Ancient India was known for its maharajas, maharanis, rajputs and the beautiful palaces created by the rajas. The credit is given to the political empires and the rajas for the formation of India. They are the ones who have created India. Whereas many empires were short-lived, others ruled for years and played a big role in the formation of India’s political system. Empires such as the Magadha, Mauryan, Shakas, Indo-Greeks, Kushanas, and the Gupta ruled during the ancient times of India.
The Magadha was an ancient kingdom of India, which is present day Bihar. Between the 6th century BCE and the 8th century CE, Magadha was the nucleus of several larger kingdoms or empires (Magadha). Many small kingdoms in India would naturally start by formation of small groups within a larger group.
Chandra Gupta Maurya founded the Magadha kingdom. Followed by the Magadha, the first major empire in the history of India was founded by Chandragupta, the Mauryan Empire (Mauryan Rulers). Chandragupta founded the empire by overthrowing the Nanda dynasty with the help of Chanakya, also known as Kautilya (Mauryan Rulers). Chandragupta conquered parts of central India and united northern India under the Mauryan rule (Mauryan Rulers). The Mauryan Empire was divided into administrative districts, each of which had a hierarchy of officials (Mauryan Rulers). The foundation of the centralized administration of Mauryan governance was laid by the arthashastra. The arthashastra was an Indian treatise on economics and politics written by “kingmaker” Chanakya (Kulke, Dietmar, 36). Kautalya was the advisor to Chandragupta. Kautalya represented a situation in which several small rival kingdoms would have a chance of gaining supremacy over the others if the respe...
... middle of paper ...
...form into a country, a very historic and important period. During this period the decimal system of notation, great Sanskrit epics, Hindu art, and contribution to the sciences of astronomy and mathematics (Kulke, Dietmar, 59).
Ancient India’s political organizations can be known as a galactic polity. All the individuals, including the kings and everyone made up the empires. Groups that are interconnected through a relationship surrounded the empires. Each empire came from a region in Asia and ruled parts of India and eventually all the empires began to rule the same region. The main reason of the arthashastra was to give the king an idea on how to improve the powers given and weaken the powers of the enemy before an open confrontation took place (Kulke, Dietmar, 37). Without the empires and the maharajas, today there would not be a political system in India.
What is pictured when someone thinks of India? Perhaps the manufactured goods, or diverse people. The truth is, however, that until India gained its independence in 1947, it was ruled entirely by British government. The British then proceeded to “improve” India, driving it into a deeper hole. Although British Imperialism in India had some positive effects, the overall political, economic, and social impacts were negative.
During the time of (31 B.C.E-476 C.E) the Roman Empire had been ruled by a series of Roman emperors who had been increasingly dependent for the highly structured state of bureaucracy. The Gupta/Mauryan during the time of (320 B.C.E-520 C.E.) was by way of imperial power based on family lineage. The roman heartland was centered in Italy even after Italy had been conquered it still stayed at that single peninsula that had been bounded by the Mediterranean Sea and the Alp Mountains. As for the Mauryan Empire had been located in India but the empire was brought to its greatest extent in the northwest of Afghanistan and to the east for the Bay of Bengal, also for sometime the Deccan peninsula toward the south. The Gupta first began in the Ganges Valley because of a marriage that had proceeded. Rome had more detailed evidence left behind then the Gupta/Mauryan Empires had for personal records. Each of these Empires were able to establish military power, administrative centers, and currency during their time of ruling. A similarity between Rome and the Gupta/Mauryan Empires is they had regulated the language for everyone in their Empires, while a difference is the Roman Empire had centralized power that had caused rebellions to take place, as for the Gupta/Mauryan Empires, it gave more of their power to the local government needs.
A society that is often overlooked that has made great achievements and who has had a significant impact on modern day society is nonetheless, India and ancient Indian civilization. After the fall of the Gupta Empire in 480, small kingdoms throughout the region, which was invaded by the Turks and Mongols, but was not conquered, would rule India. The northern parts of India frequently were raided and invaded by the Turks, all the way from Afghanistan to Central Asia. Muslim Turks decided to rule a state in north India called the Delhi sultanate, which was ruled for several centuries, and in the mean time Islam gained its adherents throughout the southern regions of Asia. Hinduism continued to flourish throughout the nation, while Buddhism went into a deep decline, and Islam would begin to convert many of its people. The encounters that the ancient Indian people had to endure with the Turks, Mongols, and Islam have had the most memorable impact and impression on Indian culture and other societies throughout the east.
