Chapter 16 Notes 27/10/2007 09:56:00

A Persian shipmaster, Buzurg ibn Shahriyar, compiled a book called Book of

the Wonders of India. In it are many tall tales but many true things too. Like
China, India influenced it’s area. The coming of Islam also heavily influenced
India.
Islamic and Hindu kingdoms: When the Gupta felled to the White Huns,
India became politically divided and till Turkish Mughals came.
• The quest for centralized imperial rule
o North India: Turbulent and almost chaotic
 Tension among regional kingdoms and intermittent war
 Nomadic Turks became absorbed into Indian society
 Fitted into the caste system but caused disruption
o Harsha (reigned 606-648 C.E.) temporarily restored unified
rule in north India
 Reputation for piety, liberality and scholarship; Buddhist
 Local rulers too powerful and Harsha fell to assassin and
left no heir
• Introduction of Islam to northern India
o The Sind were conquered by Arab Muslims and passed to
Abbasids
 Stood on fringe of Islamic world so many religions in it
 Sheltered unorthodox Islamic movements; local political
elites had opportunity to assert Hindu control
o Muslim merchants formed small communities in all major
cities of coastal India; Cambay (Gujarat region)
o Turkish migrants and Islam: Turks convert to Islam in tenth
century
 Some moved to Afghanistan and established an Islamic
state, Byzantine or Abbasid realm
 Mahmud of Ghazni, Turk leader in Afghanistan, made
expeditions to northern India
o The sultanate of Delhi (1206-1526 C.E.)
 Mahmud's successors conquered north India, 1206
  Established an Islamic state known as the sultanate of
Delhi; capital at strategic site of Delhi
 Sultans' authority did not extend far beyond the capital
at Delhi
 Islam began to have a place in India
• The Hindu kingdoms of southern India: Small, loosely admins
o The south: politically divided but relatively peaceful
o The Chola kingdom (850-1267 C.E.) was a larger kingdom;
ruled Coromandel coast
 At its high point, conquered Ceylon and parts of
southeast Asia
 Navy dominated waters from South China Sea to
Arabian Sea
 Not a tightly centralized state; local autonomy was
strong
 Began to decline by the twelfth century due to revolts
• The kingdom of Vijayanagar (1336-1565 C.E.)
o Established by two Indian brothers (Harihara and Bukka) sent
by Turkish forces of Delhi
o They renounced Islam in 1336 and returned to their Hindu
faith
o Dominant state till 1565 when Mughal conquered them
Production and trade in the Indian Ocean basin: Increase in agriculture
prompted higher trade volume and cultural exchange. Merchants gained
more prominence but the caste system is still very strong
• Agriculture in the monsoon world
o The monsoons (rains in spring and summer); need irrigation
in the off months
o Irrigation systems were needed for dry months
 No big river in south India; waterworks included dams,
reservoirs, canals, wells
 Stored rainwater in large reservoirs connected to canals
 One reservoir constructed during the eleventh century
covered 250 square miles
 o Population growth: 53 million in 600 C.E. to 105 million in
1500 C.E.
o Urbanization took place in Delhi and other large port cities
• Trade and economic development of southern India: Political
separation did not hinder trade
o Internal trade
 Self-sufficient in staple food
 Metals, spices, special crops found only in certain
regions
 Iron from Ganges river, copper from Deccan, salt
coastal, pepper from S. India
 Through trade, south India and Ceylon experienced
rapid economic growth due to conflict in N.
