by Sanderson Beck
The pre-Aryan Harappan civilization in the Indus valley seems
to have had
many feminine and egalitarian qualities, but unfortunately,
without writing,
little is known of their history and beliefs.
Floods and over-grazing may have made them more vulnerable to
conquest.
The invasion of white-skinned Aryan conquerors of the
dark natives in India
is documented in the Veda scriptures of
the Hindus.
Powerful religious beliefs similar to the Iranians'
were used to justify the
establishment of a caste system based
on skin color and occupations.
Hindu society was dominated by
the Brahmin priests and Kshatriya warrior-kings,
supported by
artisan, merchant, and farming Vaishyas,
all of whom exploited
the labor of the natives.
Aryan ways were patriarchal and violent.
Yet somehow in India the western religion combined with the
eastern methods
of yoga and meditation to develop a remarkable
spiritual philosophy
and ascetic way of life based on inner awareness
and renunciation of the world.
The sages of the Upanishads left teachings that written would inspire millions
with their
mystical wisdom.
The doctrines of karma and reincarnation explained
how spiritual justice
transcends one lifetime, and the mystical
methods
offered seekers a path of liberation from the cycle.
An
ethical life of nonviolence was only the first step in such an
awesome endeavor,
while renouncing worldly success made the society
more inward than other materialistic cultures.
The practice of nonviolence by Parshva was developed into a
major religion
by the noble Mahavira, whose extraordinary ascetic
disciplines and spiritual awareness
attracted devoted followers.
Adding chastity to the ethical disciplines of nonviolence, truthfulness,
not stealing,
and freedom from possession, Mahavira established
a religious community that spread Jainism.
Yet the extremity of
the asceticism, which some believed required nudity,
did not become
as popular as a similar but more moderate religion
founded in
the same era by Siddartha the Buddha.
The life of Siddartha Gautama and his teachings as the Buddha
have inspired millions of people seeking peace and enlightenment
to live more ethically.
His renouncing princely wealth and power
to become an ascetic
only to discover that a moderate path between
the extremes of strictness and luxury
was the most successful
approach to spiritual awareness
is an archetypal story of great
significance.
The four noble truths of the Buddha are:
1) life
is painful; 2) pain is caused by craving; 3) stopping craving
stops pain; and
4) the way to stop craving is by correct understanding,
intention, speech, action,
livelihood, attention, concentration,
and meditation.
The Buddha by his counseling prevented a war between
the Kolyas and the Shakyas.
The Buddha refused to discuss speculative
and metaphysical questions
as irrelevant to ending suffering and
finding enlightenment.
He overcame attempts by Devadatta to cause
a schism in the Buddhist community
and refused to harm him even
after Devadatta tried to kill him.
The teachings of the Buddha offered a practical way to reduce
social harm
as well as personal suffering.
The Buddha diagnosed
the psychological causality of attachment
in his theory of dependent
origination.
Ethical behavior is an important part of the Buddhist
quest for enlightenment.
The Buddha's leadership of the community
that formed around his doctrines
set an example of wisdom.
His
teachings were passed on orally and then in writing in numerous
dialogs
analyzing human consciousness and ethical conduct.
One
of the greatest Buddhist works on ethics is the poetic Dhammapada,
which emphasizes compassion, self-mastery, and awareness.
The
Questions of King Milinda has the Hellenistic Bactrian king,
who converted to Buddhism, ask many difficult questions,
which
are answered by Nagasena.
Thousands of people were profoundly
influenced by Buddha's teachings
in his own lifetime, and Buddhism
spread throughout India in the next five centuries,
influencing
the policies of kings as well as individual seekers.
Although
the injustices of war and the caste system were certainly not
eliminated,
there can be little doubt that efforts to practice
Buddhist compassion
by so many greatly improved the ethics of
Indian society.
After he killed his father to become king of Magadha,
Ajatashatru
was influenced by the Buddha, built a new capital at Pataliputra,
and sponsored the first Buddhist council.
Nonetheless he was followed
by murderous kings,
who were eventually replaced by the Nanda
dynasty.
Although Indian culture developed a rich literature,
they were more interested in spiritual truths than historical
events.
Thus little is known about political history in India
except for Alexander's brief invasion in 326 BC
which was described
by Greek historians.
According to them Indians never marched outside
of their country for war.
Some kingdoms defended themselves against
the Macedonian army,
while others who surrendered were killed
for refusing to fight fellow Indians.
Alexander experienced the
fiercest military resistance to his conquests in India
and was
nearly killed there himself.
Indian philosophers and naked Jainas
discussed justice and other issues
with the aggressive Greeks
and influenced Pyrrho,
who later founded the Skeptical school
of philosophy.
This warfare stimulated Chandragupta to raise an
army that enabled him
to unite India in the Mauryan empire.
The
500 elephants he provided in a treaty helped Seleucus
to hold
his west Asian empire against other Greeks.
The Mauryan empire was inherited by Ashoka in 273 BC.
Though
before his conversion to Buddhism he was responsible
for many
people being killed and deported,
Ashoka's implementation of Buddhist
teachings made him
one of the greatest monarchs of all time.
He
ruled with wisdom and compassion as he renounced war, promoted
justice,
and tolerated all religious faiths.
The Mauryan dynasty
had ended by about 187 BC
when Bactrian Greeks invaded and were
driven back.
After the Greeks took over the Punjab, King Menander
was also converted to Buddhism.
Aryan conquests had gradually
spread south, and Buddhism followed centuries later.
The island
of Sri Lanka was converted to Buddhism
and became a stronghold
of that religion.
The Hindu Dharma Sutras described the ethical duties
of the four castes
and the four stages of life as the celibate
student, married householder,
forest retreat, and the final renunciation.
The Laws of Manu offered ethical counsel as well as law
codes,
such as avoiding eating meat because of the principle of
nonviolence.
Other principles included truthfulness, not stealing,
purity, and self-control.
The main duty of the Brahmin is to teach,
the Kshatriya to protect,
the Vaishya to trade, and the Sudra
to serve.
The Artha Shastra by Kautilya gave political advice
and lowered the ethical standards
of the sacred traditions.
Although
Kautilya claimed to teach justice in pursuing power and wealth (artha),
he recommended the use of war and the employment
of spies and deceit for calculated advantage.
Kautilya valued
wealth above all,
thinking that could be used to buy everything
else.
The fourth value of Hindu culture after liberation (moksha),
justice (dharma),
and wealth (artha) was pleasure
(kama).
The Kama Sutra by Vatsyayana presented views
on how pleasure can be attained, particularly erotically.
Sexual
morals varied, some abstaining from adultery;
others considered
it a risk worth taking.
The attitudes of ancient India toward
sexuality
seemed to be quite practical and open-minded.
As a minority view, materialists did exist in ancient India.
Although they emphasized worldly pleasures, they did teach ethical
values;
one Carvaka was even martyred for opposing the violence
of the great Bharata war,
according to the epic Mahabharata.
Of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy
the Nyaya emphasized
logic and discerning knowledge.
Yet ethical living was important
in the process of spiritual liberation.
