals (wrongly named because of their diffusion to Europe through the Middle East), and pi.
The Gupta Empire fell in the 500s CE largely as a result of nomadic invaders from the northwest.
China: Zhou Dynasty
Fundamental elements of Chinese governance came with the second Dynasty, the Zhou (1027 to 221 BCE). These principles include the Mandate of Heaven which argues that the ruling dynasty has been charged by Heaven to rule the people with benevolence (called the Dao) and Confucianism. While Confucianism did not have a profound political impact until about 200 BCE the basic tenants of filial piety, adherence to tradition, patriarchy and duty were established during the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou were only able to maintain centralized authority until about 800 BCE, after that they relied on a system of feudalism to administer the empire and by 480 BCE civil war thrust China into the Warring States Period. This conflict lasted until the Shi Huangdi emerged victorious and established the Qin Dynasty.
China: Qin Dynasty
During these years of conflict, a new governing philosophy emerged in China called Legalism. Proponents of Legalism argued that humans were innately self-serving and destructive therefore societal order had to be maintained with strict laws and harsh punishments. Shi Huangdi, prescribed to these beliefs and built a highly centralized bureaucracy around these tenants. While the Qin Dynasty was short-lived it is given credit for unifying China politically, economically, and culturally. Under the Qin, weights, measures, coinage, laws, writing, and axle length were all standardized. The state directed the construction of extensive roads and canals, work on the Great Wall of China began, and land reform broke up the power of feudal lords. These reforms laid the foundations for the effective administration of the vast empires of the dynasties that followed.
The extensive use of forced labor and excessive taxation quickly led to rebellion after the death of Shi Huangdi in 210 BCE. Out of these rebellions, a peasant named Liu Bang emerged as the new emperor of China and established the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty maintained many of the policies of the Qin but tempered the severity of Legalism with the political use of Confucianism which required leaders to earn the respect of the governed. This combination proved durable and long-lived.
China: Han Dynasty
The Han were able to maintain control of an empire even larger than the Qin. From their capital in Chang’an, the Han directed a vast bureaucracy organized into nine ministries and regional authorities. This bureaucracy was staffed by educated civil servants who received their appointments based on their score on a rigorous civil service examination. The state operated an effective tax collection system, a postal service, built extensive roads, canals, and defensive walls, and protected the empire from the constant threat of nomadic invaders from the north.
The security of the Han period led to a thriving economy that engaged in extensive internal and international trade, profiting tremendously from the export of silk. Economic growth was also aided by advancements in farm technology like the horse collar and better irrigation.
The Han Dynasty began to decline around 200 CE, contributing factors included: bureaucratic corruption and infighting, food shortages, epidemic disease, banditry, and pressure from nomadic invaders along the northern border.
India: Hinduism
Indo-European religious traditions, preserved in the Vedas, blended with the indigenous traditions of the Dravidian population to create a nascent form of Hinduism. These religious traditions began to formalize around 750 to 550 BCE with the writing of the Upanishads. This faith centered on the basic belief that all living things are reincarnated after death with the quality of the next life based on the deeds (Karma) of the individual in the previous life. Humans are expected to live according to the Dharma and good conduct is rewarded with an eventual release from the cycle of reincarnation called Moksha.
This faith, combined with the dominance of the Indo-European Aryans over the indigenous Dravidians led to the creation of a rigid social class system called Caste or Varna. The population was divided into five hereditary social classes based on ethnicity and occupation.
Hinduism fully developed during the Gupta Dynasty (320 CE to 550 CE). During this period the hereditary nature of the occupational classes of the Caste System, patriarchy, the belief in a pantheon of Gods, a rich tradition of epic literature and the construction of monumental Hindu architecture became commonplace. These traditions, established Gupta Dynasty, endured for centuries among the population of South Asia.
Hinduism’s dominance in the region was challenged by the emergence of new faiths including Jainism and Buddhism in around 500 BCE. While Buddhism had little success in gaining adherents in South Asia it did spread along trade routes and become a major faith in East and Southeast Asia. Buddhism was founded by a Hindu prince named Siddhartha Gautama who rejected the caste system and the pantheon of Hindu Gods and taught instead that spiritual enlightenment (Nirvana) and escape from the cycle reincarnation could be reached in a single lifetime by accepting the Four Noble Truths and following the Eightfold Path.