o Temples and society in south India
 Hindu temples served as economic and social centers
 Possessed large tracts of land, hundreds of employees
 Temple administrators were to maintain order, deliver
taxes
 Basic schooling for boys of community (maybe advance)
 Served as banks; engaged in business ventures
• Cross-cultural trade in Indian Ocean basin
o Dhows and junks--large ships involved in maritime trade in
Indian Ocean
 Impossible to conduct trade without waiting month so
they conduct the trade in stages
o Emporia, Indian port cities, were clearinghouses of trade and
cosmopolitan centers
o Trade goods
 Silk and porcelain from China
 Spices from southeast Asia
  Pepper, gems, pearls, and cotton from India
 Incense and horses from Arabia and southwest Asia
 Gold, ivory, and slaves from east Africa
o Specialized production
 Production of high-quality cotton textiles thrived
 Built thriving industries around it
 Other specialized industries: sugar, leather, stone,
carpets, iron and steel (high carbon steel)
o The kingdom of Axum was a Christian empire centered in
Ethiopia; replaced Kush as power S. of Egypt
 Resisted pressures of Islam; stayed prosperous through
trade
 Controlled Adulis, most prominent port on Red Sea
• Caste and society: caste provided guidance in absence of
centralized political authority; can be changed
o Caste helped to integrate immigrants (Turks, Muslim
merchants) into Indian society
o Caste and social change: guilds and subcastes (jatis)
 Guilds help merchants gain political prominences
o Expansion of caste system, especially to southern India
The meeting of Hindu and Islamic traditions: Jainism and Buddhism
lost much following. Polytheistic Hindu in South, monotheistic Islam in North
• The development of Hinduism
o Hinduism predominated in southern India, Islam in the north
o Vishnu and Shiva
 Decline of Buddhism benefited Hinduism
 Invasions, attraction of other religion
  The growth of Vishnu and Shiva cults (and other gods
associated with them)
 Vishnu – Preserver of world, Shiva – fertility and
destruction
o Devotional cults: to achieve mystic union with gods as a way
of salvation
 Became especially popular in S. India where they
associated with particular region feature
 Chola kings took Shiva as family god and thus spread
popularity
 Gradually N. India, cults became popular
o Shankara and Ramanuja took Upanishads as a point of
departure for subtle reasoning and sophisticated metaphysics
o Shankara (devotee of Shiva): philosopher (ninth century) who
preferred disciplined logical reasoning (wanted a single,
consistent system of thought; much like Plato: Physical world
a reality)
o Ramanuja (devotee of Vishnu): philosopher (eleventh and
twelfth centuries) believed that understanding of ultimate
reality was less important than devotion
• Islam and its appeal: Won gradual acceptance in merchant
communities. Conquerors offered little incentive to convert to Islam
o Conversion to Islam occurred in a slow and gradual way
 Some converted for improving their lower social
statuses
 Wanted to escape discrimination by converting to
a faith that recognized equality of all believers
 Often an entire caste or subcaste adopted Islam en
masse; rarely improved social standings by converting
 By 1500, about 25 million Indian Muslims (1/4 of
population)
o Sufis
 The most effective missionaries, they had a devotional
approach to Islam
 Permitted followers to observe old rituals and venerate
old spirits
  Emphasized piety and devotion
o The Bhakti movement
 Sought to erase distinction between Hinduism and Islam
 Guru Kabir (1440-1518), important bhakti teacher,
taught that Shiva, Vishnu, and Allah were one deity
The influence of Indian society in southeast Asia: Like China, India
served as the principal source of political and cultural traditions of SE Asia.
• The states of southeast Asia
o Indian influence in southeast Asia – Merchants visited islands
as early as 500BCE, so thus they became familiar faces
 Indian merchants brought their faiths to southeast Asia
 Ruling elite of southeast Asia adapted some Indian
political traditions
 The states sponsored Hinduism and Buddhism
 Showed no interest in Indian caste system
o Funan (first to sixth century C.E.) in the lower reaches of
Mekong River (Cambodia/Vietnam)
 Drew enormous wealth by controlling trade
 Adopted Sanskrit as official language
 Decline of Funan in sixth century
o Srivijaya (670-1025 C.E.) was established on Sumatra after
the fall of Funan
 Maintained sea trade between China and India by navy
 Chola kingdom of south India eclipsed Srivijaya in the
eleventh century
o Angkor (889-1431 C.E.)
 Kingdom built by Khmers at Angkor Thom, later Angkor
Wat
 The city was a microcosmic reflection of Hindu world
order
 Turned to Buddhism during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries
 Thais invaded the capital in 1431, and Khmers
abandoned it
o Other states: Singosari (1222-1292 C.E.) and Majapahit
(1293-1520 C.E.)
• The arrival of Islam in southeast Asia
o Conversion to Islam was slow and quiet
 Ruling elite converted in cities while rural residents
retained their traditions
 Islam was not an exclusive faith in southeast Asia
 Sufis appealed to a large public in these countries
o Melaka was powerful Islamic state during fifteenth century
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27/10/2007 09:56:00