Vaishesika focused on
individual responsibility for one's actions (karma).
Liberation
was achieved by freeing the soul from the body.
Progress was mainly
by virtue (dharma).
Mimamsa also emphasized dharma and soul transcendence,
and they recommended prayers, rituals, and sacrifices as methods.
Humans are free, but dharma supports the universe.
Mimamsa
focused on making one's action (karma) virtuous (dharma).
Its complementary school was Vedanta, which suggested meditation
and liberation
by awareness as taught in the Upanishads,
the end of the Vedas.
The Samkhya and Yoga schools also worked as a pair.
Samkhya
taught how to discern the spirit and soul from nature,
the field
of knowledge and manifestation, in order to attain independence.
Samkhya's ethics differentiated the good (sattva)
from
the passion of activity (rajas) and ignorance (tamas).
Yoga was the practical method used for achieving independence
and is brilliantly outlined in the classic text by Patanjali called
the Yoga Sutras.
The ethical foundation is found in the
first two steps of
restraint (not injuring, not lying, not stealing,
not lusting, and not possessing)
and the observances (cleanliness,
contentment, discipline, self-study,
and surrender to the Lord).
Physical postures and breath control then prepare one
for the
psychological steps of withdrawal from the senses by
attention,
concentration, and meditation.
The value of these disciplines
is still demonstrated
by the yoga many practice in the world today.
In the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna also taught various yogas
for increasing spiritual awareness,
although his justification
of the war and urging of Arjuna to fight in battle can be questioned.
The wisdom in this famous book is extensive and includes how not
to be attached
to the fruits of action by practicing ways of action,
knowledge, intuition,
renunciation, devotion, and meditation.
The qualities of goodness, emotion, and ignorance are differentiated,
and the liberation beyond all of them is held up as the ultimate
goal.
The imaginative literature of ancient India excelled in two
great epic poems and in folktales.
In the Ramayana by Valmiki
virtue is exemplified by the noble couple Rama and Sita.
In their
adventures every man and woman could find nearly ideal behavior
portrayed
in challenging circumstances, as Rama survives exile
and regains his kingdom
in the great monkey war, while his wife
Sita endures
captivity by the enemy and a difficult reconciliation.
Vyasa's tremendous Mahabharata depicts two quarreling
families and culminates
in a great war between them for the kingdom.
Justice (dharma) is indicated this time by Vidura
and the
oldest Pandava brother Yudhishthira,
whose weakness for gambling
though puts the Pandavas in a difficult position.
The war is nearly
fatal for the entire human race,
but in the epilog Yudhishthira
and his enemies are reconciled in heaven.
Although nonviolence (ahimsa) is exalted as the highest virtue,
the heroes of
this war epic have difficulty practicing it.
The Jataka tales present Buddhist teachings set in stories
of the Buddha's previous lives as humans, spirits, and animals.
The lessons illustrate his sermons and show how karma can work
from life to life.
In them the power of goodness is very uplifting,
and virtue always triumphs.
The Panchatantra contains animal
fables with more worldly messages,
demonstrating how creatures
can survive the danger of being eaten
in a competitive world by
cleverness and cooperative friends.
India had a favorable balance of trade with the Roman empire
in the first century CE,
but they had their own internal conflicts
under the Satavahana kingdom.
In the northwest, Iranian kings
known as the Pahlavas were driven out
by Scythians led by Kanishka
(r. 78-101),
who supported Buddhism and founded the Shaka era.
Buddhist philosophers such as Parshva and Ashvaghosha were favored
at his court.
The new greater vehicle of Buddhism called Mahayana
emphasized the bodhisattva saint
who helps others, and
this doctrine was explained in the Surangama Sutra,
which
warned of allurements from sex and ego.
Ashvaghosha wrote the
earliest Sanskrit drama, and his poem Buddhacharita
described
the life and teachings of the Buddha.
His Awakening
of Faith in the Mahayana distinguished suchness (bhutatathata)
from the cycle of birth and death (samsara).
He taught
compassion for all beings and thus criticized
the prejudices and
inequities of the caste system.
Prajnaparamita was translated
into Chinese in 179 CE and discussed perfect wisdom.
The bodhisattvas
renounced their heavenly reward in order to serve the whole world.
Nagarjuna in the 2nd century CE founded the Madhyamika (Middle
Path) school
of Mahayana Buddhism, and some of his followers split
off into the Yogachara philosophy.
Nagarjuna discussed ethics
in his Suhrllekha,
recommending the transcendental virtues
of charity, patience, energy, meditation,
and wisdom, and he warned
against being fettered
by attachment to religious ceremonies,
wrong views, and doubt.
The Buddhist Text of the Excellent
Golden Light advised kings
to avoid fighting but to punish
criminals.
Buddhist Vasubandhu in the 4th century taught that
only consciousness exists,
and thus we create our own reality.
Buddhism took hold on the island of Sri Lanka,
but there the
Mahayana doctrine was suppressed in the 3rd century CE.
The outstanding
Tamil epic poem The Ankle Bracelet (Silappadikaram)
was
written about 200 CE by Prince Ilango Adigal.
In this romantic
story the faithful wife Kannaki proves that
her executed husband did not steal the anklet, and the causes of the tragedy
are explained
as karmic effects from previous lives.
This story inspires people
to be more ethical and spiritual,
and Kannaki came to be worshipped
as a goddess of chastity in Sri Lanka and southern India.
Sri
Lanka remained Buddhist, and in the 5th century Buddhaghosha translated
texts
and explained the conduct, concentration, and wisdom
of
Buddhism in his Visuddhimagga.
The Jain philosopher Kunda Kunda of the Digambara sect also
taught about karma
and how one can be freed from it by meditating
with pure thought,
releasing desire and aversion.
In The Perfect
Law (Niyamsara), Kunda Kunda described the five vows of
non-injury,
truth, non-stealing, chastity, and non-possession.
Gupta empire replaced tribal customs with the caste system,
ruled over vassals,
and suffered invasions from the White Huns
in the 5th century.
Harsha-vardhana (r. 606-47) gained control
over northern India
and promoted Hindu culture.
The Chalukyas
had a wide empire, but Muslim Arabs encroached in the west.
The
Tamil classic, The Kural by Tiru Valluvar contains moral
proverbs
on the traditional Hindu goals of dharma (virtue
or justice), artha (success or wealth),
and kama
(love or pleasure).
The mystical Vedanta philosopher Shankara
emphasized non-dualism
and elucidated Hindu scriptures.
In the Crest-Jewel of Wisdom Shankara explained spiritual psychology.
Indian drama was analyzed by Bharata in the Natya Shastra.
Early plays by Bhasa introduced the court jester,
and The Little
Clay Cart portrays aristocrats and merchants,
enabling audiences
to see ethical consequences of various actions.
Plays of the great Kalidasa contain mythic elements with heavenly nymphs.
The title
character in Shakuntala becomes the mother of India's
founding
emperor Bharata.
Rakshasa's Ring by Vishakhadatta portrayed
the political manipulations
of prime minister Chanakya, also known
as Kautilya, in the court of Chandragupta.