India: Buddhism
In the period after c. 500 BCE Buddhism offered an alternative to the sometimes oppressive nature of Hinduism's caste system and patriarchal traditions. The popularity of Buddhism reached its peak in the Mauryan Dynasty (324-184 BCE) under the Emperor Ashoka. Ashoka made it state policy to promote the spread of Buddhism. These policies ensured that Buddhism would endure as a major world religion. During the Gupta Dynasty (320 CE-550 CE) Buddhism fell out of favor in South Asia but endured as a major faith along the trade routes in the Indian Ocean and the Silk Road. This endurance was facilitated by the tradition of monasticism in the Buddhist faith. Buddhist nuns and monks established monasteries in remote areas along major trade routes. These monasteries spread the faith among traveling merchants and offered a life free of the traditional confines of patriarchy and caste for both women and men.
China: Confucianism
Confucius (c551-479 BCE) lived in the waning days of the Zhou Dynasty, a period of social and political upheaval. His philosophy, recorded by his followers in the Analects, proposed a solution to this unrest. He argued that the long-established traditions of filial piety and the Mandate of Heaven held the key to social order. For Confucius, the family served as a model for society as a whole. The eldest male of the family held a moral obligation to lead and care for his household with wisdom and benevolence in exchange each member of the family was obliged to obey. Confucius believed that the hierarchy of family could be expanded to bring order to society as a whole. Arguing that humans were innately good and that if treated with respect would obey righteous leaders, the Analects laid out five relationships that were rooted in long held Chinese traditions and would bring peace and order to society. Each relationship was based in reciprocal respect and duty, they include ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, and friend and friend. In an ideal Confucian society, wise superiors protect and respect their subordinates, subordinates obey and respect their superiors and all obey the golden rule: “never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.” Confucianism created a fairly rigid social hierarchy, strongly supported patriarchy, encouraged education, and supported the tradition of ancestor veneration in China from the Han Dynasty onward.
Silk Roads
The vast open steppe land of Central Asia was home to numerous nomadic societies. These societies relied on a pastoral economy that exploited the natural resources of the open steppe. This reliance on pastoralism made these societies experts on the use of pack animals including horses, camels and oxen. These transport technologies combined with potential for vast profits from the trade in silk, glassware, cotton cloth, horses, spices, perfumes and slaves led to the rise of the Silk Road. The Silk Road operated in two principle phases, the first from about 100 BCE to 800 CE. In this period the trade route linked the Roman Empire in the west, the Chinese dynasties of the Han, Sui and Tang in the East, the Indian empires of the Mauryan and Gupta in the south, and the Persians in the middle. The Silk Road peaked again from 1200 to 1500.
During the first phase of the Silk Road, it functioned primarily as a relay system with each merchant only traveling a portion of the full length of the road. Major trading cities developed as a result of this system like Chang’an, Samarkand, and Bukhara. While individuals rarely traveled the full length of the trade routes, elements of culture and technology did. Some key examples of this include: -Buddhism spread from India to China -Christianity spread to the east -the stirrup spread from Central Asia to Europe, China, and the Middle East -horse technology spread to China -New crops were introduced to China (alfalfa, grapes), Rome (peaches, apricots), and the Middle East (rice, sugarcane, and cotton).
Indian Ocean Trade
The predictable nature of the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean eased open-water navigation and led to the rise of a vast network of exchange between East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China in the Classical Age. Mariners, motivated by potential profits from the exchange in goods like ebony, ivory, copper, myrrh, frankincense, dates, spices, jewels, cotton cloth, and silk developed technologies that capitalized on the monsoon winds and allowed the efficient transport of massive amounts of goods. These technologies include the dhow and lateen sail developed by Arab sailors and the junk developed by the Chinese.
The seasonal nature of the monsoon winds forced long stays by sailors in their various ports of call. This led to the establishment of diasporic communities in the major ports of the Indian Ocean Maritime System. Several of the diasporic communities left an enduring impact of the host culture. For example the Swahili language of East Africa is a product of the blending of Arabic with indigenous Bantu languages and the Malay Peninsula has a Chinese community that endures to this day.
Peninsula has a Chinese community that endures to this day.