Classical empires were the inception of organised civilisations. These were defined by their economy, government, religion, and infrastructure. Whether it was the Romans, the Chinese dynasties. Or the Mauryans in India, all of the classical empires shared a multitude of similarities in the benefits afforded to their people. Safety, education, and an organised government were some of the benefits afforded by these empires to their people. However, these benefits were accompanied by difficulties in maintaining the empire, one of these being the mismanagement of money.
The 190 years of Imperialism in India by the British were over all a negative experience for the country. However, a few good things did come out of imperialism like transportation. Britain became selfish and inconsiderate towards the Indian people and only did what helped their country and their economy. Because of the imperialism India’s people became hostile towards each other and later, after being freed from British rule, broke out into a civil war.
In three great empires of the time were the Han in China, the Romans in Europe, and the Gupta in India. Each was destined to fall, each in their own way. Empires come and empires go, the first empire to decline was the Han because people stopped believing in them, the Romes got too large to control, and the Gupta’s were invaded. The Muslim and Mongol Empires would take their places over time.
There are many strengths and weaknesses of empires for various reasons. An empire is a group of countries or state that are controlled by a foreign power or government. Empires will shape a society economic, political, and cultural development. There are two different types of empires by dominance or empires by hegemony. The benefits of an empire by dominance are dominating the productive farmlands and trade routes. Farming also known as agricultural began, “in West Asia around 9000 B.C.E”( Judge, Edward H., and John W. Langdon 25). Be able to dominate the productive farmlands and trade routes in West Asia could make an empire very wealthy and profitable.
An Empire is a group of states or different ethnic groups brought together under a single sovereign power. They have varying degrees and types of centralized distant regions through common languages, unifying political systems, trade and shared religious beliefs (Pollard, Rosenberg, Tignor). But what contributed to the formation of Empires?
2 Stein, Burton (2001), A History of India, New Delhi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xiv, 432,
The Indus Valley was the earliest Indian civilization. This civilization flourished for about a thousand years, then disappeared without a trace. Even though archeologists have no solid evidence, they know that it covers the largest area than any other civilization until the rise of Persia a thousand years later.
...nese control, a southern Vietnamese state, called Funan, spread out over much of Indochina and the Malay Peninsula—providing a trading and cultural circle for Indian merchants, Brahman priests, and Buddhist monks. This Indian influence continued even after the decline of Funan, as did Indian influence in the independent state of Tai and the Khmer Empire of Cambodia. Also drawing on Indian tradition and Sanskrit writing was the maritime empire of Srivijaya based on the island of Sumatra, and dominating the waters in that area and extending up to the Malay Peninsula. After 800 it was the early Indian form of Buddhism (called Theravada Buddhism) that dominated in Southeast Asia. Finally, it was not direct Indian control that was the key to the expansion of Indian culture, but an extension of trade and religious networks.
...ding the Mauryan Empire’s territory. When the empire was under Bindusara’s control the empire mainly expanded southwards. The empire was expanded as far south as Mysore. He also conquered 16 states in total and expanded the empire from the sea in the west to the sea in the east. Bindusara conquered almost all of India except for Kalinga (modern day Orissa).
The Mughal dynasty reigned from the early 16th century to the mid-18th century and is one of the most famous Empires that maintained great control of the diversified northern part of India during the medieval era. Akbar, the third ruling emperor of the Mughal Empire, understood that for his dynasty to long survive him, he must legitimate his rule and establish Mughal superiority in the eyes of all of his subjects. And so, by reinventing the institution of kingship through Mughal paintings and implementing rituals such as the eating of the salt and the creation of the land revenue system, provided successors of Akbar such as Jahangir and Aurangzeb, the foundation to secure their legitimacy as a sovereign and the fealty of their conquered subjects for centuries to come.
India was the first major Asian civilizations to fall victim to European predatory activities (Duiker 31). With conquering India, the British had various purposes behind it. Their main purpose was to achieve a monopolistic trading position (The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in India). The second purpose was the control of India; this was a key element in the world power structure, in terms of geography, logistics and military manpower (The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in India). When the East India Company continued to trade under the British, huge armies were created, largely composed of Indian sepoys (Marshall). The armies were used to defend the Company’s territories protect the Indian states (Marshall).
and not just at the Rajputs, who became one of the pillars of the empire.