The powerful ruler
Harsha not only patronized the arts, but he also wrote plays himself.
Bhavabhuti in the early 8th century was the court poet in Kanauj.
His plays portray courtly love and romance.
These plays from India
show that in a period of many centuries
when few plays have remained
from any other culture,
theater could still entertain and enlighten
many people.
Indian literature also described the consequences
of actions by karma,
and the Puranas, especially the popular
Srimad Bhagavatam,
portrayed the examples of the divine
in human incarnations as Vishnu becomes Krishna.
Hindu religion regained strength during the two and a half
centuries
preceding the Muslim invasions that began about 1000.
This era saw much fighting between Hindu kingdoms,
and even some
Jains as soldiers justified killing enemies.
The Brahmin caste
was favored by law and dominated
religion, education, and land
ownership.
Most women worked in the home or in the fields.
The
erotic art found on temples indicates a less puritanical attitude
toward sexuality among Hindus
as Buddhism declined and Tantra
methods were developed.
Tibet was influenced by Buddhism from the 6th century
and adopted
it as the state religion in 791, though conflicts remained between
Buddhists and the followers of the native Bon-po religion.
The
Tibetan Book of the Dead explains how to become liberated
from reincarnation
by being aware as one dies.
Atisha (982-1054)
came to Tibet from India in 1042 and reformed Tantric practices
by introducing celibacy and a higher morality among the priests;
he wrote a book on enlightenment and founded the Katampa order.
The Kagyupa school had a series of teachers that included Naropa
(1016-1100),
Marpa (1012-96), Milarepa (1040-1123), Lharje (1077-1152),
whose book listed yogic precepts, and Tusum Khyenpa (1110-93),
who founded the black-hat Karmapa order in 1147.
In 1000 Muslims led by Ghazni ruler Mahmud
invaded India and
looted immense treasure.
A Pala empire in Bengal dominated the
east until the Muslims conquered them
in the early 13th century.
Ghuzz Turks under Muhammad Ghuri attacked the Gujarat kingdom
in 1178
and overcame organized Hindu resistance by 1192.
In 1221
Mongols led by Genghis Khan crossed the Indus into the Punjab.
In the south the Cholas fought the Pandyas and the Chalukyas.
Buddhism remained strong in Sri Lanka under king Vijayabahu (r.
1055-1110).
Hemachandra (1088-1172) converted Gujarat's Chalukya
king Kumarapala to Jainism,
and Bijjala was a Jain king.
His minister,
the Shaivite Basava (1106-67), argued against violence and caste
prejudice.
Sri Lanka king Parakramabahu I (r. 1153-86) used heavy
taxation to rebuild
Pulatthinagara and Anuradhapura that had been
destroyed by the Cholas,
and he developed trade with Burma.
In
the 13th century the Hoysalas fought the Pandyas for empire
as
Chola power decreased.
The Sufi poet Amir Khusrau described how
Islam
used the sword to triumph over Hindu idolatry.
By 1300 invading
Mongols, now Muslims, had taken over Delhi
and subjugated the
Hindus under Islamic law.
'Ala-ud-din Khalji (r. 1296-1316) expanded and centralized
the Delhi Sultanate.
After winning a struggle for power, Tughluq
invaded and annexed Bengal.
His son Muhammad bin Tughluq (r. 1325-51)
caused famine and rebellion
with his heavy taxes and lived in
luxury, favoring Muslims over Hindus.
Traveler Ibn Battuta brought
gifts and was made a judge.
Firuz Shah (r. 1351-88) lowered taxes
and sponsored public works
while independent Bengal prospered
under Sikander (1359-89).
Another civil war for power in Delhi
brought on the devastating invasion
by Timur's Tatars in 1398.
Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur, and others were independent
as the Sayyid
dynasty of sultans ruled Delhi from 1414
until the Afghan Buhlul
Khan took over in 1452.
Sultan Sikander Shah (r. 1489-1517) was
succeeded by his son Ibrahim,
but he was overcome by Babur's Mughal
invasion in 1526.
The Muslims placed themselves above the Hindu
castes
and taxed heavily the "infidels" they ruled.
Barani served in the government under Muhammad bin Tughluq
but
was imprisoned by Firuz Shah.
He wrote a history of the Delhi
sultanate up to 1357
and a book on government in which he expressed
his aristocratic ideas
that justified discrimination against Hindus.
Shaikh Hamadani described the strict laws that Muslim rulers imposed
on non-Muslims.
The Rajput states were independent in the 15th century.
Mewar
became the most powerful and called on Babur.
Malwa struggled
against Gujarat.
In the east, Bengal succumbed to Muslim rule.
Gujarat's Ahmad Shah (1411-43) fought the Bahmani kingdom and
built Ahmadabad.
Mahmud Begarha ruled Gujarat 1458-1511 and protected
the Bahmani king,
and his son Muzaffar II fought against the Rajputs.
Kashmir suffered changes and was ruled mostly by Muslims.
Tibet
remained Buddhist; the Gelugpa order was founded in 1409,
and
the Karmapas controlled Lhasa until 1517.
The Muslim Bahmani kingdom
in the Deccan lasted from 1347 to 1527
amid much political violence.
Brothers Harihara and Bukka converted to Islam in order to
govern Kampili;
later they renounced that religion and declared
their independence,
founding the Vijayanagara kingdom in 1336.
Bukka I (r. 1356-77) began fighting the Bahmanis in 1358,
and
he tolerated all religions.
His son Harihara II (r. 1377-1404)
expanded the Vijayanagara kingdom.
Devaraya II (r. 1422-46) centralized
the state by controlling the chiefs.
After a period of decline,
Virupaksha was overthrown
in 1485 by Narasimha Saluva.
Krishna
Deva Raya (r. 1509-29) encouraged trade with the Portuguese
to
gain horses and strengthened Vijayanagara.
On Sri Lanka regional rulers struggled for power,
and Parakramabahu
VI (r. 1411-65) was the last king to rule the entire island.
They
survived invasions by Muslims in 1323,
by Chinese explorer Zhenghe
in 1406 and 1411,
and by Vijayanagara about 1432.
Portuguese ships
began arriving at Calicut in 1498 and used their naval power
to
control the spice trade.
In 1509 Viceroy Almeida defeated a Muslim
fleet near Diu,
and Albuquerque conquered Goa the next year.
The
Portuguese built a fort at Columbo in Sri Lanka in 1518.
Kabir was a Muslim weaver who used a Hindu mantra
as well as
Sufi methods of spirituality.
He emphasized the direct experience
of God through meditation, prayer, charity,
and fasting without
rituals, ceremonies, or philosophical doctrines.
He criticized
caste distinctions, the eating of meat, and all violence.
His
poems inspired many to seek God,
and his blending of Hindu and
Islamic mysticism foreshadowed Nanak's new synthesis.
Chaitanya
(1486-1533) became a devotee of Krishna
and popularized the bhakti
practice of the Vaisnavas.
He sang and danced in ecstasy and persuaded
Orissa king Prataparudra not to invade Bengal.
Nanak (1469-1539) was from a Hindu family, married, and had
two sons
before he had an enlightening experience in November
1496.
He declared, "There is no Hindu; there is no Muslim."
Like Kabir, he did not recognize caste distinctions.
He preached
to both Hindus and Muslims and began traveling in 1499.
He taught
praising God, charity for all, purification by bathing, serving
humanity,
and constantly praying to God.
Sikander Lodi had him
arrested at Delhi for preaching in public,
but singing in jail
got him released.
He traveled to Mecca and returned to witness
Babur's invasions of the Punjab
which he criticized as butchery.
A wealthy devotee donated land,
and he spent the rest of his life
in Kartarpur with his disciples.
He emphasized the oneness of
God and recommended repeating the divine name
and surrendering
to the will of God.
He taught that all people are equal and warned
against the selfishness of lust, anger, avarice, attachment, and
pride.
By practicing the discipline of loving meditation the grace
of God can liberate one
from the cycle of karma and reincarnation.
He did not consider himself an avatar or prophet
but the Guru
of the Sikh religion.
He named Angad as his successor.
Babur was from Farghana and conquered Samarqand, Kabul, and
Qandahar
before invading India in 1519.
His army killed 15,000
at the battle of Panipat near Delhi in 1526.
His son Humayun helped
him defeat the Rajputs,
and in 1529 the Mughal army overcame Bihar's
army of 100,000 men.
Babur died in 1530 and was succeeded by Humayun,
who invaded Gujarat.
Sher Khan became governor of Bihar and invaded
Bengal in 1537.
Sher Khan become Shah by overcoming Humayun, who
fled as far as Iran.
Sher Shah organized the Mughal empire into
47 sarkars with two officers each,
writing Hindi and Persian.
He promoted farming, reformed tariffs, built roads, administered
justice,
disciplined soldiers, and paid fair salaries to reduce
corruption.
He was killed taking a fort in 1545 and was succeeded
by his son Islam Shah,
who tried to kill those he suspected of
taking his throne.
Humayun promised to promote the Shi'a faith
and got 14,000 Persian soldiers,
but he turned on the Persians
over Qandahar and captured Kabul in 1553.
Islam Shah died the
next year, and Sikander Shah won the power struggle
and took Delhi
in 1555.
Like his father Babur, Humayun cut down on opium and
renounced alcohol
in order to invade India.
His Mughal archers
defeated Sikander's massive cavalry,
but the victorious Humayun
died in January 1556.
Akbar (r. 1556-1605) was only 13 years old when he began ruling
the Mughal empire.
He defeated his rivals and married a Hindu
princess in 1562.
He ended the forced conversion and enslavement
of prisoners
and the discriminatory jiziya poll tax on
non-Muslims.
As he matured, Akbar curtailed his philandering and
hunting.
His army conquered Gujarat in 1573 and Bengal the next
year
as he steadily expanded the Mughal empire.
Officers were
ranked in a feudal hierarchy.
Akbar patronized the study of various
religions and formed his own Divine Faith
based on ethical and
rational mysticism from all religions.
His palace and a few disciples
were affected by his unorthodox ideas and practices,
but his imperial
policy was universal toleration.
Muslims resented his appointing
Hindus and rebelled
by proclaiming his brother Hakim emperor at
Kabul in 1580,
but they were defeated.
Akbar moved his capital
to Lahore in 1585 and maintained peaceful relations
with the Uzbeks
and Persians.
His Deccan campaign began in 1591 with diplomacy
but turned to invasion in 1595.
After Prince Murad died, Akbar
himself led the army in 1600;
but while he was invading Khandesh,
his son Salim revolted.
The Empress made peace between them in
1604,
and Salim succeeded as Jahangir (r. 1605-27).
Emperor Jahangir promised to uphold Islamic law
and tried to
ban wine, cannabis, and tobacco.
His son Khusrau rebelled but
was captured and blinded.
Jahangir married the Persian widow Nur
Jahan,
and she became very influential.
Bengal was annexed as
a Mughal province in 1613.
Prince Khurram campaigned in Rajasthan,
the Himalayas, and the Deccan.
When Jahangir was ill in 1621,
Khurram had Khusrau secretly killed.
Khurram got money from Gujarat
and challenged the Emperor,
but he was defeated and agreed to
govern the Deccan.
Nur Jahan had hopes for Shahryar;
Prince Parwiz
tried to challenge him but died of alcoholism in 1626.
After Jahangir died, vizier Asaf Khan supported Khurram;
they
blinded Shahryar, and Khurram became Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58).
He spent about 29 million rupees on building projects,
including
the famous Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife.
Yet he wasted
much more money and lives on warfare.
Famine followed a devastating
war in 1629.
His army attacked the Portuguese at Hughli, killing
and enslaving thousands.
Shah Jahan was an orthodox Muslim and
prohibited construction of
temples and churches or conversion
to Hinduism or Christianity.
Prince Muhammad Shuja governed Bengal
1639-59,
and Prince Aurangzeb governed the Deccan.
The Mughals
fought the Persians over Qandahar with huge losses.
When Shah
Jahan became ill in 1657, his four sons fought over the empire.
Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707) cleverly won the civil war,
which
impoverished the empire and caused a famine.
He sent Mir Jumla
to govern Bengal, and he made war on Assam.
Aurangzeb was devoted
to Islam, and his intolerant policies persecuted Hindus,
resulting
in constant war against rebels and the ruination of the Mughal
empire.
Even his son Akbar revolted with the Rajputs.
The most
resistance by the Marathas was in the Deccan,
and Aurangzeb moved
his court there in 1695.
Living in tents, the Emperor fought them
until 1706.
The imperial treasury was depleted and could not pay
its large army,
while Mughal aristocrats became morally degenerate.
Many people became robbers during the chaos of war
and the injustice
of religious persecution.
Kashmir led by the Chak tribe struggled against the Mughals
but was annexed in 1586.
Emperor Shah Jahan replaced the oppressive
Kashmir governor Itiqad Khan in 1632
but ordered Zafar Khan to
attack western Tibet.
During the reign of Aurangzeb, Kashmir had
twelve Mughal governors.
Sonam Gyatso (1543-88) ruled Tibet and
was given the title Dalai Lama
by the Mongol Altan Khan, whom
he converted.
The Mongols intervened in Tibet briefly;
but the
fifth Dalai Lama became an independent ruler
and did much to unify
Tibet before he died in 1682.
In southern India the Vijayanagara kingdom suffered power struggles
and hired Muslim soldiers.
Emperor Shah Jahan urged the Bijapur
sultan Muhammad 'Adil Shah to annex
Vijayanagara, and he did so
in 1649 with help from Shahji.
Shahji's son Shivaji Bhonsla (1627-80)
became the Maratha leader of the rebellion
with 10,000 cavalry
and 60,000 infantry.
Shivaji raided Puna in 1663, and the next
year his Marathas
carried off much wealth from the port of Surat.
After Aurangzeb sent an army against his fortress at Purandhar,
Shivaji made a treaty with the Mughals in 1665 and,
after he was
detained and escaped, another treaty in 1668;
but the Emperor's
edict to destroy Hindu temples and schools
the next year incited
more rebellion.
Shivaji crowned himself king in 1674, appointed
eight military commanders as ministers,
instilled discipline in
his army, and practiced religious toleration.
After Shivaji's
death, his son Shambhaji deposed his brother Rajaram.
Shambhaji
plundered the country, avoided the Mughal army,
and made a treaty
with the English at Bombay,
but he was captured and killed in
1688.
Rajaram led the Maratha resistance until he died in 1700.
A large Maratha army continued the struggle against Aurangzeb's
imperial forces.
In northern Sri Lanka the Hindus resisted encroachment by Portuguese
Christians,
but in the south Bhuvanekabahu (r. 1521-51) sold cinnamon
to the Portuguese.
Sitavaka's Mayadunne (r. 1521-81) favored Muslim
traders and fought Kotte
and the Portuguese, who put the Catholic
convert
Dharmapala (r. 1551-97) on the Kotte throne.
Mayadunne's
son Rajasimha (r. 1581-93) defeated Kandy in 1581,
but the Portuguese
took over Sitavaka in 1593.
Kandy king Senerath (r. 1604-35) made
a treaty with the Portuguese in 1617,
but the Portuguese built
forts at Trincomalee in 1623 and Batticaloa in 1628.
Senerath's
son Rajasimha II (r. 1635-87) turned to the Dutch in 1636,
and
they drove the Portuguese off Sri Lanka by 1658.
Governor Rycloff
van Goens projected Dutch power
by occupying forts and declaring
monopolies.
In India the Portuguese established footholds near Madras and
at Hughli,
but they made Goa their capital and tried to monopolize
or control the ocean trade.
On land Catholic missionaries like
Francis Xavier made converts;
but their intolerance alienated
Hindus and Muslims.
The Dutch arrived and blockaded Goa in 1603.
Emperor Jahangir gave the English trading exemptions in 1618,
and the English built a factory at Hughli in 1651.
The Portuguese
gave Bombay to the English in 1661.
India exported cotton and
imported gold and silver.
The English captured 14 Mughal ships
at Surat during the 1688-90 war.
The Mughal empire allowed the
English to collect taxes on their land at Calcutta in 1698.
In the late 16th century Tulsidas wrote his great poem
deifying
Rama called Ramacaritamanasa.
He removed the blemishes
on the characters of Rama and Sita from the ancient story
so as
to make them even more ideal role models for men and women.
The
story of Rama was presented in long plays,
and the worship of
Rama and Krishna were the basis of the growing
Bhakti movement
of religious devotion.
Ekanatha elucidated the ethical ideas that
Jnanadeva had found in the Bhagavad-Gita.
Tukaram wrote
thousands of poems and urged Hindus to be heroic
in order to overcome
the misery they suffered under the Mughal domination.
Ramdas Samarth
suggested that the Hindus needed to develop their intellect
in
order to overcome the Mughals, and he advised Shivaji.
Ramdas
taught self-awareness through meditation on God with active work.
The third Sikh Guru, Amar Das (1552-74) appointed three women
to be preachers
and recommended monogamy and widow remarriage.
After the fourth Guru Ram Das died in 1581, he was succeeded by
his son Arjun,
who transformed the religion into a government
that collected taxes.
He collected the writings and hymns of the
Sikh Gurus into the Adi Granth.
Because Arjun helped
fleeing Prince Khusrau,
Emperor Jahangir had Arjun tortured and
put to death in 1606.
His son Hargobind was only eleven years
old, but he was recognized as Guru.
Hargobind spent years under
house arrest
but then was given political authority in the Punjab.
Hargobind organized a Sikh army and fought the Mughals from 1634
to 1640.
Tegh Bahadur became the ninth Guru in 1664.
He challenged
Aurangzeb's law against non-Muslim temples and schools
and was
beheaded for refusing to convert in 1675.
His son Gobind Singh
proclaimed the Sikh nation in 1699
and declared war against the
Mughals.
The Sikhs were defeated in 1704;
Gobind Singh escaped,
but he was assassinated in 1708.
The Mughal empire continued to decline because of power struggles
and factions.
Bahadur Shah won the throne in a civil war but died
in 1712.
Banda Bahadur led a Sikh revolt against the Mughals until
he was killed in 1716.
Two Sayyid brothers helped Farrukh Siyar
become emperor;
their intrigues led to another civil war that
made
Muhammad Shah emperor (r. 1719-48) but brought their own
downfall in 1720.
Nizam-ul Mulk ruled the Deccan and co-existed
with rival Marathas
led by Peshwa Baji Rao I (1720-40).
Jai Singh
governed Malwa for the Mughals and paid off the Marathas.
Persia's
Nadir Shah invaded and sacked Delhi in 1739 but then left,
enabling
'Ali Muhammad Rohilla (r. 1721-48)
with 40,000 Afghans to expand
his territory.
Peshwa Balaji Rao (r. 1740-61) tried to lead the
various Maratha groups.
The Sikhs were organized into eleven communities
but suffered heavy losses in 1746 at Lahore.
Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan invaded India eight times
between 1747 and 1767.
Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah (r. 1748-54)
tried to govern from Delhi
through Safdar Jang, the eunuch Javid,
and Imad-ul-mulk but was imprisoned by Imad.
Marathas under Balaji
Rao hired mercenaries, adopted western warfare methods,
allowed
chiefs to attack Hindus, and made temporary alliances
during this
chaotic period of Afghan invasions, Sikh struggles, and Muslim
efforts
to retain the Mughal empire or establish their own independent
states.
After Mughal emperor Alamgir II was assassinated in 1759,
Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded again.
The Maratha army plundered Delhi
the next year,
but the Afghans captured Delhi and with their Mughal
allies
severely defeated the Marathas at Panipat in 1761.
The
Maratha confederation broke apart under regional leaders.
The
Afghan troops insisted on going home and were harassed by Sikhs,
who took over the Punjab.
Najib tried to govern in Delhi while
the Jats and Sikhs competed for the Doab.
Shah Waliullah (1703-62)
was an influential Islamic theologian
who translated the Qur'an
into Persian.
Joseph Dupleix developed French trade in India,
but he failed
to take Fort St. David from the English in 1747.
Salabat Jang
gave the French a lease in the Deccan in 1750,
but the next year
Robert Clive and the English captured Arcot.
French power in India
faded in 1761 when they surrendered Pondicherry.
Nizam 'Ali of
Hyderabad became a faithful ally of the English,
and Muhammad
'Ali of Madras borrowed much money from them.
After Bengal nawab
Siraj attacked Calcutta in 1756,
Clive's forces won it back and
made Mir Jafar nawab in 1757.
Conflicts over taxes caused Mir
Jafar to be removed and re-installed,
and the English army won
an important victory
over Awadh's Shuja-ud-daula at Buxar in 1764.
Clive returned as governor the next year and tried to arrange
dual government
between the nawabs and the English East India
Company.
While the Company was making money and paying large dividends,
in 1770 Bengal suffered a devastating famine in which about ten
million people died.
Warren Hastings was appointed governor of
Bengal in 1771
and tried to employ more Indians in the revenue
administration.
In 1774 he became governor-general but was often
opposed by his council.
Controversial scandals later led to Hastings'
impeachment trial in England,
but he was acquitted.
In southern India the British made a treaty with Mysore's Haidar
'Ali
but did not keep their agreement to defend him
when he was
attacked by the Marathas.
Later Haidar made an alliance with the
Deccan's Nizam 'Ali and the Marathas,
defeating the English advance
on Puna.
In 1781 British forces defeated Haidar and Maratha Mahadji
Sindia,
and by 1784 treaties had restored conquered territories
and released prisoners.
The Maratha army invaded Mysore in 1786,
but Haidar's son Tipu made a treaty and paid six million rupees.
After Tipu attacked Travancore, the English and their allies went
to war with Mysore,
which surrendered in 1792 and lost half its
territory, paying 33 million rupees.
Cornwallis was governor-general
1786-93 and implemented various reforms
in the Company, but he
opposed hiring Indians except in low positions.
Cornwallis fixed
rents with the permanent settlement in 1793.
Some zamindars (landlords)
had to sell because they were set too high,
and absentee landlords
had little connection with the peasants.
Cornwallis instituted
a British judicial system and abolished legal fees.
John Shore
governed for five years with restraint using diplomacy.
In the north battles continued between Sikhs, Jats, Marathas,
Rohillas,
and Muslim supporters of Emperor Shah 'Alam II.
In 1774
Awadh's Shuja-ud-daula and the English annexed most of Rohilkhand.
Afghanistan's Timur Shah invaded India five times.
After Mughal
commander Najaf Khan died in 1782,
Maratha chief Mahadji Sindia
took power in Delhi.
The Sikhs frequently raided the region.
Ghulam
Qadir's Rohillas committed atrocities and blinded Shah 'Alam,
but Sindia put Ghulam to death.
By 1792 Sindia had Maratha paramountcy
over the Rajputs and Jats,
but he died two years later.
Sikhs
suffered civil war, and Shah Zaman's Afghans
invaded until they
went home in 1799.
Young Ranjit Singh took over Lahore, won many
victories, avoided fighting the British,
and formed a Sikh confederacy.
In 1809 he made a treaty with the British, agreeing on the Sutlej
River as their boundary.
Shah Shuja ruled Afghanistan 1803-09
but had to flee
and take refuge with Ranjit Singh and then the
British.
Ranjit Singh's Sikh armies failed to conquer Kashmir
but finally captured Multan in 1818.
Dzungar Mongols invaded Tibet in 1717,
but Chinese emperor Kangxi sent forces
that drove the Dzungars out of Tibet in 1720.
Councilor Pholhanas
resigned but returned with troops from Tsang
to defeat and kill
the leaders of the anti-Chinese faction at Lhasa.
Pholhanas was
a popular leader and was proclaimed king of Tibet in 1740.
Narbhupal
Shah (r. 1716-42) governed the Gurkhas in western Nepal.
His son
Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered Kathmandu in 1768 and united Nepal.
Tibet discouraged foreigners and came into conflict with Nepal
in 1788;
four years later a Manchu army helped the Tibetans defeat
the Gurkhas and invade Nepal.
In 1814 the British went to war
with the Gurkhas over Tarai,
but the 1817 treaty made Nepal a
British ally.
The Dutch East India Company continued to exploit Sri Lanka
with monopolies that fixed prices.
Discontent of cinnamon peelers
erupted in a major revolt in 1757,
and Kandyans joined them until
the Dutch captured the capital in 1765.
Buddhists had visited
Burma and Thailand to improve their education,
but only the top
caste could be ordained monks.
The 1795 French invasion of Holland
caused the Dutch
to turn Sri Lanka over to the English,
and they
made it their colony of Ceylon in 1802,
taking over the monopolies
of the pearl fisheries, cinnamon, salt, and tobacco.
The British
fought the Kandyans for two years until General Maitland
took
a defensive posture in 1805.
The English introduced jury trials
and land grants to Europeans.
Their troops finally took Kandy
in 1815 and gained sovereignty in a treaty,
but they had to agree
to protect the Buddhist religion.
Governor Brownrigg revived the
government-imposed labor requirement.
The indigenous cultures of Southeast Asia were influenced by
both China and India.
Burma adopted Theravada Buddhism and dominated
the Mons,
who occasionally rebelled.
Burmans also attacked their
neighbors; King Hsinhpyushin destroyed Ayudhya in 1767,
and under
Bodawhpaya (r. 1782-1819) they took over Arakan in 1785.
Burma
lost parts of its empire to the British by wars in 1825 and 1852.
Burma's King Mindon (r. 1853-78) made peace
and ruled wisely as
he revived Buddhism.
Sukhothai chief Ramkhamhaeng (r. 1283-1317) established the
written Thai language.
Ramadhipati founded Ayudhya in 1350 and
was the first king of Siam with Hindu laws.
Boromaraja I (r. 1370-88)
took over Sukhothai,
and Boromaraja II (r. 1424-48) conquered
the Khmers at Angkor.
Siam's Trailok (r. 1448-88) enforced strict
laws and became a monk in 1465.
Burma invaded Siam in 1564 and
dominated it until 1586.
Siam's King Narai (r. 1657-88) tolerated
European missionaries and merchants until 1687.
Boromokot (r.
1733-58) promoted Buddhism.
After Ayudhya was destroyed in 1767,
Taksin organized Siamese forces
and defeated the Burmans in 1775.
His general founded a new dynasty in Siam as Rama I.
Rama III
(r. 1824-51) made a commercial treaty with the English,
and Rama
IV (r. 1851-68) opened up trade to all Europeans.
He and his son
Rama V began modernizing Siam.
Cambodia struggled against Chinese imperialism from the third
century CE.
Jayavarman II (r. 802-50) began the Angkor era as
the Khmer god-king.
Buddhism spread into Cambodia during the 13th
century.
Jayavarman VIII (r. 1243-95) reinstituted the Hindu caste
system,
but Theravada Buddhism won royal favor under Indravarman
III (r. 1295-1308).
Siam's army often invaded Cambodia, which
became a vassal state in 1603.
The Vietnamese began intervening
in 1698.
Cambodia suffered between these neighboring powers
until
the French took over portions of Vietnam and Cambodia,
recognizing
Siam's control over western Cambodia in the treaty of 1867.
Souligna-Vongsa
ruled a united Laos 1637-94,
but a civil war caused it to be divided
into
Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Champassak by 1713.
Vientiane's
king Chao-Anou went to war against Siam,
which devastated Vientiane
in 1828.
Vietnam was part of the Chinese empire for more than a millennium.
Buddhism spread in Vietnam, which became independent of China
in 939 CE.
The Vietnamese fought off the Mongol invasions,
but
in the 15th century they were dominated once again by Chinese
Confucian culture.
King Le Thanh Tong (r. 1460-98) used the Chinese
examination system and bureaucracy,
adopting Mahayana Buddhism.
In 1570 Vietnam was divided between the Trinh and the Nguyen families.
They fought for half a century after 1620 but then had peace for
a century.
In 1773 three Nguyen Van brothers from Tay-son led
a socialist revolt
that overcame the Trinh family in the north
but in 1801 was defeated by Nguyen Anh,
who reunited Vietnam as
Emperor Gia Long.
His son Minh Mang (r. 1819-41) applied Confucianism,
persecuted Christians,
and rejected European trade.
Tu Duc (r.
1847-83) was also a pious Confucian,
but he was forced to cede
provinces to France in 1862 and 1874.
Paramesvara developed the port of Melaka, allied with China,
and converted to Islam in 1414.
The Portuguese conquered Melaka
in 1511.
Malayans suffered several attacks by Acheh from 1537
until they defeated the Achinese navy in 1629.
The Dutch took
over Melaka in 1641 and made it a military base.
Johor prospered,
but its last king was assassinated in 1699.
In the second half
of the 18th century, the British gained most of the Malayan commerce
because their superior ships controlled trade from India and sold
armaments.
Raffles made Singapore a British port in 1819.
In 1824
a treaty recognized English control over Malaya
and the Dutch
over most of the islands.
In the 19th century many Chinese immigrated
into Malaya.
In 1874 the British resolved Malayan conflicts in
the Pangkor Treaty.
The Srivijaya kingdom practiced Buddhism
on the island of Sumatra during the middle ages.
Javanese culture in Bali developed Hindu
religion,
shadow theater, gamelan music, and batik
textiles.
Javanese king Kertanagara (r. 1268-92) conquered
the
Malayu in southern Sumatra and Bali.
Kertarajasa (r. 1293-1309)
founded the new kingdom of Majapahit in Java,
and Majapahit king
Hayam Wuruk (r. 1350-89) annexed the kingdom of Srivijaya.
From
the 13th century Muslim merchants brought Islamic culture,
and
Ali Mughajat Shah founded the sultanate of Acheh on northern Sumatra
about 1515.
In the 16th century the Portuguese tried to use naval
force
to control commerce in the region, but the Dutch company
began competing
with them in the 17th century with Batavia as
their capital.
The Dutch also had to borrow to pay for military
expenses.
Three Javanese wars of succession ended in 1757,
and
the Dutch gained sovereignty over Java.
European conflicts brought
the French-appointed Daendels
and then the English Raffles to
govern Java until 1816.
The Dutch regained control,
but 200,000
died in the failed Javanese rebellion in 1825-30.
In the next
half century the Dutch exploited export crops to transfer 832
million guilders
out of Java despite famines in the 1840s.
Gradually
in the 1860s most of the compulsory labor programs were ended,
but sugar and coffee systems were prolonged.
On Sumatra the Dutch
took control of Acheh in 1874.
On the first voyage around the world Magellan was killed in
1521,
and Legazpi began settlements on the Philippine islands
in 1565.
Despite Spanish invasions the southern islands remained
Muslim,
but others converted to Christianity.
From 1593 to 1815
Spain required all commerce from the Philippines
to go through
Acapulco, Mexico.
Spaniards and the Dutch battled over trade until
they made a treaty in 1648.
Spaniards claimed the Mariana Islands
in 1669 and conquered the Chamorros.
In the Philippines corrupt
alcalde-mayors were allowed to engage in trade
and business from
1751 until 1844.
The British navy sacked Manila in 1762 and stayed
for two years
while native Filipinos rebelled against unpopular
Spanish overlords.
The Philippines fought an expensive war against
Muslim raiders between 1778 and 1793.
The Philippines prohibited
foreigners from retail business in 1828.
In the 1840s Filipinos
began to struggle for racial equality.
By 1863 the Philippines
had free public education.
In 1869 a new Spanish constitution
brought to the Philippines
universal suffrage and a free press.
In 1872 striking workers were joined by some mutinying soldiers;
thirteen were executed while others were imprisoned or fled.
The English began a penal colony at Sydney in 1788.
Aborigines
had been living in Australia for thousands of years, gathering
food,
but new diseases wiped out most of them.
English convicts
were paid with rum and became farmers along with settlers.
Irish
convicts rebelled and were punished in 1804.
Captain Bligh tried
to ban alcohol and was deposed in 1808.
Macquarie governed New
South Wales from 1810 to 1822.
Bigge made a study and advised
moving the convicts out of the towns,
a policy implemented by
Governor Darling (1825-31).
The British explored and claimed all
of Australia.
A shortage of women increased homosexuality and
prostitution.
Maconochie experimented with humane treatment of
prisoners on Norfolk Island.
Transportation of convicts to New
South Wales ended in 1840 and to Tasmania in 1853.
Squatters developed
sheep farming despite a recession in the 1840s.
After 1850 deviant
women were put in a lunatic asylum instead of prison.
The discovery
of gold in 1851 led to much immigration.
Diggers protested the
license fees and agitated for manhood suffrage.
In 1855 striking
stonemasons in Melbourne began demanding an eight-hour day,
which
Victoria adopted in 1874.
Chinese immigrants worked hard but were
persecuted.
Australia gained male suffrage in 1858.
Land was made
easier to purchase.
Isolated on the land, some bush rangers turned
to robbery.
Factional politics caused provincial governments to
change often.
The province of Victoria led the trend by establishing
free and compulsory public schools in 1872.
About a thousand years ago the Maoris came to the islands
the
Dutch named New Zealand in 1642.
Captain Cook visited in 1769,
followed by other Europeans
taking sealskins and timber, then
traders and whalers.
Maoris occasionally attacked and ate Europeans
they killed.
A few missionaries from Australia began arriving
in 1814.
Chief Hongi visited London in 1820 and came back with
300 muskets
that enabled him to defeat other tribes in civil wars
that lasted until 1832.
Wesleyan and Anglican missionaries arrived.
The flax trade grew but was overtaken by timber and whaling.
Some
Europeans found protection by marrying Maori women,
and some tribes
were united in 1835.
E. G. Wakefield promoted the sale of land
to capitalist settlers.
British consul Hobson made a treaty with
fifty chiefs at Waitangi in 1840
that ceded sovereignty to the
English and promised Maori rights;
two years later New Zealand
was a colony.
George Grey learned Maori and governed liberally,
promoting education,
but his 1852 constitution favored European
land-owners.
Maoris wanted to be ruled by a king and resented
the loss of their communal land to Europeans, who by 1858 outnumbered
them.
A Maori uprising began in 1860 and lasted until 1872.
Superior
British weapons enabled them to confiscate much rebel land.
A
gold rush started in 1860 that greatly increased settlement on
the South Island.
In the early 1870s New Zealand borrowed money
to build railways, roads, bridges, and telegraphs.
Polynesians many centuries ago made voyages to various islands.
The British first contacted the sexually uninhibited Tahitians
in 1767,
and Captain Cook visited three times.
In 1789 the crew
of the Bounty mutinied and returned to Tahiti;
some helped
Pomare I conquer the island, and others fled to Pitcairn Island.
Missionaries had little success until Pomare II converted in 1812.
The Christian Tahitians won a civil war and in 1819 imposed puritanical
laws.
The French used force to protect Catholics in 1838 and took
over Tahiti five years later.
Wesleyan missionaries came to Fiji
in 1835.
Fijians made efforts to govern themselves but ceded sovereignty
to the British in 1874.
The Tonga chief accepted the Methodist
religion in 1831
and ruled as King George Tupou until 1893.
Missionaries
started coming to the Samoan Islands in 1828
and eventually converted
most of the natives.
The British and Americans were influential,
and in 1860 Samoans adopted the Vaimauga code of laws.
Conflict
over the kingship was mediated by the American and British consuls
in 1873.
Captain Cook was killed on Maui in 1779.
Kamehameha through
force became the chief of the Hawaiian Islands in 1795
and appointed
some haole (white) sailors as governors.
After he died
in 1819, his favorite wife Kaahumanu persuaded his son Kamehameha
II
to abandon the kapu (taboo) traditions that discriminated
against women.
Missionaries began their work in 1820.
Kamehameha
II died of measles in London in 182
Kaahumanu wanted to be a
Christian and urged laws against vices.
By the 1830s Hawaii had
more than a thousand schools teaching 50,000 people to read.
Kamehameha
III proclaimed religious toleration and human rights in 1839,
and the next year the Government had a constitution and public
schools.
Hawaii's independence was recognized by Britain, France,
and the United States.
Land titles of the King, chiefs, and commoners
were settled,
giving the Government land to sell at low prices.
Hawaii developed a booming sugar industry and exported rice and
coffee.
In 1875 they made a reciprocal treaty on duty-free trade
with the United States.
Civilization in ancient India must have had a worthy beginning
in the Harappan culture
of the Indus valley to be able to sustain
such spiritual values after the Aryan invasion
of the subcontinent
established a racist culture based on an increasingly rigid caste
system.
Thanks to Hindu sages, Mahavira, and the Buddha,
ancient
India offered outstanding ethical and spiritual teachings.
Although
worldly politicians still exploited people and caused suffering
in local wars,
the emphasis on the virtue, justice, and duty they
called dharma
had a profound affect on their religions,
relationships, and literature.
In methods and teachings that enhance
spiritual transcendence in realization of the soul,
India is yet
to be surpassed.
Buddhism, a unique religion without a god, would
spread throughout Asia
in future centuries and offer spiritual
teaching and methods of psychological insight
that would benefit
hundreds of millions of people.
The development of Mahayana Buddhism in India
from the first
century spread its excellent ethics.
This Buddhism would move
east into China and north into Tibet;
but after a few centuries
Hinduism regained its prevalence over most of India,
imposing
its caste system but still enlightening with its ancient spiritual
philosophy.
The rich culture of India also allowed theater
to
flourish with its dramatic lessons for human experience.
In the
middle ages devotion became the most popular expression of Hindu
religion.
Theravada Buddhism survived mostly on the island of
Sri Lanka,
and Jainism with its nonviolent ethics could still
be found in India.
Yet as with the rest of the world, in India
kingdoms
still struggled for power using violent methods.
Such
conflicts became worse with the conquests of the Muslims after
1000.
The sultans in Delhi dominated much of northern India
and
imposed higher taxes on non-Muslims.
The invasion by Timur and
his Tatars in 1398 plundered Delhi and weakened the sultanate.
Political struggles caused conflicts not only between Muslims
and Hindus
but among them as well.
The poet Kabir and Nanak, founder
of the Sikh religion, offered a mystical synthesis
of Hinduism
and Islam in order to help reconcile the religious division.
Babur's invasion from Afghanistan founded the Mughal empire
of India in 1526
and would dominate most of India for the next
two centuries.
The Muslims imposed their Persian culture
and a
feudal system with themselves above the Hindu castes.
Akbar continued
the Mughal expansion and decreed a policy of religious tolerance,
but his personal search for a universal religion had little influence.
Emperor Shah Jahan was less tolerant and wasted human and material
resources in wars.
Aurangzeb fought a civil war to win the throne,
and his taxes and persecution of Hindus provoked growing resistance
and wars
that brought about the decline of the Mughal empire amid
the decadent lifestyles
of the aristocratic Muslims.
Shivaji led
the Maratha resistance, but their military methods did not offer
a better alternative to Mughal domination.
Thus these frequent
wars devastated India.
Some Hindus found consolation in a devotional
form of religion.
Sikhs followed the leadership of their guru
and gradually grew from a cult into a religion
with political
power.
Tibet continued its Buddhist culture and was isolated enough
to survive,
while Sri Lanka suffered from the economic exploitation
by the Portuguese and Dutch.
The embattled Mughals declined as
they fought the Marathas, the Sikhs,
and invasions by Persians
and Afghans.
In the 18th century these groups also fought each
other and the British,
as most of India suffered from endemic
warfare.
The British conquest of India was for the economic exploitation
by the English East India Company, but it was accomplished by
means
of the powerful British military and administrative government.
Operating from Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, the Company gradually
extended
its political domination and economic exploitation
by
taking control of one kingdom after another.
Because the Mughals,
Marathas, Rajputs, and Sikhs often fought each other,
India had
no national unity to withstand the British,
who had eliminated
their French and Dutch rivals.
The Chinese helped protect Tibet
from the Gurkhas.
Southeast Asia was influenced by both China and India, and
in the 13th century
invading Mongols brought Islam, especially
to Indonesia.
These influenced their religions and culture, but
the regions developed
independent nations in Burma, Siam, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam, and Malaya
until the Europeans began struggling
for domination in the 17th century.
Buddhist Burma developed a
little empire, often attacking the Mons and Siam.
Siam (Thailand)
survived the Burman invasion of 1767,
and a new dynasty
of Rama
kings began to modernize the country and trade with Europeans.
Cambodia and Laos suffered from wars with their neighbors Siam
and Vietnam
which prevented the revival of their ancient Angkor
era.
Vietnam became independent of China politically in 939
but
was influenced by Confucian culture as well as Buddhism.
An attempted
socialist revolt in the late 18th century was overcome
by the
traditional Nguyen dynasty, which tried to be independent
but
had to cede territory to French imperialism.
The Malay peninsula
struggled with commercial competition
between the Portuguese,
Dutch, and the English.
Sumatra, Java, and the Indonesian islands also were dominated
by the commercial interests of Muslims, Portuguese,
and especially
the Dutch, who gained control in the 18th century.
The southern islands of the Philippines
became Muslim and remained so
after the Spaniards converted most
Filipinos to Christianity.
The development of public education
helped Filipinos
struggle against Spanish domination and for more
rights.
As a British penal colony, Australia was an experiment
that grew out of that
and developed education, labor unions, and
democratic government.
The British also took over New Zealand
from the Maoris
and tried to offer them rights under their cultural
domination.
The Polynesian islands lost their paradisal innocence
to lusty European sailors
and puritanical missionaries.
Devastated
by diseases, most converted to Christianity
and were commercialized
by western culture.
People were learning from each other, but the unethical use of force
was still an unresolved problem, especially in international politics.
This chapter has been published in the book INDIA & Southeast Asia to 1800.
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